Neither character's story is complete

For one, there's the show's slow evolution from the "monster-of-the-week" type show it was originally intended to be to an ensemble cast drama like Buffy. There's the sudden disappearance of characters, like Doyle, whose reasons for being written out of the show are still debated. Kate Lockley likewise pretty suddenly disappears in season 2. Other characters are clearly expanded on from initial guest roles, like Lorne, who's character eventually progressed to main cast. Skip seemed to be a one-off character who had additional appearances due to positive fan response, although his final turn seemed awkwardly out-of-character and unplanned.

However, some characters have much more confusing roles. For example, Gwen Raiden is introduced and used as a recurring character, although her role never really expands and then is abruptly abandoned.

Other times, storylines appear or disappear abruptly. The 4-part season 2 ender has been admitted to have been a last-minute plot development. Which means Winifred was a last-minute unplanned character, one that was greatly expanded on.

Spike, of course, couldn't have had a storyline on Angel planned until it was known what his end on Buffy would be. Likewise, there were rumors that his character was added as a condition for Angel's renewal for a fifth season.

I know that there was still a lot of speculation, but I just listened to the latest podcast, and according to Cuse and Lindelof, Kate has definitely made her decision, and it is Sawyer.

showed Jack locked up in the cage that Sawyer had previously been in, and the flight attendant (Cathy?) who had been with the Taillies was talking to him. The implication being that the Others did not let Jack go as promised.

Asian woman (who looked to me like Bai Ling) who then came over and started making out with him.

It's a flashback from episode 9, which is a Jack-centric episode featuring his time in Thailand that will explain the significance and meaning of his tattoos. It's also the episode in which Matthew Fox is rumoured to take his leave of absence for a batch of episodes on the show. Fox wouldn't divulge in interviews why, only to say that he is not getting killed off and there is definately a reason within the story he won't be seen for a while on LOST

I think it was Eonline or Ausiello, but one of the places said that even though Kate has made her decision, it doesn't mean she won't change her mind. This triangle is the worst part of the show for me, and I was optimistic when I heard that Kate had picked Sawyer, but now that they say that she might change her mind, it doesn't bode well in my mind for the new episodes, depending on the timeframe