"Born to Run", despite being practically the definition of filler, is at least much, much easier to sit through than "Whatever the Case May Be" and even maybe a little better than "Tabula Rasa" (if only because the cast of characters on the island are better-developed in "Born to Run" and hence more interesting). Still, "Born to Run" is one of the natural consequences of the long 20+ episode American season structure- a filler episode of little interest with an insultingly ridiculous explanation for Kate's insultingly ridiculous actions in "Whatever the Case May Be".
"Born to Run" is notable for being the first episode of the show to be scripted by the writing team of Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and their later achievements like "Ji Yeon" and "Greatest Hits" are far better than this middling, silly script, not that they had much story to work with. What's fascinating about this episode is that it really displays how low-key season one is; in the other seasons this episodes plays the role of a 'setup' episode for the finale, but here it is almost completely unnecessary. For all of season one's strengths, one can't help but feel that there wasn't enough storytelling done in this season. Then again would the following seasons have worked at all if the characters weren't well-developed enough for us to understand their motivations? Tucker Gates directed this episode very well, in keeping with his excellent work on "Confidence Man" and "... In Translation". There are some beautiful shots here, and the tolerable pace at which the episode moves is due in no small part to his work here.
Ultimately "Born to Run" is a decent filler episode if you try your best to ignore the horrendous Kate flashback story (giving her such a stupid and uninteresting story was the writers' biggest mistake on the show). Not up to much, but not too hard to sit through.
6.5/10