Season 4; Episode 12: "There's No Place Like Home (Part 1)"

Ok, so we had ourselves a nice and tidy little set up episode last week that has put all of our characters in place for what is sure to be a combustible two hour season finale. For the most part, "There's No Place Like Home" was a pretty straightforward episode, but in Lost terms "straightforward" means that there were maybe only 5 or 6 things that confused us rather than the normal dozen or so noodle scratchers we encounter in most episodes. So without further ado, let's take a look see at what went down.

The Plane of Doubt

So finally we see how the Oceanic 6 end up on that plane to freedom. Well, kind of. More appropriately, we see how Oceanic Airlines explains the events that led up to their rescue...events that we know are not true. According to the PR department, the O6 survived the plane crash, washed ashore to a deserted Island called Membata - a fictional place whose namesake translates into "Doubt" from its native Indonesian by the way - and then luckily secured a fishing boat that had washed ashore which eventually floated them to rescue on a small inhabitated Island. They even had pictures to prove it...but I'm not buying those for a second.

Hey, where's Aaron? And Sun?



Instead, we know that the 6 engaged in some sort of deal to keep quite about what really happened on the Island. And from looking at their expressions on the plane, and by how Sun affirms that they really are "in shock" over the events they witnessed, we have to assume that what went down was pretty heavy stuff. Hopefully we'll find out these truths next week.

A couple things about the press conference. Once again they mention that 8 people originally survived the crash but that two of them died before rescue. I still wonder why this part of the story was added? Were two other bodies found in the water that weren't "accounted" for in the fake wreckage that needed explanation? Also, someone pointed out that when Sayid was asked if he thought there was ANY possibility of there being other survivors he ansewered with certainly, "absolutely not." While Sayid is versed in telling a convincing lie, could it be argued that if the Island did in fact "move" (to another time, perhaps), and that there is no chance of the others ever making it back to this current civilization? Maybe. Or he was just lying. Whatever.

Finally, I'd say that it's pretty clear that Widmore is behind the fake rescue story (as he is behind the fake wreckage) and in return for the O6's compliance, he has guaranteed their friends' safety in his continued battle for the Island. I guess you could argue that it was Oceanic's idea, but I don't see how they benefit from the lie. It's not like it's going to make up for the initial crash and the other dead passengers. Again, hopefully time will tell.

The O6 - Post Rescue

So instead of focusing on one character for the flashes, we see how each of the survivors are faring shortly after their rescue in "There's No Place Like Home" (similar to "Confirmed Dead" where we saw multiple flashbacks recounting how Naomi and her crew got to the Island). Hurley gets visited by the numbers right away, and you get the sense that his eventual breakdown is not far behind.


Jack finally "buries" his father with a halfhearted eulogy reminiscing about a love that was already long lost at that point. More importantly, he meets Claire's mother and tried his hardest not to puke out of guilt after learning that Claire was his half sister and that Aaron is his nephew in what I thought was a pretty well acted scene.


But the most important flash forward scene revolved around Sun. In a highly unlikely scenario (we'll let this one slide I suppose), Sun was able invest enough money into Paik Industries to gain control of her father's company. While it may seem on the surface that she's doing this to gain her distant father's respect, I think that there could be much more to the story. Without boring you with the geeky details, fans have uncovered a relationship that exists between Paik Industries and the Widmore Corporation. Therefore, Sun's cryptic revelation that "two people are responsible for Jin's death" could be more homegrown then Mr. Paik expects. If she found out that Widmore was behind the (what is soon to be blown up with extreme prejudice) freighter with Jin aboard, could she have figured out that Paik Industries had a hand in the process? And if so, does she also blame her father for his possible death?

Or, conversely, did she gain control of the corporation to help fund/organize an eventual campaign to return to the Island? Again, if Paik and Widmore are linked, she could leverage that relationship to piggyback onto Widmore's ongoing search for the Island. Of course for this scenario to play out we'd have to assume that Jin did actually survive the events yet to be seen, and that Sun wants to return to the Island to save her husband for good. Regardless of her motives, her hostile takeover of the corporation is likely going to play a major role in the seasons to come.


Ben's Back in the Saddle Again

"How many times do I have to tell you John? I always have a plan." Even beyond this telling quote, Ben's entire demeanor changed in this episode. He looked like a man on a mission again. A man in control. He found out what he needed from Locke's visit in the cabin and has sprung back into action. He finds a random check point box with stale old saltines and uses a mirror inside to signal a message to the Others in the hills before they continue their rapid pace to the Orchid station. But what exactly is his plan? Well, we know they have to move the Island. How this happens is still up in the air but the prevailing theory is that they will utilize the station to jump through time and space.

If you remember the Orchid Station Orientation video that was posted a month ago or so, Dr. Marvin Candle (or Dr. Edgar Halliwax) said that station was conducting "dangerous and volatile" experiments that produced something that was not unlike what he called the "Casimir Effect." Again, I won't bore you with the details, but the Casimir Effect is a real life theory that has to do with harnessing electromagnetic fields to allow one to stabilize and utilize wormholes - the theoretical doorways to time travel. And when Ben is pressed by Locke as to why they didn't move the Island earlier, Ben responds that it's a an absolute last resort and than its not without it's dangers. Couple that with the fact that we know Ben wakes up in the Tunisian Desert in October of 2005, we should expect that the Orchid Station has some pretty mind blowing capabilities.

And let's not forget about how it created a replication of those cute little bunnies in the video. Could it be possible that the Island is re-created in another time and space but still exists at the present time as well? Or could the activation of the station sends all of the Island's inhabitants to different corners of the Earth, at different times, rendering the Island itself "moved" in the metaphorical sense? Or could it be that I've had one too many glasses of wine? Probably the latter.

There's No Place Like Home

This episode portrayed that, like Dorothy of Oz, the O6 seemed to have clicked their heals and arrived safely home, even amid all of the guilt/tragedy/confusion that they have endured in their eventual rescue. And while that seems easy enough, I think the the title of this episode is referring more to the future of the show than the Oceanic 6's present homecoming.

As we've now seen, each of the Oceanic 6 have experienced brief happiness only to be followed by unavoidable emptiness and loss. Hurley went down first, as he ends up back in the mental institution and is visited by Charlie's ghosts (not to mention Abbadon). He tips off Jack's eventual breakdown by warning him that he too will be visited by someone, and that he's not suppose to be raising Aaron. While we haven't necessarily seen Kate crack yet, we could assume that Jack will eventually bring her down with her...and that the guilt of raising another's child as her own will break her (not to mention that it's possible that her "true" love - Sawyer - is stranded on the Island). Sayid is a world away working for Ben, in the hope to protect his friends on the Island. Sun may have been the first to realize that they need to get back, as it's possible that her main goal in purchasing Paik Industries is to make her way to the Island and save Jin, assuming that he's alive. As mentioned above, it's possible that her new link to Widmore may be the key to getting all of them back to the Island once and for all.

In a sense, for the survivors, "home" refers more to the Island than it does to the real world. Their lives in the outside world are unfulfilled: Sayid's wife is dead, Sun is without her husband, Jack has unresolved daddy issues, Hurley's in the nut house, and Kate is raising a son that doesn't belong to her. It seems more likely that eventually, the Island is the place that they will end up when they click their heals and wish for "no place like home."


End Game

Jack and Sawyer are running through the jungle to save Hurley. Kate and Sayid are trapped by ageless Richard and the Others while looking for Jack and Sawyer. Ben gets knocked out by Keemy, as Hurley and Locke wait in the wings to enter the Orchid. Sun and Jin are on the doomed Freighter with Aaron....along with enough C4 to blow up a small country.

We may know who comes out of this thing alive, but it will certainly be interesting to see how it all goes down.

One more week. Enjoy.


One Easter Egg worth noting:


If you noticed, there was a mysterious man aboard the plane with the 06. The PR woman nods quickly to him on her way out to talk to the survivors. Could be Widmore, could be Abbadon...or it could be no one.