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Lost: Something Nice Back Home

Jack: "Why aren't you taking your meds?"
Hurley: "Because we're dead. All of us. All the Oceanic Six, we're all dead. We never got off the Island."

Creepy. And heavy, what with the major ghost action and the extreme close-ups of meatball surgery on the beach at night.

Geez, Jack. Controlling much? Although actually, it was in character for Jack to insist on supervising Juliet operating on himself. It was sort of weird, too, because the flashforwards assured us that Jack was going to live, which under normal television circumstances would have lessened the suspense. Except for Hurley's certainty that the Oceanic Six were all dead, and that they never got off the Island.

As I thought, Jack's substance problem was indeed caused by Christian's arrival, just as Charlie caused Hurley's break with reality. Charlie gave Hurley a message for Jack that Jack wasn't supposed to be raising Aaron. (Going all the way back to "Raised by Another" in season one.)

Geez. Maybe they are all dead. Things really were going way too well. Kate's trial did free her, which was pretty unlikely. Jack acquired Kate and Aaron as the perfect ready-made family to replace the one he screwed up. (I wasn't surprised that it was Kate in the shower, although my jaw dropped when he proposed to her.) They probably won't be together for long, though, since it took about five minutes for Jack's jealousy issues to kick in. Of course, the drugs and alcohol and seeing Christian at the hospital probably had something to do with it. It's not paranoia if your dead father really is out to get you.


There was a clue that flash forward Jack knew he was Aaron's uncle: he yelled at Kate that she wasn't even related to Aaron. But Claire doesn't know her father's name; she only knows what he looks like. So how could Jack possibly know? The only way would be if Christian told one of them. I wish we'd gotten at least one conversation with Christian – with either Jack or Claire.

I think they were also hinting that the flash forwards weren't real, and that Jack was dreaming while he was anesthetized. Some (but not all) of the flash forwards corresponded to Jack's periods of unconsciousness. Bernard asked him, "Wouldn't you rather be dreaming about something nice back home?" which was the title of the episode. I was also wondering about the towel scene in the teaser. I think they were deliberately showing us Jack's surgery scar, suggesting that it wasn't the afterlife. But wouldn't Jack imagine the scar was there if he thought it was real?

While Jack was having a whole new surgical experience, Sawyer continued to be outright heroic and protective of Claire and Aaron. I thought it was a fun parallel that Miles asked Sawyer if he was Claire's big brother, considering what else was going on in the episode. Somehow, Christian managed to take Claire away from Aaron. Freaking wow. Claire would never voluntarily leave Aaron alone in the jungle, so how did Christian do it? And even more importantly, why? How could Christian even pick that baby up? Because the walking dead are real, and corporeal. I want to know what the walking dead on the Island really are, and I want to know Right Now.

Character bits:

The episode opened with a close-up of Jack's left eye. Weirdly enough, it looked blue. They do that a lot with the close-ups, making the eye appear to be a color that it's not. I just checked my list, and Jack and Claire are the only ones who have gotten both a left and a right eye scene. For what it's worth.

Claire said she was seeing things because of the blow to her head. Yes, let's add some ambiguity to Claire seeing Christian, shall we?

Jin discovered that Charlotte speaks Korean, even though she tried to keep it to herself. Charlotte cared enough about Faraday to give in to Jin's threats. And now, clever and rather scary Jin has ensured that Sun will be on that helicopter.

Miles' special talent allowed him to find Danielle and Karl in shallow graves. Who buried them? Keamy and company? Why would they bother? Just to conceal them, I suppose.



Frank Lapidus is a good guy. He protected Miles, Sawyer, Claire and Aaron from Keamy.

There was yet another tatt on Jack's back. And I'm sure we'll have many debates about what it says and what it means.

Where did Kate go, and what was she doing for Sawyer? Did it have something to do with Sawyer's daughter?

I assume Kate is no longer married to Kevin? I wish they would bring Nathan Fillion back. I want him on one of the shows I watch, not Desperate Housewives.

I liked the way Juliet let Jack know that she knew he loved Kate, and not herself. I like Juliet a lot. She's a classy woman. Plus she kept calm and saved Jack under some pretty extreme circumstances. If she hadn't been there, Jack would have died.



Bits and pieces:

— This flashforward took place after "Eggtown" and before "Through the Looking Glass." This must have been after "The Beginning of the End," too.

— Rose stated the obvious. Why did Jack get sick in the first place? Doesn't the Island heal people? Did he indeed piss off the Island gods, whatever they are? Jacob, Christian, Charlie?

— Jack's last name is Shephard; it was on his door at the hospital. But it was "Shepard" on his white coat. Oops.

— Jack tripped over one of Aaron's toys: the Millennium Falcon.

— I think Jack was thinking of Juliet while he was holding the razor that Kate bought him. Stomach-shaving scene.

— "Yankees bludgeon Red Sox in series sweep." Another reference to fate. "That's why the Red Sox will never win the damned series" was Christian Shephard's way of saying, "It's fate."

— Jack was reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to Aaron, and it was the passage where Alice was wondering if she was the same person that she used to be. There have been a lot of references to Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass on this show. Come to think of it, Kate was holding up a looking glass, wasn't she?

— During the hallway Jack/Kate scene in the flash forward, there was a creepy painting in the background. It was a shadowy human figure in a mist half submerged in a circle. I wonder if that was supposed to represent the walking dead?

— Do ghosts set off smoke alarms?

— Aaron was carrying a stuffed whale. I think they missed a primo opportunity to get another stuffed bear in there.

Quotes:

Rose: "The day before we're all supposed to be rescued, the person that we count on the most suddenly comes down with a life-threatening condition, and you're chalking it up to bad luck?"
Bernard: "Well, what are you saying? That Jack did something to offend the gods? People get sick, Rose."
Rose: "Not here. Here, they get better."

Faraday: "Where do you suppose all this power is coming from?"
Charlotte: "Add that on to the list, Dan."
What list?

Miles: "Good morning."
Sawyer: "It's way too early for Chinese."

Another fascinating episode. The reader poll rating was split almost evenly between three and four polar bears,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

4 comments:

  1. I have about fifty-seven other things I should be doing right now, but I can't tear myself away from this show. I can't get over how good this season is and how compelling. "One more show, then I'll ..."

    I tend to enjoy the Jack episodes and this one was no different. The flash forwards were especially good, especially the scene with Hurley. I believed that Kate had gone to see Hurley and was trying to hide it for some reason. But no, she triggered Jack's fatal flaw. And, of all people, Sawyer. Jack's jealousy is quite something to behold.

    And, in direct comparison, we have Juliet who is class personified. "I know you're awake" really got to me. What a good way to let someone off the hook gently. She may lie and I still believe that she would do anything to get off the Island, but she has her great points.

    I'm beginning to think there is something genetic going on here. Christian is obviously able to appear at will; Jack gets ill on the island (the only other one we've seen is Ben, right?); Claire has now disappeared; and, Aaron is special (at least according to the Australian psychic). Too much to be a coincidence.

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  2. And, in direct comparison, we have Juliet who is class personified. "I know you're awake" really got to me. What a good way to let someone off the hook gently. She may lie and I still believe that she would do anything to get off the Island, but she has her great points.

    I'm so glad you like Juliet, Chris. Some of your comments on Season Three made it seem like you hadn't decided about her yet.

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  3. This episode taste so bittersweet.
    I love Alice in the wonderland's allusions. I love Jack,so vulnerable and controlling,so dogged and obsessed by the guilt,the lies. His fear of failing as Aaron's daddy is so real and moving.
    In the FlashForward Jack and Kate finally happy and engaged.
    Kate is calm and settled down,she's free,she's in love,she's a mother. To lie is never a concern to her. She doesn't think about the island at all.
    Jack falls apart,loses the control and fight with Kate. The Island never leaves him alone.
    On the beach,Jack's surgery discoses definitely Kate's feelings for the doctor,Juliet tactfully steps aside.
    In the jungle Claire disappears mysteriously.

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  4. While Jack's jealousy is definitely the main culprit here, I don't get why Kate lied to Jack. I'm sure he would've understood whatever promise she needed to fulfil.

    ReplyDelete

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