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Lost 4.13 There's No Place Like Home Part 2
Posted Thursday, May 29, 2008
That was one hell of a roller coaster ride. So much happened in the last two hours of this season that I am still digesting a lot of it. The kind of advanced planning that the show writers have is obviously deeper than we thought. There were scenes in this episode that made me realize that the producers know exactly what they are doing. Before we delve into the massiveness of this finale, I want to take a look at the extended scene we got to see in the first hour.
I just want to go on record and say that the "crawl" on the repeats is annoying and demeaning. While I understand that it could be helpful to those who have missed episodes, what are those people doing watching the finale. You may be thinking, but sometimes we have things going on that pry us away on Lost night. To that I say: "Watch it on the internet, TiVo it, or go to the multitude of recap websites online." Anyways I digress. We learn more of the 06 cover story in the extended scenes. We learn that the 3 other people to "survive" the crash were Boone, Libby, and Charlie. Brilliant way to remind us of the deaths that had the biggest impact on viewers. While they added in at least one more question during the press conference they weren't really that significant. We all knew that Sayid had nothing back in Iraq for him.
The Others are Ninjas!
Keamy leads Ben back to the helicopter as Kate bursts out of the jungle. Keamy holds her at gunpoint, and Kate explains she was running away from Ben's people. Instantly, Keamy signals to his men. They take point and search the jungle. From above, an Other jumps out of a tree and garrotes one of Keamy's men! Another lassos a second merc, sending a burst of bullets from his AK-47. Keamy and Omar fire into the jungle, and the Others emerge with guns of their own, firing back. Kate tells Ben to run, and they take off. Keamy tries to shot them, but a grenade lands next to him. He kicks it over to Omar, and it explodes, killing Omar.
Keamy runs off after Kate and Ben. They reach the top of an embankment when Sayid leaps out of the jungle and tackles Keamy. They tumble down to the bottom and exchange blows. Then Richard Alpert unloads four shots into Keamy. Kate cuts Ben free, and Ben asks Alpert what their arrangement was. Alpert tells him if they helped free Ben, they would let them leave the island. Ben agrees and lets Kate and Sayid take the helicopter. Kate is shocked he's letting them leave so easily, and Ben simply says that's it. This whole sequence was awesome. It had been too long since we saw Sayid do the action stuff.
Wait Till You See What I'm Going to Do
Jack and Sawyer race to the Orchid station and run into Hurley. Hurley leads them inside, where Jack comes face-to-face with Locke for the first time since the camp split in two. Locke explains that there's a Dharma station underneath the greenhouse, but Jack doesn't want to listen. He tells Sawyer and Hurley they'll go back to the helicopter and use it to get all their people off the island. But Hurley tells Jack that might not be the best idea. Keamy and the mercenary team are already on their way back to the helicopter with Ben.
Locke asks Jack to reconsider staying on the island because he knows he's not supposed to go home. Jack mocks Locke and says right, crashing on the island was their destiny. Locke tells Jack if he leaves, it'll eat him alive until he decides to come back. Jack has had enough and starts to leave, but Locke stops him. Locke tells him they'll have to lie if they leave the island. It's the only way to protect it. Jack says it doesn't need protection. It's just an island. Locke tells him it's a place where miracles happen, but Jack doesn't believe in miracles. Locke tells Jack if he can't believe that, then wait until he sees what he's about to do. It totally makes sense that it was Locke's idea to lie about the island. He of all people doesn’t want more people to come here.
Then Ben comes in. Jack pulls his gun on him, but Ben ignores him. Ben crosses to the planter of anthuriums, bends down and flips the hidden switch underneath. A door next to Ben slides open revealing an elevator. Ben tells Jack that Kate and Sayid are waiting at the helicopter. They better leave and get to the boat within the hour. Locke tells Jack to lie about the island. If he's half as good as he is lying to himself, then everyone will believe him. Locke and Ben get inside and descend below into the Orchid station.
Getting Back Here
At the beach camp, Faraday returns for the second group to take to the freighter. Faraday tells Charlotte and Miles that they have to be on the next raft out. Miles, surprisingly, doesn't want to leave. He understands the direness of their situation but he wants to stay. He also mentions to Charlotte why would she leave after she spent so much time trying to get back here. Charlotte says she's going to stay for now. Faraday is worried. Charlotte tells him she's still looking for where she was born. She says good-bye and walks off. Wait so Charlotte was born on the island? Was she a native? Were here parents a part of Dharma and left the island before the purge? For the first time since her introduction I want to learn more about her past. Faraday leaves with the next group leaving Juliet also on the island. I'm proud that she kept her word and wouldn't go until everyone else got off the island. Unfortunately for her she's still stuck there.
Time Traveling Bunnies? Yeah.
Locke and Ben exit the elevator and find themselves in the Orchid Station. As they walk inside, Locke observes the various equipment and a nearby television. He looks to Ben and asks if that's the "magic box". Ben looks back at Locke with an absurd look and answers "no". Ben then offers Locke a video tape to answer all his questions about the station. Locke puts it in the television and Dr. Edgar Halliwax appears. Dr. Edgar Halliwax explains that this is station six of the Dharma Initiative. It is not a botanical research unit as indicated, and he apologizes for asking them to deceive their family and co-workers. It was done for their own security. The unique properties of the island have created a kind of Casimir effect, allowing them to conduct unique experiments in both space and time. Halliwax indicates an area known as the vault. It was built adjacent to a pocket of what they believe to be negatively charged "exotic matter." Halliwax opens the vault and puts in a rabbit. He explains that care must be taken to avoid leaving inorganic material in the vault chamber, and metallic objects must never be placed inside. In the first demonstration, they will attempt to shift the test subject 100 milliseconds ahead in four-dimensional space. For the briefest of moments, the animal will seem to disappear when in reality-- Halliwax is cut off as the tape locks up and rewinds to the beginning. Locke is alarmed to see Ben putting metal inside the vault. Locke reminds Ben that Halliwax specifically said not to put metal in there. But then they hear the elevator start back up to the greenhouse. Someone called it from up there. Ben asks if he can have his weapon back.
The elevator opens and Keamy steps out. The station is empty, but Keamy knows Ben is hiding somewhere and calls out to him, taunting him. He tells Ben he has a dead man's trigger strapped to his arm, which is a heart rate monitor connected to a radio transmitter. If his heart stops beating, it triggers the 500 pounds of C-4 in the freighter and all of Ben's friends explode. Locke steps out from his hiding place and tells Keamy that he and the people on the freighter have no conflict with him. Locke offers to talk about it, but Keamy isn't one for talking. Ben burst out of the locker he's hiding in, and with his telescoping baton whacks Keamy over the head multiple times. Keamy goes down, reaching for his knife. Ben grabs the knife first, and in pure, blinding rage, stabs Keamy in the chest. Ben completely snaps, and in a homicidal fury stabs Keamy again, yelling that he killed his daughter. Locke realizes what will happen and tries to pull Ben off him, but it's too late. Keamy is dying. Keamy tells Ben that Widmore will find him. Despite Locke's best efforts to save him, Keamy dies. Locke tells Ben that he just killed everyone on the freighter, to which Ben coldly responds, "So?"
Man Over-Board!
Hurley and Sawyer arrive at the helicopter. Kate and Sayid are there, too. Jack steps up behind Sawyer, and Kate checks to see how his sutures are doing. Lapidus starts the helicopter, everyone climbs on board, and they lift off. Nervous anticipation and excitement play on their faces. They now have hope they'll finally get off the island. But the chopper soon starts to sputter. Lapidus checks the fuel gage, and it's quickly decreasing. They look out and see a stream of gas leaking from a bullet hole. Lapidus tells them they have to set down, but Jack insists they fly to the freighter. Lapidus tells them they'll have to get rid of every ounce of extra weight, so everyone starts throwing everything out of the chopper. When there's nothing else left, Lapidus says he wishes he had an extra hundred pounds less. Sawyer looks at the others and makes a decision. He leans over to Kate, whispers something in her ear, and then kisses Kate. He breaks away and tells Kate to just do it. Then he jumps out of the chopper into the ocean below. He bops up to the surface and watches as the chopper disappears, then he starts swimming for the shore. Frank still can't find the freighter. Lapidus says they must have gotten the engines working and are moving towards the island. Then Hurley shouts out there it is behind them. Lapidus breathes a sigh of relief and banks towards the ship.
Frozen Donkey Wheel
Ben flips a switch on the control panel and starts the vault mechanism. He tells Locke to duck, because with all the metal inside, the vault explodes. Ben changes into a parka, telling Locke he's going somewhere cold, but Locke can't come with him. Ben explains that Jacob told Locke what to do but not how. That's because he wanted Ben to suffer the consequences: whoever moves the island can never come back. Ben tells Locke to go join Richard and the Others waiting two miles east of the Orchid. They'll be ready and willing to follow Locke's every word. Ben apologizes for making Locke's life miserable and heads into the hole blown out in the back of the vault. This was kind of a touching scene, Ben actually had sincerity in his voice like he was saying goodbye to a good friend.
Ben makes his way through a narrow tunnel towards an ancient ladder where the tunnel descends straight down. Ben climbs down the ladder. The lower he goes, the colder it gets. It gets so cold that the tunnel has iced over. Ben smashes through the ice and climbs down into an ancient chamber. One rung of rotten wood gives away, and Ben falls to the floor, ripping the parka and his arm. Ben gets up and looks around the iced-over chamber. Ancient symbols are etched into the walls. Along the far wall is a wooden wheel mounted horizontally. The wall around the wheel has been closed off so that only a fifth of the wheel sticks out. It has pegs every few feet with a hole in it, and all the pegs are caked with ice.
Ben walks over to it and touches it, knowing what it represents. He says out loud he hopes Jacob is happy now. Ben takes a crowbar and begins chipping away at the ice. Once he's freed enough of the wheel, he slips the crowbar into a peg slot, and forces the wheel to turn. Ben struggles with it, moving it more with each try. Soon something on the other side of the wall starts to hum, like it's idling to life. Ben continues to push, the wheel moves more, and the hum builds. A bright, white light spills through the wheel, and the whole room begins to vibrate and shake. The hum becomes piercing and the light grows brighter and brighter until the light envelopes the Island and everything within the light disappears. Ben, himself, is shot forward through time to the year 2005, in the Sahara Desert, where he begins the events of The Shape of Things to Come. Now we know why Ben was wearing a parka in his flash forward.
Redeeming Himself
Desmond, Michael and Jin try to figure out what to do about the bomb in the armory. Desmond knows a little about bombs from his army experience. He explains that the radio receiver is like a walkie talkie. Someone sends a signal, and the bomb is triggered remotely. But who has the trigger? Michael realizes its Keamy. He saw him wiring the remote to his arm. Jin asks if they can turn the bomb off. Desmond says if they disconnect the battery, it triggers the bomb and it explodes. But then Michael gets an idea. Michael lugs in a canister of liquid nitrogen and explains it's to freeze the battery. If the battery is too cold to produce a chemical reaction, then the bomb can't be triggered. It'll buy them some time. Desmond starts a diagram of the wires so they can separate the trip wires. Jin says he'll help, and they start to work. Desmond is about to cut some wires he thinks will deactivate the bomb when Jin suddenly yells out for him to stop. He points out that they lead into another bundle of taped wires that lead into the plastic explosive. There are just too many wires. Michael asks if that means they can't defuse it, and Desmond says he doesn't know. He asks if there's enough liquid nitrogen left, and Michael says he's only got about a quarter of a tank. They better start getting everyone off the ship. Jin notices the receiver light switch to red. He points it out to Michael and Desmond. Michael tells them to leave, that they have about five minutes to get everyone off the ship. Desmond takes off running and reaches the deck just as the helicopter is landing. He shouts at them to stop, that there's a bomb on board. Jack isn't sure he heard Desmond correctly. Did he say bomb? Lapidus says it doesn't matter, they have no fuel and sets the chopper down.
Sun is on the deck holding Aaron as pure chaos reigns around her. Desmond warns them they have to get off this boat right now as Jack, Lapidus and Sayid quickly try to repair the bullet holes. Sayid grabs a nozzle and starts fueling the tank. Sun heads below deck when Kate grabs her and tells her to get on the chopper with the baby. Sun tells her Jin is below and she won't leave without Jin. Kate offers to go get him, and Sun gets on the chopper. Down below, the liquid nitrogen starts to fizz out. Michael warns Jin that he has to leave. He's a father now and he owes it to his wife. Jin thanks Michael and takes off running.
Kate starts below, but Jack stops her. She says she's not leaving Jin, but Jack says he's not leaving her. They run back to the chopper and get on. Lapidus starts the chopper. Sun is alarmed where's Jin? The chopper lifts off right as Jin runs out on the deck. Sun sees him, and yells for them to go back. Jin waves his arms trying to get their attention.
In the armory, Michael sprays the last of the liquid nitrogen on the battery. Then he hears the whispers. He spins around and sees Christian Shephard behind him. Christian tells Michael he can go now. I don't think Christian meant literally he could leave the boat. Christian meant Michael can now leave the mortal coil. But did he do was he was "destined" to do? Either way, I have a feeling we won't be seeing him again.
In the helicopter, Sun is crying and screaming for them to go back. But it's too late. The freighter explodes! A fireball erupts into the sky and buffets the chopper. Everyone is shocked. With tears streaming down her face, Sun cries out in anguish. She is convinced Jin is down there, but Jack tells her he's gone. Then Jack tells Lapidus to head for the island. I am so hoping that Jin jumped off the boat and survived the explosion. I don't even want to think that they killed off Jin (although it is a high possibility).
Everyone sees the white light expand across the island. It happens fast, emerging from the center of the island and spreading out very fast. It buffets and rocks the chopper, vibrating and shaking it and suddenly it stops. The air goes calm. They blink and then the island disappears. It's gone. The question is, where did it go? I'm pretty sure it didn't move geographically, it moved through time. I think it moved to the year 2005, the same day that Ben shows up in the desert. It's pretty apparent that both islands moved.
Everyone is shocked and amazed, but Lapidus doesn't have time for it. The fuel tank is empty and there's no place to land. In every direction it's only water. He tells them to get their life jackets on. Sayid opens the life raft and pulls the cord, throwing it out as it inflates. The chopper begins to fall out of the sky, Lapidus tells them to hold on, and it crashes into the ocean. Underwater, Jack orients himself and swims up to the surface. He sees Kate and Aaron climbing into the raft. Sayid is helping Sun up, but Lapidus is dragging over a completely inert Desmond. Jack swims over and helps push Desmond onto the raft. Jack climbs in and quickly starts CPR. As everyone begins to think Desmond has died... water suddenly spits out from his mouth. He coughs and gags. He's alive. They're all alive. But alone on the vast ocean, they are far from okay.
What Everyone Else Saw
At the beach camp, Juliet sits and watches the waves, drinking from a bottle of Dharma Rum. Sawyer swims to shore and ambles up casually to her. Juliet points out in the distance where the remnants of the freighter can be seen on the horizon. That was the boat. It hits Sawyer hard he has no idea if the chopper landed before or after the explosion and if Kate is okay or not.
In the jungle at the stream, Locke finds Richard Alpert and the Others waiting. Alpert says to Locke welcome home, and Locke smiles. Locke and Alpert turn towards the loud, pulsating hum. The white light washes across their faces. At the beach camp, Juliet and Sawyer look inland as the light completely overcomes them. On the ocean, Faraday is halfway back to the beach with his group when they are consumed in the brightness. Locke is now on his true "destined" path.
Not Penny's Boat
Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, Frank, and Desmond continue to float on the life-raft. Hurley says he can't believe Locke actually moved the island. Jack scoffs, says no, he didn't. Hurley says well one minute it was there, the next it was gone. If Jack has a better explanation, Hurley would like to hear it. Then Lapidus stands up and starts shouting. There's a boat out there. They see the lights in the distance and start shouting. The boat turns in their direction. They are actually going to be rescued. But then Jack realizes something. He tells them they're going to have to lie about it all. Lapidus doesn't understand. Jack reminds him that the men on the freighter came to kill everyone on the island, that someone planted fake wreckage at the bottom of the ocean so everyone would think they were dead. What would happen to them if they say it wasn't their plane? What would happen to the people left on the island? Kate says they won't believe them, but Jack says let him do the talking.
As the boat pulls up beside the raft, they can hear a man shouting in Portuguese. He says the name Ms. Widmore. Penny looks over the railing, and Desmond finally sees her. For the first time in over three years, their eyes meet. Desmond climbs a rope ladder up to the deck, and they run into each other's arms. They hold each other weeping with joy. Desmond can't believe she found him. She tells him she has a tracking station. Desmond tells Penny he loves her and will never leave her again. Penny's crew helps the others out of the raft. Desmond introduces Penny to everyone, and Jack tells her they need to talk. This scene was SO touching and rewarding.
Days later, Hurley asks again what it's called, and Sayid says Membata. Hurley asks why they're doing this, and Sayid tells him it's the only way to keep them safe. They drop the life raft back into the ocean, and everyone says their good-byes. Lapidus says they should make landfall in about eight hours. The Oceanic Six climb down into the raft, and Jack says let's go home. They set off. Cut to a beach where a young boy is fishing. Suddenly, he sees the raft, and he calls out and waves. Jack rows to shore, and they're helped out by the villagers. They're finally back in civilization, and soon they'll be home.
We Have To Go Back Part 2
We actually start the episode where we ended last season's finale Jack and Kate behind LAX, and this time we get to see the rest of it. Kate drives off, just like we saw her do in last year's finale, but Jack keeps yelling they have to go back. Kate suddenly stops and confronts Jack. She is mad at him for expecting her to care about Jeremy Bentham, the man from the obit. He was crazy, and she's shocked that Jack believed him. She's spent the last three years trying to forget all the horrible things that happened on the day they left how dare he ask her to go back.
My How You've Grown!
Walt comes to visit Hurley in the mental institute. After Walt's grandmother grills Hurley to make sure he is "safe". Walt then joins Hurley, who starts talking about how "kind of big" Walt has become. Walt then tells Hurley that when they came back, he was waiting for one to see him but nobody did. Hurley then apologizes. But Walt quickly underlines that one person did come see him: Jeremy Bentham. Walt then continues by saying he doesn't understand why "they" (Bentham and the Oceanic Six) are all lying. Hurley then comes closer to Walt to reveal that they are doing that to protect the people that remained on the Island, the people that didn't come back. Hurley lies by including Walt's father. Wow Walt has grown. He's almost not recognizable.
Checkmate Mr. Eko
Sayid arrives at Hurley's mental institute. He finds the man who has been stalking Hurley outside Santa Rosa and executes him in his car at night. He then enters secretly the Mental Institute and pays a visit to Hurley. The latter is playing chess, seemingly alone, even though another chair, empty, is in front of him. Hurley makes a joke about visiting hours, as he is indeed quite surprised to see Sayid here. But this isn't a visit: Sayid wants Hurley to come with him, "somewhere safe". Hurley replies that he hasn't seen him in "like forever" and doesn't understand why he should join him, to which Sayid replies that "circumstances have changed": Bentham is dead. He supposedly killed himself 2 days ago. Hurley doesn't want to call Bentham by this alias and is about to call him by his real name but Sayid stops him, adding that they are being watched. Hurley says that he has been regular conversations with dead people, and the last thing he needs is paranoia. Sayid replies that he has just killed a man who has been here for a week and that paranoia for him keeps him alive. Hurley is worried that they are going back, but Sayid says that no, they are just going to somewhere safe. Hurley accepts, but just as he is about to leave the room, he plays one more time on his chessboard, beating the opponent supposedly in the empty chair: Mr. Eko. Where is Sayid taking him? Is Sayid actually trying to get back to the island now?
In Bed With The Enemy?
Sun arrives in London and is seen talking to her mother on the phone. Her mother seems to take care of Ji Yeon, now able to speak, whilst Sun is out to "take care of some business". In front of Sun is a restaurant from where comes out Charles Widmore. Sun approaches him and presents herself as the daughter of Paik, and the managing director of Paik Industries. Widmore recognizes the name and asks about her father. After some small talk, Sun brutally underlines the fact that Widmore knows who she "really" is, but Widmore continues this charade. She then adds that Widmore knows that they have been lying the whole time about where they were and what happened to them their. She and Widmore have common interests, Sun says. She then gives him her Paik business card: he can call her when he is ready to discuss about that common agenda. Sun then mysteriously adds that, as Widmore knows, "they are not the only one who left the Island". Widmore, surprised, asks why she would want to help him. Without answering, she leaves, with tears in her eyes. Is she trying to get vengeance on Widmore because of Jin's "death"? Is she actually going to work with him or just use him to get back to the island. Either way Sun has now become a force to be reckoned with.
Forgetting Is Not So Easy
Kate wakes up to footsteps, but no one seems in the house. Suddenly, the phone rings. A male voice says "The island needs you. You have to go back before it's too late" in reverse. She hears someone prowling elsewhere in the house. She panics and digs for the gun hidden in her closet. She goes to check up on Aaron, and is shocked to find someone in Aaron's bedroom She points the gun at the intruder and yells that the intruder should not dare touch her son. The intruder turns around and appears to be Claire. Claire says that Kate cannot let Aaron go back to the Island: she can't bring him back. Kate then wakes up a second time and quickly checks on Aaron: there is no intruder or Claire, everything seems normal. Kate starts to cry and says out loud she's sorry. Why would the island, Jacob or whatever tell Kate in the same dream that she has to go back, but Aaron can't? Why doesn't Jacob want Aaron to come back to the island?
Why is J.L. In A Short Box?
Jack, still drunk and high from the pills, drives to the funeral parlor, closed. He wants to enter so he breaks the doorknob off the door with a brick. As he stands near the casket, he sees that no one has yet signed the release form for Bentham's body. Ben then suddenly enters the room. Jack says to Ben that Bentham told him he was off the Island: Jack and Kate spoke to Bentham about a month prior. Bentham told him that after he left the Island "some very bad things happened" and it was Jack's fault because he left. Bentham added that Jack had to come back. Ben then replies that he has heard that Jack has been riding passenger planes, hoping to crash on the Island. Ben describes this as "very dark". Jack wants to know why Ben is here. Ben is here to let Jack know that the Island wont let him come alone: "all of you have to go back". Jack doesn't know where Sayid is, Hurley is insane, Sun blames Jack for Jin's death, and Kate doesn't even want to talk to him anymore. Ben thinks he can help Jack with that. This is the way it has to be, the only way: all of them have to do it together. Ben has a few ideas as to how to do it. But he is quick to point out that all of them have to go, and that includes the deceased Bentham, who is revealed to be none other than John Locke. Whoa! Locke is the one in the casket?! Why the hell would he leave the island. What kind of horrible things happened after the 06 left that would make John leave? Did he become a cripple again after leaving? Did he somehow loose his legs and that is why he is in a shorter casket?! The fact that Locke was in the casket just made my head go spinning.
It appears to me that most of Season 5 will be the 06 getting back to the island. But they have to take Locke with them. Does that mean they have to take Frank and Desmond too? I can't believe we have to wait 7 to 8 months to find out what happens next! Good luck surviving the hiatus everyone!
Namaste!
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