There's No Place Like Home
As the final moments of tonight's episode unspooled accompanied by the stirring music of Michael Giacchino, I could barely stand the suspense as we watched all of our favorite core characters positioning themselves (or being positioned) for the battle to come. All of the pieces are falling into place for what is sure to be a mind-blowing finale in two weeks.
As the episode began with a flash forward, we saw the homecoming of the recently-saved Oceanic Six. In the back of a military cargo plane, they got their stories aligned and prepped for the onslaught of questions to come, deciding that their collective shock would be their best defense against probing queries for which they had no answers. Jack continued to play the role of leader rallying his troops, though it seemed as though his credibility was already beginning to wane at this point, his typical heroic demeanor in some way offset by a touch of desperation. It was bittersweet and emotionally satisfying to see each of these characters facing the ones they left behind- Jack seeing his mother, Hurley and Sun seeing their parents. But what was worse was the big question mark we are still left with- why did these six leave the island and what was the fate of the ones that remained?
On the island, the survivors slowly began to realize the danger they were facing from Keamy and his mercenaries as Daniel pushed to get people back to the freighter. Jack and Kate met up with a shell-shocked Sawyer, Miles and Aaron on the way to find the errant helicopter. We later learned that Lapidus had purposely dropped the phone so that the survivors could track him. Meanwhile, fresh off their visit to Jacob's cabin, Locke, Hurley and Ben continued their trek through the island as Ben formulated a plan to sacrifice himself- at least temporarily- to buy them time and to help them reach the elusive Orchid station.
Back to the future, Sayid enjoyed his long-awaited reunion with Nadia; Sun confronted her father about Jin and then dropped the bombshell that she had used her settlement to buy controlling interest in her father's company; some of the Oceanic Six gathered to celebrate Hurley's birthday, as the gift from his father served as an eerie reminder that the numbers still have some kind of role to play; and Jack delivered a long-delayed eulogy for Christian and received some disturbing news about his family tree. (That was
Veronica Hamel of
Hill Street Blues fame playing Jack's mother.)
Thanks to Daniel, a handful of survivors made it back to the freighter, including Sun, caring for Aaron, and Jin who had a tense and unexpected reunion with the long-last Michael. The survivors had barely made it on board before Desmond, Michael and Jin discovered a huge stash of C4- enough to incinerate 10 freighters. And back on the island, Kate and Sayid landed in a trap courtesy of the timeless Richard Alpert.
We did get a few more answers tonight, in fits and starts of course:
- the world is under the impression that Kate gave birth to Aaron on the island.
- Jack mentioned that eight people survived, so what's the story with the additional two survivors who allegedly died on the island?
- Sun claimed that Jin died on impact. Why is that such a critical point (later clarified on his tombstone).
- Jack did not learn the truth about Claire until he was off the island.
So, moving the island is a "measure of last resort?" I should hope so since it seems like a rather large undertaking. But as Ben reminded John, "I always have a plan." What of the other survivors? Where is this grand plan leading them and how can this season top itself? As I am sitting here and rewatching the final few minutes, I am again convinced that not only will the finale meet expectations. It will exceed them. See you in two weeks!
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Lost fix right now? Check out the
Online Video Guide for clips and previews.
