Weekly Top 10 Countdown
Episode 4.12 - "There's No Place Like Home" (Part One)
by Jeremiah Dollins
Welcome back to the weekly Lost top 10, where we re-live all the greatest moments of the most recent episode (with lame analysis by yours truly). So, put on your gloves, grab a trowel, and let's take a trip to the
As an early sidenote, there were so many great moments in this episode, I may have to make a couple honorable mentions.
Number 10
Batman and Superman Unite!
I wish this comparison had been my own, but I stole it from DocJensen over at Entertainment Weekly (great column, by the way). He describes the union of Jack and Sawyer to be on par with that of Superman teaming up with Batman. As a huge comic book fan, I'm quite jealous.
This scene worked on many levels. It added a new wrinkle to the name-combo love triangle (man, I know some will hate me for saying this, but why do we have to combine names to make a cutesy relationship tag--doesn't that just trivialize what the writers have done by creating a terrific tangled triangle?). Kate takes Aaron from Sawyer in an interesting twist on Sawyer's earlier season comment about "playing house." Jack's bleeding is not only external, but internal as well when Sawyer rips open his heart by telling him Locke was right, the freighter folk are here to kill them. Then, Sawyer, becoming quite the anti-hero, does the unthinkable: he willingly teams up with Jack to travel to the chopper in order to rescue Sayid and Desmond. His line, "Hold up! You don't get to die alone!" is a classic turn on Jack's famous tagline.
I get the feeling that Sawyer is going to die, maybe even in the season finale. I know Jack said in his flashforward that Sawyer chose to stay on the
Number 9
"My father didn't have a daughter..."
How surprising was it that Claire's mom did not die. Did anyone see that coming? I bet she woke up from her coma right around the time Claire sent out her avian distress call in last season's "Par Avion." Just a thought.
When Claire's mom gives Jack the news, Jack's face was priceless. I think it took him every ounce of strength not to look at Aaron right away so as not to give away anything to her mother. The guilt of letting Claire fade into the night without saving her no doubt multiplied exponentially in this moment - just one more reason to pop Oxy, I guess.
Sidenote alert! On one of the forums, someone mentioned Desmond's vision from season three in which he told Charlie that he saw Claire getting on a helicopter with Aaron. I hadn't even thought about this until I read it. There are so many plot threads in the air, it's tough keeping track of them all, even for the most obsessed fans. What does this mean, though? Was Desmond lying to provoke Charlie to venture to the Looking Glass station--which wouldn't jibe with the fact that Desmond went to save Charlie. Or did something happen in the Looking Glass that changed Desmond's vision - course correction. Some speculate it was Charlie's handwritten (literally) note--"Not Penny's boat"--that changed the outcome and kept Claire off the helicopter. Or, is this just an oversight by the writers?
Number 8
"Michael?"
It was only about 80-some days ago that Michael saw Sun naked and we were speculating about a Michael-Sun-Jin triangle (I guess it didn't work out because we couldn't come up with another cute name-combo). Now, Michael is pretty much the most hated character on the show. This scene was good and it may have a connection with Sun's comment (discussed later) that two men were responsible for Jin's death. Could the other be Michael? How ironic would that be if Michael came back to make up for the deaths of Anna-Lucia and Libby, only to contribute to the death of Jin?
Number 7
A new Sun has risen.
Isn't birthright supposed to pass down to the first-born son? Well, Sun is obviously not a man, and it's equally obvious her father had no intention in passing any level of birthright to her. So Sun did what she had to do--she took it. Like Jacob in the Bible, she stole her birthright from underneath her father's nose.
This scene was brilliant! Not only did Sun assert herself and provide us with a great twist. She opened up a new question. Who is the second man responsible for Jin's death? This seems to mean Jin is dead in the future. I speculate it is Michael, not just for sake of irony, but also because of logistics--they're both on the freighter.
Question, though. A lot of people have been asking this, and I also wondered the same thing. How much money did the Oceanic Six get in their settlement with the airline? Unless Mr. Paik has a moderately small business, Sun would have had to come up with some major change to purchase "controlling interest" in the company. Are we just supposed to accept this without question and suspend our disbelief, or is there an alternative answer? Maybe Hurley gave Sun his part of the settlement since he wanted no part of it.
Number 6
No thank you, I'd rather walk...or run...
Talk about a horrible birthday. Hurley arrives home in his beat up car, finds the front door of the mansion open, hears the whispers, picks up Jesus for a weapon, and discovers a slew of family and friends in the backyard for a surprise party. It must be great to be loved, but somehow Hurley's parents didn't get the memo that said Hurley didn't want to be reminded of the
Hurley's dad only makes it better/worse when he unveils Hurley's gift: the renovated Camaro, complete with a set of dashboard numbers. The odometer reads 4 8 15 16 23 42. Just when he thought he was safe, the numbers strike again. Hurley runs away. This may be the first step towards madness.
Sidenote: Did anyone not laugh when Hurley's mom said, "Jesus Christ is not a weapon!" One of the things I love the most about Lost is that we fans have become obsessed with the smallest details. Everything seems to have some deeper meaning. We overturn ever stone looking for a clue to solve the puzzle.
I teach English. Recently we've been reading a novel called Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers (great book, by the way--definitely not Lost related). This week, after finishing the book, we were talking about a scene in one of the middle chapters and I asked a question about symbolism and irony. One of my students raised her hand and said, "Mr. Dollins, can't a book just be a book? Does everything have to have a meaning?"
She was right, in a manner of speaking. Sometimes a statue of Jesus is just a statue of Jesus. Maybe there's extra meaning. I guess Hurley could be making a political commentary on the nature of the fundamental Christian Right. Perhaps there's a symbol of resurrection here, or a comment on Hurley's need for salvation. Or maybe it's just a statue. That's what makes Lost so compelling, and so frustrating...
Number 5
Reunited...and it feels so good...
I nearly cried when Sayid and Nadia finally meet again. Eight years Sayid has been trying to find her. The look in his eyes, so vulnerable, so full of disbelief and joy, was one of Naveen Andrew's shining moments on the show. Notwithstanding his brief tryst with
Number 4
What was that? A guitar tuner? An MP3 player?
Now we know what that thing strapped to Keamy's arm was: a detonator. The freighter is lined wall-to-wall with explosives. My guess is that Keamy saw the rescue coming while he was away to find Ben and knew he had to have a safeguard to ensure his return to Widmore. This may have been one of the directions in the secondary protocol.
I don't know about you, but something tells me we've got some fireworks coming in two weeks. Lost may be a cerebral show for literate people, but it still likes to blow stuff up real good.
Number 3
The Oceanic 6 press conference
A lot is going to be made of this scene, and it is a great one. In terms of the overall story, this scene sets in motion some of the questions season five will attempt to answer: 1) Are there any other survivors? 2) How much knowledge do the folks at Oceanic airlines have about this ordeal? 3) What are the members of the O6 hiding? 4) How did they get that picture taken? 5) Will Kate's story be good enough, or will it be the weak link that exposes the O6 to the world?
What I loved most about this scene was how our survivors were introduced in the first shot. They looked small and insignificant, like pawns on a chessboard as they sat on the stage in a cavernous hangar. Great camera direction here.
Number 2
"How many times do I have to tell you, John..."
If Michael Emerson does not win an Emmy this year, the voters are a bunch of cotton-headed ninny-muggins. Seriously, if we didn't have evidence to Emerson's greatness yet (with classic performances in "The Shape of Things to Come" and "Cabin Fever"), we got another piece here as he gives Locke instructions on how to enter the Orchid station.
"I always have a plan," Ben says. How true, yet how creepy. What is Ben's plan? He gives himself up to Keamy's men, no doubt completely sure they cannot kill him. In typical Ben style, he allows himself to get his ass kicked again. These plans of his usually come at the expense of his body, have you noticed. He's like the basketball player Allen Iverson. The little guy (6'1, a virtual midget in basketball terms) is a freak of nature, having survived 12-plus years in the NBA driving to the hoop, sacrificing his body to score points. I remember seeing a graphic once during a playoff broadcast that revealed he was dealing with seven injuries simultaneously, yet he was on the court putting up 30 some odd points on the board. That's Ben for you, sacrificing his body for the greater good.
Number One (drum-roll, please...)
It's an Others' Party, who could ask for more...
Not much has been made of this, at least on the sites I frequent, but I think the appearance of Richard and the rest of the Others was an incredible, and welcome surprise. Fresh from their trip to the Temple, where they obviously feel spiritually rejuvenated, they had time to load up their rifles, put on their rags, and hit the jungle on a mission to save the island. Richard's "put your guns down" moment clearly echoed Mr. Friendly's warning to Jack way back in "The Hunting Party" A similar moment also occurred earlier this season in "Confirmed Dead" when Miles and Daniel were ambushed by Sayid and Juliet. Is this just a convention the writers are beating (cliché intended) like a dead horse, or is there a greater purpose to the motif? As with all things Lost, I am a firm believer in the latter.
Honorable mention
Aaron...Superbaby!
Does the boy ever need to eat? To sleep? To have his diaper changed? If my children were this autonomous, I would be in heaven! I think the Island is sustaining him, protecting him to be Locke's replacement in the future. That's not a joke. Like Locke, he too is chosen. After all, he is the only baby born on the Island...that has to mean something.
Wizard of Oz returns
J. Wood over at Powell's Books may just have the best blog about Lost on the net. He spends a lot of time on this episode discussing the parallels to The Wizard of Oz. I was especially intrigued by his connection to the battle between the gold standard and bimetallism that consumed politics at the turn of the 20th century--Yellow Brick Road, indeed.
There's something in that connection which may impact Lost on a larger scale. Just as the conflict between the way in which currency should be backed consumed politicians way back when, the conflict between Ben and Widmore over the use of the Island will consume the thrust of this story in the coming seasons. Perhaps there is a connection here. The Island offers something that needs to be "mined," or exploited, and the one who controls it, controls...something big. Only the producers know for sure.
Spoilers Suck
With the two week hiatus before the next episode, it is especially worth mentioning the availability of spoilers on other sites. I, for one, am very tempted by spoilers, just as Adam and Eve were tempted by the fruit. So, shame on you, whoever discovered the ending of season four...I've been strong so far, but who knows how long my resolve can last. I am very intrigued by the "Frozen Donkey Wheel" promised in the finale.
Oh well...pray for me that I may keep.
See you in two weeks.
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If I knew who that lostfan108 was I'd tie him to a frozen donkey wheel and set it in motion.
Regarding Sun's hostile takeover of Paik Industries (which I can't imagine is a small business)it was said that the money came from 5 different banks. Is it possible that some of that money came from Ben Linus?
Let's throw out some possibilities:
1. Sun has been hoarding some of daddy's money for her own use.
2. Sun struck up a partnership with Hugo where she used some of his investment capital.
Daddy Paik's henchmen did say that it was traced to 5 banks.
Here's a couple:
Sun could have some money put away from when she was planning to runaway to America.
Maybe Ben convinced her (like Sayid) that Widmore had something to do with Jin's death, and they struck a deal where she uses Paik Industries to damage Widmore.
Maybe the Oceanic 6 pooled some of there money for this purpose. It could have to do with a deal they made to get off the island, or as part of the cover-up.
Apparently in real life, the detonator/dead man's switch thing is a metronome.
I don't know how large the Oceanic settlements were, but it would stand to reason that Sun was paid TWO settlements, one for her and one for Jin.
did anyone notice that there were 5 of the 06 together on the plane and jack by himself are they not wanting to sit with him and he speaks for all???intersts could those 5 have all joined together with sun to buy Mr.Paiks company??
Aaron Superbaby- I thought Rousseou crashed pregnant on the island then gave birth to Alex. Wouldn't that make Alex another baby bprn on the island?