Initial Thoughts: There’s No Place Like Home (Pt 2)
*Sniffle*
I proclaim that this episode was hands down my favorite episode of the entire show… of any season… the best.
(If you haven’t watched then don’t read on. Lots of major reveals in this episode)
The bittersweet season ending to, dare I say, the best (and shortest) season since Lost premiered. Sweet because we finally got to see it, bitter because here comes seven loooooong months of waiting.
1. After two hours it was hard to find the place to start. I feel more moved than most movies that I see in the theater. This one I’ll need to see again… and maybe one more time after that. 
2. Desmond and Penny! Yes! The kiss that was Carlton Cuse’s favorite scene of the show. I wondered… when I saw the Kate/Sawyer kiss it was nice but not time stopping. But YES! When Penny and Des see each other! Wow, spectacular! I was hoping so much that they wouldn’t kill off Des and Frank. AND I think that Frank has to survive because he knows about the island and the other Losties and… he can fly a plane. He’ll be back.
3. Confirmed – Jin is dead. Yunjin Kim was amazing in that scene. I can see why Sun would blame Jack for his death. I would too. That totally sucked but on the other hand maybe none of them would have lived had Frank not taken the chopper away. But, I could also see how they could explain that he makes it off the boat, gets on the raft with Dan and somehow survives. Damn it! Not sure again!
4. Locke is Jeremy Bentham. That sucks in so many ways. But we know that we’re not done with him, especially if he comes and talks to Jack and Kate. He’s the new Ben on the island. Plus we have to see why it is that Locke is the one that can keep the Losties back home safe and with him dead why they are now in danger.
5. For me, this was the episode of sacrifices. Jin for Sun. Michael “tried” to save Jin. Sawyer jumped for Kate. Sayid risked his life to come and take Hurley somewhere safe. Ben not willing to sacrifice anything for the people on the boat yet sacrifices his life on the island to save the island.
6. I found it very intense when Jack and Locke first meet at the Orchid. Another Emmy moment for (Jack) Matthew?
7. The whispers were loud tonight. They have to be connected with the Others because right after Kate shows up at the helicopter to help Ben escape, before the Others rescue him, you can hear the whispers.
8. We got to see the Others using the magic darts again. This time, though, they were electrified. Cool toys!
9. OK, was the fight scene between Keemy and Sayid the coolest or what? My heart was racing! Naveen Andrews has to be thrilled with the direction and the scenes that Sayid was in this year.
10. Darlton said that we’d see Walt again and the growth would be explained. Guess they were telling the truth. I’m going to be interested to see if he’s brought back to the show regularly.
11. I guess Locke’s prophecy about Jack’s life back on land was correct. The lies are eating him from the inside out.
12. I chuckled when Ben told Locke to watch this “very informative video.”
13. Will need to get a better listen to all the time movement stuff that Ben tells Locke.
14. Now I have to go back and watch Ben’s episode where he wakes up in the middle of the desert. I guess now we know why Charlotte found the bear in the middle of the desert. It also sounds like she was born there. Now we’ll get to see their flashbacks since Charlotte and Miles are stuck on the island. And where is DAN!!!??? He’s a smart guy, surely he can figure how to get them somewhere. Maybe he planned for this somewhere in his book? They can’t just leave him floating to certain death.
15. I love that Hurley is seeing all sorts of dead people now. Does he have a gift like Miles and just chalks it up to being crazy?
16. Sawyer’s character has just changed so much as we see from him jumping from the helicopter that I’m going to be excited to see where they take him over the next two seasons.
17. OK so why would Locke’s death be staged to look like a suicide? Again, this is going to be so interesting to see play out over the next two years. There cannot be another writer’s strike.
18. Michael hears the whispers right before Christian shows up on the boat. Guess we know that he is really dead.
19. Sun is helping Widmore? There must be more of Ben that we’re going to see as well.
20. Ben doesn’t sacrifice his life on the island without having a plan. Then I think he knows the only way he can get back is with the 6 Losties so he manipulates them to get back. He always has a plan.
21. So when Ben “moves the island” does it not look remarkably like when the hatch imploded?
22. The helicopter crash would have to be so traumatic considering this was their second plane crash. No wonder Hurley went off his rocker.
23. Was it just me or did the shot of Jack when he first gets on the raft look really weird? It was either a terrible production problem or something odd happened there.
24. Back to Walt, why would his grandma agree to bring him halfway across the country to see Hurley? What went on in that conversation?
25. Kate sees Claire. I’ve read the thought that Claire died when Keemy and the gang blew up her house. That is why she woke up without a scratch from being blown up. That is why Miles could see her walk off in the jungle. That is why Miles couldn’t stop her from wandering off and why she couldn’t take Aaron with her … and why she was in the cabin with Christian/Jacob. So, now Kate is seeing dead people.
26. Was it just me or when the raft is found by Penny’s boat were you expecting to see Mr Friendly appear and say, “We’re gonna have to take the boy?”
27. Speaking of the boy, remember that Locke as a baby was some sort of miracle because he survived all sorts of illnesses and what not? Now Aaron survives two crashes, being kidnapped, being on an island for months and he’s healthy as a horse? Is he the next Locke?
28. Since Desmond has now found Penny I’m sure he’s going to have to seriously protect her from Ben.
29. What types of terrible things is Locke referring to that happened after the Oceanic Six left the island?
30. And now we’ve been set up for the next two years.
31. More to come, really need to go get some screencaps!
May 29th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Gitsie! Tonight’s episode was unreal!
It was so awesome.
I can’t wait for your full recap with screenshots and all.
And I have one thing to add that I noted about tonight’s episode. When Walt’s grandma brings him to see Hurley, during the conversation between Walt and Hurley, the camera focuses on Walt’s grandma, and as someone walks by, she looks at whoever it is in a suspicious manner. I just found it a bit odd.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
JIN LIVES
May 29th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
srsly
May 30th, 2008 at 12:10 am
3. I don’t think Jin is dead. If you look at the ship before it blows up, no one is on the end of the ship where Jin had been standing. I think he jumped off and we’ll see him again.
4. When and why did Locke leave the island? And why did he change his name?
10. I think we’ll be seeing more of Walt. Ben said ALL of them have to go back.
17. When did they say that Locke’s death looked like a suicide? I’ll have to go back and watch it.
19. I don’t think Sun is helping Widmore. He asked her why he’d want her help, she gave him a look and walked away. I took it as “who said I wanted to help you?”
23. I think they needed to do a better job with the blue/green screen.
26. I was totally waiting for Mr. Friendly to appear.
27. Nice theory. When Locke was young he drew pictures of things on the island, and we saw that Aaron had been drawing pictures too.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:37 am
I’ll start out with a question – does anyone miss the days when they’d play a season and then when it was over, the next season they’d play it over again?
I hope Jin is still alive. The thing is, all the people, including Jin, shouldn’t be on the island. The helicopter was heading back to the island when it moved so it would have been closer than those who were in the water.
This was the second time we see a hint that some ancient civilization used to live on the island. Did you notice the hieroglyphics on the pillars in the cold room Ben went down into when he moved the island. The first time was the 4 toed statue foot. We really didn’t get a chance to see them, but I wonder if any of them match the hieroglyphics that show up on the countdown timer in the Swan station when the button isn’t pushed in time. Maybe even the “mark” they put on Juliet’s back might be in there.
Ben is always so cool. I don’t think we’ve ever really seen him panic.
When Hurley made that last chess move and tells Mr. Eko it’s checkmate and we see that empty chair. It reminded me a lot of when Ben took Locke to Jacob’s cabin and all Locke sees is an empty chair.
Did anyone else catch what Charlotte said about trying to find the place she was born? Was she born on the island? I have always wondered what happened to Ben’s girlfriend he had when he was a kid, the one who gave him the doll on his birthday. I can’t remember her name for sure, but I think it was Annie? Charlotte seems too young to be her, but could their be a connection there?
Mr. Widmore’s boat race around the world… does anyone think that maybe he picked points around the world where maybe he thought the island might be hoping that one of the boats in the race might disappear? We do know he bought that journal of the Black Rock at an auction. Penny must have somehow learned something of what her father was up to when Desmond was the one who disappeared.
Sun is definitely up to something. Jack says Sun blames him for Jin’s death, but I still don’t think Jack is one of the two she blames. I mean, Mr. Widmore is the one who sent the boat. Everyone would have still been alive on the island and eating bananas if he didn’t send it. But then, she might also blame Ben if she learned that he killed Keemy knowing the ship would explode when his heart stopped and we know Mr. Widmore is also after Ben.
Okay, here’s a thought. Ben and Locke have been butting heads for control of the island pretty much, or at least control of the Others. Might Aaron and Walt be the next generation? Both seem to have powers. I mentioned before how Aaron began crying the moment Charlie died.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Jin can not be dead because he was seen in a flash forward. He was rushing to bring a stuffed Giant Panda Bear to a woman (not his wife) who had just gave birth. He also mentioned to the nurse that he had just remarried.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:49 am
#25 – AWESOME POINT !!! i love it … dont withhold info that you read from us GG !!
i wouldnt say “kate is seeing dead people” though .. i think of it more as the dead people make themselves seen to the people they choose to see them .. its like charlie shows himself to hurley and claire shows herself to kate/locke and christian shows himself to claire/locke/jack … and so on …
#19 – sun might be helping widmore because she learns that ben made a conscious decision to kill everyone on the boat. their “common interest” is ben being killed.
shanae – that might not have been a flash forward for jin with the stuffed panda. that was the episode that there were jin and sun flashes. sun’s was a flasforward and jin’s could have been a flashback. another curveball from the writers.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Shanae: I have to agree with Hugo Hurley. I think that was a flashback. Jin was delivering the Panda on behalf of Sun’s father, meaning he was still employed by him. I doubt if he’d be doing such tasks with Sun now owning a controlling share in her father’s company.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:57 am
First off, I love ready your recaps and thoughts.
- If Locke is dead, he did not last very long as the leader of the Others. 3 years or so. Maybe this is because he had a “soft” side and was not willing to make sacrafices like Ben(killing everyone on the ship, couldn’t kill his father, etc). Although he did kill Naomi. And if Locke’s body has to be carried back to the island, will he somehow come back to life once he is carried there or was the island done with him? Will he become a ghost and speak to the other survivers?
- I hope, hope, hope that Jin is alive. I kinda figured he would die from There’s no place like home part 1, but it was kinda like when someone has a terminal illness and you still can’t believe they’re gone even though you knew it would happen. I understand why it had to happen that way-to give Sun the fuel she needs to become a key player back at home, but it still sucks! Or will he make it to the raft with Dan? I really don’t think their done with Dan. He knows to much about the properties of the island and they really haven’t explored that in detail yet. So will he somehow help the Oceanic 6 plus Ben, Locke and maybe Walt get back? And does Sun’s baby have to go too? Will this child be special, since it was concieved on the island? More so than Walt and Aaron?
- Back to Sun, I don’t think she is going to help Widmore, I think she may use him to satisfy her own goals. But I am not sure if she blames Ben or Widmore for Jin’s death.
- The kiss. One of the absolute best sceens. When I saw that it was Penny, oh my gosh, I was in awe, so happy. Desmond and Penny’s story has been one of the best. But he has a job ahead of him, to protect Penny from Ben. And we know Ben always has a plan.
- Walt thinks his dad is still alive on the island and Hurley did not tell him any different.
- Now we understand why Charlotte found the polar bear in the desert. Darma experiments. So was she born on the island? I can’t wait to get her flashbacks and Miles. Why does Miles want to stay, does he feel like he has a purpose. I think he will be instrumental in finding out answers to some of our questions.
- Do the survivors on the island now think that the Oceanic 6 blew up on the boat? Will there be some bonding between Sawyer and Juliet? What was everything that Sawyer whispered to Kate?
- Oh, I could go on and on, 7 months is too long. This was by far my favorite episode to date.
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May 30th, 2008 at 11:28 am
WHO is Jeremy Bentham??? I am really struggling to find a connection to him…
May 30th, 2008 at 11:58 am
LostObsessed: Locke is Jeremy. Like Mike, when he returned the the “real world” he must have had to change his identity to keep the lies the “6″ told. Remember, they told the world that everyone on Flight 815 was dead and that they were the only survivors.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Well it’s been entertaining reading everyone’s comments so far, but I have to bring up a simple question that surprisingly, nobody has asked yet.
Where did the island go?
May 30th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
the thing about the island moving is that they had ripples moving after the island disappears, meaning that it moves in space and not just time (if it was just time, there’d be no ripples because technically it would have never been there?)…just a thought
May 30th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Foffman: Ben’s probably the only one who knows where the island moved to since he’s the one who moved it.
So here’s something, the island moves to a new point in space. What if there’s a ship in that area when the island appears there, like say, the Black Rock… Maybe that’s how that ship got into the middle of the island.
Caculations for moving through time would be extremely difficult. You’d not only have to move through time, but also through space as well. If you wanted to move through time, let’s say go forward in time 1 year and end up standing in the same spot in space you were standing in, you’d have to take into account the Earths rotation, it’s orbit around the sun, the sun’s orbit around the galaxy and our galaxy’s movement through the universe. If you don’t take these factors into account, you’d most likely end up floating in outter space when you arrived. There’s another worry to take into account as well, there may be an object in the area of your space desitination. If someone ever does develop a means of time travel, it’ll most likely be done in a spacecraft. But it is cool to fantasize about it.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Some points of mine:
The Aaron/Walt are the next leaders theory: Yes, yes it has to be. I went back and looked, and there are so many connections:
-All four characters have the last initial “L”.
-All of them had a parent who got in a car crash before their birth. (Note that in the cases of Locke and Ben, they were born during or immediately after the crash, Walt’s father was in the crash, and Claire was not pregnant at the time)
-All of them are obsessed with drawings or art. (Aaron and Locke drew shit, Walt reads comics, Ben has portraits all over the place)
-And, lastly, all of them have been on the island and then off again.
I feel like listing the character deaths this episode, so here goes:
-Omar: Friendly Fire grenade (funniest scene of the episode)
-Rest of the background mercs: Other’d
-Keamy: stabbed in the neck
-Michael: ???*
-Jin: ???**
-Widmore’s mental hospital spy: shot by Sayid
-Locke: some form of death that looks like suicide
*-The words “you’re free to go now” can be taken a lot of ways. I assumed it meant he was going to be taken off the ship, but I heard that it meant that he was redeemed, and thus, mortal. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
**-We didn’t see a closeup of Jin as the ship blew up behind him, or any of the other necessary “character died in an explosion” shots, so maybe he dove off and survived, making Sun’s little vendetta even more tragic.
As for Locke becoming Jacob (see last blog post): I doubt that this will be so, since I don’t think Christian and Jacob are the same person. We’ve heard Christian say that he can speak for Jacob, implying that they are not one and the same. We’ve also seen both characters at the same time, in the Season premiere.
Wouldn’t Ben’s baton mess up the teleportation? (Answer: Ay, brutha) I mean, unless it’s wood, the metal should kill him, along with the zipper on his jacket. Plot hole, anyone?
Is someone pulling Widmore’s strings? From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t seem to be the “evil genius” type. I think that Sun will end up being the show’s main villain in the end, and her flshfwrd seemed to be indicating that she’ll be causing some problems for the O6 and Friends.
Speaking of the “Return to the Island” team, will it include Desmond and Frank? If Ben kills Penny, there’s no way he’ll get Desmond on his side.
I take back all the shots at Charlotte, Miles, and Faraday. Charlotte seems to be heading towards some real plot now, and we still haven’t seen the last of Miles’s “3 million” storyline yet. That’s the only upside to Jin, Michael, and Locke (possibly) leaving the show: we might get to see more of the Frieghties.
Alright, done.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
P.S. I forgot to add that another upside to Michael leaving the show will be Michael leaving the show.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
P.S. yet again: It appears Michael is really dead. So, there you go. We will never have to hear “WALLLLLT!!!!!” ever again.
May 30th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham
he was a philosopher influenced by John Locke
May 30th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Bravo Lindeloff & Cuse! Bravo Gitsie! Nice review in short time… This show was so thick with info, it’s still rattiling around my brain. I can’t begin to go into all that moved me or that I’m curious about, so here’s my short takes…
Not sure on Jin, could easily be dead or alive, he was close to the edge of the boat, he may have gone all Die Hard off the edge and survived…
Gitsie I agree with u, best ep ever, but I’ll call it a tie with Through the Looking Glass. That had the advantage of the element of surprise – except with G2, I think you called that one!!
Someone I watched the show with immediately thought Charlotte born on island = Annie, ben’s childhood bud. Anybody else think that?
Gary G you were on with alot of your stuff man. Weird Science baby!
Poor Jim Morrison Jack, he seems ready to believe and take on just about anything at the funeral parlor!!
Don’t see the “baton” factor gaining or losing steam last night. But I’m not counting it out yet…
Favorite scene of year still Ben meets Widmore.
No matter how enchanting and mystical Locke is, the story just seems anchored to Jack, some have probably said this already – could he be Jacob at the end of the road??
Off to the beach (not that one!). Can’t wait to read your full recap when i get home GG!
May 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
So many great comments. That is why I love this show.
GaryG: You must be some kind of engineer in “real life.” Just guessing by the way it reads that your mind works!
Smith: I like the connections between Aaron and Walt and I never thought about the car crashes. Remember that Michael was hit by a car in Season One. Walt’s mom comes to visit him in the hospital and tells him she’s moving to Australia. And, Ben says that they “all” have to go back to the island. We know that Kate is going to fight that one.
I think that the metal was only for the teleportation device and my guess would be doesn’t have anything to do with the real time travel.
I’m wondering if they were going to do more with Michael and the writers strike blew that idea. Michael’s role wasn’t as important as I would have thought.
R; off to the beach? Nice!
May 30th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Here’s another connection between Walt and Aaron. Both of their fathers were artists.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
GaryG: Nice. Architect counts. Also, remember Locke’s father: a con artist.
I thought of some other things: All of their fathers were missing or just plain poor fathers. Michael does count for this, because we saw him ruin his relationship with his son before he died.
Last connection: All of them except Ben took their mother’s last name.
Man, this makes me feel like I’m ahead of the writers. With this show, that’s a dangerous thing to think.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I’ve been considering Locke and why he may fail as the leader on the island. There’s been so many flashbacks with Locke with him having to make choices. Richard giving Locke that test when he was a child, but Locke chooses the knife. Choosing his father, who taught him to hunt over Helen. Rememeber that episode where Locke is working on that marijuana farm and he goes hunting with the cop with intentions to kill him (the kid with his father’s Geronimo Jackson shirt on)? The cop tells Locke he’s a farmer, not a hunter. I think Locke still wants to be the hunter, but he’s not supposed to be. I’m not even so sure that Locke not actually being the one to kill his father was the failure Ben made it out to be to all the other Others, he just wanted to humiliate him. I think Richard knew this and why he suggested Sawyer. I think Locke has always wanted to be something he’s not, you know him, Mr. “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” So I think in the end, this will be why he fails.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
just an interestinging bit of info on the historical relevence of the name Jeremy Benthem. JB was the british philosopher who founded utilitarianism, which is “the greater good” philosophy. Just thought it was a neat choice of alias for locke.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
For those who are wondering:
Daniel Farraday arrives on the island on DAY 91 (December 21st, 2004)
The events of “There’s No Place Like Home 2 and 3″ (Season Finale) take place on December 31st, 2004 which would be DAY 101.
So . . .
Days with a tie on: TEN
Burning Question: Does he SLEEP with it on? OR DOES he take it off at night and PUT IT BACK on each morning?
. . . and who would rather know the answer to THIS question vs. that silly “What is the smoke monster?” issue?
May 30th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Why did Dan think that would be the last trip to the boat?
May 31st, 2008 at 12:08 am
I’ve been saying this for 3 seasons… the Tsunami is going to be factored into all this….. Think of the timing.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:35 am
I can’t believe the season is over already. This was a great season finale, but I feel more confused.
Do you think the island disappeared for a short time (like the rabbit) and reappeared in the same spot, but at a different point in time?
Great recap-thanks!