Thursday, May 15, 2008

Lost episode recap – “There's No Place Like Home, Part 1” (S4E12) airdate 05/15/08

Here it is - as hoped for/promised! It may be a little disjointed since I had to keep pausing the DVR to tell Mr. Mouse to stop snoring. He was noisy this evening - not sure where I'll be sleeping tonight.

We’re on a Coast Guard plane, and the pilot warns that there’ll be a little chop ahead. The co-pilot is nervous, considering the cargo they’re carrying. A Ms. Decker – scary, departed Admiral Cain from Battlestar Galactica – goes back to check on the cargo: she is the Oceanic rep who is transitioning Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sun, Hurley and Sayid from the Island to the mainland. They are all sitting in the cargo hold, looking like they’ve been poleaxed. Admiral Cain says there’ll be reporters who want to talk to them when they land. No one seems inclined to talk with the press but Jack speaks up, saying it’s okay, they’ve agreed - they just want to get it over with. Everyone else is pretty much dazed looking. Jack tells his little group that we all know the story and if we hey get any questions we don’t want to or can’t answer, we’ll just keep out mouths shut - they’ll think we’re in shock. Sun: “We are in shock, Jack.”

The plane lands in Hawaii and Jack stares at Aaron in Kate’s arms. Everyone still looks dazed. The Six disembark the plane to applause: various family members are there to greet their survivors. Sun looks gorgeous. No one is there for Kate or Sayid, but Hurley grabs Sayid and introduces him to his folks. Kate is all alone, except for Aaron whom she’s clutching to her chest.

Back to the Island: Rose thinks that Sayid and Desmond were on the chopper and dropped the sat-phone so the Losties would know what’s going on. Sun points out: “It’s a phone, right? Can’t we just call?” Daniel takes the phone and calls, but the phone is on monitor-mode and all they hear is Keamy giving orders: we’re still five minutes from deploying to the Orchid. Juliet doesn’t know where the Orchid is. She also didn’t hear Desmond or Sayid, which she thinks is a bad sign. Jack tells Kate to get some guns as they’re going after the chopper; Juliet protests – you just had surgery! Jack insists that he must do this since he promised to get the Losties off the Island. “Don’t bleed to death,” snarks Juliet, washing her hands of his thick headedness. Meanwhile, Daniel is wigging out. He tells Charlotte: “They’re using the secondary protocol – we have to get off this Island. Right now!”

A short time later, Kate and Jack storm through the jungle. Jack is holding up remarkably well for someone who, as Juliet pointed out, just had fairly major surgery in primitive conditions. Although he is bleeding through his shirt a bit. Soon, Miles, Sawyer and Aaron come upon them. Sawyer raggedly tells them that Claire just walked off into the jungle and they lost her. He asks why they’re out here. Jack says they’re going to meet Des and Sayid who are hopefully on the chopper. Sawyer: “You better hope it’s not Sayid – because if he’s with the animals that just blew up New Otherton, you do not want to tussle with ‘em.” Jack decides that now is the time to measure penises (not literally) with Sawyer and Aaron starts screaming until Kate breaks it up. Jack says that since he’s the one who put Sayid and Desmond on that chopper in the first place, he owes it to them to help them out. He sends Kate, with Aaron, back to the beach and walks off after the helicopter. Sawyer snarls, “That sumbitch is stubborn … hold up – you don’t get to die alone!” and heads after Jack, cocking his own gun (not a euphemism).

Flash-forward: At the Oceanic Airlines press conference, Admiral Cain says that the Oceanic Six survivors were carried by the ocean’s current to an uninhabited island, Membata, near Indonesia where they stayed until a life raft washed onshore. The story is outlandish and unbelievable at best, including the “fact” that Kate gave birth to Aaron while stranded. That’s a damn big three-month old baby – which makes it even more ridiculous when Kate says that he’s only five weeks old. Come on – no one’s going to believe that. The press are fairly skeptical, thinking the survivors look pretty healthy for being stranded for 100+ days. No shit. A Korean reporter asks, in Korean, if Sun’s husband was one who died on the island; Sun answers, in English, that no, he never made it off the plane. Jack gives her a look while she’s giving her answer like he doesn’t trust her to stick to the party line. Another reporter tries to bring up Kate’s outstanding arrest warrant but Admiral Cain shoots that down, saying it isn’t relevant. Someone asks if there might be other survivors yet to be found and Sayid answers emphatically: No, absolutely no one else survived but us. As the Six leave the press conference, Admiral Cain tells Sayid that a woman who wasn’t on the family list has asked to see him. It is Nadia and their reunion is heartbreaking and lovely.

Back to the Island: Sayid lands the zodiac on the beach. Juliet et al., run up. Sayid says that he has to start ferrying people to the boat immediately before the chopper gets back, since the men on the chopper intend to kill everyone on the Island. Juliet gets a pained look and tells him that Jack and Kate just went after the chopper. Oh - so what.

Ben, Locke and Hurley are trekking through the center of the Island, heading to the Orchid, which is a greenhouse of sorts according to Ben. They’re going there to move the Island, which is a dangerous and unpredictable thing to do and, consequently, something of last resort. Along the way, Ben uncovers a wooden chest containing, among other things, a mirror, fifteen-year old saltines (which Hurley tears into), and binoculars. Ben uses the mirror to flash at Jacob (?) up in a mountain; they get a flash in response. Locke wants to know what exactly Ben communicated but Ben ain’t saying.

On the beach, Daniel offers to start ferrying folks back to the boat so Sayid can go after Jack and Kate. Sayid trusts him and gets ready to head off while Daniel starts loading people onto the zodiac, six at a time. Juliet insists that Sun goes on the first trip. Just then, Kate, Aaron and Miles come onto the beach. Kate tells Sayid that he’ll never find Jack and Sawyer without her superior tracking skills, hands the baby to Sun and goes back into the jungle with Sayid. Charlotte and Daniel share a meaningful stare as he leaves. On the raft, Jin smugs that he told Sun he’d get her off the Island.

Flash-forward: a slightly more pregnant Sun drops in on her father at the office. She looks fabulous when she tells him that she knows he hated Jin. He gets outraged and insists that she show him respect. She points out that Oceanic Airlines paid her the enormous crash settlement in cash and she just bought a controlling interest in her father’s company this morning. So now he needs to show her some respect. Oh, snap!

Hurley drives up to a mansion in a beater car. It’s his mansion and the front door is wide open. Did I mention that Cheech Marin is back as Hurley’s dad? When Hurley goes inside, there’s a coconut on the foyer floor. This disconcerts the big guy slightly. He hears whispering and nervously … walks into a surprise birthday party with the unintentional ironic theme of "castaways!" Kate, Aaron, Sayid and Nadia are there – that’s nice that they’re keeping in touch at first. Cheech drags his son out to the garage to show him his birthday present: he’s fixed the car that they used to work on together. When they get in to take it for a drive, the odometer and the trip-meter are Hurley’s magic numbers and he FREAKS OUT.

Flashback to the Island: Hurley points out that if they manage to move the Island using Ben’s Orchid-greenhouse, doesn’t that mean they also move the dudes with the guns who are currently on the Island? Ben grits that he’s working on it. Hurley’s like, okay, but I still want to get off this Island; Locke says: “It’s a little late for that now, Hugo.” Hurley doesn’t like the sound of that. Suddenly, Ben hunkers down and asks for the binoculars, telling Locke and Hurley to get down as well. He tells them that Widmore knows about the Orchid and why they need to get there. Locke says that Ben told him that Widmore didn’t know about the Island; Ben says that he wasn’t being entirely truthful; Locke then wants to know when Ben is ever truthful. Um – never? Ben ignores this and hands Locke the binocs: Keamy’s men are already at the Orchid. Ben is not happy about this.

On the zodiac, Jin is all smiles about getting to the boat but Sun looks worried. Desmond runs to throw a ladder over the side of the freighter and starts helping Losties aboard. Daniel tells him that Sayid went after Jack, and then takes the zodiac back for the next group. Suddenly, everyone stops and stares: it’s Michael. He tells Desmond that they should try the engines – and they work! Desmond tells the pilot to head for the Island at an exact heading of 305 so they can pick up the rest of the Losties. The pilot is willing, but something on the freighter is interfering with their radar: he can’t see the reef. Des dashes off to find what’s fracking with the radar. It’s always something.

I just got hit by a sudden pang of missing Mr. Eko. Anyone else?

On the Island: Sawyer notices that Jack is bleeding; Jack cops to the recent appendectomy and Sawyer is impressed in spite of himself. They find the chopper and hail Frank who has been handcuffed to the bench so he can't take off without the mercenaries. Frank tells them that the safest place to be these days is on the freighter, seeing how Keamy’s guys are going to snatch Ben and then all hell will break loose. Sawyer wants to know what happens to the guys with Ben. “Nothing good,” dismals Frank. Sawyer tells Jack that Hurley is with Ben, neglecting to mention Locke. “Son of a bitch,” says Jack.

Cut to a photograph of another son of a bitch: Jack’s dad. It’s his funeral and there’s a decent turnout. The Oceanic Six is there, minus Sun but plus Nadia. Jack gives the eulogy and is not very eloquent. I’m bored. Afterwards, Kate has waited to talk to Jack, but a blonde woman with an Australian accent interrupts. It’s got to be Claire’s mum! She says the reason Christian was in Sydney was to see his daughter. Jack says Christian didn’t have a daughter. The woman insists and ends up being the one to tell Jack that Claire was his sister – which is cool, because I had assumed that he knew this before they left the Island. He didn’t, however, and this revelation hits Jack physically: he staggers back, stunned and overwhelmed. As Claire’s mum leaves, she pauses to tell Kate that “her son” is beautiful. So sad – that’s her own grandson and she doesn’t even know it! Jack turns to look at Kate … who is holding his nephew … and his expression is completely bereft. Good job, Matthew Fox. I mean that.

On the freighter: Sun confronts Michael, saying she doesn’t understand. He tells her that he and Walt managed to take Ben’s boat to an actual island and eventually made it home. “And now you work for Ben,” she says. Michael gets upset: “I do not work for Ben! I’m trying to make up for what I did – I’m trying to help you.” Just then, Desmond screams, “Michael! I need you now!” Yikes: he’s found a huge cache of wired explosives on the freighter. That can’t be good.

On the Island: Kate and Sayid have found tracks, but they’re not Jack or Sawyer and the people making said tracks have doubled back behind them. It’s Richard! He’s not worried about their guns because his Others have surrounded them: “I said drop your guns.” Richard looks good.

Ben gives Locke instructions on how to find the elevator to the actual Orchid station. He says that he’s got a plan and he will take care of the armed men. Montage of everyone walking: Ben defiantly walking towards the Orchid; Sun walking out onto the deck of the freighter, away from the explosives; Sawyer and Jack walking through the jungle; Richard and the Others marching Kate and Sayid through another part of the jungle. Ben’s got his hands raised when Keamy comes up to him. “My name is Benjamin Linus. I believe you’re looking for me.” By way of answer, Keamy whacks Ben between the eyes with his gun. Ouch.

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