4x13 There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3

[tohdom]

Lost Rewatch Episode Discussion for "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3"
(Nov 2 - Nov 8)

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ther..._Parts_2_%26_3

[Dr. Chameleon]

I know the writers got slammed for this already, but it's frustrating the way they ignore their own continuity sometimes. Jack says Locke told him several things which we do not see in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," which was probably an issue of them trying to squish too much into one episode. Locke does not say anything about Kate or Aaron's safety depending on them going back to the island, he only says that they need to go back to help the people who were left on the island. Frustrating. And while I get why Locke claiming to have spoken to Christian would set Jack down his crazy beardy path, the whole thing about Jack trying to crash land is squished into too short of a time frame. In this episode Jack tells Ben he spoke to Ben about a month ago. In the season three finale "Through the Looking Glass," Jack tells Kate "Yeah that golden pass that they gave us. I, I've been using it. Every Friday night I, I fly from LA to Tokyo or, Singapore, Sydney. [Laughs] And then I, I get off and I, have a drink, and then I fly home." Every Friday night. For about a month. So, like, four times? It just came off like he'd been a wreck for much longer. Am I nitpicking? I'm nitpicking. Oh, well.

Also, what's with the premise that they all have to return to the island? There's really no explanation for that even though it drives the plot of about half of season five. It comes off as a flimsy plot device. Maybe I'll change my mind when I rewatch S5.

So we hear the whispers again when the Others come to rescue Ben from Keamy. The first person we see swings out of the trees. I really, truly hope that the whispers are not explained by some kind of series of rope bridges through the trees that the Others use. Darlton, take note.

Getting back to earlier comments I made, is Jacob physically punishing Jack for trying to leave the island? Why does Locke not want Jack to leave, did he get some kind of message from Jacob? If I'm right that Locke recieves messages in dreams from the man in black, does he also get dream messages from Jacob?

We get our second glimpse at Miles' psychic powers, first when he knew Michael was lying about his name, now about Charlotte living on the island. Presumably neither of these facts came from him talking to dead people so he must have some aura/mind-reading ability.

The Orchid is identified as station 6, making it one of the original Swan/Pearl era stations. "Is this the magic box?" I love the way Ben treats Locke like a child in this scene.

More lies: why doesn't Hurley tell Walt that his dad is dead? I sort of get Locke lying but not Hurley.

Note to TV characters: if you want to make sure someone is dead, put a bullet in their head. See how it rhymes to help you remember? But if Alpert had made sure Keamy was dead, everyone on the boat would've died right then (at that point Sun, Aaron, Jin, Michael, and Desmond).

Ben really doesn't care if the boat blows up. In fact, it's probably in his favor if none of those people get away from the island. Locke, for his part, does try to stop Keamy, so it's nice to see him not acting completely selfishly.

Also, is it just me or does Daniel seem to think he's not going to make it back to the island after this trip. How does he know that and why wouldn't he just say so?

FARADAY: I'm leaving in ten minutes to take the next group of people to the freighter. You need to make sure that you're with me on that raft, all right?
MILES: Well, don't worry about me, 'cause I'm gonna stay.
FARADAY: Miles, no, uh, uh, I don't think I'm getting across the... direness of the circumstance.

JULIET: I promised I wouldn't leave until I got everyone here safely off this island. Relax. I'll still be here when you get back.
FARADAY: Right, right... when I get back

The appearance of Christian here is somewhat baffling, too. There are whispers (and no trees, *whew*), Christian appears to Michael and says "you can go now." Michael was working for Ben. Is Christian communicating on Ben's behalf? If we assume (like I am) that Christian speaks for the man in black, not Jacob, wouldn't that connect Ben with the MiB?

So now we find out how Ben ended up in the Sahara in "The Shape of Things to Come." Did he really think he could never come back to the island or was that just another lie? Locke is supposed to take his place as leader of the Others, but that won't last because of the time shifts that are about to start now that Ben has turned the wheel. I love how Ben says "I'm sorry I made your life so miserable" and then, you know, strangles him later with an extension cord.

The lantern in donkey wheel cave reminds me of the lantern at the cabin. "I hope you're happy now, Jacob" What's that supposed to mean? Why does Ben believe in Jacob if he's never seen him?

When the island moves, we hear pretty much the same noise as when the hatch imploded, and the same white/purple light. Why don't the Others move in time? And if John is one of them now, why does he move? Is it just me or does it sorta look like the island got sucked into the water?

I forgot how nasty the helicopter crash is. Hard to see how they survived that, especially Aaron.

Kate's dream is a bit confounding. Claire says "Don't bring him back, Kate. Don't you dare bring him back." Kate doesn't bring Aaron back. Does Aaron pose a threat against the man in black?

Jack refuses to believe what he sees. The freakin' island disappeared, man!

Finally Pen and Des reunited! It almost seems anticimactic, but it's still exciting. Yay.

[tohdom]

i have a few issues with this episode.
Problem 1: no fuel in helicopter - most logical solution: go back to the beach and take the Zodiac
Problem 2: bomb on freighter - most logical solution: take something floaty, get all people off the boat in about 100 meters far from freighter - wait for the Zodiac, return to the island.
Problem 3: why someone bother to make red button on the bomb if no one suppose to see it by design?

Despite these minor writing fails, it is the awesome episode anyway.