Brian's Deeper Meaning Guess: Well this one should come as no surprise. After a brief flirtation with "Alice in Wonderland" references over the past season, Lost comes back to it's most referenced work of literature for the Season Four Finale - "The Wizard of Oz". Based on the episode preview, it's pretty clear where the literal part of the title comes from:
It looks like we're finally going to see the moment when the Oceanic Six arrive "home" - back to the real world, away from the Island. But as this season finale is a three-parter (each with the same title), here's how I see it breaking down: the "flashes" for the next three episodes will surround the action of the Oceanic Six immediately after they arrive home - probably starting with them stepping out of the plane as featured in the episode preview above. However, the action on the Island for the next three episodes will build up to reveal the truth about how the actually, physically got off the Island. I have to assume that it won't be until the very final moments of Season Four that we understand what happened when the Oceanic Six left the Island - meaning that the flashforwards for the next three episodes will be chock-full of confusion and mystery as the Oceanic Six reference that event / keep up their lies / act strangely.
As for the Losty twist in the title? I should probably save this for next week, since I'm going to have nothing to write, as the episode title is the exact same - but what the heck. If you recall during "Something Nice Back Home", Jack found that his perfect dream world back home quickly started to fall apart - much like we've seen for other members of the Oceanic Six. I think the irony of the title will come to mean that although they currently view the Island as this foreign place that they are trying to escape from, once they do escape, they will look longingly back at their Island days and consider it "home" - thus, "there's no place like home" will come to mean there is no place like the Island. Irony!
In regards to the obvious movie reference, for the young readers out there who have never seen the Judy Garland classic "The Wizard of Oz", the phrase comes into play at the end of the film - where Dorothy is saying goodbye (after #41ing) to her friends, she taps her heels together and repeats "there's no place like home". She then magically wakes up back in Kansas where her family tells her that it was all a dream... well, all of her family except for her uncle Henry Gale, who believes her story. The parallels here are pretty strong. If the Oceanic Six were to tell anyone about the truth about the Island (Oz), they would probably laugh and tell them it was all a dream - well, everyone except for Henry Gale (the fake name that Benjamin Linus used during Season Two!), who would know that it was all too real.
The one other thing I'll mention is that most of the prior Lost-Wizard of Oz references have been closer to the novel than the film. However, the line "there's no place like home" is only mentioned once in the beginning of the novel, where Dorothy tells the Scarecrow that she would rather live in Kansas than Oz because "there is no place like home." Of course, you could pull the same deeper meaning from the line, but it's a lot more subtle than in the film.
Episode Description: The face-off between the survivors and the freighter people begins. Guest starring are L. Scott Caldwell as Rose, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Ken Leung as Miles Straume, Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Lewis, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Kevin Durand as Keamy, Anthony Azizi as Omar, Andrea Gabriel as Noor "Nadia" Abed Jaseem, Byron Chung as Mr. Paik, June Kyoko Lu as Mrs. Paik, Lillian Hurst as Carmen Reyes, Cheech Marin as David Reyes, Veronica Hamel as Margo Shephard, Michelle Forbes as Karen Decker, Susan Duerden as Carole Littleton and Noah Craft as Hendricks.
Episode Breakdown: Wow. What is this, a Lost Reunion Show? Check out the jam-packed guest star listing! The cross-pollination of the different character's family and friends boggles the mind! Some make a lot of sense. From Sayid's past, we've got Nadia (his lover). From Sun's past, we've got Mr. Paik and Mrs. Paik (her parents). From Hurley's past, we've got Carmen and David Reyes (his parents). From Jack's past, we've got Margo Shephard (his mom). Others are far more intriguing...
Aaron. The inclusion of Carole Littleton might bring into question a lot of the previous assumptions that we had made related to the Aaron. For starters, when we last left her, she was in a coma.
I’m assuming she came out of it over the past three months (of Island time). But why would Claire's mother / Aaron's grandmother show up unless she knew that the baby Kate was carrying along was actually her grandson? And if she knows that Aaron is her grandson, why doesn't she take Aaron with her, rather than leaving him with Kate? And if the world knows that Kate isn't Aaron's mother, why is she able to continually refer to him as "her son". Was an above-the-table, legal adoption completed to transfer ownership of Aaron from the Littleton family to Kate? Or is she lying to everyone about who Aaron really is, making Carole's inclusion in the episode simply to provide a dramatic scene, as Kate lies to her face and she doesn't realize that she is standing mere feet away from her grandson? Or, did she figure out the relationship between Jack and Claire during all the media coverage that likely accompanied the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, and is there to welcome her half-son back to the world?
Like I said, a lot of questions.
Based on the story that Kate told on the witness stand of her trial, there were only six Survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 (actually two others - but they died on the way to the beach... which didn't sound like enough time to birth a baby). However, the flight manifest would have indicated that Aaron didn't exist when the plane left Australia, so the only way to explain his existence would be that he must have been born between the time of the crash and present day... which meant that Kate was pregnant when she was boarded the plane. Since she was walking on the plane with a coat over her hands (to cover her handcuffs), it would be unlikely that anyone would have gotten a close enough look to verify if she looked pregnant or not. The story could work... and help explain the "sympathy" vote for Kate on her trial. She's not only a hero - but a new mommy!
So why is Carole there?
In today's news channel, information overload society - if there was anything that would link Claire to Jack, I think that the news would have found it (probably Fox News)... perhaps connecting birth certificates somewhere? But that raises the question if Christian Shephard would have even been listed on the birth certificate as the father of the baby in the first place. Another issue - Jack knows that he and Aaron are related, based on his "you're not even related to him!" comment to Kate a few weeks back. So we have to ask ourselves - with three hours of Season Four left (before Jack theoretically leaves the Island), is there enough time for him to figure out that he and Claire are related before he leaves?
Although Locke interacted with Claire and Christian this week, at no point was their relationship revealed. Claire merely said "I'm with him." Miles saw Claire leave with Christian, so he could have heard her comment of "Dad?" when she first woke up, but he would have no idea about Jack's connection to Christian. So I don't think it's likely that either of them would be able to piece the story together for Jack. Rather, I think the only way that Jack would find out the truth would be for him to stumble upon Claire and Christian together, and have a conversation develop where one called Christian "Dad" in front of the other. Since Christian is all disappeary and Claire might be a ghost, the likelihood of this happening seems small. Although Jack stumbling upon the Cabin would be a fantastic twist on his journey to follow the Freightor's helicopter, he probably wouldn't be traveling alone - and it's unlikely that the Cabin would appear to a whole group of Survivors.
So where does this leave us? I think that Jack leaves the Island without any knowledge of his relationship to Claire. When he arrives back in the real world, he learns the truth and is suddenly freaked out by Aaron and his relationship because of what happened on the Island (leaving Claire behind?). This would explain his uneasiness with meeting up with Aaron after Claire's trial. I'm thinking Carole Littleton is there to welcome home her step-half-son (or something like that), but is sadly unaware that her grandchild has come home as well. It should make for some good awkward situations between Jack / Kate / Aaron / Carole when they find out the truth. Expect a lot of panicked / freaked out looks between Kate and Jack!
Boy that was a tangent! Moving on...
Alpert. The rest of the guest stars are pretty much standard (aside from Michelle Forbes – who we all know as Lynn from the second season of “24”!)…
with the exception of Alpert. Although he was pretty involved in last week’s episode – it was all in a flashback role. His inclusion this week (which appears to be all flashforwards) hopefully indicates that we’re due for a reunion of Alpert and the Others with our Survivors on the Island! Again, with a mere three episodes left for this season, I think a visit to “The Temple” might be unrealistic (unless that’s where you have to go to “move the Island”) – but a rendezvous with Ben, Locke, and Hurley seems very likely… especially if Locke and Ben are looking for allies in helping to defend the Island.
Storyline. Other than the guest stars, this week’s episode description gives us almost nothing to go on in predicting what will happen this week. “The face-off between the survivors and the freighter people begins.” That could mean almost anything. But the curious thing is that it looks like most of our Survivors could almost avoid the whole “face-off” by staying exactly where they are. The Freightors are heading for “The Secondary Protocol” Dharma Warp Station (I assume). Based on my theory last week that the battle between Keamy and Ben will go down in this station (resulting in the gash to Ben’s arm and him teleporting to safety in Tunisia), it’s safe to assume this is where Ben, Locke, and Hurley are heading as well. But all the rest of our Survivors are either headed towards, or hanging out on the Beach.
If it weren’t for Jack’s interpretation of Frank’s iPhone (“I think they want us to follow them”), our Survivors could calmly board Sayid’s Zodiac Boat and make trips back and forth to the Freightor until everyone was safe and sound off the Island. Instead, odds are that Jack and Co. follow the homing beacon of the helicopter and end up right in the middle of this “face-off”.
…and that’s about all I’ve got for this week.
Administrative note: the Instant Reactions are going to be delayed this week, but I’ve setup a post for them on the Message Board in the interim. I’ll be off making the world a better place by molding the youth of America in my self-image through the weekend, so it might not be until early next week that you get some analysis. The good news is that next week is sans-Lost, so we’ll have plenty of time to digest, analyze, and prepare for the two hour season finale on May 29.
Until then, happy Losting!
Preview Comments: http://facethewoods.com/lost/index.php?topic=313.0
Instant Reaction Comments: http://facethewoods.com/lost/index.php?topic=314.0
(Be good and stay out of the Instant Reactions until post-episode!)
41 comments:
I'm not so sure about Ben and Keamy's reunion in this episode, but we'll see...
I always thought the gash on Ben's arm was from a bullet that grazed him from the riders when he arrived in Tunisia.
amongst myriad of immediate questions....why does Keamy seem to be concerned about his autonomy being violated? I too think there is more to Ben / Keamy than has been revealed. How much does Keamy know about Ben's 'time-travel' ability? It does in fact seem personal for Keamy. Why was Keamy not freaked about the smoke monster attacking him and his men?
Anyone ever think that everyone died in the crash except for the Oceanic Six, but since they are projected into the past when they enter the Island Time Zone, they just aren't dead yet, but as soon as they "catch up" to the time that they are supposed to die, fate will kill them?
can someone please explain to me what that door opening at the end of the preview is?
where/what is that thing?
I'm thinking that with the news coverage about flight 815 Claire's mom saw that Jack was on the plan bringing his father back & discovered that he was Claire's brother. She could be the one to tell him that she was his sister, maybe asking if they met before the crash? Oh and something I thought about with your guess about Ben's cut & arriving in Tunisia - is that enough time for Sayid to reunite with & marry Nadia and have her killed to be at her funeral when Ben arrives? Or am I off on the time line?
Although Ben may be heading for a Warp station (potentially the Orchid Station), I don't think he goes on his Sayid recruiting mission this time. On the island, his face is still all bruised, but in Tunisia he looks fine.
To Anon wondering about the open door:
I am assuming they are in a corgo plane of some type and thats the view from inside looking out the back.
Example:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1067/1427934416_2479422109.jpg
I bet Rebecca has it right....Claire's mom is likely to see Jack on the news with a clip about him having transported his dad from Australia back to LA. She will recognize Christian and reveal to Jack his connection to her daughter. If so, this will be a fascinating way, from a story-telling perspective, to reveal the sibling connection.
On another matter, I wonder if between now and the end of the season, if the writters reveal why Jack is so desperate to return to the Island?
Aaron could have been on the plane and not the manifest. You don't need plane tickets for babies, they can sit on your lap. But then the baby could not have been Kate's, as she was obviously not carrying a baby.
Maybe, Claire's mom is still in a coma. Any of the Oceanic 6 (but most likely Jack) could have felt bad about leaving Claire behind, resulting in their visit to her mother.
Anyone else notice in the preview where Kate is holding a gun on she turns as another Kate says "stop right there" (different clothes etc.). Look again everyone I'm right - different clothes. Eeeekkk!!
Ben's arm was injured when he appeared in the desert, well before the horsemen arrived.
Should be interesting next week. Interesting to see how Jack took the news that claire was his sister.
It's not the people who are Lost... it's the Island. Oooooh
Observations and Questions from last night -
*the Oceanic 6 appear very somber, and as Sun said, "in shock". it would appear that the circumstance and timeline of them leaving may have been very fast.
*even though Miles has virtually no speaking dialogue, he seems to be acting as if he knows something. really would seem that Clair is dead.
*Still makes you wonder why Charlotte, Faraday, Miles and Frank were selected for this mission.
*The characters are now fragmented, moreso than ever before. Harder to keep up with all the storylines but excited nonetheless.
I will like to know what happened to the survivors that Daniel Faraday brought to the freighter.
HEYYYYY WHERE'S THE INSTANT REACTION !!!!!!! :( i wait for nothing yesterday :(
"However, the flight manifest would have indicated that Aaron didn't exist when the plane left Australia, so the only way to explain his existence would be that he must have been born between the time of the crash and present day... which meant that Kate was pregnant when she was boarded the plane. Since she was walking on the plane with a coat over her hands (to cover her handcuffs), it would be unlikely that anyone would have gotten a close enough look to verify if she looked pregnant or not. The story could work... and help explain the "sympathy" vote for Kate on her trial. She's not only a hero - but a new mommy!"
I don't buy this. Not at all. Kate would have been subjected to a physical examination upon her return to the States - especially in light of the "pregnancy lie" and the fact that she was a fugitive. Also, anyone could have checked the security cameras at the Sydney Airport for images of her BEFORE she and the marshal boarded the plane . . . or when she was first arrested in Australia and see that she was not six months pregnant or more.
And "hero" or not, the U.S. government would have hauled her ass in jail the moment she stepped foot on U.S. soil.
But Kate's off island story - aside from her breakup with Jack - has been nothing but a series of contrived writing. It seems as if Cuse and Lindehof are trying to justify her existence on the show, other than being an object of desire between two men.
The previous antics of the "6" have jumped back and forth in time. My assumption regarding Kate's trial was that it was during a much later time. If you recall, baby Aaron appeared to be a toddler at that point. You need a spreadsheet to keep up with this one.
Did anyone note whether or not the map of the island during the press conferance was an actual place? I haven't re-viewed my tivo yet. Just wondering.
As for Nadia - suppose we'll get to see what happens to her now. We already know she is going to die, or do we? Did Sayid ever mention his dead wife's name? Can't remember.
And, as for Claire's mom showing up at the funeral... I think Ben told her????
There are several theories about how the O6 wind up together in order to leave the Island but the one I like best goes something like this:
Sawyer has met Jack, Kate, and Aaron in the jungle. Jack and Sawyer have gone on, Kate and Aaron have gone back to beach where Sayid has told Kate what's up. Kate has handed Aaron to Sun and has left with Sayid to warn Sawyer and Jack but we saw them "captured" by Alpert headed for the Orchid station where Ben, Hurley, and Locke already are.
So we see now that Hurley, Kate and Sayid are at or on their way to the Orchid Station.
Meanwhile, Jack and Sawyer have found Frank and we saw them trying to get the chopper ready (so they can go to everyone's rescue?)
But I think the chopper will fail somehow (I saw the promos, sorry) and Jack and Sawyer will wind up near the Orchid station also, making four of the O6 at the Orchid in the finale.
Faraday has deposited his 1st boatload on the freighter and has gone back for more when we discovered the freighter is wired to explode. When Faraday comes to the freighter with the next boatload, will Sun and Aaron be taken back to the beach, this encouraged by frantic Jin who
wants to save Sun? He obviously can't go back to the beach with her in Daniel's boat because there wouldn't be room.
We saw Ben give himself up to Keamy(he always has a plan) possibly knowing Keamy wouldn't kill him - yet, anyway - and provided a distraction (so Locke can take the elevator by the anthurium to get to a lower level in the station?)
So now we have Hurley, Kate, and Sayid at the Orchid Station - with Jack and Sawyer eventually arriving there also?
How Sun and Aaron get there remains a mystery too but it's possible Jack, Sawyer, and Frank pick her up in the chopper,either at the beach or from the freighter, then land in the jungle near the Orchid Station.
How the O6 are transported to the sea where they are picked up by the Coast Guard then flown back to LA on a cargo ship will be resolved next week.
But my guess is that whatever their mode of transport off the Island itself (I vote for time travel/teleporting machine at the Orchid) will only hold 5 plus a babe-in-arms so Sawyer will do what Jack said he did in SNBH, "he chose to stay."
Sun and Jin will be separated; whether Jin dies on the freighter is yet unknown but seems likely.
Sawyer, Locke, Ben, Alpert, Keamy, Juliet and the other Losties will remain on the Island. We won'tlearn what happens to them for awhile since the next season will be about what happens off the Island.
Talk about cliffhangers!
And, oh, yes, the freighter will blow up but they'll find Michael's body = he will be the man in the casket.
I'm not saying I actually believe all this will happen the way it's described above. I'm just saying this is the best theory I've heard so far,
The island doesn't physically move, they change the bearing you have to follow.
Thats my guess.
Doesn't anyone think is strange that Brian hasn't posted anything yet?
Please say something we're starting to worry
**
Brian told us in the last post that he was going to be away from home and that the instant thoughts would have to wait until he got back.
He'll post when he gets home.
hey Juanitas -- give C&L a tad of poetic license here! I think the story arc explaining Kate's liberation from prison sentence is plausible enuf to not get hung up on it too terribly much.
Kamama94 said...
And, oh, yes, the freighter will blow up but they'll find Michael's body = he will be the man in the casket.">>
The newspaper clipping Jack reads before going to the mystery funeral says the man hung himself. So it would have to be someone who made it off the island.
There's a much more logical explanation concerning why it's not Michael's body.
At this point in the story, I don't even think that Jack knows that Michael was on the boat. As far as Jack knows, Michael is still just the guy who gave him up to the Others and killed two survivors. Why would Jack be upset at all with Michael's death, since he doesn't yet know that Michael has since tried to help the survivors.
Plus, I feel like Michael's character wouldn't be brought back in a full time capacity for the minimal screen time that he has seen this year. I think that Michael will survive, if only to give us an easier way to see more of Walt's story.
Does anyone know when Brian is going to post again? For some reason, I always get antsy when he doesn't post. I have like a compulsion to continually check back until he posts. It's killing me.
Where is he?? I DEMAND ANALYSIS!
in light of Brian being AWOL, here is a 'one word reaction' of "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"....
B E A U T I F U L
hey anon....spoilers ain't allowed! or, u r probably mak'n this up anyway.
Don't worry - I'm back, alive and well, and hard at work on the "Lost and Gone Forever Bye Week Spectacular" post. Should be up within a day or two.
A word of warning - I'd stay away from pretty much any Lost websites for the next week to avoid spoilers... besides this one, of course :)
Brian does that mean you inadvertently read some spoilers? :P
Not me - but I read message boards where people have complained about accidentally being spoiled!
Be afraid!
Does that mean I shouldn't read the huge article devoted to "Lost" in the new TV Guide? I just noticed it in the mail today sayin it has answers and whatnot. Brian, any knowledge if what's inside would be spoiling anything?
we know that Keamy doesnt kill Ben as the flashforward from a few weeks ago suggested that Ben some how ends up in Tunisia...
I wonder what Ben has up his sleeves?!?!?
Ben can not kill Keamy assuming the device Keamy strapped to his chest detonates explosives in the event his heart stops beating. Hard to fathom what Ben might do to him given the idea that killing him is not an option. It would seem that "the hostiles" (led by Richard Alpert) will become involved as it is reasonable to assume that Ben was communicating with them visa vie using the mirror. However, how do you match guys with rifles against highly trained, para military personnel using hi-powered/weapons grade machine guns and such? Can't wait for next week!!! In the meantime, I will avoid any and all LOST related MEDIA at any and all costs!
Why would the device strapped to Keamy prevent Ben from killing him?
We have already seen that Ben has no problem killing people and will do anything to keep the island a secret. It seems to me like the device will give Ben more incentive to kill Keamy. If the boat blows up, regardless or the people on it, Ben will continue to keep the island a secret from the outside world, most importantly Charles Widmore.
It was shown that Keamy brought plenty of explosives onto the Island with him. If these explosives would destroy the Island, and if these explosives are wired to Keamy's detonator device, I would think that may be a deterent for Ben in considering to kill him or not. Now....one might say that the quantity of explosives Keamy has onboard the chopper can not be enough to destroy an entire island, right? I would bet that somehow the writters have devised a plot to address this. Keamy is shown to be a smart, experienced guy - maybe he'll only rig the Orchid Station to the dynamite threatening to destory it in the event his heart stops.
I’m assuming she came out of it over the past three months (of Island time). But why would Claire's mother / Aaron's grandmother show up unless she knew that the baby Kate was carrying along was actually her grandson? And if she knows that Aaron is her grandson, why doesn't she take Aaron with her, rather than leaving him with Kate? And if the world knows that Kate isn't Aaron's mother, why is she able to continually refer to him as "her son". Was an above-the-table, legal adoption completed to transfer ownership of Aaron from the Littleton family to Kate? Or is she lying to everyone about who Aaron really is, making Carole's inclusion in the episode simply to provide a dramatic scene, as Kate lies to her face and she doesn't realize that she is standing mere feet away from her grandson? Or, did she figure out the relationship between Jack and Claire during all the media coverage that likely accompanied the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, and is there to welcome her half-son back to the world?
Why would you assume that Carole Littleton knew that Aaron was her grandson at first sight? Why? Is this to excuse the lie that the Oceanic Six told?
I don't think that Carole had any idea that she had met her grandson. And the fact that both Jack and Kate had failed to tell her has lowered my opinion of them and the other three members of the Oceanic Six in my eyes.
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