Last night, "Lost" kicked off its two-part, three-hour season finale with a thoroughly entertaining hour that made me mostly forget that what I was really watching was a set-up for the final two hours on May 29.This episode worked for me because it gave all the characters something to do. I know that's not always possible on this show (or even a good idea), but I like it when each of these interesting and complex characters get as much attention as the kooky Island dynamics.
The episode, part one of "There's No Place Like Home" (one of several references the show has made to "The Wizard of Oz") opened with the soon-to-be-famed Oceanic 6 being flown to safety by at least one jittery co-pilot. This was a nice little tense scene with Jack still in leader mode and making sure everyone had their story straight. Watching them somberly get their story straight made me even more excited for the finale in two weeks where we find out what happened on the Island that led to this specific group of people getting off. I was a little surprised to find that it's the most compelling question/mystery I've ever had about this show — I've wracked my brain and I just cannot envision a scenario in which not only everyone (especially Jack) is ok with leaving a significant number of people behind, but the Oceanic 6 seem determined to keep their insane-sounding Island survival experiences under wrap (and it can't be as simple as "they wouldn't believe us if we told them about the polar bear and Smoke Monster).
Anyway, the scene where each of the Oceanic 6 (except for sad, lonely Kate, Aaron and Sayid) reunited with their families was touching. I loved watching Hurley welcome Sayid into his group hug. I liked watching Sun dis her domineering dad. It was also good to see Jack's MILF, I mean mom again. Seriously, I just looked up the actress who played her, saw that it was 64-year-old Veronica Hamel of "Hill Street Blues", felt a little creeped out that I was checking out a 64 year old, but now I'm moving on, because I still think she was pretty hot.
During a press conference, we finally got a more detailed look at the Oceanic 6's cover story, which involved landing in the ocean, spending 108 (as you know, the sum of Hurley's numbers) days in the island of Membata, before taking a raft to the island of Sunda and being discovered by fishermen (Was it the same raft Faraday was using to take people from the Island to the freighter? I guess they'd have to explain where they got a motorized raft.) The closest thing to a problem came when a reporter noted Kate would have to have been about six months pregnant when she got on the plane. It's interesting to note that this could easily be refuted, but it appears that this never becomes an issue since we've seen Kate is still free and living with Aaron.
In keeping with the "let's give everyone something to do" theme, the off-Island flashforwards gave us a peek into everyone's lives. Sayid was reunited (temporarily as we now know) with his love Nadia, while Sun channeled her inner badass by acquiring a controlling share of her father's company. He's one of the two people she blames for Jin's "death" (is she the other?)
Meanwhile, since he was already lying about everything else, Jack gave his father a generous eulogy during Christian's wake. Afterward, he learned from Claire's mom that Claire was his half-sister (and Aaron's his half-nephew?) I have to say, as much fun as some people (myself included) make fun of Matthew Fox's acting sometime, he really brought it last night during this scene. Watching the guilt over abandoning a heretofore unknown relative wash over his face was terrific.
Probably the most loaded segment featuring a member of the Oceanic 6 was Hurley's surprise birthday party. Not only did the Numbers re-enter his life via the odometer in the car he'll soon lead the police on during a high speed chase, but he also started hearing the mysterious Island whispers (I'm not buying that it was just the surprise party people in the next room). This segment served as effective foreshadowing that Hurley is going to be the first Oceanic 6 member to lose his marbles. Mostly though, I got a kick out of seeing Sayid at a party and him remarking, "Interesting choice of theme" for the island-themed party.
There was plenty happening on the Island in this episode too, but I'm not going to spend as much time talking about that, since I'm pretty sure the real fireworks on the Island will come in the season's final two hours.
Jack picked up the phone Lapidus had thrown to him from the helicopter and, thinking Sayid or Desmond had tossed it to him, listened in on a transmission which included mention of the Orchid station. That mention visibly made Faraday freak out, but no one noticed as Jack and Kate set off after the chopper.
A little while later, Jack and Kate ran into Miles (who I'd forgotten about) and Sawyer, leading to a nice little mini-reunion between the two rivals. I hadn't realized that Jack and Sawyer hadn't seen each other since the castaways split up into two camps in the season premiere, so watching Sawyer run into the jungle after Jack to look for the chopper and saying "You don't get to die alone" was pretty cool. I also liked seeing Sawyer's heart again, when he showed concern for Hurley's safety after Lapidus told them he had to fly them to safety before Keamy torched the Island.
Faraday found a way off the Island when Sayid arrived from the freighter on the motorized raft and warned everyone about Keamy's plan. While Sayid set off into the jungle with Kate, Faraday drove a group of people onto the freighter, including Jin and Sun (taking care of Aaron) who had an unexpected reunion with Michael (another guy I'd forgotten about). There was no time for a teary reunion or explanations as the people on the freighter found the C4 explosives, presumably the batch Michael thought he'd have to ignite and now probably connected to Keamy's weird arm device. To be honest, I'd kinda forgotten about those explosives. Apparently I have a crappy memory.
While all this was happening, Ben, Locke and Hurley were making their way to the Orchid station (apparently a greenhouse) where they could move the Island. It was during these scenes that the invaluable Michael Emerson fired off two of my favorite lines (and winked at the audience) by telling Locke "How many times do I have to tell you, John. I always have a plan" and "I wasn't being entirely truthful before." Are there two quotes that better summarize this character?
In the end, Ben presumably told Locke how get in the Orchid and move the Island while he created a distraction by letting Keamy capture him and getting knocked out. Kate and Sayid were captured in the jungle by Alpert (who I DID actually remember because, um, he was on the show just last week) and the rest of the Others, who, we're assuming Ben had contacted with his mirror.
So heading into the season finale, we have the Oceanic 6 in four different locations: Sun and Aaron are in one place, Hurley's with Locke, Jack's with Sawyer, and Kate and Sayid are together. That's an excellent job of keeping us guessing as to how those six get together and come to be the group of people who leave the Island. Like I said, at the top, this was totally a set-up episode, and it certainly set up the season finale beautifully.
So what'd you think of this episode? Is "half-nephew" even a real term? What do you think is going to happen to the group of people on the freighter with the explosives? Why doesn't Faraday ever take off his tie? Why do you think that pilot was so nervous at the beginning? How old is the oldest person you ever checked out? Finally, what do you think is going to happen next week, assuming Locke successfully moves the Island?
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