Lost: Is There a Doctor in the Nuthouse?

I liked that last night's episode of "Lost" began in the exact same way as the series' pilot — a tight closeup of Jack's eyeball right before he wakes up.

However, instead of springing into life-saving action as he did in the show's very first scene, Jack — looking like hell — collapsed on the beach during a fight between the castaways and Charlotte and Faraday. Ironically, Jack's appendicitis storyline turned out to be, for me, the weakest link by far in an otherwise solid episode.

I was expecting a bit of a letdown last night after last week's action packed and head spinning Ben-centric episode, but "Something Nice Back Home" still managed to deliver some interesting, non-Jack related tidbits on the Island, while providing a heartbreaking (if you care about Jack) flash forward that also gave us some answers.

Namely, how did Jack get to the point where he grew a long bushy beard, gave up on life, and was one step short of drinking hot milk on a sidewalk? Well, it was because of Kate, who convinced him not to shave his scruff, and appeared to break Jack's heart after stirring up some of the doctor's old issues.

These included his well-documented daddy issues, as well as his trust issues (his first wife DID cheat on him). We learned that sometime after Kate's trial, Jack got over whatever reluctance he had to hook up with Kate. Although it should've been pretty obvious, I was still pretty surprised and delighted that Kate was the person in the shower (and that the Yankees had swept the Red Sox — must've been a paper from last year). I liked that the tortured doc was leading a happy life, even if Aaron needs to learn to pick up after himself.

Of course, that was all shot to hell shortly after a visit to Hurley, who's still in the nuthouse. He told Jack he believes the Oceanic Six are really dead (and Jack is experiencing his version of heaven). I'm not really buying that, and I honestly think it's another case of the show's writers messing with us (as when Hurley's friend Dave tried to convince him everything happening on the Island was in Hurley's head).

More importantly, Hurley told Jack that he has regular chats with Charlie (we didn't know they were regular) and (in several of the episode's callbacks to season 1), that Jack "shouldn't be raising him" (see: Claire's "Raised by Another" ep) and that he would soon be visited by three ghosts (ok, he only said one, but I couldn't resist the Christmas Carol thing).

Indeed Jack's dad, Dr. Christian Shephard haunted last night's episode as much as he has his son's entire life. Eventually, he DID appear to Jack in the hospital (which is what caused him to start popping pills) and, after having grudgingly given his dad a backhanded compliment (he was a good storyteller), his insecurities about being able to be a good father eventually took over and wrecked his relationship with Kate.

Well that, and the revelation that Kate still has Sawyer on her mind, as she was busted running some sort of errand for the con man. Last night we learned that Sawyer (and presumably a significant chunk of the castaways) had CHOSEN to stay on the Island, thereby all but confirming that the reason Jack has to go BAAAAACCCKKK!! is related to the folks he left behind. Unfortunately, I still can't shake the bad feeling that something bad is going to happen to Sawyer, and that Kate's favor for him was posthumous.

Christian also decided to pay a visit to his other child, visiting Claire in the middle of the night and grabbing Aaron (what is it with that girl and her baby and being kidnapped in the night?) Although only seen in flashes last night, I think Christian is another one of those seemingly peripheral characters, who will turn out to be very significant. Remember, earlier this season, it appeared to be Christian (more than anyone else) sitting in Jacob's cabin. Also, during season 1's "The White Rabbit", Jack followed the vision of his dad on the Island to discover that his body was gone from its coffin. So he's out there somewhere.

I also enjoyed the brief little scenes with Sawyer, Claire and Miles. As I've said, I've enjoyed Josh Holloway and the way he's conveyed Sawyer's growth on the Island from a guy who only gave a damn about himself to a protective figure. It was also nice to remember that Miles is more than just incredibly sarcastic and actually has that supernatural power of being able to communicate with the dead (as he did when he discovered Karl and Rousseau's burial site). The abrasive Miles DID seem to take particular interest in Claire. Hmm.

Then there was the whole appendicitis subplot which, as I mentioned, was mostly a dud for me. Jack was sick, he was going to have a dangerous primitive surgery, but we knew nothing would happen to him. The best we got was some half-baked concession from Juliet towards the end that her kiss with Jack was only meant to mask his feelings for Kate. If I cared about this alleged triangle and if I believed that Jack really loves Kate (I think he's more obsessed with saving her — I think Sawyer loves her) , I'm sure I would've found this more interesting.

What I did find interesting was Jin realizing that Charlotte speaks Korean and reminding us that the good guy on the Island, used to be a mob enforcer and threatening to harm Faraday is Charlotte didn't make sure Jin and her baby got off the Island.

I also thought that Rose's observation about how the Island is supposed to heal people —not make them sick — was interesting. Certainly, we've seen evidence of both its healing powers (Locke and Rose) and the fact that it can cause some damage (Jack's condition, Ben's tumor, the fact that pregnant women eventually die). I'm not smart enough to figure out what any of that means, so I'll leave it up to you.

What'd you think of this episode? Where do you think Claire disappeared off to? Since Island Jack doesn't know he's related to Claire/Aaron yet, do you think the way he told Kate, "you're not even related to him", means that he eventually finds out? Finally, do you think there's something between Charlotte and Faraday? (I mean, why would she care if Jin hurts him?)