My Observations: LOST—Episode 4X12: There’s No Place Like Home, part 1

[spicedogs]

 

Oceanic Six
So we get to see the Oceanic 6 being transported to Honolulu. The copilot does not feel good about the cargo. He thinks that they are bad mojo. Does he know something that most people don’t know? After all, if castaways are found, people usually rejoice about them. Neither the pilot nor the copilot was very happy about their transport. Did they witness what the Oceanic 6 had to do to be saved? Something was definitely not right about this rescue mission.

We get to see the Oceanic 6, and they look dazed. Why? Once again, I think that they had to do something terrible to get on that plane. What sort of deal did they break? When the Oceanic 6 were interviewed by the reporters, it was obvious that the castaways were lying. We know that the story they were telling was not true. Kate was not Aaron’s mother. Not only that, but she said that she was 6 months pregnant when the plane crashed and that Aaron was now 5 weeks old. Couldn’t the reporters see through the lie? How on earth can you try to pass a 3-month old as a 5-week old? There is no way! Aaron is holding his head on his own and he is huge. A 5-week old is a helpless baby whose head you must keep secured. The neck is not strong enough to hold the head up. What a farce. I am looking forward to seeing how this little faux pas is explained.

What about Sun’s lie. It was obvious that they were all uncomfortable as to what she was going to say about Jin’s whereabouts. She lied. They all knew that she lied. Is Jin back on the island trying to save it from going to Widmore? Something’s up. And, Sun knows that something’s up. She uses her share of the Oceanic settlement to buy a big share into her father’s company. She knows that her father is involved in a sham, that’s for sure. How did she learn that? Ben?

Family renewal scene had a lot of pathos. I cried. I noticed that, however, the Paik family was hugging a cold fish. Sun was not thrilled to seeing them. It was sad to see that Sayid had no one to greet him. (Of course, later on, we get to see that Nadia was there for him after all.) How great was Hurley to include him in with his family? Hurley, you are the sweetest guy on LOST. I just get mad at all the fat jokes that you are part of. LOST cut this shit out already. In fact, cut the Jate/Skate dilemma and the fat jokes. Then you will be greatest show to ever hit the TV screens so far. Oh, what I am saying? You are the GREATEST SHOW TO EVER HIT THE TV SCREENS so far.

Oceanic 8
They claim that they were 8 and now are 6. Why?

Jack Is an Asshole
What is wrong with Jack to constantly trying to be the eternal hero that he is not? The moment he finds that the helicopter landed near the Orchid, he gets Kate to come and help him. WTF? Is he not a doctor? Does he not know that he could harm himself? And WTF, Juliet still cares about him. Will this love quadrangle ever end?

And when Sawyer informs that Locke was right and the people on the freight were out to kill them, what does he do? He continues to say that he needs to get the people off the island with the helicopter. Jack, you moron, didn’t you hear Sawyer? They are out to kill you, not save you. A little humility would do you well.

But Jack is intent on being a hero and Sawyer was not going to let him die alone. Sawyer follows him to the helicopter.

Jack Is an Uncle
After his father’s memorial, Jack is accosted by Claire’s mom. Guess what? He finds out that Claire is half sister. Wow. Talk about socking it to him.

Faraday
He knows more than he lets on. He knows that he and Charlotte is in danger. In true LOST fashion, he doesn’t let us know what he knows. I never liked this character. Of all the freighties, besides Miles Straume, I prefer Charlotte (and that’s not saying much, believe me) to Faraday. But Faraday’s behavior and desire to help everyone off the island redeemed himself in my eyes. He is a scientist (and I am partial to scientists), and he may be a genuine person after all.

The Freight
Faraday pulls castaways 6 at time. Nope, these are not the Oceanic 6. Jin, Sun, and Aaron are among them. So we are not yet at the point that we can say that’s how they are saved. Moreover, after meeting up with Michael on the freight, they learn that the freight is emitting signals to somewhere and is rigged with explosives. Just like the Black Rock, the Kahana is armed to kill.

Sayid, Kate, and Richard
Sayid, with the aid of Faraday starts removing people from the island onto the freight. But then Sayid is summoned by Juliet to catch up with Kate and Jack. When Sayid meets up with Kate, Jack was gone. Kate and Sayid quickly take the baby to the beach and drop him off with Sun. And off they go to save Jack, only to be caught by Richard. I guess that they are in good hands.

 

Miles Straume
My one and only favorite freightie is Miles. He is a great comic relief. Of course, having been his fan prior to seeing him on LOST absolutely prejudiced me. However, Ken Leung proves to be the great comic actor. I appreciate that powers to be of LOST are using this actor’s comic timing.

Ben Always Has a Plan
According to Ben, the Orchid is a green house, and that’s where you move the island. Is that where the volcano can be activated? That would be interesting. Have the volcano erupt and then move the island with it.

So, Ben follows Jacob’s wishes: The island will be moved. So we learn that the island was moved 15 years ago. Alex was 1 year old then. Is this little bit of information important? I don’t know, but I thought about it.

Hugo’s Birthday Party
So his parents don’t get it. They use the tropical island theme for the party. I thought that was hilarious. I thought that the introduction of the whispers was cute. But LOST damn it, you will have to explain the whisper. You will. Or I will use Jesus Christ as my weapon. That, by the way, was the best line in this episode.

The Numbers Are Back
Hugo is still haunted by the numbers. The car that his dad gives him is proof of that. Will we ever learn the meaning of the numbers?

Keamy and Ben
What can I say about Keamy? I hate this bastard. There is a contingency on the Internet who finds the character absolutely sexy and hot. What is wrong with these women? This man is a brute. Raw violence emits from him. I personally would not want to encounter him ever in my life, let alone in my bed.

Anyway, I digress. This entry is about Keamy and Ben. Ben gives instructions to Locke on how to move the island and then goes on to sacrifice himself to Keamy. How much into the future does Ben know? He could have been killed. Maybe Ben knew that he is worth more alive than dead. But havent't the rules changed? But, then again, as Ben said to Locke, “I always have a plan.” And he may have one. But the episode ended with Ben being knocked out by Keamy. Let’s see how Ben’s plan will work in the next episode.

 

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Comments

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

Why do they look dazed? Well, apparently something big went down. Then again, they did survive a crash and are finally going home. I think I'd be dazed, too.

I completely agree about the lie regarding Aaron's age. WTF??

As I said in my review, I was so sad for Sayid an happy Hurley included him in his reunion. But I sobbed both when they first landed and wheN Nadia showed up because we know she dies. :(

I too would like to know who the other 2 were supposed to have been and why the claimed 8 survived the crash and not just 6.

Amen about Jack!

I thought Dan was a total hero in this ep. Why don't you like Frank? It seems he's done nother but try to help from the beginning.

What I'd really like to know is how the 06 all end up together and get off the island. Right now they are scattered to the four winds.

Did Ben say the island was moved 15 years ago? I don't remember.

The 'voices' were downright creepy, but very clever.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Why I don't like Frank? Because I forgot about him. Yes, I agree. He is someone who has good intentions for sure. I stand corrected. I like Frank.

I agree with you. I think that Dan was a sweet guy in this episode. I still wish he was more forthcoming. But we are discussing LOST, aren't we?

I am assuming that the island was moved 15 years ago. The island was moved, otherwise, Widmore would find it. All the paraphernalia for communicating with the Orchid was there. The crackers were 15 year old. Ben was there 15 years ago. Hence, I came to the conclusion that the island was moved off of Widmore's vigilance 15 years ago.

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

LOL I guess that's a good enough reason. ;)

No, no one on LOST is terribly forth coming. Then again, do you really think it would have been wise for Dan to say, oh by the way, we aren't hear to rescue you, but you are all gonna die? LOL But what made you not like him?

[doubleoh-sarah.livejournal.com]

There is a contingency on the Internet who finds the character absolutely sexy and hot. What is wrong with these women? This man is a brute. Raw violence emits from him. I personally would not want to encounter him ever in my life, let alone in my bed.

I've been thinking the same lately, and I'm 100% agreed with you on that one ! I just don't get it. *shakes head*

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Yes, what is so attractive by brute force?

[crazymaryt.livejournal.com]

Naturally I loved the Ben parts but I will say I really loved Sun in this ep. It's too bad she doesn't get more story. She's always surprising to me. I can't decide if I like her or not.

I hope we do get to see exactly how the 6 came to leave the island. I hope my fear that maybe every one else is dead is unfounded. I do not want any more deaths (except Keamy at Ben's hands).

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

I agree. Sun kicked arse in this ep! It's funny, I've met the actor who plays Paik and he's actually very sweet. :D

They better show us how th 06 end up leaving or else. *shakes fist* And I'm sure everyone is not dead. If they were, why would Jack think it's so important to "GO BACK!" As he's always yelling.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I also think that the rest are on the island. Maybe they joined Richard's community.

[crazymaryt.livejournal.com]

I hope you're right. I really, really hate the idea the bulk of the Losties are dead. I say bulk because you know with this show someone's dying. ;-)

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Oh, I completely agree with you. This was kick-ass Sun episode. She was awesome.

[galileah-galile.livejournal.com]

some of the time stuff bothers me a lot too, aaron;s age, Alex's age (per earlier discussion at enigmaticlovers) being four durring the purge? But obviously they are going to get off the frieghter before something terrible happens. I wonder if the island will show up somewhere in a completely different climate, who knows. He said it was unpredictable I think.
Why are they dazed? Maybe from the huge lie they've told or maybe from the time shift leaving the island? We shall see.
as for Keamey, everyone is allowed a lapse in taste.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

as for Keamey, everyone is allowed a lapse in taste.

ROFL

[shalimar77777.livejournal.com]

Okay, I wasn't going to open my big mouth here, but I couldn't resist. Let me plead my case on Keamy. I'm not here to start any arguments, I just feel a healthy debate is in order.

On Keamy and Ben. Two sides of the same coin, methinks. Yes, Keamy is very violent and base. He sees a person he doesn't like and will use violence to take him out. It's point A to point B. He is ruthless...

But so is Ben in a totally different, nefarious way...Ben is point A to point X to point R to point D to point B. But let's face it, the end result is the same.

Let's see:

Ben -- Gasses his own dad because he's a drunk and a lousy father. How so very Menendez Brothers of him.

Ben -- plays a major role in the mass death of dozens of people. Maybe he didn't pull the trigger, but he was certainly complicit. It served his own ends because his prize was to become the leader of the Others. He claims he wasn't the one to make the decision, but he was involved and he certainly benefited from the outcome.

Ben -- Nearly kills Ana Lucia in the hatch -- what did she do to him to deserve that? Yes, she killed Goodwin. But let's face it, he choked out a woman, and if Locke hadn't intervened, is there any doubt that Ana Lucia would've died right then at Ben's hands?

Ben -- Kidnaps Walt and then convinces Michael to do whatever it takes to help him escape and get his son back, and then tells Michael that Michael pulled the trigger on Ana Lucia and Libby and that he's in no way responsible for what happened.

On Widmore: This "I didn't do it, you did" argument by Ben (used over and over and over by him) shows the rules only apply to him. Did Widmore pull the trigger on Alex? No. But Ben, being a hypocrite, is more than happy to make it his mission to kill poor innocent Penny anyway. According to Ben, the rules are totally different for him than Widmore.

Ben -- Sends Juliet's boyfriend/boy toy away to possibly be killed. I don't buy for a second that he never considered that that would happen. And you KNOW how much I hate Juliet, so for me to stick up for her is inconceivable. But here I am.

Ben -- Manipulates Sayid into doing his dirty work for him, taking advantage of his vulnerable state as he's grieving during his own wife's funeral!

Ben -- kicks the s*** out of Sawyer after keeping him locked up like an animal -- because he can. He fits Sawyer with a device that doesn't even allow him to fight back for fear that he'll die, which in turn gives Ben all the room in the world to beat him down like a dog.

Ben -- Slams the door on Jack and Juliet, almost drowning them in the hatch, just as Juliet, his so-called love, is running for the door!

Ben -- Locks up his own daughter's boyfriend just so he can brainwash him with drugs in hopes that he becomes subservient and doesn't get Alex pregnant (but at least he admitted it was an overreaction -- I'll give him that).

Ben -- Tells his men to take Walt, and then locks Walt up in room 23 (see the Mobisode if you don't know what I'm talking about) and does experiments on him.

Ben -- Manipulates Locke in hopes that Locke will cut his own dad's throat! Yes, Cooper is the lowest sort of scum, but manipulating someone (Locke) who is emotional and obviously not even in the same league, intelligence-wise, is pretty unforgivable, don't you think? Should an adult manipulate an 8 year old child just because they can? I don't think so.

And those are just the things I remember off-hand. I'm sure there are more...

[shalimar77777.livejournal.com]

But wait...there's more!!!


Listen, I love Ben as much as anyone else here, but let's face it, I think we're all a bit desensitized to his long track record of ruthless gameplaying, using people to his own ends, using his hyper-intelligence to outsmart people and make fools of them, kidnapping people, planning mass kidnappings, ordering people killed (Sayid, Bernard and Jin), preying on people's emotions and stepping on people when they're most vulnerable, lying ALL THE TIME about all sorts of things, and at the end of the day, sitting smug, like a king, because everyone's doing his bidding.

Keamy is doing Widmore's bidding and you hate him. In the big picture, Keamy is just one of these chess pieces, a pawn in the game. Keamy's very nature is honest. He will kill you and there is no doubt about that. But Ben, he won't personally kill you, but he'll smile at you, snooker someone else into killing you, and then sit back like he was in no way responsible in the least.

On Keamy, yes, I can see how you don't like his base and dark nature. But Ben and Keamy both have blood on their hands. Yes, Keamy killed Alex, but Ben has a loooooooong track record of doing the same to many others in a sort of back-alley way.

So in a nutshell, I suppose we should all thank Michael Emerson. He has us all snookered. Because even though HE believes Ben is a good guy (and he might turn out to be one), he must understand that Ben is a diabolical, mean-spirited son of a b****. And yet here we are, week after week, declaring our undying love for him.

BTW - if this were real life and you knew someone like Ben, you would not want to go anywhere near him. Trust.

So, I guess the question is this. Do you like a guy who plays no games at all and is pretty straightforward in his deeds (Keamy), or do you like a guy who uses a spaghetti junction-level cobweb of lies and manipulations to accomplish the very same thing?

You like scotch and hate vodka, I like scotch AND vodka. But at the end of the night, we're both drunk, right?

Sorry about the tirade. This has been on my mind for a while now. I just needed to put it out there.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Hey, at least, Ben has brains. (Nothing against Kevin Durand mind you. The actors are not judged here, only the characters.) All Keamy has is pure unadulterated brute force, weapons, and total disregard for human life.

AT the end of season 2, Ben was bluffing when it came to actually killing the castaways at the beach. Keamy killed a helpless girl, a teenager.

Ben -- Gasses ....

We are not given all the reasons why Ben kills his father. There may be more that we may learn along the way.

How much threat was Alex?

Ben -- plays a major role in the mass death of dozens of people...

I doubt that the reason that he joined the forces to purging the DHARMA people was to become a leader. More than likely, the island has some powers or resources that can be used for good purposes or for deadly purposes. I am quite sure that Ben's reasoning was to ultimately save the world and not to harm the world.



Ben -- Nearly kills Ana Lucia in the hatch -- what did she do to him to deserve that? ...

Ana was a dangerous woman. She was impulsive and didn't hesitate to pull the trigger without thinking. It was obvious that Ben knew that, as the Others knew everything about every castaway. Hey, wasn't Ben in a "dangerous" place himself? What would you have done in his case? Locked up in a prison and your life in the prison guards hands?

Ben -- Kidnaps Walt and then convinces Michael to do whatever it takes to help him escape and get his son back, and then tells Michael that Michael pulled the trigger on Ana Lucia and Libby and that he's in no way responsible for what happened.

Woo, woo, woo, this isn't exactly true. The Others kidnapped Walt, and yes, Ben was involved. But he was not involved in the convincing Michael in killing Ana Lucia and Libby. That was purely Michael's decision. Ben, if you recall, was a prisoner at that point. He was not negotiating a thing with Michael.


On Widmore: This "I didn't do it, you did" argument by Ben (used over and over and over by him) shows the rules only apply to him. Did Widmore pull the trigger on Alex? No. But Ben, being a hypocrite, is more than happy to make it his mission to kill poor innocent Penny anyway. According to Ben, the rules are totally different for him than Widmore.

In essence, Widmore did pull the trigger if the rules were of the fact that no member of the family is to be harmed by the other.


Ben -- Sends Juliet's boyfriend/boy toy away to possibly be killed. ....

How on Earth would Ben know that Ana would kill Goodwin?

Ben -- Manipulates Sayid into doing his dirty work for him,...

Let's not get Sayid, the torturer involved here. Hmmm, wasn't he who tried to beat the crap about of Ben when Shannon died? I think Sayid has that in his veins.


Ben -- kicks the s*** out of Sawyer after keeping him locked up like an animal -...

That was uncalled for and I commented about that in my observations of that episode.

Ben -- Slams the door on Jack and Juliet, almost drowning them in the hatch, just as Juliet, his so-called love, is running for the door!

That was mean, and I agree with you there.

Ben -- Locks up his own daughter's boyfriend just so he can brainwash him with drugs in hopes that he becomes subservient and doesn't get Alex pregnant (but at least he admitted it was an overreaction -- I'll give him that).

No drugs were involved—just sleep deprivation. At least it stopped Karl from having sex with his daughter. How many fathers dream about that type of torture. LOL


Ben -- Tells his men to take Walt....

We don't know what the experiments were like. It might have been some intelligence experiments we, in the United States, administer.

Ben -- Manipulates Locke in hopes that Locke will cut his own dad's throat! Y....

Hey, did anybody ever get it? Richard is the father. Besides, Ben knew that Locke has the ability to be a leader. Ben knew who Locke is. This may have been the training that Ben underwent to become the leader and protector of the island.

[mizbelle.livejournal.com]

When did we learn that the island was moved 15 years ago?

Also, just an observation I had... I really liked how Ben walking into the Orchid with his hands up was a mirror of Richard walking up to Kate and Sawyer with his hands up. I thought it showed how Ben and Richard are connected...or how they have some of the same methods, or something.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I am assuming that the island was moved 15 years ago. The island was moved, otherwise, Widmore would find it. All the paraphernalia for communicating with the Orchid was there. The crackers were 15 year old. Ben was there 15 years ago. Hence, I came to the conclusion that the island was moved off of Widmore's vigilance 15 years ago.

[meegat.livejournal.com]

Good review - but I have to disagree about Daniel. He hasn't redeemed himself in my eyes yet - mind you, he'd probably have to walk on water to do that. I really cannot stand the character.

As for Keamy - yup, another one I cannot stand. I'm looking forward to Ben dealing with him.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I hope that Ben outsmarts his muscles. LOL

[divka.livejournal.com]

Great summary--I'm with you on almost all of this, I think.

I think yours is the only review I've read to mention Miles. His double take when he was coming out of the jungle and finally noticed Kate? Hilarious.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I love Miles, but I am prejudiced because I love Ken Leung.

[ben-munchkin.livejournal.com]

ROFL am i the only one who think keamy looks like a hamster with bulging muscles? LOL ha ha i love my imangination.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

That is awesome. He has the brain of a hamster as well. Maybe they use Keamy for their electricity in Otherville. LOL.

[ff7gal.livejournal.com]

Jack is just...ugh. He drives me crazy with is "I'm a hero and I am going to save everybody because no one else is going to... even though I am bleeding to death". And then he cries. Lol.

I like Faraday. He totally gives of the "dorky, socially awkward geeky scientist" vibe. It really seems to me that he is just there for the science aspect of it all, not to kill people...or even rescue people. I don't think he wanted to get involved in the messy stuff, so he wants to stay out of it and do his science-y things. I have to admit though, when Faraday first appeared with all his awkwardness, I thought the guy who played him was a terrible actor - but then I got it :P

I was happy that the golden Jesus statue made another appearance. It was hilarious last time when Hugo's Mom covered the statues ears.

And I don't get the appeal of Keamy either. But I don't like dudes who are all muscle and "kill, kill, kill" in their heads. Ben is going to make Keamys little head explode with all his awesome manipulation skills. :D

[mooncove.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with you on most everything you said--except Daniel is probably my favorite of the helicopter guys (besides Frank, who seems to be out of the loop), mainly for saving Desmond in "The Constant." But like you said, that's not saying much. You also point out a lot of things I hadn't thought of, like the age inconsistencies. (I too thought about Richard being Locke's father and came to the same conclusion you did.) I agree with the person who said the show is one big mind****--that's why I try not to spend too much time thinking about it ... until the whole series is over with and I find out whether the ending justifies the past six years! But then Ben had to go and cry and made me feel sorry for him, I looked up the actor's name, found your site, found the YouTube videos, and now I'm into it again for the first time since Season 1. I was seriously going to give it up after they killed Charlie last year, but it's more like an addiction than a fandom! (BTW, this probably is nothing new to you folks who've been discussing it all this time, but did you notice that seemingly off-hand comment Ben made to Richard at the beginning of "The Man Behind the Curtain" ... "You remember birthdays, don't you Richard?" Does this imply that Richard is immortal? It's obvious he never ages, but I just thought that was an interesting comment, or at least Michael Emerson made it sound very pointed.)

I totally agree about the Juliet/Jack/Kate/Sawyer quadrangle ... BORING. I so wish they would resolve get past all that. (My four least favorite characters.)

And I'm totally with you about Keamy! True, Ben is a first-class [insert expletive here], which is why it took me this long to like him ... Frankly, I think I've always secretly wanted to like him since I have this thing for complex villains, but "Shape of Things" was the first time since he was a kid that he's shown any humanity. (I've been waiting all this time for a straw to grasp at!) But even before that ep., he's always been something of a mystery, and the way his obviously superior mind works is fascinating. I'm attracted to brainy guys too, not to mention the obvious fact that Michael Emerson is kinda cute--and got about 10x cuter after I saw what a sweetheart he is on that View interview, whereas I can't stand guys like Keamy who look like they spend their whole lives in front of the mirror at the gym and probably have never opened a book in their lives (Michael does crossword puzzles *swoon*) and have all the finesse of a steamroller. I agree with the person who said he looked like a muscle-bound hamster! And the person who wrote: "Ben is going to make Keamys little head explode with all his awesome manipulation skills. :D" I can't wait for that! (Cuz if Ben gets killed off, then I'm really done with this show!)