The Three Rs: 22: 36 - There's No Place Like Season Finales (Part 1)

22: 36 - There's No Place Like Season Finales (Part 1)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Written by: Dee4leeds

As the titled alludes... today's episode is part 1 of the three part season finale of season 4. Let's get under way with the first hour.

There's No Place Like Home, Part 1

"What?" I hear you cry... it's a Oceanic Six flashforward.

Lostpedia's Recap

At the Beach
The survivors are busy discussing what to do following the discovery of the satellite phone dropped from the helicopter. Jack hands the satellite phone to Daniel. Daniel enters a code that activates "monitor only" mode, allowing them to listen to a conversation on the helicopter. They hear Keamy speaking to Frank Lapidus. Keamy orders Frank to land the helicopter. Frank informs them that they are still "5 klicks out", but Keamy demands that they land. Keamy tells his men, "Soon as we hit the ground, we deploy to the Orchid." Jack is determined to follow the helicopter because he thinks it is the ticket to rescue. Against the wishes of Juliet, who wants Jack to rest after his appendectomy, Jack asks Kate if she wants to track the helicopter. Jack and Kate run into the jungle after the signal of the phone. Meanwhile, Dan searches through his journal for a page containing information about the Orchid and warns Charlotte that they must leave the Island immediately.

In the Jungle
In the jungle, Kate notices Jack's wound is bleeding, but he insists that it is a normal part of the recovery phase. Suddenly, a noise is heard in the jungle and the two draw their weapons. Miles comes out of the bush, followed by Sawyer carrying Aaron. Kate and Sawyer exchanged uneasy stares before Kate asks where Claire is to which Sawyer replies that they lost her in the jungle, and even after a day's search, they could not find her. He informs them that The Barracks was attacked by the people from the freighter. Jack wishes to continue into the jungle and tells Kate to take care of the baby and head back to the beach with Miles. Hesitantly, Sawyer catches up to Jack to help him. The two follow the signal on the satellite phone until they reach the helicopter where Frank is hand-cuffed. Sawyer is uneasy about approaching Frank, but Jack assures him that he is trustworthy. The two proceed to find a way to un-cuff Frank who promises to fly them off the island as soon as they do. He lets them know that with the soldiers on the island, it is the last place they want to be and that the freighter is the safest place. He says the men are at The Orchid waiting to capture Ben and do terrible things to whoever is with him. Sawyer realizes that Hurley is with Ben, to Jack's frustration, and they decide they cannot leave yet. The group continues into the jungle on a venture towards The Orchid. After returning to the beach, Kate and Sayid, who has returned to the island on the Zodiac raft from the freighter, return to the jungle to hunt Jack and Sawyer's tracks. Instead, they find a different fresh set of tracks, and Sayid calls for whoever is following them to reveal themselves. Richard Alpert emerges from the jungle, and Kate and Sayid draw their guns and tell Richard to stand down. He asks them to calm down and continues moving towards them until a large group of Others come out of the bush and aim rifles at the pair. Richard disarms the two and brings them into his group.

At the Beach
Sayid arrives at the beach and offers to ferry people, six at a time, back to the freighter. Kate comes out of the jungle with Aaron and tells Sayid what has happened with the helicopter and the sat-phone. Sayid wants to run off after them to warn them about the freighter mercenaries, so Daniel offers to ferry people to the boat in his place. Juliet says that Sun is pregnant, so should leave first. Kate wants to go with Sayid to help track Jack and Sawyer, so she gives Aaron to Sun. Sayid and Kate head off into the jungle and Daniel takes Sun, Jin, Aaron and three other survivors on the raft.

On the Freighter
Daniel arrives on the raft with Jin, Sun, Aaron and three other survivors. Desmond helps them aboard and Daniel heads back to get more people to ferry. Michael arrives and informs Desmond that the engines are fixed. Desmond leaves. In the bridge, Desmond has Hendricks, who acts as helmsman, try the engine, which works. However, they can't move closer to the Island because of some RF interference which prevents them from being able to see the reef and that the RF interference is coming from the boat. Desmond says he'll find the source and shut it off. in and Sun are talking to Michael who explains his situation. Sun is surprised to see him working for Ben and he replies that he's not working for Ben, he's trying to atone for what he did. Desmond bursts out of the ship calling for help. Michael, Jin and Sun (carrying Aaron) follow him, and he leads them to a room full of explosives. Jin tells Sun to leave and she heads above deck.

Traveling to the Orchid
Ben leads John and Hurley through the jungle. He explains that if, as Jacob told John, they need to move the Island, then there's only one place to do that: the Orchid station. Along the way, Ben stops at a rock formation and pulls out a hidden case. Inside are binoculars, a signaling mirror, and a DHARMA Initiative cracker tin with The Swan logo. Locke gives the tin to Hurley, who opens it up and starts eating the crackers that are inside. After letting Hurley know that the crackers are 15 years old, Ben uses the mirror to reflect light in order to signal something to someone on a nearby cliff. The person on the cliff responds with more reflected light. Locke takes the binoculars and asks Ben what he said with the signal. Ben replies that it's none of his business. Later, the three reach the Orchid, only to find that Keamy's team have made it there first. Ben gives Locke very specific instructions on what to do once inside the station, hands him his telescopic baton, then walks out into the open where Keamy's team can see him. Keamy comes out and Ben surrenders to him. Keamy holds a gun to Ben's head for a second, before hitting him with it instead.

Kates' Flashforward
Two pilots are at the helm of a transport plane. One chastises the other for clinging to his lucky charm; the one holding the rabbit's foot says he has to be extra vigilant considering the cargo they are carrying. Karen Decker, an Oceanic Airlines representative, is strapped into the jump seat immediately behind the pilots. The pilots tell Decker they're approaching the runway. The Oceanic Six are aboard an US Coast Guard transport aircraft en route to a military facility just west of Honolulu. Decker tells them that their families are waiting for them and that they don't have to speak to the press. Jack insists that they're alright with speaking to the press. The woman leaves and Jack tells the rest of the Six to stick to the story and if they don't have an answer to a question to just stay quiet and the press will assume that they're in shock. Sun replies that they are in shock. The Six exit the back of the transport. Carmen and David Reyes, Mr. and Mrs. Paik, and Margo Shephard are all waiting for them. The three families are overjoyed to see each other. Sayid and Kate have no one greeting them. Hugo jumps back after hugging his mom hello and introduces Sayid, who gets the full family hug treatment. Kate just holds on tight to baby Aaron and looks around, alone.

Sayids' Flashforward
Later, Oceanic Airlines holds a press conference with the Oceanic Six. Karen Decker presents the story of how the Oceanic Six survived, and then the Six take questions from the press. Jack is asked what it was like when the plane hit the water and responds by saying that it all happened very fast. He and a few others made it to one of the doors and got out of the plane, and stayed afloat using life jackets and seat cushions until the tide brought them ashore. One reporter suggests that, for having been trapped on an Island for the amount of time that they were, they look to be in remarkable health. Hurley asks if that question is directed at him, and the reporter asks him what it will be like to get his money back. He says that he doesn't want it back. Another reporter asks Sun a question in Korean. Karen asks for a translation, and Sun translates the questions: whether Jin was one of the passengers who made it out of the plane. She responds that no, he died in the crash. Kate is asked what it was like giving birth to Aaron on the Island, to which she replies that it was terrifying. At the time of the press conference, Aaron should be almost five weeks old; the reporter follows up by challenging her version of the timeline, noting that she would have been six months pregnant when she was apprehended in Australia. The representative from Oceanic hastily cuts off this line of questioning and explains that Kate's "legal issue is off the table." When asked about the possibility that other survivors might yet be found, Sayid replies, "No. absolutely not." After the press conference, Karen tells Sayid that there's a woman outside who claims to know him: Noor Abed Jazeem. He heads outside, where he sees Nadia. They embrace.

Suns' Flashforward
Some time later, Sun goes to her father's office. When she arrives, two men are there explaining about an upsetting incident involving five different banks; he sends them away. Sun asks if anything is wrong and Mr. Paik replies that it's company business, and she wouldn't understand. She then accuses him of having hated Jin, and tells her father that she considers him to be one of the two people responsible for his death. She reveals that Oceanic Airlines has given her a significant settlement, which she has used to purchase a controlling interest in Paik Industries. She then tells her father that once she has her baby, she intends to discuss her plans for the company's new direction.

Hurleys' Flashforward
Later, Hurley is shown walking through his house, which appears empty. However, he is startled when he sees a coconut on the ground and begins to hear whispers. He picks up a small statue of Jesus Christ to use as a weapon and slowly moves towards the voices. As he opens the door, the whispers are revealed to be a large group of friends and family surprising him with a birthday party. His mother scolds him for contemplating using the statue as a weapon. At the party, Sayid, Nadia, Kate, and Aaron are present. Kate mentions that Jack is running late. Hurley's father takes him aside to show him his birthday present, which is the Camaro they had worked on previously. He mentions that once he thought Hurley was dead, he began to finish working on the car as a tribute to his son. He gives Hurley the keys, which are on a rabbit-foot keychain. Hurley and his father enter the car to take it for a ride, but Hurley immediately notices the numbers in the odometer and trip counter. He immediately exits the car and is seen running down the street, away from the party in fear.

Jacks' Flashforward
Ten months after the crash, Jack delivers a eulogy at his father's funeral. He expresses remorse over not having his body present, saying he loved his father. After the ceremony, Carole Littleton approaches him. She explains her story, revealing to Jack that Claire - whom she believes he never met - was his half-sister and was also on the plane. Carole then approaches Kate, complimenting Aaron, unaware that he's her grandson.

Review

Realtime Rating: 5/5 - Alot of people moving ready for a Lost style mind fuck!
Flashforward Rating: 5/5 - Hmm... what's left to tell over 2 seasons in the future?
Episode Rating: 5/5 - A great episode, gearing me for a perfect finale... hopefully.