There's No Place Like Home - Part Two

Lost - Episode 4.13/4.14

Unlike the previous season finales for Lost, which ended with big shocking twists, the fourth season wraps up by bringing events to their logical conclusions. This season was more about the journey to an end that brought the past and future events together. The show has caught up with itself, so to speak. In doing so, the series is set up for the next season's big story thrust: returning half of the cast to the island.

The reveal of John Locke as the man in the coffin wasn't a big shock. He had long been suspected to be the occupant and given the clues laid throughout the season, it was pretty inevitable. This being Lost, I doubt Terry O'Quinn is out of a job. Locke is one of the show's most important characters, and I'm sure we'll be seeing him up and about before too long. I'm willing to bet that we'll get some "Jeremy Bentham" scenes in flashback during the season premiere.

The method of getting the future Oceanic Six off the island at the same time worked for the most part. Sawyer made the noble sacrifice and gave up his seat so the leaking helicopter could make it to the boat. Jin couldn't make it in time because Frank was panicked and wanted to get away from the freighter that was about to blow up. Frank and Desmond's exits were handled in a way I didn't expect, but worked quite well. The Desmond and Penny reunion was one of my favorite parts of the show, and it was nice to have at least one ray of sunshine amongst all the tragedy.

Since a lot of events played out as expected, I'm more compelled to speculate on what may come next season. I don't think that Jin is dead. He's smart and he would have jumped off the freighter once it looked like Frank wasn't turning back. Michael is probably dead. The moment "Christian Shephard" appeared and told him he "can go now", was great. Michael has been released from the island's hold and is allowed to die. Besides Jin, the other major players on the island are Juliet (who looked gorgeous this episode) and Sawyer (getting the required "oops, my shirt fell off" scene). For some reason I can see these two forming a bond. They're two with the most leadership qualities left on the island and it could be an interesting relationship.

Good sub-characters like Rose, Bernard, Charlotte, and Miles are also there. Daniel was still at sea when the island moved, but when it vanished the second island (a mile or two away) was gone, too. This may be the out that allows Jin and Daniel to be transported, too. There were some hints that Charlotte may have been to the island before. Could she, Miles, and Daniel be Darma children that once lived on the island? They're all around the same age. Just a wild theory.

The idea of rounding up everyone that left the island and going back opens up some great potential character conflict. Kate is already hesitant and Claire's dream visit about not taking Aaron back won't help matters. I'm curious if this extends to Frank and especially Desmond, as well. Desmond and Penny are tied so close to the Widmore/Darma part of the mythology that it seems fitting that they would have a continued presence on the show. Speaking of Widmore, Sun's conversation with the man raises some interesting questions. Is she playing him for revenge or is she wanting to us Widmore as a means to strike at Ben? Whatever the case, I'm loving post island Sun. She has become confident and determined. This is a logical character growth given the circumstances of her life before and during her stay on the island.

I will give the creators and writers of Lost a lot of credit for delivering fourteen hours of the planned sixteen episodes. The writer's strike disrupted things a bit, but they recovered nicely. Streamlining these final three seasons down to sixteen episodes each instead of stretching them out to twenty-four was a wise move. The writing has been tighter and answers are coming at a quicker rate. This allows for less filler and re-establishing a sense of urgency that the series was starting to lack. Season four has made me excited about Lost, again.

This episode: 8 out of 10
This season: 8 out of 10