Is it me, or does this happen regularly: A great episode of Lost (or at least one with a cliffhanger/reveal at the end) is followed by a pedestrian effort aimed more at developing characters than developing story. That’s certainly the case with tonight’s episode, Something Nice Back Home.
That isn’t to say that Something Nice Back Home was a bad episode. It wasn’t. But it wasn’t great, either. And after last week’s great episode, and considering the momentum the show is trying to build as they wrap up Season Four, you’d think they’d put out a stronger effort, or at least let us check in with more compelling characters, like Ben, Locke, Sayid or Desmond.
It may sound hard to believe, but I like Jack as a character. It’s interesting how and why he goes from island hero to mainland zero. It’s just compared to the other people on the island, I don’t care much about his story. Or his relationship with Kate. At least, we get enough to fill in the blanks between tonight’s episode and last season’s awesome ending scene.
To be honest, watching Jack’s first flashforward scene, I expected tonight’s episode to be about how he got his new post-island tatoos. I’m very happy it didn’t come to that. I would have liked to see more of what his father had to say to him (although I get the idea it’s something along the lines of “don’t raise the boy” or whatever Charlie told Hurley to tell Jack). It’s nice to see the theme of “Aaron cannot be raised by another” return from the first season.
And speaking of tie-ins to past episodes, Jin and Sun went with Faraday and the annoying Limey chick to a DHARMA station. Usually, any episode with a DHARMA station sighting is a bonus for me. But this felt rushed. There was an emotional moment with Sun and the equipment, but after the scene in Tunisia in her first episode, I would’ve expected annoying Limey chick to be more amazed at being at an actual DHARMA facility.
As for the final, but smallest focus tonight, I enjoyed Sawyer, Claire and the Ghostbuster’s jaunt through the jungle. Sawyer as a protective figure is a nice use of the character, considering how heartless he’s been shown to be in the past (and the line about him in the last Jack-Kate scene: “he chose to stay behind,” I’m sure that has a future implication). I’m sure that Miles the Ghostbuster is not up to some sort of nefarious plot, but maybe the Losties would be less suspicious of him (and Faraday and annoying Limey chock) if they just opened up a little.
Some other random thoughts:
-After Rose saying “you just watch your mouth red,” I really wanted to see Rose lay the smack down on annoying Limey chick.
-I was a bit disappointed to see that Keamy and a number of troops survived last week’s monster of mystery attack. I thought for sure that Smokey would have wiped them all out.
-It’s noble to think that Kate would do something for Sawyer in her post-island life. I’d bet it has something to do with Cassidy and his daughter. But considering Jack’s past record and paranoia with unfaithful women, maybe she should have been a bit more forthcoming.
-An appendectomy is one of the most routine types of surgery. Everything I know about appendectomies, I learned from The Office:
Dwight: Talk me through an appendectomy.
Andy: Step 1, disinfection. Step 2, incision. Step 3, remove the appendix tenderly so it doesn’t burst and spread toxic…icity everywhere.
Dwight[talking over Andy]: Step 5, …the wound.
Andy: Re-suture. Sutures, yes.
What did you think?
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