Episode 10 - Something Nice Back Home
4 March 2010
Present: Jack needs to have his appendix removed. Sun, Jin, Daniel and Charlotte head to the Dharma medical station to get surgical equipment. Jin realises that Charlotte understands Korean and tells her he will hurt Daniel unless she agrees to take Sun off the island. Jack insists that Kate help with the operation and that he wants to guide Juliet through it. But the pain is too much for him and Bernard sedates him with chloroform. Juliet tells Kate that despite their kiss she knows Jack is in love with Kate. Miles comes across the buried corpses of Rousseau and Karl. Then he, Sawyer, Claire and Aaron have to hide from the retreating Keamy and his remaining men. During the night Christian Shepherd appears and Claire leaves with him. Sawyer finds Aaron abandoned by a tree.
Flashback: In flash-forward Jack and Kate are living together and raising Aaron. Jack goes to see Hurley at Santa Rosa where he has come to believe that they are all dead. He passes a message from Charlie to Jack “You aren’t supposed to raise him.” He also tells him someone is coming to visit him. Jack asks Kate to marry him and she says yes. The someone turns out to be Christian Shepherd which frightens Jack. Another doctor interrupts before they can speak. Jack begins to become dependent on pain medication and alcohol. He also becomes increasingly suspicious of Kate who it turns out is doing a favour for Sawyer (who chose to stay on the island).
The Good: Though he may not be many people’s favourite, Jack is a very strong character. It’s not often that the main character in a show is as well developed as he is. It is not often that a character’s strengths and weaknesses are laid as bare as his are.
The story being told is how Jack reached the point of wanting to go back to the island (in 323). He seems to be in the ideal situation: a respected surgeon, living with his love and raising a child. And yet he is the same flawed man he was before he reached the island. He is still haunted (now literally) by the shadow of his father, he is still jealous and paranoid and now increasingly dependent on alcohol and drugs to get through the stress. On the island Rose comments that people get better on the island and this metaphor runs through the flash-forward. Jack can’t be happy in the real world, the island offered him the chance to change and become a better person but he fought it and escaped. We know he will soon be begging to go back.
It’s quite the moment to see Kate hop out of the shower into Jack’s arms. The producers of Lost are determined to stamp out our preconceived notions that this would be the final scene of the show. All credit to them for telling a much larger story than attractive people fall for one another after a plane crash. The chemistry between them is strong as ever and it is sad to see their relationship fall to pieces. Seeing Jack propose to her is quite a big deal for their characters and tinged with the tragedy of what we know is coming. All this of course fills in the blanks of the scene between them at the airport (323 again).
The writers do a good job with Sawyer’s involvement as it makes Jack look perfectly reasonable in demanding an explanation for Kate’s behaviour (even as we know his paranoia will end their relationship). The scene with Hurley is very strong and dramatic as well. Poor Hurley looks crazier than we have ever seen him and makes you wonder what state he is in by the time Jack becomes as hopeless as he is here. There is some impressive acting from Jack too. The scene with the smoke alarm is exemplary. He wonderfully conveys so many complex emotions in a short space of time (see Best Moment).
There is good stuff elsewhere too. Daniel questioning where the Dharma stations power comes from is something I have asked for a long time. Jin’s selflessness is nice to see. As is the admission of romance between Daniel and Charlotte, it’s nice to acknowledge what seems obvious. The scene where Frank Lapidas tries to keep Sawyer and company safe is very tense. Rose’s suggestion that Jack is getting ill because he has displeased the island is a fascinating idea. Juliet’s speech to Kate is typically dignified and understated though Jack being awake for it is perhaps a little too like a soap opera.
The Bad: The problem I have with the Jack and Kate story is that it robs us of an emotional pay off. Although it is not everyone’s cup of tea, their romance is one of the main stories of the show. Seeing them finally get together is one of those things which you think about in the back of your mind as being reserved for the end of the show. Of course there is no reason the producers of Lost should stick to that formula. Why shouldn’t they have them together here? I may be in a minority but like Nadia’s death last episode, this feels like something which would have had much more impact if it weren’t a flash-forward. There is something missing when you see Jack proposing to Kate when you know their relationship will fail. Even if this doesn’t spoil your enjoyment of those scenes I suspect that they don’t have the impact which they could have had. I don’t think these scenes have no point but there is something missing here and I can’t help but feel the writers have robbed us of an emotional payoff by using the flash-forwards too rigidly. They have exposed us to so much of the immediate future that it has started to make the present feel less significant. Yes we want to know how they leave the island but now that we know they do, we have lost something enjoyable.
That desire to root on the characters to succeed has gone and been replaced with a puzzle. We have seen what’s on the box, we know where they will end up and for me, finding out how is less enjoyable then finding out if. Each viewer will feel very differently about how the flashbacks have been used in season four. While I do think they have injected a much needed sense of purpose and energy to the show I feel there has been a price paid in terms of how we relate to the story.
Why is Sawyer so mean to Miles? He seems relentlessly aggressive toward someone who hasn’t done anything too bad. I have knocked Heroes in the past when it “borrows” things from Lost and so it is worth noting that Miles seems to hear the dead in a way which bears more than a passing resemblance to Matt Parkman’s telepathy.
The Unknown: Why did Keamy feel the need to bury Karl and Rousseau ? It seems unlikely that he would have bothered. Speaking of Keamy, why would he want to kill Miles as Frank claims? Could Miles see Christian Shepherd because he can see ghosts or just because he was visible? And of course how is he there? And who is he? Is Rose right about Jack becoming sick for a reason? Where does the power for the Dharma stations come from? Was Miles dressing like Charlie for any reason?
Jack implies that Sawyer is still on the island in the future. If so then how is Kate helping him? Could it be to do with his daughter? Back in season one (110) we heard that Claire must raise the baby or else bad things would happen to Aaron. If we assume that that is true, then is Claire alive and still on the island in the future? If Jack is not supposed to raise Aaron then who is? Richard Malkin claimed that good people in LA would raise the child for Claire and now it so happens that there are. Was that at all part of his plan for Aaron or a coincidence?
Best Moment: Jack is working late at the hospital. He is interrupted by a smoke alarm battery beeping. Once he takes out the battery Christian Shepherd calls his name and is visible sitting across the room. Jack advances toward him only to be interrupted by Erika, another doctor. He asks her to write him a prescription for temazepam to help him sleep. She does and she suggests he talk to someone about his problems. We know he won’t. Tense, filled with intrigue and beautifully acted.
The Bottom Line: A very difficult episode to judge. While I think much of it is excellent, I can’t escape the feeling that it is a flash-forward too far. It is a strong character episode for Jack but have we been robbed of moments which could have been much more satisfying?
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