Dear Lost,
Oh, Lost, you old sailor, you. You’ve done it again. At 10 minutes into “Something Nice Back Home,” I was shocked and baffled, at twenty minutes in I was baffled and shocked and by the end of it, I had the same feeling I usually do at the end of your more mystifying episodes: exhaustion. Post-episode, I sipped on a Tecate (Cinco de Mayo nears) wondering what the hell had just happened. Wondering if I like the direction the series may be going. Wondering if I’ve loved you for so long that I’ve convinced myself to love every episode, regardless of the quality or my relative level of comprehension. A lot of stuff went down last night, Lost, and I expect some things to be explained by the end of the finale.
Ghosts
Lost is full of ghosts. OK, that’s fine. I can deal with ghosts, but I don’t want you to be about ghosts. When Hurley cryptically explains that they are all dead, or some such nonsense, it scares me. Lost shouldn’t be The Sixth Sense. Of course, Hurley is completely insane, as some have argued. I would retort: maybe he’s not. Only you know, Lost, but it seems that often on the show truth comes from the mouths of the crazy. The whispers come from ghosts. Christian Shepherd is a ghost. A ghost who can steal babies. That’s some freaky stuff. You got me there, you lost me there – is Christian Shepherd the key to this whole thing? I love science-fiction because it takes us all to places we are totally unfamiliar with. However, I get perturbed when any storyteller messes with the finality of death. It’s cheap, but that’s just me.
Jack and Kate
It makes sense. We now know the off-island time line of Jack and Kate – they come together after Kate’s trial, Jack hits the bottles (alcohol and pills), the two separate, and then comes “Through the Looking Glass.” Their togetherness was a pleasant surprise, for this reason – most TV series like to deal with love in very cut and dried ways. You’re in love with this one person or you’re not. I love the fact that Kate is fully in love with two different people – it works perfectly with her character, and you have earned these feelings over four seasons, Lost. Also, given what we know about those two, their separation was inevitable.
Sawyer
Sawyer is alive in the future. I believe this is what you hinted at last night, but not for the reasons most fans seem to be giving. There’s something of a consensus on the interwebs that Sawyer must be alive because Kate is doing favors for him. This doesn’t have to be the case, right? I very much doubt that Kate was chatting with Sawyer (did he rig up a coconut phone?) and Kate could be doing a favor for a now-dead Sawyer. No, the reason I believe Sawyer is still alive is Jack’s reaction to the news that Kate was doing a favor for Sawyer. If Sawyer were in fact dead, Jack would have been fully on board with the favor – hell, he might even have willfully helped Kate. Jack’s reaction only makes sense if Sawyer is still alive and feelings of jealousy are possible. For that, Sawyer must be breathing somewhere.
Claire
Is Claire dead in the future? You got me. No matter how many people try to theorize on this subject, it is an absolute toss-up. She could be alive with Sawyer on the island. Or, she could be dead. I have real issues with the idea that Claire would give up her bay-bay under any circumstances, but I know how you do, Lost – the circumstances can line up to suit your story-telling needs. Christian and Claire and Jack are going to palaver on the island, and soon. Am I right?
Overall
Perhaps I gave off the impression that I was not a fan of this episode. That is not the case. You are the rare series, Lost, who can give me an exciting, well-done episode while making me fear where the series is going. There is an undeniable truth that all of us fans are ignoring – a significant number of your ultimate pay-offs will be underwhelming. Fans have concocted grand theories, spend an inordinate amount of hours discussing you, and it is impossible to please everybody with whatever explanations you may have up your sleeves. For example, as I said above, ghosts aren’t my thing. I’m sure countless others feel the exact opposite. You can’t please everyone, and there will be a backlash somewhere along the line. Until then, however, I’m going to continue to enjoy every second of the ride, hoping my fears are unfounded. And, usually, they are.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
