Something Nice-Looking Back Home

Well, when I first saw the preview for Something Nice Back Home, the word FILLER popped into my head...

Unfortunately, last week's episode was mainly a transition piece, setting our characters in place for this season's three-hour (but two-week) finale. And as my roommate Joel so eloquently put it, "it's hard to care about Jack's health on the Island, when we know he's perfectly fine in the flash-forward." Well-said. And I would add, "it's hard to care about Kate and Jack's ill-fated romance, when we know they end up separated in a later flash-forward."

Other than that utter lack of suspense, this week's episode was full of red herrings, misdirection, and repetition, along with a few un-explain-ables. It wasn't terrible, like Ji-Yeon, but it was certainly a little frustrating.

"People don't get sick here. They get better."So Jack must have gotten sick for a reason, right? According to the writers, it's because he's lost "communion with the Island." I assume that they mean because he called the Freighter, which is obviously a threat to the Island. So now the Island is rupturing his appendix? To keep him from leaving? How smart is this Island? Not smart enough to realize that there is an experienced surgeon on the beach with him (Juliet)? Not smart enough to realize that there is a Medical Hatch full of supplies? Maybe the Island didn't think the survivors could work together well enough (and fast enough) to save Jack (they almost didn't).

"At least I'm not seeing things anymore..."
In my opinion, this trio of jungle adventurers was the most interesting part of the episode. For one, what "things" are Claire referring to having seen? Has she been having weird visions? And then why does Miles take such a keen interest in her and her baby? Some fans are theorizing that Claire actually died last week when Keamy fired an RPG at her house, but I don't (want to) believe that. Maybe Miles knows more about Aaron than we do...

And how 'bout when Miles heard those whispers! It was the first time we heard what he hears, and you know what? It wasn't ghosts. It was the past. That's right - he heard the last few minutes of Rousseau and Karl's lives. So maybe Miles isn't a ghostbuster after all. Maybe he can just hear the past. Maybe, like the precogs in Minority Report said, heinous acts like murder leave a violent mark on the fabric of space-time, and maybe Miles is good at finding those (like Naomi's death).

Also of interest: more Sawyer and Claire romance. How many times has he called her sweetheart this season? I love Sawyer. He's turned out to the unambiguous on-Island hero of Season 4. Claire's the only girl on the Island that'd I'd be interested in dating, (last season I would've included Juliet, but this season she seems to have more baggage than I thought, and she did have an affair with a married man...) so I'm pulling for this romance.

"If you have problems, you need to figure them out, because I can't have you like this around my son."
Oh, Kate. Beautiful, attention-starved, manipulative, two-faced Kate. For a few scenes, I thought she had actually redeemed herself in the flash-forward future, but then she went right back to the character I hate. Some fans were mad at Jack, labeling him "too paranoid" and "distrustful" of Kate. Okay, wait just a second:

1) Jack's last wife cheated on him.
2) Kate has proved herself to be untrustworthy and emotionally fickle over and over again.
3) He overheard her hiding something from him.
4) In the end, his suspicions were correct. She was hiding something from him, and she was doing it for the man she slept with on the Island, Jack's main rival for her affections.

What part of that is paranoid?

True, Jack never should have proposed to her if he can't trust her. But who can trust Kate? She's obviously still not ready for any kind of emotional commitment. If she did make a promise to Sawyer (probably to check up on his daughter), she should have just explained that to Jack, that she was doing it out of friendship, and out of care for Clementine. She shouldn't hide it from her husband all sneaky-like, and then lie about it several times.

Then, when Jack finally got the truth out of her, he asked, "Why didn't you just tell me?" Kate's response was the most revealing: "Because he wouldn't want me to." WOW. I don't blame Jack for getting upset after that. By saying that, Kate is admitting that she cares more about what Sawyer wants than about being honest with her husband. And I didn't see Jack's response as possessive. All he's saying is that he cared about her enough to get her off the Island and to love her and Aaron in the real world, whereas Sawyer apparently chose to stay behind (good for him).

Did Jack handle the event perfectly? No. But still. I couldn't believe it when Kate had the audacity to tell him to stay away from her son while he "figures out" his "problems." Honestly, Kate. You hid something from your husband about your last lover. Then you lied to him about it twice. Then you told him you did it because you cared more about Sawyer's wishes than about being honest with Jack. He gets upset, and then you blame him for having "problems"? Kate, you need to cut this whole histrionic/narcissistic/BPD stuff out...his only problem right now is you. Well, and his dead dad who keeps popping up...

"Dad?"Well, we all knew after that terribly-written scene in the Mental Hospital with Hurley ("We're all dead, dude") that Jack-Daddy would be paying Jack-Junior a visit. Was I the only one hoping they'd actually have a conversation for once? Was the smoke detector a hint that apparitions of Jack's dad are manifestations of the Smoke Monster? I think so. I'm not sure that the Smoke Monster "shapeshifts" though. I think that in addition to pulling memories out of your brain, as it did with Eko, it can also put things into your brain, in order to manipulate you. That could explain many of the visions both on and off the Island. As far as I can remember, each character that has had a vision has come into close contact with the Monster, but I could be wrong.

In the most bizarre part of the episode, Christian Shepherd showed up at Claire's side in the middle of the night, cradling Aaron. Why? And where did he take her? How did he convince her to leave Aaron behind?

I think that Aaron might be Jacob. Aaron is one of the few people to ever be born on the Island, which would give him some kind of special communion. Perhaps in the future, Aaron gets sent way back in time and grows up on the Island becomes the elusive/ancient/immortal/all-powerful Jacob. Why else is Aaron so important to the mythology of the story? Why is the Island insisting that he go back to Claire? What interest does Jack's Dad a.k.a. Smokey have in Aaron? Where did we last see Jack's Dad? Oh yeah...in Jacob's cabin. Perhaps, like the off-Island war between Ben and Widmore, there is an on-Island war between Jacob and Smokey. That might explain why Smokey wants Claire to abandon baby Jacob in the jungle...

Next WeekIt looks like a return to form. Will we finally learn more about Jacob? I really hope so. Will we learn where Claire has been lead to? My guess: Jacob's cabin. Will John Locke have a crazy secret for us in his past? Yes. Will we figure out what on earth Horace Goodspeed is doing in the jungle 12 years after his death? I hope so. Cabin Fever looks like another mythology-packed roller coaster ride in the mold of The Man Behind the Curtain and The Shape of Things to Come.

The most interesting lines from the preview?

"We've been waiting for you for a long time..."

Horace to Locke. Who's this "we"? The dead members of Dharma? Why've they been waiting on Locke? Can't wait to find out.

"There are consequences to being chosen..."

Ben to Locke. I think Ben is referencing his own consequences. When he was chosen, by Richard or Jacob or the Island or who knows what, to lead the Others, he had to carry out the Purge. Will Locke be asked to make a similar sacrifice? Will Jacob tell him to wipe out the Freighter, including the seemingly innocent Miles/Dan/Charlotte/Frank? I won't be surprised...

One last thing, to answer my question last Friday...
Kate: Dead Boyfriend she pretty much got killed
Sun: Jae Lee, who died because of her adultery
Sayid: Either Shannon or Nadia

Later this week: my Jewish Theory of Lost...