LOST: There's No Place Like Home, Pt. 1

The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was, is lost ...
- J.R.R. Tolkien

Wow, so that was part one of the three part season finale. the last two hours are in two weeks, May 29th, because next week is the two hour Grey's Anatomy finale. Something about this episode felt more like a movie than just a television episode - more epic. Even the music was more melodic and not just the same old Jaws-like theme. It also felt different in that it was really a leading-up-to episode not an answer-some-questions-and-pose-some-new-ones episode and because it wasn't just flashed of one person. Its not just a finale, its a prequel to next season. The beginning of the end for what LOST has been up to this point. Though there will of course be a big cliffhanger ending, after this episode I am sure glad there are still two more hours! Widmore's guys have Ben, Locke has to sneak in and 'move the island' before Widmore can 'torch' it, the Others have Kate and Sayid, there's a big ol' pile of explosives on the freighter...

Oh Jack, your stubborn need to be the hero/martyr and be responsible for everyone is charming and noble and all, but sometimes its just exasperating! So Jack looks you in the eye while lying - I love scenes like that where they throw out little characteristics and things and then show it in action later on. Jack proved it on the Coast Guard plane and at the press conference while everyone else was looking down. On the plane they were all kind of looking at him like, 'how does this lying and leaving our friends come so easily to you?' (Or were they looking at him with a hint of disdain because he made some kind of bargain or did something shady to get them there? Or probably it was his idea to lie and he told them what to say.)

So the island of Mumbada led you to the village of Manukangga in Indonesia. I guess they're not going to find much if they search around Mumbada, cause the real island is outta there.

The arrival. How sad was Kate, all alone and clutching Aaron? Jack's Mom was darling. The Sayid/Nadia reunion was also very sweet and made me much more sad that she dies. I also love that they kind of all stuck close together when they first got back, being supportive. It makes sense for Kate to stick around because she literally doesn't have anyone else, but everyone else could have jumped back into their lives and tried to suppress the island. The coconut in Hurley's (or his parents, I guess) tackily posh house - I admit I was kind of disappointed when it was just an inappropriately themed surprise party and not the island messing with him. The numbers were still there to haunt him though. "Jesus Christ is not a weapon." Ha! Funny comment, but history would suggest otherwise. Sorry you had to find out about Claire that way Jack. The look you gave Aaron was devastating.

Two things were really in the back of my mind during all the flash forwards: 1, when did Kate's trial stuff happen? It must have been one of the very first things or else she would have been in prison, I would think, but based on Jack not wanting to see Aaron and then coming around later and based on the funeral Christian's funeral which would have been right away ... the timing seems off and I am trying to piece it together. (Some of Jack's frustration about Aaron seems more justified now though - not only is he feeling guilty about Claire, but now he knows that Aaron has a biological grandmother out there who should probably rightfully be raising him. Does Jack tell Kate the connection? That's unclear in the flashes we've seen, but I think so. If not, she certainly seemed close enough to hear.) 2, When does Hurley go and see Sun? Its after she has the baby, but presumably also after he starts his descent into insanity once more. When will they tell us what he meant when he asked her if anyone else was there and when she said no and he said good?

Moving the island is dangerous and unpredictable ... and yet you do know how to do it, Mr. Linus, because dangerous and unpredictable is your life philosophy. Ben is so fantastic in an I hate him but I can't help but respect him and can't wait to see what he does next kind of way.

Wow, on that first raft trip over when Sun and Jin got to the freighter I am sure glad we got those extras rescued. I was getting really worried about them. :P It does seem like the raft is coming and going between the island and the freighter a little too easily, but I'll let that slide. I also like that Daniel's word is good. That look that passed between him and Charlotte as he was taking the first group over was interesting. I know they stick together and he digs her and all, but it was a look that perhaps suggested that they still know more than we do about what's happening? I half expected her to insist on being in the first group. I didn't like it when the men ran into the ship and Sun stood there looking at the door - almost like it was going to be the last time she sees Jin or something. Sun! that's my girl getting all feisty and taking control and standing up to your dad! I've never seen you quite so vindictive. I like it. (Who was the other person besides your dad that is responsible for Jin's 'death?' Widmore? Jack? Yourself?) That must have been some settlement that Oceanic gave you guys. I can't help but wonder if, unbeknownst to you since your motives were purely bitter, you have bought into something connected to the island. All the other dad's are connected to the island! Or, does the future of the show simply need Sun to have a lot of money at her disposal and this seemed a practical way to do it?

Have I mentioned that I love Sawyer yet this episode? I know I'm just partial, but the more I watch these flashes I really kind of think that Jack and Kate got together in the future more because they needed that connection to hold onto than because Kate loves Jack more than Sawyer. KAte does have a tendency to love the one she's with, though. I am very anxious to see how they do the Kate and Sawyer parting ways scene. I can see it now, Kate bawling and shaking her head that she won't leave without him and Sawyer saying, 'You've got to go, Kate, and take care of Aaron. I want you to... to check on Clementine now and again and see that she's alright. Now get out of here, Freckles.' Sigh.

PS, I hope that the Others' holding Kate and Sayid means that we get to see the Temple.

Other thoughts:

The rabbits are back! Rabbit's foot keychains on the Coast Guard plane and Hurley's keychain for the Camaro. The rabbits were in the Orchid Station video, right?
I guess the bombs on the freighter are rigged to the detonator on Keamy's arm. If he blows up the freighter, how does he plan to get himself and his crew back to civilization? There must be another freighter or island nearby that the helicoptor can take them to.
I think Widmore concocted the "Official" story of the Oceanic 6. He of all people was desperate for a way to explain how these people who were confirmed dead suddenly pop up.How did Nadia find out about and get to the press conference on the military base? Was it Ben or Widmore? (Hmmm, good question. Maybe Ben, somehow. Maybe he needed to make sure that Sayid was very happy so that he could crush it because only a broken Sayid would work with him)
Did anyone else think the scene where the Oceanic Six first disembark was reminiscent of the mothership landing in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the aliens slowly descending the open door? If so, what are the writers trying to say about the Oceanic Six? They're now strangers in a strange land? The Island has claimed them, and they will be "aliens" until they return? Is that why they all have so much trouble adapting?

Was anyone else thinking - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure when Ben pulled his 15 year stash out? In the movie they went back in time and hid things they would need to help them beat the bad guys. What I want to know is... -Why 15 years earlier - what's significant about 1989? Except that's the year Bill and Ted came out. -Why are crackers in the stash - is that Ben's way of thanking Hurley for sharing his Apollo Bar? Last week Kate told Jack - You should eat some crackers. Crackers always make me feel better. (Hmmm, could crackers be truly important to the mythology of the show? Probably not, but it was a clever way to give us a significant date)
Did anyone else get a weird feeling when Sun looked back at the heavy, metal door swinging closed on the ship? it seemed eerie, like something horrible was going to happen to the people inside. i swear i thought the bomb was gonna blow, sending Sun and Aaron into the ocean as the only survivors.although, if this happened, then our poor boy Des would be dead and that would NOT be cool.

Daniel Faraday knew what the Orchid was and what it would do. I don't think he was talking about Keamy and his guys torching the island. I'm pretty sure he knew it would be used to move the island which is why he told Charlotte they needed to leave now.
I know that Ben "passed the baton" to Locke – literally, he gave him that black wand-like thingy, but I don't believe for a single second that Ben thinks he has been replaced as the "chosen" one. Fate may be a fickle b***ch, but Ben is a conniving b*****d.

Business men talking to Mr. Paik - "Whoever did this used five different banks"I assume they're talking about Sun and her purchase of the controlling interest in her father's company. She says it was the Oceanic money but could she be getting funded by ... Charles Widmore? (Ooh, I like it!)
The island Membata was mentioned tonight as the crash site or near the crash site. Just digging around and found the word "membata" is Indonesian for "ambivalent, doubtful, to be uncertain." So even if the Oceanic Six didn't land IN "Membata," they at least ARE "membata" now.The numbers (which it seems we haven't seen in quite some time) make a freaky appearance in Hurley's car. Question - his dad repaired the car as a memorial to his "lost" son. So could the numbers have been there before Hurley left for Sydney? Or was it the island "calling him back" the first sign of many - which when he ignored them, the island sent Charlie instead? Is it possible that other islanders survive as well? Ben clearly does somehow. Michael (or at least Walt) does. Perhaps Juliet did as well. She'd just be able to slip back into society because no one knew where she was to begin with. She could just be finished with her gig and finally reunite with her sister. Desmond too could return from sea and be reunited with Penny - she already knows he's alive and who else would have known he was missing?