S4E12 - There's No Place Like Home (Part 1)

I feel like a lot happened in this episode, but when I sit down and really think about it, the flurry of activity is a bit of an illusion. In reality, it’s just that the entire cast got to do a little bit of something. Maybe the recap would be easier to manage one character at a time. I’ll try alphabetical order, so as not to appear biased.


Aaron – Is treated to a game of hot potato where he essentially plays the role of “the potato.” Claire abandoned him. Sawyer passed him off to Kate. Kate passed him off to Sun. Dude’s gotta be hungry and to my knowledge there wasn’t any “Dharma pureed peas” on the last rations drop.

Alex – Still dead (shot by Militia dude).

Ana-Lucia – Still dead (shot by Michael).

Arzt, Dr. – Still dead (blown up).

Ben – Leads Locke to the Orchid station in order to “move” the island. Communicates with his people in secret code along the way. Offers himself up to the militia dude as a distraction. Always has a plan, like a shady little bug-eyed boyscout.

Boone – Still dead (fatal leg wound).

Charlie – Still dead (drowned).

Charlotte – Just kind of sits around. Maybe she helps organize the beach evacuation, I’m not sure. Great catch you got there, Daniel.

Christian (Shephard) – Dead-ish. Not present in this episode. Likely kicking back a few brewskies with his estranged love-child.

Claire – Brainwashed? Not present in this episode. Likely kicking back a few brewskies with her estranged and dead-ish father.

Daniel (Faraday) – Organizes the beach evacuation and starts boating survivors to the freighter, six at a time. Too bad it’s full of explosives.

Danielle (Rousseau) – Still dead (shot by Widmore’s militia… hopefully her backstory was not buried with her).

Desmond – Tries to help fix the freighter engines. Goes off to discover what is “blocking” the radar. Finds a cargo-load of C4, ready to blow. Uh-oh.

Eko – Still dead (killed by smoke monster).

Frank – Handcuffed to the chopper. Tells Jack and Sawyer about the militia dude’s plan to kill everyone on the island (aka… “plan B”).

Hugo/Hurley – Follows Ben to the Orchid. In the future: Has a panic attack at his birthday party. Darn those numbers.

Jack – Is convinced Desmond and Sayid are on the chopper and want him to follow. Not so much. Finds Frank and learns of “plan B.” In the future: Delivers a eulogy for his dead-ish father. Discovers he’s Claire’s half-brother and Aaron’s half-uncle. Looks like he has a headache.

Jacob – Not present in this episode. Likely went on vacation. Asked Christian to cabin-sit while he was away. Left him a thank you note and $20 for a beer run.

Jin – Gets rescued only to discover the freighter is rigged with explosives. Warns Sun to move to the far side of the ship as if that will help.

Kate – Follows Jack. Reluctantly takes Aaron and drops him on Sun like a bad habit. Follows Sayid. Gets ambushed by the others. In the future: Sits through an awkward press conference filled with lies. LIES!

Libby – Still dead (accidentally shot by Michael).

Locke – Follows Ben to the Orchid. Looks like a deer in head lights as he receives instructions on how to get into the Orchid station.

Michael – Shares an awkward moment with Jin and Sun. Swears he isn’t “working for Ben.”

Miles – Just wandering through the jungle with Sawyer. Has guns pulled on him, yet again. Poor little weasel.

Naomi – Still dead (knife thrown in the back by Locke).

Nikki – Still dead (bit by a spider then buried alive).

Paulo – Still dead (bit by a spider then buried alive).

Penny – Not present in this episode, but probably waiting by the phone.

Sawyer – Passes Aaron off to Kate in order to help Jack. Is concerned that Hugo’s in danger. Awwww…

Sayid – Lands on the island only to find Jack has run off looking for him. Heads off with Kate to find him. Gets ambushed by the others. Too bad they don’t have cell phones. Seems that would have cleared up a lot of the whos-looking-for-who confusion. In the future: Reunited with Nadia. Enjoy it while it lasts, friend.

Shannon – Still dead (accidentally shot by Ana-Lucia).

Sun – Is in charge of Aaron for the time being. Winds up on a freighter ready to go kablooie. In the future: Buys up shares of her father’s company showing some of her late(?) husband’s badassiness.

Vincent – MIA (where has he been, anyway?).


This episode provided an interesting set up for the finale. Particularly due to “where” everyone was by the end. We know, of course, that the Six get off. We even heard a little bit of the “story” of how they were picked up during that press conference. However, as of “now”, Sun and Aaron are on the freighter, Kate and Sayid are presumably being held prisoner, Jack is at the chopper with Frank, and Hurley is hiding just outside of the Orchid station. It will be interesting to see how they all “find” one another and make it off together.

Two comments in particular I found interesting were Sun’s. First, in the beginning when she said, “We ARE in shock, Jack.” Of course they are, and I’m sure it is in part due to their regret of leaving other people behind, but it seemed like more than that. Also, her comment to her father when she said, “I hold two people responsible for my husband’s death. You’re one of them.” So will Jin really die, then? Hmm… Seems like if she was just saying that to keep up the lie of how the Six were the only survivors, she wouldn’t bother to mention that there was some other person she also holds responsible for Jin’s death.

I guess we’ll have to wait to find out.

Season finale airs next week, May 29th, 9pm-11pm.