Underappreciated 'Lost' Theatre: Something Nice Back Home
Here's the great thing about being a fan of pop culture: you can disagree with others and it really doesn't cause anyone any harm. Sure, maybe some feelings are hurt, but in the long run, arguing about things like "Nirvana vs. Pearl Jam" isn't going to result in something catastrophic to society. (To my knowledge, the long-foretold "Grunge Wars" have not scorched the Earth leaving only carnage in its wake.) When it comes to ""Lost," there are a few universally loved episodes, a few universally loathed episodes, but everything else falls under a wonderfully grey area. We're not talking backgammon here, people.
The Underappreciated "Lost" Theatre series is all about picking episodes that don't appear on most fans' radars when thinking about high-quality hours in the show's history. Previously, I've nominated "Tricia Tanaka is Dead," "S.O.S.," "Live Together, Die Alone," "Outlaws," and "Do No Harm" to be screened in my imaginary cineplex. And today, I'm adding "Something Nice Back Home" to the marquee.
Why it's overlooked
Look, it's slapped in there between "The Shape of Things to Come" and "Cabin Fever." I think that explains 90% of why it's overlooked. "Shape" is my fourth favorite "Lost" episode ever, and "Fever" falls just outside of that. Both episodes contain more than a few of my favorite all-time moments. On top of all that, any and all Skaters are predisposed towards an episode that centers its flash forwards around the engagement of Jack and Kate. Personally, I'm not a Jater or a Skater. I'm a Hugurt. Clearly. Glad we cleared that up.
Why it's underappreciated
Because the entire operation on Jack's appendix recalls the intense difficulty of surviving on the Island more acutely and realistically than any ep since since "Do No Harm." Because Rose's worry over Jack's illness calls into question her own recovery. Because Jack's reliance on Kate further cements to the Juliet/Sawyer relationship in Season 5. Because Jin's realization that Charlotte speaks Korean leads to a fantastic showdown between the two. Because we see Cabin Christian for the first time. Because the flash forward gives context to Jack's desire to see Faraday's plan fulfilled in Season 5. Because Jacob and The Man in Black are pulling strings all OVER the place only neither we nor the characters were quite ready to understand yet.
In many ways, "Something" is as mythology-rich as its bookends. But while "Shape" and "Cabin" deal with mythology on a grandiose, decades/centuries spanning ways, "Something" applies it on an intensely personal level. There's no real "right" or "wrong" way to do it. But while it's great to get a glimpse at the big picture of the War of the Island, it's better to see how it affects these characters. Why the Island cures cancer takes a back seat in "Something" to Rose's fear she will once again get sick. Why Cabin Christian separates Claire from Aaron takes a back seat to Sawyer's worry over her absence. And why The Oceanic 6 never should have left takes a back seat to a couple that could have worked but couldn't due to one man's weakness. These are the types of stories that work on multiple levels, giving both the hard-core fan something to think about and the more casual fan something to appreciate.
What are your thoughts on "Something Nice Back Home"? Leave them below!
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Photo credit: ABC
Great choice. I really like this episode. It was really unexpected in the midst of everything that was going on at the time. Your insights are very interesting it makes me want to go back and watch it again.
I like this episode a lot too. I just watched it again a few days ago.
Your assessment is spot on, Ryan.
Agreed...this is a great episode. In addition all your reasons above, I liked that it showed Juliet stepping into a leadership position among the Flight 185 survivors.
Great episode. I just rewatched it recently too.
I also saw "Cabin Fever" this past weekend and wondered about something in it. Was Horace "time tripping" when John learned about how to find the cabin? It was editted to look like a dream but now I am not so sure.
His nose was bleeding, he knew of his death 14 years in the past and the way that he seemed caught in a quick time loop made me wonder about that. If so, who sent him back?
Phrank Loyed,
I think his nose was bleeding just to use imagery as a nod to how Horace died (the poison gas!). He wasn't time-tripping ala Desmond though. I'm pretty sure that was definitely a dream instigated by either Jacob or the Man in Black.
BNC,
Thanks, I had not thought of it that way. You are probably correct. I saw the nosebleed and immediately thought of the time travelers.
I need some new LOST. Just a week to go.
Here are some more thoughts on the cabin here, from a few months ago:
http://blog.zap2it.com/lost/2009/07/lost-cabin-confusion-comes-to-light-part-1.html
ONE WEEK!!!
I know this is off topic, but seeing as there are 7 days left, I wanted to post 7 questions no one is asking about season 5:
1) Who chased the losties on the boat? It flashed to a storm but they never clarified who it was.
2) How did Ethan join the others? Michelle Dessler... er... Amy gave birth to him in the Dharma initiative. Shouldn't he have been gassed?
3) Why were the others grabbing Amy in the first place? Was it because of her baby?
4) What's really in the temple/ the purpose of the temple?
5)Why was Walt having Dreams about Locke? Is it a hint as to the beginning of Season 6?
6)How did "Claire's mom" awaken from her Coma? She looked pretty dead to me.
7)Where have the others been for 3 years?
@Fading: I actually talk about the outrigger here, check it out!
http://blog.zap2it.com/lost/2010/01/six-in-six-six-minor-things-that-will-turn-major-in-the-final-season-of-lost.html
As for Ethan, he was with The Others as of 1988, and the Purge didn't happen until the '90s, so that doesn't bother me too much.
I think Walt's dream concerned the beach scene in "Dead is Dead" where Ben blows Caesar away. The irony, of course, is that Walt saw notLocke in said vision. But I like your idea that what he saw hasn't actually happened yet. Sort of like Des' vision of Claire and Aaron getting on the chopper off the Island.