There's No Place Like Home (Part1)

This is the first of a three part season finale that does little to disappoint as we see through flash forwards the Oceanic Six homecoming. If that's not enough, we see an all out race to the Orchid Station, which is so vital because it holds the key to moving the island, avoiding possible detection. The stage is set for an all out massive war, with talk of torching the island by Keamy and the mercenaries, the fact the freighter is wired with explosives, and the reappearance finally by the Others, led by the ageless Richard Alpert. Oh my, do we really have to wait two more weeks to see how all this plays out?
Story 1
Again we get a flash forward episode, dealing with the Oceanic Six homecoming. Of course this six includes Jack, Kate, Aaron, Hurley, Sayid, and Sun. As we already know, the six of them have come up with a story of lies of what exactly happened concerning the plane crash. The story goes they crashed in the waters off the Indonesian Islands, where only a total of eight passengers survived. They survived in the water for a day, clinging to seat cushions as the current carried them to a desolate island called Membata. They were marooned on this island until day 103, when an Indonesian fishing boat washed up on the island as a result from a typhoon. They were able to use a life raft that was on this ship, where on day 108 they used this raft to travel to the island of Sumba. They finally came ashore near a small village, where they told people who exactly they were. They were then taken by a Coast Guard cargo plane to a military base just west of Honolulu, to be greeted by loved ones and of course the obligatory press conference describing their stories. Of course Kate claims Aaron is her son. Sayid has a romantic reunion with his beloved Nadia (enjoy it while you can pal). The flash forward jumps to numerous incidents that occur to the Oceanic Six, starting when Sun buys controlling interest of her father's company (she got a big settlement from Oceanic) because he is one of two people she holds responsible for her husband's death. We then jump ahead to a surprise party held for Hurley, where his old man restores the car they worked so hard on when they were younger. Oh joy, till Hurley sees the odometer is set to the famous island numbers, which sends him on a frantic run with those beautiful C cups jiggling along the way. Finally, we see Jack putting his father to rest at a wake. One of the guests happen to be Claire's mom, who confesses to Jack that she had a daughter with his father, and the strangest part was the daughter was on the plane too, her name was Claire! Poor Jack, that one really made him do a double take. Imagine if he was hooking up with Claire after she popped out the baby? Oh man that would have been priceless. Anyways, a few things to ponder from this flash forward. Who are the other two that supposedly survived the crash, but then ended up dying? It would seem to be that these two die during the escape from the island, forcing the Oceanic Six to have to admit they survived the crash itself. If I had a guess, these two are going to be Rose and Bernard. Just a hunch, but I called the Jack knowing about Aaron in the recap a few episodes ago, so I am feeling lucky, we will see. Another big question I came out of this is Jin really dead? This one I am on the fence about, I keep going each way. If you remember the episode "JI Yeon" where we learn supposedly Jin is dead, we see on his grave site tomb his death date as September 22, 2004, which is the date of the plane crash, which we know is a lie. That lie was reinforced this episode, where Sun tells the press her husband died during the crash. So this gave me hope that Jin was actually still alive. Yet, when Sun takes controlling interest in her father's company as retaliation in his death, that dashed my hopes a bit. Especially cause she holds another man responsible for his death as well. It could still mean Sun just hates her father, and held him responsible for her whole ordeal, and this was payback, but it looks more and more like poor Jin isn't gonna survive the season finale in two weeks, I hope I am wrong, I really like Jin. Finally, the last thing I would like to add is what about the faked plane wreckage that they found way back ago? It would seem like the Oceanic Six played off on this lie, the fake wreckage seemed to be in this area of Indonesia if I remember correctly, and plays into their lie to help explain their story. This never gets addressed though, and I still wonder who exactly planted the fake plane wreckage, was it Widmore, or was it Ben?
Story2
I'm combining a few different subplots into this part of the story, which includes the gang on the beach, there subsequent interaction on the freighter, and the mission to find the helicopter. It starts when they turn on the GPS/Sat phone and are able to monitor part of the conversation on the helicopter, in which they hear how they are heading to the Orchid Station. Faraday immediately knows this is bad news, as he surprisingly knows all about the secondary protocol. He knows they have to get off the island fast, because an all out war is going to happen soon. Luckily for them, Sayid shortly after reaches the beach with the Zodiak raft he was able to get from the freighter. The raft can hold six people (Jin and Sun are on the first trip, along with baby Aaron, who got passed off to Kate from the returning Sawyer and Miles), and Sayid decides Faraday will drive the people back and forth because him and Kate have to go after Jack and Sawyer. Jack and Sawyer of course went after the helicopter using the GPS phone. So Sayid and Kate try and find these two, but get captured by the first appearance of season four by the whole Others group, led by Richard. I think Kate has been captured by the Others about 42 times by now. Meanwhile, Jack and Sawyer do find the helicopter and find the pilot Frank Lapidus handcuffed to it from that weasel Keamy. Frank wants to fly them out of here, but when Sawyer and Jack learn Keamy headed to the Orchid Station to get Ben, they realize they have a problem. They could care less about Ben, or Locke, but Hurley is with them, and they know they have to go try and save Hurley. So off to the Orchid station they head, where presumably the Others who have Kate and Sayid are heading as well. Meanwhile, Faraday got the raft back to the freighter with the the first group, which leads to an awkward reunion of Jin and Sun with Michael. Michael it seems was able to fix the engines, and they are about to take the freighter to the island itself but there is a problem. Something is interfering with the sonar radar. So Desmond heads down to the communication room, only to find enough C-4 explosives to take out Rhode Island. Oh boy, looks like the freighter isn't so safe after all. Ok, for what its worth here is my thoughts on this. I think somehow that gadget that Keamy wears on his arm (that we saw last episode) is in direct relation to the broadcasting intereference they are experiencing on the ship. Maybe if Keamy is killed and his heart stops or something, or he knows he is going to die, he can detonate the C-4? We will see.
Story 3
Ah, the fearless trio of Hurley, Ben, and Locke trudge on heading to the Orchid Station to "move the island" as Locke was told to do. This process we learn is very dangerous and unpredictable, and is considered a measure of last resort. Along the way, Ben digs up a box he has hid that contains a mirror, which he uses to signal someone in the hills with the light from the sun. I would think obviously this is one of the Others he is communicating with. Anyways, they finally get to the Orchid Station (its like a green house) and discover the mercenaries are already there. Ben gives Locke detailed instructions on how to enter the Orchid Station, because he has a plan. This plan revolves on Ben walking up to the Station and giving himself up. Keamy walks up to Ben, puts a gun to his head, them promptly knocks him out with the gun. Sweet plan! Yet, never underestimate ole Ben, I am sure he has them exactly where he wants them. We have to wait two weeks to find out what happens next, but are treated to a 2 hour episode called "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" -- Season ... finale. Hold on to your britches! Airs Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9 p.m. on ABC. Remember it starts at 9pm this time. One last thing I will throw out to you guys, Walt is already listed as being in the season finale in two weeks. I am already giddy. Peace.

CCook