"There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" are the thirteenth and fourteenth episodes of Season 4 of Lost, and the second and third parts of its three-part, three-hour season finale. The episode comprises the eighty-fifth and eighty-sixth produced hours of the series as a whole and was originally broadcast on May 29, 2008. The Oceanic Six finally escape the Island. In the future, the identity of Jeremy Bentham is revealed.

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Synopsis

Previously on Lost

On the Island

In the Orchid's greenhouse



Jack and Locke at the Orchid.

Jack and Sawyer catch up with Hurley at the Orchid. ♪ Locke is trying to locate the elevator to the underground area. ♪ Locke tells Jack that he has to lie when he gets off the Island to protect it. ♪ Locke also tries to persuade Jack to stay on the Island and fulfill his destiny, suggesting that the Island is a place where miracles happen. Jack argues that there are no such things as miracles, and chooses to leave with Hurley and Sawyer for the helicopter, although Hurley warns them that Keamy and his men were headed there.

At the helicopter

Ben is taken by Keamy to the helicopter, where they find Frank still handcuffed, but trying to free himself with aid of the toolbox. As Keamy begins to question him about who gave him the toolbox, Kate comes running out of the jungle.



Keamy holds Kate at gunpoint.

When asked by Keamy why she was running she claims to be being chased by "his people", pointing to Ben. Keamy orders two members of his team to search the jungle, as he and the remaining team form a perimeter. Keamy orders Kate onto her knees next to Ben, with whom she exchanges knowing glances. As the team searches the jungle, the Whispers are heard by everyone immediately before the Others quickly ambush and begin eliminating the mercenaries.

The Others then begin to trade gunfire with Keamy and his remaining team, while Frank, Kate, and Ben take cover. One of the mercenaries, Redfern, is incapacitated with an electrical stunning weapon, while Keamy takes cover behind a large rock. Kate tells Ben to stay close, then gives him the cue to run into the jungle. As Keamy breaks cover to chase Ben and Kate, Frank yells, "Grenade!", as one lands at Keamy's feet. He kicks it away, inadvertently lobbing it to land at Omar's feet, and dives back behind the rock. The grenade explodes and kills Omar. As the debris settles, Keamy stands, and after presumably realizing he had just unintentionally killed Omar, grunts in anger and chases after Ben and Kate.

As Keamy nearly catches them, Sayid tackles him and the two engage in a fierce fist fight. During the fight, they both desperately try to reach Keamy's gun. At one point, Sayid manages to get it and point it at Keamy, only to have it kicked out of his hands. As they grapple to again retrieve the gun, Sayid quickly unsheathes the combat knife strapped to Keamy's leg and stabs him in the side of his torso, between his body armor. This only infuriates Keamy, who then beats Sayid to the ground. As he bends over to retrieve his knife, Sayid hits him from behind with a tree branch. The fight continues, and eventually, Keamy gains the advantage, pinning Sayid and strangling him with the tree branch. Just as Keamy appears to be killing Sayid with the branch, Richard Alpert arrives and shoots Keamy four times in the back. The rest of the Others emerge out of the Jungle, as Ben and Kate come running back. ♪

Kate helps Sayid to his feet and Ben thanks Richard for coming, who tersely responds, "My pleasure." Kate then picks up Keamy's bloody combat knife and Ben asks her to cut him free from his restraints. After an awkward pause, she does so, as Ben asks Richard nonchalantly over his shoulder, "What was the arrangement?" Richard replies, "They help us free you, and we let them off the Island." Ben quickly replies, "Fair enough", tells Kate and Sayid that the helicopter is theirs, wishes them a safe journey back, and turns to leave. Kate and Sayid are understandably surprised, and Kate asks nervously, "So we can go... off the Island? That's it?" Ben stops, turns to face them, and after another awkward pause, he concisely replies, "That's it." Kate and Sayid then return to the helicopter, while Ben returns to the Orchid. ♪

On the freighter



Michael and Jin check the C-4.

Michael finds a canister of liquid nitrogen and, after explaining his plan to Jin and Desmond, sprays the nitrogen on the bomb's battery to freeze it and prevent electric current from igniting the C-4 Desmond found rigged to the boat. While he buys time before the bomb goes off, Desmond and Jin frantically search for a way to safely disarm the explosives. ♪

Back on the Island

On the beach



Miles and Rose argue about peanuts.

Daniel comes back from the freighter with an empty raft. He tells Juliet about the freighter and how it is going to try to get as close as possible. Dan goes to get water while Juliet is getting the next group ready. She thanks him for helping the survivors. ♪♪

Meanwhile, Miles is helping himself to food supplies under Rose's watchful eye. Charlotte is packing her bag. Dan arrives and tells the two of them that he will be making his next trip in 10 minutes and that they need to be on the boat. Miles tells him that, while he realizes the situation is dire, he is going to stay on the island. Daniel then leaves to continue preparations for the next trip.

Miles is surprised that Charlotte wants to leave the Island, after all that time she spent "trying to get back" to it. Charlotte asks what he means, but Miles is evasive.

Some time later, Charlotte approaches Dan and tells him that she is going to stay on the Island "for now." ♪ Dan points out that "now" on the Island could mean "forever." Charlotte replies, "Would it make any sense if I told you I'm still looking for where I was born?" They part affectionately, with Charlotte pronouncing his name as "Danielle," and Daniel, now alone, goes back to the crowded raft. Juliet tells Dan that she will not leave the Island until everyone is safe aboard the freighter, reassuring Dan that "we'll still be here when you get back". Daniel seems troubled. He boards the raft with a few survivors, and they leave for the freighter.

On the helicopter

Frank, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid and Hurley board the helicopter and take off to the freighter. ♪ Along the way, Frank notices that the helicopter is leaking gas, from a stray bullet hole. Because fuel is so low, Frank doesn't think they'll make it to the freighter. He tells them to throw out anything that isn't bolted down. The passengers follow his orders, but he claims that "losing another few hundred pounds wouldn't hurt." Hurley is visibly distressed. After sizing up the situation, Sawyer whispers in Kate's ear something which sounds like "I have a daughter in Alabama. You have to find her and tell her I'm sorry." He kisses her and jumps from the helicopter, enabling the rest of the passengers to make it to the freighter. ♪♪



In the Orchid



Locke and Ben await an unexpected visitor.

Ben finds Locke with Jack. Locke is unable to locate the entrance to the elevator because he doesn't know what anthuriums look like. Locke has not yet explained to Jack that they are going to move the Island but there is no time. Ben shows Locke the anthuriums, they enter the elevator, and descend. Locke and Ben exit the elevator and find themselves in the Orchid Station. As they walk inside, Locke observes the various equipment and a nearby television. He looks to Ben and asks "is this the magic box?" Ben looks back at Locke with an absurd look and answers "no".



The first frame of Orchid Orientation film.

Ben then offers Locke a video tape to answer all his questions about the station. Locke puts it in the television and Dr. Edgar Halliwax appears. In the video, Halliwax explains that The Orchid is not really a botanical research station. Instead, The Orchid was designed to investigate 'unique properties' of the Island, it is these properties create a kind of Casimir Effect. He points to a white triangular door, calling it the vault. Halliwax explains that the vault was constructed adjacent to what they believe to be a pocket of negatively charged exotic matter. Halliwax then warns the viewer never to place any metal objects inside the vault. Halliwax then places a white rabbit inside the vault, closing the doors and stating that they will send it 100 milliseconds into the future. Then the VCR starts rewinding by itself. Locke looks at Ben and sees him piling metal objects inside the vault. ♪ The elevator starts to ascend suddenly and Ben asks Locke if he can have his weapon back.

The elevator descends again and opens to reveal Keamy - still alive. ♪ Keamy pulls out a knife and carefully enters the Orchid. He begins to explain to Ben, who is hiding away, that if Ben kills him the entire freighter will be destroyed and many innocent people killed. While he is speaking, the Orchid orientation video is running properly and is visible in the background on the monitor on which Locke had been viewing it earlier; Halliwax's subdued voice is detectable at one point. Keamy begins to mock Alex's death, but suddenly Locke appears.

Locke explains that he has no conflict with Keamy and that Keamy should allow the innocent people on the freighter to live. Ben, noticing Keamy is distracted, charges out with his collapsible baton and attacks, knocking the knife from Keamy's hand. Keamy tries to bend down to grab his knife, but Ben hits him again causing him to stand right back up. Ben then whacks Keamy in the face, knocking him down Once Keamy is knocked down, Ben grabs Keamy's fallen knife and stabs him twice. Locke pulls him off in an attempt to save Keamy and those on the freighter, but the damage is done and Keamy is left dying. Locke tells Ben that he just killed everyone on the freighter, to which Ben coldly responds, "So?". Keamy tells Ben that Widmore will find him. Ben replies, "Not if I find him first." Despite Locke's best efforts to save him, Keamy dies.

Back on the freighter



"You can go now, Michael".

When Keamy dies, the bomb is armed, but it does not explode immediately because of Michael's ingenuity in keeping the battery cool with the nitrogen. With the bomb armed, Michael tells Jin and Desmond to leave, but Jin stays behind to attempt to determine a way to disarm the bomb. As the helicopter arrives at the freighter, Desmond is frantically waving at them and warning them of the bomb about to go off. Frank lands anyway, and hurriedly starts filling the tank and patching the leak. Michael realizes there isn't much liquid nitrogen left and tells Jin that he should leave the boat because he will soon be a father. Everyone gets back on board the helicopter, including Sun and Desmond.



The freighter is destroyed.

Sun begs her fellow passengers to wait for Jin. Jin tries to run to safety, but he misses the helicopter as Frank takes off immediately after refueling. ♪ Sun becomes frantic as Jin yells for rescue from the freighter deck. Back in the freighter, Michael runs out of nitrogen and begins to hear whispers. After the whispers stop, Christian Shephard appears in the room containing the explosives, telling Michael, "You can go now..." The Kahana explodes, killing Michael and presumably everyone else on board. From the helicopter, Sun cries out in desperation over the presumed loss of her husband. ♪

Back on the Island again

On the beach



Juliet and Sawyer on the beach, seeing the smoke from the freighter.

Juliet is on the beach, alone, with a bottle of rum. Sawyer arrives on the beach after having leaped from the helicopter. Seeing the bottle, he asks what Juliet is celebrating. Juliet tells him that she is not celebrating and points to the smoke emanating from the destroyed freighter.

In the Orchid



Ben and Locke saying goodbye.

After killing Keamy, Ben operates the vault console and the metal inside creates an explosion, opening a hole in the rear, where Ben seeks to go. Locke stops him and demands to know why Ben killed Keamy, knowing it would end the lives of many innocent people on the freighter. Ben admits it was the wrong thing to do and that his grief over Alex clouded his judgment. Ben tells Locke not to make the same mistakes as the new leader. Locke is subsequently confused. Ben tells him that there is a price to pay to move the Island. The person that moves it must leave it and never return there. Locke is reluctant to let Ben leave but Ben offers a handshake, apologizing for all the misery he has inflicted on Locke. Locke accepts the handshake and Ben, wearing a dark shirt that he was seen wearing when he appeared in the desert ("The Shape of Things to Come") and Halliwax's parka, darts off into the vault.

Meanwhile, Locke left the Orchid and heads to Richard and the Others, following Ben's instructions. At his arrival, all of the Others look surprised and Richard tells him "welcome home." ♪♪



Ben banishes himself for the Island's sake.

Inside, the explosion has created a jagged opening into a long, low passageway in the rock behind the vault. Ben clears the opening, then enters the passage until he reaches a ladder, which he descends. At the bottom of the ladder, Ben breaks a layer of ice revealing another old and damaged wooden ladder. While descending further, a rung breaks and he falls down, cutting his right arm and ripping his jacket on the ladder. At this point his condition appears to be identical to the condition he was in when he appeared in the Sahara Desert.

Ben finds himself inside a dark and icy room, where stones are covered in hieroglyphs. There, across from Ben, is a wall with a large wheel. After looking up and declaring, "I hope you're happy now, Jacob," Ben proceeds to turn the wheel, though with great physical and emotional difficulty. The more the wheel is turned, the brighter the room becomes. Outside, the entire Island emanates an otherworldly noise and the sky turns purple. Suddenly, a light envelops the Island and everything within the light disappears. ♪♪

Back on the helicopter



The raft at sea.

While the helicopter is heading back to the Island, a bright light floods the sky and the Island vanishes. Low on fuel and with nowhere to land, Frank tells them to put on life-jackets and prepare for impact. Jack tells Frank to fly to another island, but Frank responds that there is no other island. Sayid throws a life raft into the water moments before impact. After the crash, the survivors swim towards the inflated raft. ♪ Frank rescues Desmond, who is floating face down in the water. Desmond is not breathing, but Jack resuscitates him. ♪

After the Island is moved



The Searcher intercepts the life-raft.

Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, Frank and Desmond continue to float on the life-raft. Everyone is quiet until Hurley observes that "Locke moved the Island". Jack becomes agitated and disagrees, to which Hurley challenges him to put forth a more plausible explanation. As the two argue, Frank notices a nearby light and realizes it is a ship. Everyone begins shouting and the ship begins pulling up beside the life-raft. At this point, Jack suddenly remembers Locke telling him to lie about what has happened to them, realizes that it must be done, and hastily shares this plan with the others in the life raft. ♪



To each other's surprise, Desmond and Penelope reunite.

Onboard the Searcher, a crewman, who is actually Henrik from the listening station, frantically moves back and forth and calls out for "Ms. Widmore." ♪ Penelope exits the bridge to see what was happening. Desmond hears Penny's voice as she directs the Searcher crewmen to help the people aboard the raft. He calls up to her, "Penny!" and jumps onto some netting to pull himself up to the ship and rushes to meet Penelope on the deck. ♪ Reunited, Desmond quickly introduces Penelope to the others from the life raft. Jack tells Penelope seriously that they need to talk.

A week later, the Oceanic Six prepare to depart from Penelope's freighter with a well established cover story, while she, Desmond and Frank stay behind. Jack tells Desmond to be careful now that they know what Widmore is capable of, then quotes Desmond — "See you in another life, brother." The Oceanic Six get on the life-raft and head for the Island of Sumba and back to civilization. ♪♪

Flash-forwards

Los Angeles International Airport (Jack & Kate)

Picking up exactly where the final scene of "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2" left off, with Jack calling after Kate's car "We have to go back!" Kate reverses the car, gets out, and confronts Jack. She condemns Jack for wanting to go back to the Island, for calling her for two days straight while high on pills and for showing her the obituary for Jeremy Bentham. She explains that Jeremy Bentham had met with her and she knew from the first moment that he was crazy, and that she can't believe Jack would trust him. Jack says he listened to Bentham because he was told that it was the only way to save Kate and Aaron. Kate slaps him for abandoning Aaron and tells him not to even say his name again. Jack tries to apologize, but Kate tells him she spent the last three years trying to forget all the horrible things that happened on the day that they left. She tells him she won't go back, gets back in the car and speeds away. ♪♪

Santa Rosa Mental Institution (Hurley & Sayid)

Walt visits Hurley in the mental institution, with his grandmother standing by to make sure Hurley isn't "dangerous." Walt asks why nobody came to visit him after their rescue. Hurley apologizes, but Walt adds that one person did come to see him: Jeremy Bentham. Walt asks why the Oceanic Six are all lying. Hurley whispers that they are lying to protect the people that remained on the Island. "Like my dad?" asks Walt. "Like your dad, yeah," replies a visibly nervous Hurley. ♪



Sayid comes for Hurley.

Sayid arrives at Hurley's mental institution late at night and executes a man in the parking lot. ♪ Sayid finds Hurley playing chess, apparently alone, opposite an empty chair. Sayid wants Hurley to come with him, "somewhere safe." Hurley replies that he has not seen Sayid in "like forever" and doesn't understand why he should join him. Sayid replies that "circumstances have changed": Bentham is dead, having supposedly killed himself two days ago. Hurley does not want to call Bentham by this alias and is about to call him by his real name when Sayid stops him, adding that they are being monitored. Hurley says that he has been having regular conversations with dead people, and the last thing he needs is paranoia. Sayid replies that he has just killed a man who had been watching Hurley for a week and that paranoia keeps him alive. Sayid assures Hurley that they are not going back to the Island, merely "somewhere safe." Hurley accepts, but just as he is about to leave the room, he makes one more move on his chessboard and says, "Checkmate, Mr. Eko."

London (Sun)



Sun goes to see Widmore in London.

Sun approaches a restaurant in London while talking to her mother and Ji Yeon Kwon, now speaking, on the phone. Charles Widmore emerges from the restaurant. Sun approaches him and presents herself as the daughter of Mr. Paik, and the managing director of Paik Industries. Widmore recognizes the name and inquires about her father. Sun confronts Widmore with the knowledge that he is aware of her true identity, adding that Widmore knows that the Oceanic Six have been lying about their experiences. She then suggests that she and Widmore have common interests. She gives him her Paik business card, suggesting he call when ready to talk. Finally she reminds Widmore that the Oceanic Six "are not the only ones who left the Island." Widmore, surprised, asks why she would want to cooperate with him. Without answering, she leaves.

Kate's house (Kate & Aaron)

Kate wakes in her home to the sound of footsteps, but sees no one. Then, the phone rings. A male voice, speaking in reverse, says, "The Island needs you. You have to go back before it's too late." She hears footsteps again and retrieves a gun from her closet. Checking on Aaron, she confronts the intruder bent over his bed, only to find that it is Claire, who is holding Aaron's hand. She warns Kate not to bring "him" back to the Island. Suddenly Kate wakes, realizes she had been dreaming, and quickly checks on Aaron; there is no intruder and no sign of Claire. She then looks at Aaron and says "I'm sorry. I'm sorry".

Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Parlor (Jack)



Ben at the funeral home.

Jack, still apparently drunk and high, drives to the funeral parlor after hours. ♪ He breaks in and approaches the casket, noticing that no one has yet signed the release form for Bentham's body. Ben suddenly enters the room. Jack says that Bentham had told him Ben was off the Island, Jack and Kate having spoken to Bentham about a month prior. Bentham had said that after Jack left the Island "some very bad things happened" and it was Jack's fault for leaving.



The late Jeremy Bentham is revealed to be John Locke.

Bentham added that Jack had to come back. Ben replies that he has heard about Jack riding passenger planes, hoping they'll crash; Ben describes this as "very dark". Ben tells Jack he is here to let him know that the Island won't let him come alone: "all of you have to go back". Jack says he doesn't know where Sayid is, Hurley is mentally unwell, Sun blames Jack for Jin's death, and Kate won't even talk to him anymore. Ben says that this is the only way: all of them have to do it together, and that Ben has a few ideas about how it is to be done and is willing to help. However he specifies that all of them must return, including the deceased Bentham, who is revealed to be John Locke. ♪♪



Trivia



Comparison of Sumba beaches.

Production notes



Sawyer in a fake ending.



Desmond in a fake ending.

A Lost: On Location for this episode is available on the Season 4 DVD.

Bloopers and continuity errors

The final flash-forward scene from " Through the Looking Glass, Part 2 " is slightly re-edited in the "previously on Lost " segment at the beginning of the episode, adding a new shot of Kate's car driving off which then leads into the first scene of this episode. However, " Through the Looking Glass, Part 2 " ended with Jack turning around and walking towards his car, while in this episode, he is still watching Kate's car drive off when Kate stops and changes to reverse gear.

" is slightly re-edited in the "previously on " segment at the beginning of the episode, adding a new shot of Kate's car driving off which then leads into the first scene of this episode. However, " " ended with Jack turning around and walking towards his car, while in this episode, he is still watching Kate's car drive off when Kate stops and changes to reverse gear. Richard Alpert is shown lowering the gun after shooting Keamy in the back. After a brief reaction shot from Sayid, Richard is again shown lowering the gun.

Jack and Sawyer trek from the chopper to the Orchid while Keamy's team escorts Ben from the Orchid to the chopper. They never cross paths. Then, Jack, Sawyer, and Hurley trek back from the Orchid to the chopper while a wounded Keamy pursues an escaped Ben from the chopper to the Orchid. Still no one crosses anyone else's path.

When the helicopter first takes off from the Island, the right leg of the stunt pilot can be seen. He is wearing shorts unlike Frank, who is wearing pants throughout the episode.

When the helicopter takes off, there is a clear shot of its underside. There is no fuel leakage from the gunshot hole. Once they are above the water, it starts to leak.

No radio transmitter is capable of broadcasting a signal from deep underground. If the explosives were rigged to detonate with the loss of a radio link to Keamy's transmitter, the bomb would have been triggered when Keamy took the elevator down to the Orchid, if not sooner. If the explosives were rigged to detonate upon receiving a detonate command from Keamy's transmitter upon his death, then the explosives would never have detonated, as no radio signal would have been capable of surviving the attenuation and reflection associated with the rock surroundings of the Orchid station.

Before Keamy came down the elevator, Ben had moved the metal trash can and the metal stool into the chamber. After he's killed Keamy, is he seen moving the same trash can and stool into the chamber.

When Ben climbs down the ladder to the icy cavern and falls, the crowbar lands behind him. In the next shot, it is in front of him, slightly under his knee.

Frank's helicopter is shown hitting the water surface with a high forward speed, then tilting forward and breaking into pieces. Actually, a helicopter that runs out of fuel (or somehow loses power) can still perform a controlled descent using autorotation, so it is very unlikely that Frank's helicopter would have crashed the way it did. During an autorotation, a helicopter pilot would never have both hands on the stick flying it like an old bi-plane. They would have their right hand on the stick (Cyclic) and their left hand would be on the collective which is to the left of the seat, controlling their rate of descent.

When Desmond tries to keep the helicopter from landing he is saying go back there is a bomb. No matter how loud he yells they would not hear him in the helicopter. The engine and the blades whipping would drown out all sound outside of it.

When Hurley takes Aaron from Kate on the raft, the first shot shows him with a life jacket; in the next shot, he is not wearing a life jacket.

When Desmond introduces Penny to the rest of the raft survivors, Kate can clearly be seen to be holding a doll as a substitute for Aaron.

When Desmond is lifted into the liferaft after the helicopter crash, he is clearly barefoot, but when he climbs on the Searcher, he is shown to be wearing socks and boots. It is unlikely that these items could have been retrieved from the sea after the crash.

Music

The Season 4 soundtrack includes the following tracks from this episode:

Analysis

Recurring themes





Cultural references

Literary techniques

Storyline analysis

Faraday transports people to the freighter. F-Missions)

The Others rescue Ben Linus from Keamy. O-Missions)

Ben tells Locke the Others are ready to listen to him after his departure. Leadership)

Jack breaks into the funeral parlor. Crimes)

Ben kills Keamy, indirectly killing numerous people aboard the freighter. Crimes)

Desmond and Penny are reunited. Relationships)

Locke tells Jack he wants to let bygones be bygones. Rivalries)





Episode connections

Episode references

Episode allusions

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3/Theories

Why does Ben claim that anyone using the wheel can never return to the Island?

References



