Ah, good 'ole amnesia... one of the most overused devices in modern storytelling. Our poor Claire is stricken with it upon returning to the caves, thus the hunt begins for super-mutant Ethan with no real clue where to look.
In Damon Lindelof's defense, he didn't exploit the amnesia to an egregious extent. In fact he even poked a little bit of fun at it by having Locke and Sayid question the probability of a true amnesia case.
The tie-in between the flashbacks and island storyline is constructed pretty nicely. In flashbacks, Charlie's a manipulative junkie who swindles an expensive item from Lucy Heatherton in order to fuel his addiction. When his dastardly plan backfires, he's thoroughly scolded and told he'll never take care of anyone. Ouch. That stings so much that on-island Charlie periodically stops and gives that "I'm thinking about something traumatic from the past" look. But even while harboring those painful memories he's determined to regain Claire's trust.
The re-introduction of the guns, Ethan killing one of the redshirts (rest in peace Steve), sentry duty, the hunting party... all of these were implemented without getting all Chuck Norris-y on us. Ethan obliterated Jack a few episodes ago and lifted Charlie off the ground by his throat, so it wasn't exactly clear whether the Losties had the edge. Even if Ethan were captured or killed there was no guarantee that he wasn't merely the tip of the iceberg.
Bonus points for Lindelof having the guts to reference previous episodes without holding the audience's hand:
. . .
Jack: You know how to handle a gun?
Sawyer: I know at least one polar bear who seems to think so.
. . .
Jack: Yeah, I remember [the Marshal]. I remember you shot him... and missed.
Sawyer: Yeah, well... bygones.
. . .
Good stuff.
With Dominic Monaghan you know you're going to get a solid performance with spurts of comedy. He was his usual charming self in flashbacks with Lucy, including the scene where he meets her father. Bonus points for his "first day on the job" scene, where he demonstrated a copier to office workers while sweating profusely from heroin withdrawal.
I won't say this very often, but Homecoming was one of the rare cases where a guest actor's performance rivaled — if not exceeded — that of the centric character. Sally Strecker was brilliant as Lucy Heatherton, the target of Charlie's scheme. The obvious highlight was when she was completely devastated and giving Charlie the business at her doorstep. But her portrayal of a starry-eyed woman who'd been swept off her feet was darn near perfect.
No significant deductions for William Mapother this time, strictly because his dialogue was thankfully kept to a minimum.
A majority of the episode was smoothly directed with not much of a dependency on fancy effects and visuals. The most challenging scene was probably the standoff between Ethan and the gun-toting Losties, and for the most part I'd say it was executed nicely. On first watch it's tempting to think Sawyer lost his composure and pumped Ethan full of lead, but the camera pulls back to reveal an ice-cold Charlie and his smoking gun.
A minor deduction for the painfully slow transition from Ethan's corpse to the beach at sunset. Such transitions are not used often in LOST and I think I understand why.
The island storyline is better suited for repeated viewings, as it's fun to watch Locke and Jack debate a self-defense strategy. It's even more fun to watch the "security perimeter" take shape and the eventual showdown with Ethan.
In terms of significance in the series, it's obviously meaningful that they took out Ethan. However, I can't help but think they were originally presenting him as something slightly beyond human. His initial fight with Jack was no contest, he knocked Jin out with a sling-like device, then lifted Charlie six inches off the ground with one hand.
As much as I loved Sally Strecker's performance, I don't get overly excited about watching the flashbacks repeatedly. It bothers me to watch someone scam an innocent person the first time around, so there's not much joy in watching it time and again.
Homecoming gets a slight bonus in the atmosphere department, mostly because a significant amount of time is spent in the caves at night. The more torches I see the better!
As for emotional impact, I'm not sure the episode has ever hit me in the way Lindelof intended. If I was to feel any sort of pity for Charlie when Lucy ripped into him, well, that certainly didn't happen. Part of me was tempted to push him out of the doorway so I could console her.
I'm a sucker for the Claire-Charlie arc though, so when Claire said she remembered peanut butter I certainly felt the warm fuzzies. On a less heartwarming note, the adrenalin was pumping when Claire baited Ethan toward the Losties in the jungle.
At the end of the day, this episode simply falls into the "nice but nothing extraordinary" category. Very few moments are game-changing or iconic in any way, but there's no reason to dread watching it either.
