With Homecoming, the mystery arc of Lost plays a very important role, returning for a predominant spot alongside co-creator Damon Lindelof, who wrote the script and has subsequently admitted that he too, like some fans and critics, considers the episode a disappointment. While refreshingly candid, that remark is actually erroneous, as Homecoming is a masterpiece of tension, pathos and light comedy - all in one 40-minute package.
The teaser picks up with Locke finding Claire in the jungle and bringing her back to the camp. Unfortunately, the girl suffers from amnesia and doesn't remember what the Others did to her during her captivity period. As the mystery thickens, Ethan also returns and threatens Charlie, stating he will kill a survivor each day until Claire is returned to the Others. When he manages to do so during the night, Jack decides to set a trap for him, and enlists Kate, Sayid, Sawyer and Locke for help.
Charlie is left out of the group, but is the focus of the episode's flashbacks, which reveal more of his darker side: at the height of his drug-using days, he plans to steal a valuable object from a woman named Lucy Heatherton (Sally Strecker), and sell said item so he can buy heroin. The situation changes when he meets Lucy and develops feelings for her, leading to an attempt to become a more respectable man. Needless to say, it doesn't work out as planned.
Much of the criticism aimed at this episode had to do with the flashbacks which, according to some, fail to add anything of substance to the character involved. That is not the case, as the final scene with Lucy has repercussions on Charlie's relationship with Claire (besides, kudos to De Ravin for making the amnesia subplot more than a simple gimmick); also, the real purpose of those scenes, aside from showcasing Dominic Monaghan's more comedic side (and put in a cute reference to British sitcom The Office, whose American remake features an episode directed by J.J. Abrams), is to act as a lighter counterweight to the bleaker Island moments, with William Mapother pulling off a genuinely unsettling performance as Ethan and thus partly justifying the violent - and, to some extent, frustrating - climax. And he's just one of the Others: what will the rest be like?
