Something Nice Back Home
[3] Critical reviews were mixed and the broadcast of "Something Nice Back Home" brought in 13 million American viewers, one of the smallest audiences for an original episode of Lost in the show's history.
The leader of the survivors, Jack Shephard (played by Matthew Fox) develops appendicitis and Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) operates on him.
Meanwhile, James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), Miles Straume (Ken Leung), Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin), and her baby Aaron continue their trek to the beach from the Barracks.
In a flashforward, Jack experiences visions of his deceased father Christian Shephard (John Terry), while his relationship with Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) is strained soon after he proposes marriage.
Jin realizes that Charlotte is fluent in Korean and confronts her after their successful trip, threatening to hurt Daniel if she continues to lie about her agenda and does not get Sun off the island.
They encounter Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey), who saves their lives by instructing them to hide from the nearby band of mercenaries led by Martin Keamy (Kevin Durand), who are revealed not to have been killed by the smoke monster in the previous episode.
[20] In Australia, "Something Nice Back Home" was watched by 505 000 people,[21] having been moved to a later timeslot of 10.30 pm, outside the prime time viewing block.
[25] The Palm Beach Post's Kevin Thompson "thought [that] Matthew [Fox] did a nice job conveying a wide range of emotions—scared, haunted, frustration, horny, jealousy, just to name a few.
"[26] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly said that "Something Nice Back Home" "was partly a transitional passage in the Lost saga, a busywork episode designed to put all the characters in position for the year's big finale"[27] and "[Jack's] appendicitis [was] the kind of hardcore castaway survival plotline we haven't really seen since season 1.
[13] TV Guide's Michael Ausiello wrote that "Fox quietly solidified his status as one of the tube's most reliable and unshowy stalwarts" and deemed him deserving of a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
[33] The Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall gave the episode a mixed review, saying that "I find [Jack] and his love life simultaneously boring and obnoxious … [and] insufferable"; however, he enjoyed the subplots and commended the acting by Matthew Fox and Jorge Garcia.
"[37] Compora praised Fox's increasingly good acting, but said that "this season has seen much stronger lead performances from Michael Emerson [in 'The Shape of Things to Come' as Ben Linus] and Henry Ian Cusick [as Desmond Hume in 'The Constant'].
"[38] Erin Martell of AOL's TV Squad called "Something Nice Back Home" "a break after last week's action- and information-packed episode", argued that Rousseau was not given a proper death and enjoyed Rose and Bernard's roles.
[39] UGO's Sara shared Martell's sentiments in regard to Rose and Bernard's appearances and speculated that "Something Nice Back Home" would not be enjoyed by fans who like Rousseau or do not like Jack.
[40] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three out of five stars, saying that "the Jack-Kate romantic intrigue is rather dull, while the appendix plot feels like an unnecessary narrative obstacle for viewers to surmount.
