Something Nice Back Home

The episode was written by March 10, 2008[6] and was done alongside "The Shape of Things to Come" and "Cabin Fever".[7] Shooting began by March 24,[8] alongside filming of the previous episode[9] and continued through April 4.[10] The flashforwards were written partially to explain what led Jack to become the drug addict that he is in third-season finale's flashforwards, who believes that his father is alive.[11] Matthew Fox stated that the fourth season is "starting to close the loop on the end of [the third] season. Jack in the future is a man marked by weakness, but the Jack [on the island in December 2004] is strong. ['Something Nice Back Home' explains] how he made that transition."[12] When asked why Hurley does not take drugs to see Charlie, but Jack starts his drug addiction to try not to see Christian, Edward Kitsis said that "Jack has … always been a man of science, and there has to be something logical. The scene where Jack is staring at the bench where Hurley sits when Charlie visits him, I think in that moment he's thinking, my life right now is pretty good, I don't want to end up here." In regard to the contrast in Kate's character on the island and after the island, Kitsis said that "you could say [that] motherhood suits her. In the flashforwards … there's a sense of purpose to her, there's some clarity to her. There's so much devotion to that child, and she appears to be such a great mother … taking care of Aaron may have helped her put away some other issues."[4]

Critics of Entertainment Weekly and The Palm Beach Post speculated that Claire had been dead since the previous episode.[13]

"Something Nice Back Home" was viewed live or recorded and watched within four hours of broadcast by 10.726 million American viewers,[14] scoring a 4.7/13 in the key adults 18–49 demographic,[15] ranking Lost as the twenty-first most watched series of the week[16] and setting a ratings low for the series.[17] A total of 12.946 million Americans watched the episode live or recorded it and watched it within seven days; this number was factored into the season's average.[18] The episode was viewed by 1.322 million Canadians, making Lost the nineteenth most watched show of the week.[19] 647,000 in the United Kingdom tuned in to the local broadcast.[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.[22]

Verne Gay of Newsday described it as "another fine, fine Lost".[23] The San Diego Union-Tribune's Karla Peterson gave the episode an "A", calling it "one of those dense, chewy episodes in which a lot of stuff happened to a lot of people, and the foundation was laid for one hell of a season finale." She praised Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Jorge Garcia, Elizabeth Mitchell and Jeremy Davies's work in "Something Nice Back Home",[24] while Tom Iacuzio of The Daytona Beach News-Journal deemed Jeremy Davies's performance deserving of an Emmy Award.[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. Combined with a strong character-driven flash story, it was very old school Lost."[28] Jensen also "liked how the episode neatly neutralized one of [his] least favorite season 4 moments, the Jack-Juliet smooch".[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.[29] Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV gave the episode a positive review, saying that he was "shocked and baffled" and writing that "Lost … can give me an exciting, well-done episode while making me fear where the series is going … [because] ghosts aren't my thing."[30] The Huffington Post's Jay Glatfelter decided that "what made this episode great was the fact that it just contained so much story [with] Jack's flashforward [making] this one of his most interesting 'centric' episodes. … Not only was Jack's story interesting for a change, but the inclusion of [many] other characters … and giving them great story and character development [was also intriguing]."[31] Daniel of TMZ graded "Something Nice Back Home" as a "B". In his recap, he wrote that "if that's the last we ever see of Claire again, that would be BEYOND awesome."[32]

Robert Bianco of USA Today praised Fox's performance, saying that it was almost worthy of an 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.[34] James Poniewozik of Time did not enjoy the flashforwards, commenting that they were "the first of the flashforwards that resembled one of the bad old flashbacks, in that it just reconfirmed character traits we already knew and showed Jack and Kate falling into patterns we knew from the past … I didn't get much from it".[35] IGN's Chris Carabott gave the episode a 7.5/10, making it his least favorite episode of the season. Carabott wrote that "this season [Lost's main character Jack] seems to have been relegated to playing second fiddle … oddly enough, even in his own episode, Jack really isn't given much to do" and stated that "the possible rekindling of Jack and Kate's romantic relationship on the island is juxtaposed quite well with their relationship during the flashforward."[36] Dan Compora of SyFy Portal wrote that "the pace … was a bit too slow" and "I usually like the Jack-centered episodes, but a bout of appendicitis simply does not make for high drama or stimulating action"; however, he noted that "all in all, this was a good episode, but it was nothing special."[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."[41]

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• "Something Nice Back Home" at ABC
• "Something Nice Back Home" at IMDb