The Candidate

As the weeks and the episodes go by we are being brought closer to the end. With the end of the show comes moments that will probably pull our guts out. Lives will be lost and characters will be gone. We’ve gone through it in the past with Charlie, Eko, and Juliette, just to name a few. We knew there were going to be more, this is LOST after all and the time is ticking down. We know at this point that nobody is safe. This fact was never shoved more into our faces than this week as time was indeed ticking down. As the hour played out I kept wanting to reel the episode back in as opposed to letting it play out. Watching it would force me to deal with the reality that we would be left at the end of the episode but we don't have that luxury of stopping time. While we have to accept it; we don’t have to like it but either way we move on. So let’s take the first step of moving on by going over what we experienced last night. I say "experienced" because I didn't just watch the episode this week it felt like I lived it. Maybe you did to.



ATL Jack wakes up ATL John Locke. John looks at Jack and says “I know you.”. Jack explains that the two of them were on flight 815 together. It seemed that Locke “knew” Jack from somewhere else though. Jack asks Locke how he ended up in the wheelchair. Jack says he thinks John is a "candidate". Locke looks at Jack oddly as he asks Jack what he is a candidate for. Jack explains that Locke may be able to walk again if Jack was to perform an experimental surgery to fix the damage. John quickly turns down the offer. Helen comes in to see John and meets Jack who she thanks for saving John’s life.


On the island, Jack wakes up in one of the canoes. Sayid says “Welcome to Hydra island.”. I already had begun to suspect that zombie Sayid was gone and our original Sayid was making a comeback. When he came as close to making a joke as Sayid gets by saying to Jack “at least you didn’t have to paddle”, I knew some good stuff was going to be coming from Sayid and that his little talk with Desmond at the well helped bring him back.


The rest of the Losties are taken by Widmore’s people to the cages that are all too familiar to Kate and Sawyer. Sawyer is able to take the rifle from “Dough-boy” only to give it back to him a few seconds later. Widmore holds a gun to Kate’s head and tells him that he can kill her because her name isn’t on the list. Sawyer gets a rifle to the nuts for his trouble. Widmore tells them he is locking them in the cages for their own good. Like Sawyer, we know this is absolute crap. Widmore tells his people to get the fence working because “He’s coming.”, and we know who that is don’t we boys and girls?

Bernard writes Jack a prescription for success!

Jack goes to see Bernard who is drilling a mold for a set of false teeth. I’ve been told it’s initials on the side of the mold but it sure looked like hieroglyphics to me. I instantly noticed that again we have the black and white theme as Jack is in black and Bernard is in white. Jack asks if he can see a patients file. Jack says the patient is John Locke. Bernard seems to “know” something here as well and even has his own version of the creepy "I know stuff that I can't tell you" face this episode. Bernard asks Jack why he is so interested in John Locke and then tells Jack he remembers him from Oceanic 815. Jack is visibly shaken by this and is starting to realize it is not a coincidence. Bernard tells Jack he can’t give him the file but he tells Jack to go talk to someone named Anthony Cooper who was also involved. Bernard wishes Jack luck and says “I hope you find what you are looking for.”. The same thing Kate said to him back in The Lighthouse.


Sayid tells Jack that the two of them and “Locke” are the only ones left after the mortar shell killed some and drove the rest of them into the jungle. Jack wants to know why (F)Locke brought him there. (F)Locke tells Jack his friends were captured and that he will need Jack’s help to get them free. (F)Locke says they can break Jack's people out and get off of the island before Widmore even knows what happened. Jack says that they are not “his” people and he isn’t leaving the island. (F)Locke tells Jack that he hopes he will change his mind about that. (F)Locke claims he needs Jack to convince the rest to trust him. Jack asks him why he should trust him. (F)Locke tells Jack that he should trust him because he can kill him and the rest them anytime he wants and there isn’t a thing they can do to stop him. He tells Jack that instead of killing them he wants to save them just like he saved Jack. None of this rings true to me because if he wanted to kill them he would and we know he wants them dead. He can’t kill them, the boy in the jungle told him so. It’s one of the rules.


In the cages, Sawyer tells Kate that he saw her name in the caves and her name was crossed out. He tells her he feels like they are going around in a circle. The way Kate had a gun to her head reminds us of when Danny Pickett had a gun to Sawyers head at the cages. Kate doesn’t think Widmore would have killed her but Sawyer thinks he would have. He tells her that he doesn’t need her so he could kill her at any time. So Kate was never important, is that what they are telling us? When was her name crossed off? Then why did Jacob touch her on the nose? I think there is still something left for Kate “to do” before the island is done with her and in true LOST fashion it will be super important and very secretive. Jin and Sun spend some time catching up. Jin tells Sun that he saw pictures of their daughter. Sun gives Jin his wedding ring back. This touching scene is made even more so after you know what happens later.



The generator running the fence goes down causing it to shut off. “Uh-oh.”, Frank observes, yeah he knows his name isn’t on the cave wall either. Widmore’s people scramble to get the fence working again but it’s too late. “And we’re dead.”, Hurley says as we hear the ticka-ticka-ticka of the approaching smoke monster. Smokey smashes “Dough-boy” against the cage. Kate tries to reach out for the keys (hey, wasn’t she able to climb out of these things three years ago?) as Frank tries to kick his way out. Jack grabs the keys and unlocks the cage. Kate asks him what he is doing there and Jack motions towards the smoke monster and says “I’m with him.”. If somebody told you Jack would be one day be working with the smoke monster back during the pilot episode would you have thought them crazy? I sure would have.


I noticed the Plan 9 From Outer Space continuity errors with day turning to night during scenes in the past few episodes but I haven’t made much of them. It does seem that they are getting more frequent however, and the length of time between them is getting shorter every time it happens. Who has directed the last few episodes, Ed Wood? (Just Google it if you don't know) It happens again as Jack unlocked the cages at night and in the next scene as they are headed to the plane it’s now daylight. Seriously, WTF? Anyway, Jack tells Kate that he isn’t getting on the plane with them. He says he is not meant to go. Sawyer thanks him for coming back for them. Sayid comes out of the jungle and Jack says he is OK, that it was Sayid who turned off the generator. Sayid tells them it is time to go that Locke is waiting for them.


Jack is at a nursing home trying to see Anthony Cooper and sees Helen there too. He tells her that he is there to see Cooper. Helen tells Jack that John told her about the surgery and he doesn’t want it. She asks why saving John’s life isn’t enough. He says “because it’s not” and I have to agree with Jack here, it’s definitely not enough. I think we all want John to have the surgery. Helen goes into the room and approaches a man in a wheelchair. She turns the chair around and we see Anthony Cooper but not the Anthony Cooper we are used to seeing. Helen introduces him to Jack as she wipes some drool from Coop’s mouth. She tells Jack that Cooper is John’s father. Is this the same Anthony Cooper who went by the name Sawyer and was a con man? Does this version of John Locke have both kidneys? I think this is the same Cooper that conned James Ford's mother in the OTL. We will only know what they tell us at this point and the rest is speculation. One other thing I wondered about was the look on Cooper's face. He almost looks tortured or perhaps haunted is a better term for it. Does he know about the other time line where he pushed his son out of a window? Does he remember getting strangled by Sawyer on the Black Rock? If this is the "same" Anthony Cooper from the OTL than he is getting all that he deserves.


(F)Locke approaches the Ajira plane and quickly takes out the men guarding the plane. He takes a watch from one of the men and goes inside of the plane. Inside, he traces a wire back to a luggage compartment, while outside Jack and his group arrive. Sayid notices that one of the men has a broken neck and Sayid should know. Locke comes out of the plane and tells then that Widmore knew he would kill the guards. (F)Locke says that Widmore wants all of them on the plane where they can be isolated and trapped inside together so he can kill them all. Sawyer asks “Kill us with what?”. (F)Locke shows them a bomb and says he doesn’t think the plane is safe anymore. He says they will have to take the sub. Hurley points out that Alpert said (F)Locke wasn’t supposed to leave the island. Sawyer says “Screw Alpert.” and then tells (F)Locke he was wrong about him. (F)Locke says the sub will be heavily guarded and they will need all the help they can get. Jack agrees to help but isn’t leaving. As they head off to the sub Claire apologizes for leaving (F)Locke to go with the others. He accepts her apology and says he understands why she went with them.


In the hospital John is dreaming about pushing the button and says “I wish you would have believed me.”. Jack sees Claire in the hallway and goes out to talk to her. Claire says she is there to see Jack. Jack gets an Apollo bar from the vending machine and this time the machine works. No Jacob “push” needed this time. Claire shows Jack the music box and says that their father wanted her to have it. Jack says he doesn’t know why. Claire asks how Christian died. Jack says he drank himself to death and was found in an alley outside of a bar in Australia. Same death we knew OTL Christian suffered. Claire says she was on a flight from Australia as well, flight 815. It would seem that both of them are feeling that this is more than a coincidence. Jack asks to see the music box which plays “Catch a Falling Star” which it should, considering this was the song Claire was supposed to sing to Aaron. The music box is supposed to jog their memory but it doesn’t, just yet. Jack asks Claire if she wants to stay at his place. She says that they are strangers. Jack corrects her by saying they are family.


The dock seems deserted as the group arrive. Sawyer takes the lead and gives direction on how they will approach the sub. Sawyer asks Jack if him and (F)Locke can get their backs. Jack says absolutely. “Let’s go home.”, Sawyer says as he begins to make his move towards the sub. The first few make it to the sub and Sawyer and Frank go inside to check things out. Sawyer finds one guy (who, for a second, I thought was Radzinsky) and asks him where the captain is. The man takes them to the control room then Frank knocks him out. Sawyer tells the captain to get the sub ready to go. Frank says he can handle this and Sawyer goes back for the rest of the group.


The second group head towards the dock and (F)Locke switches packs with Jack. Jack and (F)Locke now head for the docks as well. (F)Locke asks Jack to reconsider leaving the island. (F)Locke says that whoever told Jack he needed to stay on the island had no idea what they were talking about. Jack says that it was John Locke who told him he needed to stay and then Jack shoves (F)Locke into the water. I thought we might get an “I’m melting!” moment but we got nothing except a wet (F)Locke. Kate gets shot in the shoulder as a gun fight ensues and Jack knows he is invincible. Watch how he just walks right towards the people shooting at him. The only person I actually saw hit anybody though was Claire. Jack carries Kate to the sub. Sayid follows and then calls for Claire. (F)Locke climbs back up onto the dock and instead of heading for the sub he starts taking out the rest of Widmore’s people.

Where is the top half of your scar, Nosferatu?

Inside of the sub Jack tells Hurley to get him a first aid kit. Sayid tells Sawyer that Claire is still up on the dock. Sawyer calls for Claire and (F)Locke turns and yells “James!”. Sawyer doesn’t give him a chance to get closer and closes the sub hatch leaving Claire behind again. Sawyer tells Frank to tell the captain to “Dive!”. The sub leaves the dock with Claire running after it. (F)Locke grabs her and Claire cries “They’re leaving us.” (F)Locke tells her that she doesn’t want to be on the sub. Jack asks Sawyer what's happening. Sawyer tells Jack they are leaving.

Oh, look a first aid kit

Kate says that they can’t leave Claire. Sawyer asks if Kate is going to be OK. Hurley comes back and says he can’t find a first aid kit (it’s actually in the control room where Frank and the captain are). Jack tells Jin to get his pack because he might have a shirt in there that he can use to apply pressure to the wound. Jin gives Jack his pack. Jack says he thinks the bullet went right through Kate’s shoulder. A big “Oh Shit!” when Jack pulls the bomb from his pack. Hurley asks where it came from. Jack says “Locke, we did exactly what he wanted.”. The Man in Black explained that Widmore wanted them all on the plane, in a small enclosed space that they could not get out of, in order to kill them all at once. Then he enacted a plan to do the same to them by tricking them all onto the submarine.


Jack says they need to surface which is a no-go with only a few minutes until the bomb goes off. Jack says (F)Locke wanted Sawyer to shut him out of the sub. Jack asks Sayid if he knows how the bomb works. Sayid, who definitely isn’t the creepy zombie Sayid anymore knows something about the bomb. He thinks he can get the bomb to be “technically” inert, but isn’t sure if it will work. Sayid says the wires have to be pulled out simultaneously. Sawyer tells Sayid to step aside. Jack tells Sawyer that nothing is going to happen. Jack tells Sawyer not to pull the wires. Jack claims that Locke can’t kill them that he will have to get them to kill each other. Jack points out that everything Locke has done was to get them together at the same place all at the same time. Jack guesses that Locke can’t leave the island unless they are all dead. Right on Doc! Jack says that Locke told him he could kill them all any time he wanted to but that the fact that he hasn’t yet could mean that he can’t kill them or isn’t allowed to. Sawyer argues with Jack and says he can’t just do nothing. Jack is now arguing the “Man of Faith” side while Sawyer has taken up the reigns and going against it. Not exactly a “Man of Science” way of thinking but definitely not going with faith here. Sawyer was again conned, this time by (F)Locke, into thinking the he wanted onto the sub but Sawyer did exactly what he was being conned to do. Jack says they are going to be OK and that Sawyer just needs to trust him. Sawyer says he doesn’t and pulls the wires. Which works. At first.


Then the counter continues and goes faster than it was before. Sayid tells Jack about Desmond being in the well. He says that (F)Locke wants him dead which means they are going to need him. Jack asks Sayid why he is telling him all of this. Sayid says “Because it's going to be you Jack.” Meaning that Jack is the candidate to replace Jacob. Sayid grabs the bomb and runs through the sub to get as far away from the rest of them as possible. You knew it was going to be bad news as soon as it went to slow motion. The bomb explodes taking our tank-topped Iraqi with it. With this one act of selflessness (as well as knowing he didn‘t kill Desmond for sure), Sayid redeems himself. Remember back to when we first met Sayid, he was the one trying to stop his friend from using C-4 to become a martyr and then ends up himself becoming a martyr with C-4. Hopefully after his death here he will be able to take his knowledge to the ATL and use it in his favor there.


The bomb blast throws everyone around. Frank heads out of the engine room and the sub is taking on water through the bulkheads. “Aw, Hell.” Frank says as the bulkhead breaks loose and smashes Frank in the head. Is this the last we will see of Frank? If so, then it was an unfair death scene I thought. Frank deserves something more than this. Some says no body = no death. Could Frank still be alive and end up washing up onshore like Jin did two years ago? If he is dead and the Losties go back to the Ajira plane for a way to leave the island could we see "Ghost" Frank telling Hurley how to fly the plane? What a great scene that would be. I think I smell finale material!


Did you notice that the klaxon (warning buzzer) in the sub sounds like the one inside of the Swan hatch? Jack grabs Kate. Hurley asks what happened to Sayid and Jin hears Sun crying in pain. Sun is trapped behind some kind of heavy metal box thing. Jin asks Sawyer for help. Jack tells Hurley to take Kate out of the sub. He gives Hurley an oxygen tank and tells him to “buddy breathe” with it. Hurley says he has to go back for Sayid. Jacks response hits hard; “There is no Sayid!”. Sawyer calls to Jack for more help getting Sun free as Hurley leaves with Kate. The three of them are able to get the metal box thing off but Sun is still trapped by more twisted metal. More stuff falls and a piece bashes Sawyer in the head knocking him out. Jack grabs Sawyer as Jin continues to struggle to free Sun. I’m told all I needed to know about how this is going to end just by the look on Sun’s face. She has heard enough at this point about what happens when the island is done with you. She tells Jin to save himself. Jin tells Jack to take Sawyer and he will get Sun out. Jack hands Jin the other oxygen tank. He tells Jin he won’t need it but Jin won’t take it and tells Jack he will need it. Jin, Jack, and Sun know what is going to happen. Unfortunately, we do too.


Jack leaves with Sawyer and looking at Sun, I’m not sure if Jin was actually able to free her that she would have made it. Besides trapped she may have also been crushed. So, TPTB couldn’t possibly reunite them in the last episode just to kill them off in the next one, could they? They just couldn’t be that cruel! Once again Sun tells Jin to go but Jin tells her he will not leave her. Jin struggles in vain one last time to free Sun. The two embrace, tell each other “I love you.”, and then kiss. All of this they do for the last time. The two hold hands until death takes them. The view of them drifting away from each other and their hands coming apart was very moving and symbolic. The scene was heart wrenching and in a sort of subliminal way, they made it worse by using the same music they played when Charlie drowned back in the Looking Glass station.


John Locke tells the orderly (who should have been Abbadon, by the way) the he is being picked up by Helen. Jin walks by and John seems to recognize him. Jack shows up and tells Locke he went to see Cooper. Locke tells Jack that he is in the wheelchair because he was in a plane crash. Locke had his private pilots liscence for a week and he wanted his father to be his first passenger. In a scene that is once again Emmy worthy for Terry O’Quin, John continues to tell Jack that Cooper was terrified of flying. John told him to trust him. The plane barely got off of the ground and John doesn’t remember what he did wrong but it was his fault. So that’s why John doesn’t want to have to surgery; being in the chair is a way of punishing himself for what happened to his father. In this reality it is Locke’s fault for putting his father (as well as himself) in a wheelchair where it was the other way around in the OTL. Also I think it is worth pointing out, since we have so much mirror imagery this season, that here a plane crash takes John Locke’s ability to walk where in the OTL it returned the ability to him. If the ATL version of Locke knows how to fly a plane does (F)Locke know how to fly one as well? Is this where we are headed? Smokey trying to fly the Ajira plane all alone off of the island and into the sunset?


Jack tells Locke that like him, his father is also gone. Jack says that nothing will bring them back. Jack says “Whatever happened, happened.”. Jack says that John just needs to let go. Jack says he doesn’t know how to do that himself either. Jack says he was hoping that John would go first. (Anybody see this being said again by either John or Jack to the other in the OTL sometime in the final four and a half hours of the show? I sure do. And yes I said four and a half hours because they have added a half hour to the finale and it will now run from 9:00 to 11:30 on the 23rd.) Locke laughs and says goodbye to Jack. Jack tells Locke he can help him. “I wish you believed me.” he says. These words sound familiar to Locke and they should because they were the words he wrote to Jack in the suicide note in the OTL.


Jack drags Sawyer to shore. Jack is able to get Sawyer breathing again and we see Hurley and Kate approach. Jack says Sawyer should be OK. Kate asks about Jin and Sun Jack can only shake his head. Kate cries for their dead friends and just to make sure the hardest of hearts feels some pain, Hurley breaks down as well. Jack gets up and walks to the ocean and cries. As he does so he seems to look into the sky almost “asking” how much he will be forced to endure during his journey. You're journey still has quite a way to go doctor.


Back on the dock (F)Locke tells Claire that the sub sank. (F)Locke blows up the sub this time just as John Locke blew up the “Others” sub a few seasons ago. Claire asks if all of the people on the sub are dead but Locke says not all of them. Some people have mentioned that this must mean that (F)Locke is psychic. I tend to lean towards the thinking that he would have “felt” different or something would have changed and since neither has happened he knows that not all of the “candidates” are dead. Claire asks (F)Locke where he is going and he says “To finish what I started.”.