Intellectually, we knew the stakes were life and death. We knew not all of our cherished survivors would make it to the final act. Yet, knowing is one thing. Seeing and feeling the sudden and tragic loss of beloved characters is another thing entirely. The skeptic in me, the spoiler addict in me, saw it all coming. Yet still, I was devastated. I thought I’d stemmed the flood of tears, until Hurley, Kate, and even Jack broke down on screen. Jen was a wreck, literally speechless, and ended her evening with the final thud. Cling as we might to the flash-sideways as a possible escape hatch to happiness, and as warm and wonderful some of those off-island moments have been, it’s obvious tonight that our hearts were with the characters on the island. The ones we’ve followed for half a decade.
Sun and Jin were reunited only one episode back, and it was a moment that felt incomplete, rushed. We voiced fears that their days were numbered now that their characters’ primary objective had been met. But so soon? So beautifully cruel? I stopped breathing the moment we saw that Sun was trapped. I tried to muster at least an eye roll, but it was too late. I was a goner. Giacchino’s powerful “Life and Death” theme was perfectly cued, a bullet to the heart.
I half expected, hoped, and even rationalized that Jin would indeed leave Sun one last time. After all, don’t all “go on without me!” scenes end that way? And what of Ji-Yeon? But he chose to perish with her, the two of them indeed together forever, entombed in a submarine. The parallels to Charlie’s death were not accidental… and surprisingly powerful.
And Sayid! His heart to heart with Desmond did light a spark of goodness in him, as we’d hoped. But moments after he confirms that he did not kill our damp Scotsman, he makes his final move, his selfless act, giving up his life to a bomb blast so that others may live. He wasn’t, after all, what everyone said he was. Say what you will about how weakly his character had meandered through most of this season, I now can’t help but look back over his first days on the island. An Iraqi, a former member of the Republican Guard, a torturer, a born killer. That this Middle Eastern character dies by self-inflicted bomb in an act of heroism is… eerily poetic.
(Though the much ballyhooed ethnic diversity of “LOST” was certainly thinned tonight.)
And a brief salute to Frank, the hapless pilot, always ready with a one-liner as he was dragged hither and yon. We loved how his eyes twinkled as they returned to the plane, ready for the still seemingly impossible challenge of getting it airborne. Alas, he died but a passenger inside another metal tube. Last words: “Aw hell.”
Deaths aside, the most powerful scene tonight was the showdown between Jack and Sawyer. Jack, realizing that they were exactly where Unlocke wanted them, insists that the bomb won’t kill them unless they do something to allow it to do harm. It directly referenced the amazing scene on the Black Rock earlier this season, when Jack bet his life that the dynamite wouldn’t blow because he lit the fuse. They can’t kill themselves, but they can kill each other… as previous arrivals to the island no doubt did. But Sawyer couldn’t bring himself to trust Jack, especially given what happened the last time he believed Jack’s plan. I could wholly identify with both of them.
Yes, Sawyer pulled the wires, and his action did accelerate and ultimately lead to the C-4 sinking the sub. Why did that happen, when the fuse Jack lit went out? Well, Sawyer did survive the blast. It killed people, including other candidates, but it didn’t kill him.
Meanwhile, an endless debate is born: was Jack right? Had Sawyer not acted, would nothing have happened? It seems a heck of a gamble on Unlocke’s part, putting a timer on a bomb on a submarine (a very direct act), with the expectation that someone would discover it and set it off for him. Just how indirectly do his actions have to be to cause the death of a candidate without breaking the rules?
The one other top-shelf reveal in “The Candidate” seems to be the fact that Unlocke is The Bad Guy. Full stop. No more ambiguous hints and sympathetic overtures. After weeks of being merely menacing and threatening, this week he’s downright merciless, walking right into a hail of bullets and killing without breaking a sweat. And his plan all along was, indeed, to eliminate the candidates. He wanted them all together because they’d be easier to kill together. But he knows some survived, and he’soff to finish what he started.
Does this mean that Unlocke The Man in Black, the smoke monster, what have you — is actually the embodiment of a great and powerful evil? An evil from which the rest of the world must be protected? It would seem so. And given what Sayid said moments before he died, it sure looks like Jack is Jacob’s successor. He is The Candidate. He sure said that he’s not leaving the island enough times tonight. What else could his calling or purpose be at this point but to continue to confound Unlocke’s attempts to leave?
Desmond, though, remains key to the end game. And that’s something that Widmore seems to have known all along. And it’s Widmore’s role that remains a mystery to me. After all, the C-4 that blew up the submarine came from a booby trap on the plane, one that does seem to have been set by Widmore. If Widmore wanted to destroy the plane, he could’ve done so already. So, couldn’t he have helped Unlocke exterminate the candidates, had they all climbed aboard and turned the key?
Then again, Widmore did try to lock the candidates up in cages, telling them it was for their own good. If it’s as simple as that, though, what is Widmore up to?
As for the flash-sideways, more wonderful moments, to be sure. Just this week, they were greatly overshadowed by the island timeline.
I like that Jack knows himself well enough to see how strange it is that he’s compelled to learn why Locke doesn’t want an operation. Helen asks why it isn’t enough that he saved his life, and Jack says, “Because it’s not.” Seeing the once intimidating Anthony Cooper reduced to an invalid was a surprise. Discovering that it was Locke who caused his father’s paralysis, as well as his own, in a plane crash was cool twist. Locke had his crossover moment, mumbling “push the button” and “I wish you believed me.” And then Jack makes a connection, telling him the same. Their chat in the hospital hallway, when Jack tells Locke to let go even when he can’t let go himself, was great.
What of the music box from Christian? “Catch a Falling Star” has followed Claire around from the beginning. Will Christian be revealed, so very late in the season, as someone else who knew or saw “the truth”?
Two more Tuesday nights. Then, the two and a half hour (yes, they announced the extra 30 minutes tonight) series finale on May 23. There’s not much “LOST” left. I have to say, even if on a purely visceral level, “The Candidate” is the first episode of this last season to feel like I expected this last season to feel like. It shocked me. It angered me. It hurt me. I expect nothing less over the final hours of the best show on TV.
- Is it shocking to kill off several main characters in one episode? Yes. Is it unexpected? No. And stepping back a bit, I’m glad they hit us late and hard, rather than killing off one character every few episodes. Back in the early seasons, there was a “Survivor” like element as we bet on who would be the next to buy the farm. The deathwatch mindset kind of trivialized things. Sure, more characters will be lost over the next few hours, but in this last act, that comes with the territory.
- Flash-sideways Jack is increasingly likable. Standing there, looking dashing in his scrubs as Helen thanked him for saving Locke’s life, he seemed almost ready for a guest appearance on “Gray’s Anatomy.”
- All season long, the writers go out of their way to say, “We don’t know whether Sun or Jin is the candidate.” With both killed off, it looks like we’ll never know.
- Kate, meanwhile, hears twice that she’s not a candidate and not needed. The more that’s emphasized, the more it feels like she’s being set up to be a spoiler.
- Neat “mirror moment” with the music box, when we see both Claire and Jack reflected.
- Sawyer’s nickname for geeky Widmore thug: Dougboy. Jen had been calling him Pugsley.
- Locations: The hospital and care home were both the Rehab Hospital of the Pacific in Liliha. Bernard’s dental office was Kahala Dental Care in the Kahala Office Tower (adjacent to Kahala Mall).
What did you think? Please comment below! Or, you can also e-mail us at lost@hawaiiup.com or leave a brief message on the LOSTLine at (815) 310-0808.
Still half asleep here, what I mean is that when Desmond is sitting next to Jack, you can see Rose and Bernard in the background talking to each other.
@ Eric Kupers : Fantastic list, I would only alter your word ‘inverted’ and say “mirrored” instead. In fact, maybe the sideways verse is all about that, the choices we make given similar events (Jacob tells Ben he has a choice before killing him).
The stories in both timelines are similar but modified somewhat by different decisions the characters make. Those choices have rippling affects on them and the people they come in contact with, which in turn lead to slightly different choices which again stear themselves and others in slightly diferent directions….
They were all fated to meet, but in one timeline the choice that one person makes causes others to choice differently and so things … I hesitate to say ‘better’ i am still on the fence with that.
EX: Locke takes flying lessons – Cooper is conning him in the same manner – Locke insists even if Cooper alledgely is afraid of flying – the accident happens – Cooper is unable to complete his con – Locke is paralyse AND feels guilty for causing the accident – he cannot forgive himself but mentions to Jack at the airport, that his father is gone but not forgotten – jack, realizes that he needs to let go of the past with his father – mends relationship with his son.
Kate climbs in a cab with Claire – still does her running until she sees baby stuff in the bag she stole – chooses to return and help Claire.
Sawyer chooses to become a cop and not to con – will lead him to find Cooper and tell Locke about his father being a con man and this will lead to Locke making another choice, to have Jack “fix” him …
on and on … one choice causes another slightly different outcome…
What did I think you ask….. I think I know I am watching the best show ever to grace my television. From the moment I saw Sun trapped the lump in my throat stopped me from breathing. My 12 year old daughter has watched the show with me on and off for at least the last 3 seasons. Once I heard Life and Death (which is on my I pod for extra musical pleasure/torture when needed) start I said to her “Kacey, their gonna die” they only play this music when someone dies and as I looked over she was already crying like her puppy had passed.
Upon seeing our main characters loose it on the beach, I could feel that they too can’t take anymore. I can’t take seeing these characters die in such a moving way anymore. And I utter the words that I never thought I would… I need for this show to end just like the characters need for it to end. NO other show has ever made me feel so connected to the characters in this way and I am eternally grateful that I tuned in 6 years ago….
Some quick thoughts.
Lapidas is likely alive and getting ready to be found on the beach. I think we still need him to fly the survivors (yet to be determined) off the island. When people die on Lost, they show us. When we aren’t sure, they typically aren’t dead.
Hurley still has the ashes somewhere. They have a roll to play still
I definitely feel like Locke is going to be the new Jacob. He has always felt connected to the island and believed in the island and the Sideways Locke will somehow get back there. He will be redeemed upon returning there. Jack is, as his last name implies, shepherding the players into place (along with Desmond). Ultimately there has been to much invested in the love triangle of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer to not have it play out and it definitely looks like Jack and Kate are going to be together (yea Jate!).
@ Jesse: I don’t know how you didn’t feel an emotional impact from this episode. Unbelievable to me! It was a cry fest here.
THE EW article of Damon & Carlton was wonderful — thanks for posting!
4 hours to go…and where are we exactly? Was it that big of a reveal that Flocke is Evil? Hmmmmmm….
I love the theory of Sawyer being Evil with Jack on the island….
will someone help out here…when did we see the Island under water? I remember it being fleeting in an episode….but when exactly? In what context?
So is everyone with me in that this episode set us up for the final hours when Hurley & Kate go?
And, really, the full arc of the show doesn’t move forward with Eloiiiiise Hawking and/or Widmore & Farraday. They are crucial to getting answers, and…they’re nowhere to be found.
Note: that’s “without,” Hawking, not “with.”
Unlocke on the dock, could tell that some of the candidates were alive because nothing had changed for him! If all the candidates were dead he somehow would be able to leave the island. Instantly?
@Indy: First episode of season6, end of the first “flashsideway” Jack looks out through the window of the airplane and the camera goes down until underwater we see the sunk Island.
@Yann: Thanks. Wow, that’s very telling to me. Very. As in…that’s what we’re going to see happen…Jack sink the island, aka sink the cork of evil into the bottle….for better or for worse? I’m not sure. But to me…that’s clearly a foreshadowing moment.
Was it just me or did the nicorette commercial really ruin the moment of Jin and Sun’s death. I was all content with my depression until that commercial came on. All around, I loved the episode. Seeing Jack break down and cry hit me hard. I think we have our pure evil intentions from the man in black now. I believe we finally see him using Jacob’s methods (persuasion and free will) to get what he wants after all, everyone dead so that there can be no one left to guard the island and he can leave. Next week proves to be my favorite of all seasons. I cannot wait to see the backstory of Jacob and MIB!
* 8 15 * 23 * … Well! 8+15=23 Jack is worth Hurley+Sawer!
The numbers are thinning…
I thought that Richard said he was going to get some explosives to blow up the plane when he, Ben and Miles left the rest. Could Widmore not have known abut the C4 ? Were the guards just guarding the plane unknowing that there was a bomb on board. Unlikey but maybe. Why would Widmore not just blow the plane though ?
And where are Richard, Ben and Miles.
And to be a little contrary I thought the Sun trapped and drowning was too Charlie-like. It was a powerful scene made more so by Jins committment to stay but still too much like Charlies final scene for me.
Nice touch that the scene after Jins death we saw him in the flashsideways.
Despite of whatever everyone is saying, I don’t think that it’s a fact that the bomb wouldn’t explode if Sawyer hadn’t manipulate it (to stop it). In “The substitute” the blonde kid (probably young Jacob) told UnLocke “You know the rules, you can’t kill him”, which means that he can actually kill the candidates, but he would be breaking the rules by doing it, otherwise that warning wouldn’t make any sense.
Anyway, I won’t blame Sawyer for what he did, I wouldn’t trust Jack about that either, and especially after what happened in The Incident.
What I really find hard to understand is their (all the losties) behavior when they knew that the bomb was going to explode, instead of moving the bomb, why didn’t they lock the room with the bomb inside and run to escape!!! That’s what I would do in their situation.
@Carol – Speaking of Rose and Bernard – I love how they seem to play the role of sages or old wise man/woman in the narrative. And I agree they seem to have no major need for redemption.
But let’s not forget about Vincent. He’s probably the purest of souls in the series. I’m hoping to see him with R and B in sideways with all the love and chew toys he can handle:)
I keep thinking about the explosives on the Ajira plane, how did MIB know to take the watch and find the explosives… I don’t really think Widmore is in cahoots with MIB, and I don’t believe it was Richard and co. that placed the explosives there… they would not have waited to blow it up.
Could whatever happened happened over and over again. In other words, MIB knows that the explosives are on the plane because they have already been on the plane in past iterations of the story. That this is not the first time MIB is executing this plan – that every time he goes to the plane he finds explosives, so this time he takes the watch knowing what and where he will find it. He switches plans and says they should go to the Sub. because he knows Swayer will agree (Swayer tells us in earlier seasons that the best cons are laced with the truth as much as possible – and sawyer wanted to leave with the Sub).
I read somewhere, not sure if it was here or elsewhere, that it was MIB that shot Kate – because it was a sure bet that Jack would take her to the Sub. I agree.
The scene on the beach after the explosion of the sub was pure heart wrenching gold. Hurley and Kate loosing it, and Jack getting up and going to the edge of the water … because old Jack would have dived in to try against all hope to go back and try to rescue Sun and Jin … but he finally learns to let go. Beautiful storytelling.
A few quick thoughts:
1. This episode was full of callbacks. Some Jack quotes: “I can fix you”,”Whatever happened happened”,”I wish you believed me”,”I’m with him”,”Trust me”.
2. Jack has now run into five fellow 815 passengers in the alt-timeline: Des, Charlie, Locke, Claire and Bernard. More importantly, he’s realizing the connections are important.
3. A couple nice moments from the writers for the anti-Kate crowd: when Sun tells Jin that their daughter is with her mother, that was in direct contrast of what Kate failed to tell Claire. Also, someone finally shot Kate!
4. Another Apollo Bar for Jack.
5. I was wrong about Frank. I swore his only purpose on the show was to fly the Agira plane off the island in the finale. Nice mis-direct from the writers.
6. I predicted a short-lived reunion for Sun & Jin. Didn’t think they’d both die, though.
7. The rules regarding the candidates are very vague. MIB can’t kill them, and they can’t kill themselves. But didn’t Jin and Sayid sort of kill themselves last night?
8. If MIB’s goal was simple to kill the candidates, then his plan with the bomb was far fetched. Perhaps his goal was to remove them from the playing field, either by death or just letting them leave the island.
9. Kate’s status as a candidate is unclear. We’re lead to believe that she WAS a candidate, but somehow lost that status. How? Why? Presumably, it was either something she did, or something that happened to her. I can’t think of anything she did (ie murder) that was any worse than we’ve seen from Sawyer and Sayid, for example.
Similarly, the names Straume (Miles), Linus (Ben) and Littleton (Claire) were also crossed off, yet those characters are still alive.
The simplest explanation is that the names in the cave & lighthouse refer to some other persons, a relative perhaps. Just not our main characters. Therefore, Kate Austen was never a candidate. Or something like that.
10. Finally, and I’ve said this many times before, the alt-timeline is the happily ever after, or the escape clause, that allows two simultaneous endings: defeating evil on the island AND undoing all of the island’s terrible effects on the lives of so many.
Think about how many lives, loves and dreams have been lost because of the island. That will all be undone in the finale, while still giving us a final showdown between good and evil on the island.
The entire purpose of the time traveling back to the 70s (and presumably the Incident) was the writers’ way of providing this escape valve.
@Brian in San Jose To your question about who will fly the plane off the island now that Lapidus is gone…I know this is quite a stretch, but who else do we know can fly a plane? Locke from the sideways world can…not sure how that would actually work, but interesting that they brought that up. Just something to keep in mind.
I have to agree with those who said that Bernard was somehow “in the know”. His whole demeanor suggested that he was just waiting for Jack to start putting the pieces together.
Still confused about MIB and water. Clearly his little dip had no effect on him.
Also agree that Sun and Jin’s final moments would have been a little more realistic in Korean, but that scene still packed a wallop. And as many have mentioned, seeing the other Losties break down was almost too much.
I’m sure this has been said….but last we saw Richard, Ben & Miles, they were going to Othersville for more explosives to blow up the plane. Is it possible that they planted the C4? I keep waiting for them to resurface.
So what does everyone think will destroy MIB? Or can he be destroyed at all, or would someone like Claire have to take his place?
I believe Jack will sacrifice himself to either become the new Jacob or to possibly allow Jacob to use his body. Then the Good/Evil balance will be restored. Just not sure about MIB’s future. Although Ben would make a great replacement. And what is Desmond’s role?
I am still hoping there’s another loophole and we get to keep our FS world, where, even though not everyone is happy yet, they are still living…
@ Rusty : although I agree with many of your points, I disagree with your last one.
The purpose of the time traveling back was two-fold :
1) to give us some answers with regards to the Dharma Initiative, and their interactions with the hositles. Setting up Widmore and Eloise’s backstories.
2) This is perhaps the most important thing = was to show us the setting up of Richard and Locke for the loophole.
From the first moment that Locke gets shot and Richard gives him the compass and tells him he will have to die to bring back the Losties to the Island; to the closing of that loop where we (the audience) understand that it was MIB that tells Richard to tell Locke he will have to die and give him the compass.
This told us why Locke was look upon as special by the others and in particular by Richard, although he did not understand it completely – he had his doubts, but time traveling Locke tells him he will become their leader, because jacob said so, and he tells Richard to follow up by visiting him etc…. the con was on for a very long time.
What is left for us to understand is the role that Ben played – was he also played by MIB from the start. We know he was played during the final hours to kill Jacob but was there more to it?
I’m a new poster, but avid reader. Thanks for the food for thought all of you give.
Here’s my question, we have seen many ways to contain MIB, but how can he be defeated? Do we know of any way of truly putting an end to him and the struggle to contain his “evil?”
Dogan sent Sayid to kill him, but it seemed a little lame at the time.
Any thoughts? Is there something I’ve missed?
@Coolpeace: mib says that “only two guards and no pillons” gave him a clue right away… I think he knew right there that the plane had explosive (and that’s why he searched for them) and that is why he took the watch because he had an idea on how to kill the Candidates by making them take a bomb into the sub… But it makes you wonder what was his original plan… Have Claire kill them all once in the plane?
@LReene
What did the message from Sayid mean? I think it is pretty clear – Jack is the one, the candidate that will be chosen – the next Jacob. Lockness Monster is the new MIB, eternally stuck on the island, and Desmond will be the new Richard (I don’t know how Richard is leaving us, considering he is never supposed to diet – but I just feel it).
We are left to wonder what will happen with the rest of the characters – and that is what the next episodes will bring us – but…at this point – I’ve got a pretty good end shot in mind – and the season has been following in tune with my predictions….just so sad that it is all coming to an end….
Between Lost and 24 both going off the air – I don’t know what I am going to do….
To continue my thought about Ben and his role in the loophole to set up Locke and Richard… Now that I think about it, it must have been the “Help me” moment in the cabin when Locke heard what Ben thought was Jacob. We know now that the cabin was no longer used by Jacob and so we must infer the MIB was the one to say “help me”. This pissed off Ben and started to whole ball rolling, where he started to believe that Jacob was not respecting him after all he did for him … his feelings of inadequacies as articulated just before Ben killed Jacob … “what about me…”
There are still some questions about this :
If Richard knew that Jacob was at the foot of the statue – why did Ben think that the cabin was where Jacob was? Who told him that? Or was he in on the Locke manipulations from that time but was caught off guard when Locke heard the words “Help me”?
I hope the writers clear that up …
@Rusty: I think the Rules are about how you CHOOSE to die… Jacob let himself be killed by Ben, Pace (Charlie) let himself drown to protect the Island, Sayid choose to be blown, Jin choose to die with Sun (maybe HE was the candidate)… Locke choose to hang himself.
On the otherside we have:
Jack pulled the trigger on Locke but he didn’t wanted to die.
Widmore doesn’t want to die when Ben comes to see him (tho he has “nightmare” since leaving the Island… probably due to the DHARMA “ghosts”)
Jack knew that the dynamite would not explode even if he ignated it so he didn’t choose to die.
So if this theory is right mib can’t be killed (knife, bullet…) but if he took the plane while knowing it could explode it would have been a “death choice” so he couldn’t… the only to kill mib will be to prove him wrong and then for him to accept his “end”.
@ Yann : I see your point, but why did Widmore put the explosives on the plane – did he think that MIB would go on the plane by himself and fly away. Widmore tells Swayer ant the others that he is locking them up for their own good. Clearly, he was not going to have them go to the plane and get blown up.
I’m only at post 100-something…
Could it be that MiL set the C-4 trap in the plane, for the sole purpose of making it look like he saves the Losties from the C-4 on the plane? Only to then use that same C-4 in the sub?
The scene w/ Jack & Claire and the music box reminded me of the movie “Box of Moonlight.” Did anyone see that movie? John Torturro, who is rich and travels for work, befriends an ecclectic loner, who “traps” Torturro. I thought Jack & Claire were going to find something in the box that was going to make everything make sense to them, like the car keys Torturro finds in his box.
My working theory is that Jack will take Jacob’s place and that Sawyer will take MIB’s place. Sawyer has continued to insist he wants off the island, and Jack wants to stay. Reminds me of Jacob and MIB. Is this nuts?
@Coolpeace: the Cabin was surrounded by “ash”… Dogan was the “ash” responsable so I guess the previous Temple leader was the one who told Ben about the Cabin.
Richard was suppose to “recruit” in the name of Jacob and he knew appart from that Jacob would not interfere (it is all about Choices) so he had no reason to tell any Leader what they “can’t do”. But when John asked to see Jacob he saw no reason to not bring him there…
Hey, don’t count Frank out. A rule of thumb in movies and TV Shows is that if you don’t see the body, they’re probably not dead. We saw Sun and Jin’s lifeless bodies, Sayid got blowed-up, but we didn‘t see a dead floating Frank.
I nervously enjoyed the episode, I had a feeling the stuff was going to hit the fan. It hurt watching our friends perish.
The reveal that Flocke is the bad guy wasn’t that shocking. He bad mouthed our beloved “real Locke†at least twice this season, he slapped up Claire, and wantonly slaughtered people who were “confused.†Good guys in TV shows don’t act that way.
Looking ahead, I imagine flash sideways Sawyer will find the vegetative Anthony Cooper and have to decide if he can let it go and move on.
I still want to know what secret was Locke going to tell Walt over the backgammon game in the Pilot.
@Coolpeace: A safety net if he succeded to kill all the Candidate?
Because, now, even if he kills them all, how he is going to leave the Island?
@KK: We clearly see miL searching what the wire would lead to…
@Leon G: If Widmore is a good guy we have seen him commit mass murder… Or Jack killed his own father… or Sawyer killed an innocent cook… or Kate killed her father… or Hurley killed 8people in the “balcony incident”. And I am not talking about the Others who got killed!
One funny thing I noticed: Jack tells Hurley to go get the first aid kit. Hurley comes back and says he can’t find it. One of the next scenes is Lapidas in the cockpit (whatever it’s called in a sub!), and the first aid kit right behind him!
Hi everybody. Before I start reading and commenting your thought… I’m cring like a baby! I have just finished watching the episode and it’s very sad. Neither Jin nor Sun are on my favourite characters’ list but I understand know why their meeting was cold, because their goodbye has been heartbreaking.
Poor Sayid and Lapidus, but we don’t know if this one is really dead. I love the scenes between Jack and John.
Widmore doesn’t strike me as good, he will kill anybody who isn’t a candidate. I think he pretends to be helping but he is out for himself, just not sure of the end game.
It would be interesting if it all came back to Widmore vs. Ben. Ben takes Jacob’s place (Ben was the last real leader) and Widmore takes MIB’s place.
Maybe MIB can be neutralized but someone will need to take his place.
Amaia- I hope you had kleenex handy during the episode. I spent the last 10 minutes of the episode crying.
We’ve seen a lot of people die on this show and the quick deaths by explosion or guns are much easier to take than the slow deaths like Boone and Charlie and Sun and Jin.
@KK you may be onto something – MiL couldn’ve had one of his people plant the bomb (explaining him getting the watch and following the Wire) after Sawyer recon’d. His “saving” them gained their trust back.
This may have been posted earlier, so sorry if I missed it. This is my theory. Flocke does not need the candidates to leave the island, he just needs to get rid of all the candidates, so that the island will lose it’s power to hold him there, and then he can leave. I think he may end up successfully killing all the candidates, but baby Kwon and Aaron are still alive, and somehow, they will save the island???
The blonde boy running in the woods, will be instrumental in insuring the safety of the island, not Whidmore or Ben.
One thing that will kill me in the end I am sure is the littany of unanswered small questions and loose ends – a fact that I will have to accept..
But what of the time-skipping island and the frozen donkey wheel. It seemed to me the biggest, most important, ageless instrument on the entire show. For a while I thought ‘that’ was the central key to the show.
Will we ever get to know about its builders and its prupose?
Like the One Ring, it has passed out of all knowledge. Some things that should not have been forgotten – were lost.
LIFE * WATER * TRUTH
PURE LOVE
PURE EVIL
Alternate-universe knows/nose bleeds into the other/one-Another
Hi Y’all ~ It is lovely melding into your symphony of voices… so many of my thoughts already expressed in your posts above
The evolving and purity of Jin and Sun’s love (compounded by Hurley’s and Kates’s and Jack’s love for them) was SO MOVING… I cried buckets too!
All the Jack/Locke/Flocke scenes were stellar ~ am loving the cross-overs… absolutely Bernard one step ahead of Jack who is now starting to “conncect the dots” & feeling his purpose in both timelines
This show really makes us look at EVIL (and conversely goodness), what defines it, what curbs it…
On a gut level:
I hate MIB, but I don’t yet like/love Jacob, Widmore, or Ben ~ I am so far (neutral) curious about Eloise and Daniel
Desmond seems awesome
I care about all our Losties and of course am rooting for them, including Locke
Hurley seems particularly awesome
@ Jesse ~ Great “Island questions” (way) above
I am on holiday tomorrow until the 16th ~ hope I can catch next week’s fabulous episode while away ~ will join up again with y’all on the 18th!!!
Love and Light
Cheryl in Delta
@Coolpeace.
You may very well be right about Locke, Richard and Ben, and the purpose of the time traveling, as part of a long con by MIB. That may be exactly what the writers intend.
However, I’m not sold on it simply because that long con counts on so many variables coming together perfectly. We’re supposed to believe that MIB knew all of this would happen:
1. That Ben turns the donkey wheel, causing the island to skip through time;
2. Who would leave the island (Oceanic 6), and just as importantly who would stay behind;
3. What years the time travelers would visit, and what they would do (ie bury the bomb);
4. That Locke could be persuaded to turn the donkey wheel back;
5. That Ben would kill Locke off island, and then bring back his dead body;
6. That the Oceanic 6 would return, but some would travel back to 1977;
7. That the Incident would occur, and return the time travelers to the present
All of this so that MIB could take the form of Locke, then goad Ben into stabbing Jacob. Plus, how is it that MIB could appear as Locke in the past at the same time as the time traveling Locke? And while also appearing as Locke in 2007 with the Agira survivors?
That series of events is so far fetched that my head hurts just thinking about it. Yet, as I said, that may be exactly what the writers have in mind.
A simpler explanation is this:
In 2007, when the Ajira flight landed, MIB found a new toy, a new body he could inhabit – the recently deceased Locke. Then he realizes that Ben has returned to the island, and is ripe for a con job. There must be something special about Ben after all – maybe because he’s the “leader”, maybe because Ben was saved by the Temple water. Whatever this specialness is, it makes Jacob vulnerable to Ben. MIB plays upon Ben’s insecurities, and tricks him into killing Jacob. That’s the simplified version of MIB’s Loophole.
@ Rusty ~ Great summary
Can’t figure out how far back MIB has been planning, but we do know that Locke has been set up for a long long time… I thought initially as Jacob’s replacement, and perhaps still to be
Ok, while I am still trying to process this episode, I am going to be completely honest. I got a little excited when Kate got shot–hoping we would finally be rid of a character that I have found irritating (to say the least) since season 2. There, I said it. Jack has been much more likeable this season, but Kate hit her post-season 1 high note in the episode where she left Aaron. I have to say that when I first heard about the alt I was sure I was not going to like it; however, I have found it enjoyable (for the most part, see above!).
I do have a small theory. In Desmond’s trip through the MRI, we see several flashes of scenes we recognized. The last image
http://getlostpodcast.iimmgg.com/image/be07e0d24119665990e728193386fa8f
I did not recognize. I’ve pored over the Desmond stuff as he is my favorite character. What if not only the alt world is wrong, but also the island world? How many times in previous episodes has John Locke said “This wasn’t supposed to happen” or “you’re not supposed to do this”? What if Des is so zenned out because he knows the real outcome–the correct timeline if you will–is actually a third world/timeline? Did anyone else recognize the scene in the screenshot? I don’t think it is from the boat reunion because it was dark and Des was wearing the old blue shirt and looking rough; here it is daytime and they are both wearing black and Des does not look like he has been through the ringer.
As I said, just a small hypothesis!
Danie in Cartersville, GA
I wonder if anyone saw who shot Kate, I’m wondering if it was Flocke – he would have thought he could shoot her (not a candidate), and that would be one way of getting Jack onto the sub with the backpack to care for her as she left. Jack wouldn’t have got in it otherwise.
I agree with whoever posted that Widmore could well be working with MIB, his tactics are so similar, and putting everyone in a cage made it easier for them to be ‘rescued’. Widmore may have put the explosives there for MIB to find (pre-arranged) and teh gurads were only there in case the Losties found it first. I kept thinking where is Widmore when the power to the fence went out – it was Hydra island, but he wasn’t overseeing plane nor sub??
@Rusty and Coolpeace – I thought the long con with Smokey started with Sawyer and the whole “cave”. I think of MIB inhabiting Locke as a con with Locke, and the second long con is with Sawyer. He knew Sawyer would turn on him and counted on it.
I just watched the episode again (cried again, and just when I started to get a bit better saw Hurley’s lone tear on his cheeck and that started me again). Things I noticed – I was wrong about Lapidus I couldn’t see his body so he may still be alive. (really hope so) and I am now really convinced that Bernard remembers and is trying to help nudge Jack along. Like on the island, Rose and Bernard are keeping to themselves and staying out of it personally, but are willing to help them with what they need to do.
@Lorne- Great thoughts about Richard and Jin.
@Noah- Yeah, I agree. I liked Charlie, but Sun & Jin’s death have been bigger than Charlie’s. And they’re not two characters I have care about a lot. But it’s been very sad.
@Bonita in Atlanta- Yes, I see Jack as the new Lock both in the Island and in the sideways. Careless is the word, I knew before him he had the explosives in his backpack.
@John Fischer- In y opinion that was Sayid’s redemption act. He was a zombie only because he couldn’t feel anything but he could think and they were his friends, so he did a sacrifice for them surely because he understood he was never going to be the same again and because he knew the MIB was not going to bring Nadia back to him.
@Jesse- I care about Frank, they don’t a lot because they haven’t been with him for a long time.
@Carol from Boston- I hadn’t a Kleenex with me but after the ending I went to the toilet to take some paper. I didn’t expect to cry here but in the finale. And I even wrote my thoughts on my blog and I could feel my eyes full of tears. Heartbreaking, this is the word.
Bye the way, some more thoungs:
-Is Widmore really telling the truth? Does he want to help the losties? I don’t think he is but I really thought the MIB was not as bad as he seemed.
-Is Smokey trying to kill all the candidates except Jack because he knows he’s the substitute?
-Will Richard, Ben and Miles appear before the finale?
– I notices the MIB have problems trying to get out the water, maybe instead of the electronic fences as I thought, he can be killed in the water.
And, my wish: Our beloved characters will leave happily ever after in the sideways.
One thing that bothered me immediately about “the bomb” is that it seems that having it go off was all contingent on Sawyer or someone trying to disarm it. Had they done nothing it would not have exploded. That being said, how did MIB know that someone would pull it out of the knapsack before the counter reached 0? If the counter had reached 0, it would not have exploded. When Jack removed it from his knapsack there were only 4 minutes left on the timer. He only went into the knapsack when Hurley couldn’t find the first aid kit. How in heck would MIB have known that these exact sequences of events were going to happen?
I have to disagree that unlock is the bad guy. I believe it is Jacob. If the MIB can be a smoke monster, why can’t Jacob also be a smoke monster, and the actual one who has done most of the killings? We just assume it was the MIB who killed the sailors on Richards ship. Why couldn’t it have been Jacob? Because he says he is the good one? Remember, it is Jacobs that has brought people to island over the centuries to ultimately die, not the MIB.
Yes, Jin and Sun died on the island, but they didn’t die in the flash-sideways. Jin walks past Jack and Flocke into Sun’s hospital room at the end of the show. I believe they all have to die on the island for all of them to have their true (better) sideways life–the life they would have had if Jacob had not interfered in their lives. Unlock is not trying to leave the island, that has just been part of his story to get the candidates to follow his plan and free them from the evils of Jacob.
@john – good point re: the bomb, unless the trigger was opening the bag. After watching the plane scene again, it doesn’t show the explosives, just the wiring. Smokey might have been carrying the explosives in his bag for a while now. He could have pulled something else out of the plane.
My first thought when MIB gave Jack the bag, was it contained something that would kill Jack if he stayed on the island.
RE: sideways world, – how much more time has taken place? Locke looked pretty healthy for someone who just had major surgery and was in a car accident.
When will Ethan show up to freak out Sun?