Next: “The Candidate” (Episode 6×14)

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.

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454 Responses to Next: “The Candidate” (Episode 6×14)

  1. Coolpeace says:

    @ greenberry and @ Rusty : Re – Richard being used by MIB – also MIB playing BEN ???

    Again I apologize for the length.

    There are definitely some ambiguous situations regarding who was telling him what during his tenure as advisor to Jacob. BUT we definitely know that when Locke was shot by Ethan (in Because you Left) he tells Ethan then that his name is John Locke and that Ben had appointed him leader;

    LOCKE: My name is John Locke. I know this is gonna be hard to understand, but Ben Linus appointed me as your leader.
    ETHAN: That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.

    *** A side note here : This exchange with Ethan and Locke occurred before 2004, the plane crash and our Losties arrival on the Island – not doubt Ethan goes back and tells Ben that someone named John Locke says that he is our leader and you told him that. This bit of information that we now know should make us rethink the events in season 2 in ia whole new light – the events of the hatch when Ben was captured and his “playing” of John Locke. BEN knew all along who this Locke character was and he was afraid of him, and he tested him….until he realized that maybe Locke was special.

    then Locke flashed to 2007 (although we did not know that at that time) and Richard showed up to tell him that he must bring back the Oceanic 6, gave him the compass and told him he would have to die in order to bring them back…. Richard was acting on John Locke’s (as MIB) orders.

    [Richard Alpert emerges from the darkness carrying a torch.]
    LOCKE: Richard?
    RICHARD: Hey, John.
    LOCKE: Richard… what is happening?
    RICHARD: What’s happening is that you’re bleeding to death. Here.
    RICHARD: I need to get the bullet out.
    LOCKE: How did you know there was a bullet in my leg, Richard?
    RICHARD: Because you told me there was, John.
    LOCKE: No, no. No, I didn’t.
    RICHARD: Well… you will.
    LOCKE: It was Ethan who shot me.
    RICHARD: Well… [donning eyeglasses] what comes around, goes around.
    LOCKE: Aah! When am I?
    RICHARD: Well, John, that–that’s all relative.
    ……….
    LOCKE: I don’t understand. How–how did you know that I was here? How did you know where to find me?
    RICHARD: I wish I had time to explain it, John. But you’re gonna be moving on soon, and we need to go over a couple of things before you do.
    …….
    RICHARD: Second thing–no, no, pay attention. Next time we see each other, I’m not gonna recognize you. All right? You give me this. All right?
    LOCKE: What is this?
    RICHARD: It’s a compass.
    LOCKE: What does it do?
    RICHARD: It points north, John. Look, I wish I had time to be more sensitive about this because it’s a lot to swallow, but you need to know it in order to do what you gotta do. So I’m just gonna say it, okay? [Sighs] The only way to save the Island, John, is to get your people back here–the ones who left.
    LOCKE: Jack, Kate… The chopper was headed for the boat. The boat–
    RICHARD: No, they’re fine, John, and they’re already home, so you have to convince them to come back.
    LOCKE: How–how am I supposed to do that?
    RICHARD: You’re gonna have to die, John.

    In the episode Follow the Leader, John arrives to the Others camp in 2007 and sees Richard for the first time since coming back to the Island (as MIB) – he is about to set Richard up with the fateful meeting scene above … giving Locke the compass and telling him he will need to die.

    LOCKE: I brought dinner.
    [Locke sets the boar down in the sand.]
    RICHARD: John?
    LOCKE: Hello, Richard. It’s been a while.
    RICHARD: It’s–it’s been, uh, three years. What happened? What–where–where were you?
    LOCKE: I’ll explain on the way.
    RICHARD: On the way where?
    LOCKE: It’s gonna be night soon. You and I have an errand to run, and we don’t have a lot of time.
    LOCKE: What’s wrong?
    RICHARD: Something different about you.
    LOCKE: I have a purpose now.

    ***Later in the episode :
    RICHARD: I’m ready, John.
    LOCKE: You still have that compass I gave you?
    RICHARD: A little rusty, but she can still find north.
    LOCKE: [Shouting] Ben, I’d appreciate it if you’d join us.
    BEN: [Shouting] What, John, don’t you trust me here with my former people? Afraid I’ll stage a coup?
    LOCKE: I’m not afraid of anything you can do anymore, Ben.
    [Ben nods.]
    BEN: Well, in that case, I’d love to come.

    ***They arrive at the spot overlooking where Locke was shot by Ethan :
    LOCKE: A man’s about to walk out of the jungle. He’s been shot in the leg.
    [Locke pushes a backpack into Richard’s chest. Richard grunts.]
    LOCKE: You’ll need this to get the bullet out.
    RICHARD: Uh, I’m sorry, John. I’m not–
    LOCKE: Now just listen. This is the important part. You’re gonna need to tell him that he has to bring everyone who left back to the Island. And when he asks how to do that… You tell him he’s gonna have to die.
    BEN: Who is that man, John?
    LOCKE: Me.

    ***A scene between Locke as MIB and Ben – while Richard is doing his thing with Locke, waiting got Richard to get back :
    BEN: This must be quite the out-of-body experience.
    LOCKE: Something like that.
    BEN: Your timing was impeccable, John. How did you know when to be here?
    LOCKE: The Island told me. Didn’t it ever tell you things?
    BEN: No, John. And clearly it hasn’t told you where Jacob is, or you wouldn’t need Richard to show you.
    LOCKE: You’ve never seen him.
    BEN: What?
    LOCKE: Jacob. You’ve never seen him, have you?
    [Whooshing thud]

    ***Here to flash occurred and Locke vanishes and Richard goes back to MIB and Ben.

    BEN: What just happened? Where did you go?
    LOCKE: To give Richard his compass back.
    RICHARD: You want the bullet?
    LOCKE: Keep it. Everything go all right?
    RICHARD: Well, you–you seemed pretty convinced, especially when I said you were gonna die. I’m certainly glad that didn’t have to happen.
    LOCKE: Actually, Richard, it did. We better get back to camp.

  2. Michael says:

    MIB says Jacob stole his humanity, which probably means he killed him perhaps by mistake.
    Almost all the main losties have killed someone.
    Sayid in Iraq
    Hurley with the balcony collapse
    Kate with explosion
    Sawyer in Australia
    Jin working for Pak
    Jack perhaps in surgery, we know the woman died in the surgery where his dad was drunk and Jack stepped in. Or for death of Father when Jack ruins his medical career.

    All have been touched by death at their hands and now they are on the island of the dead that is the cork between worlds…..
    Not a coincidence.

    Kate was crossed off in MIB’s cave, not Jacob’s lighthouse. So she is no longer HIS candidate. Odd that HIS list seems the same one that Widmore got somehow. They are working together. Widmore agreed to help if MIB would bring back Daniel and let Widmore control the island.

  3. Amy says:

    I think this was the best/saddest episode of LOST. I’ve never cried during an episode before. I probably would have cried more if my tuff brothers weren’t in the room.
    Syid has really bugged me this whole season cause he just didn’t seem himself. Then at the end of this episode it was like the old syid was back and then died saving his friends. If he had to go out that was the best way.
    Another thing that kind of bugged me. I know Jin didn’t want to leave Sun to drown, but why didn’t Sun tell him to live for their child back home? I think it would be better for the kid to have at least one parent alive than none.
    I do think think Jack was right about the bomb. If Sawyer didn’t touch it nothing would have happened. Since he did it was their doing and not the man in black-therefore they would have lived.

    Thanks Ryan and Jen!

    Amy SLC UT

  4. gene e says:

    We have to go back…

  5. ScottB in DC says:

    @Ryan – Brilliant, I was sure we saw the c-4 in the luggage compartment, but after rewatching, you’re right it was a rectangular box wrapped in cloth. Ben removed a rectangular box wrapped in cloth from the air vent in the episodes we just rewatched, and we never knew what it was.

    @Coolpiece – pointed out that Locke grabbed the watch off the dead guys arm before going into the plane, so he knew he was going to make a time bomb, which means he probably had the c-4 already in his pack like you speculated.

    so…..what was the rectangular box? It sounded like UnLocke disconnected it somehow from something. Was it wired to the plane? Did it need a power source and the plane was convenient – or is it a device that is useful to the airplane. Ben brought it back with him on the flight to help the plane eventually leave the island on the right vector maybe? Whatever it does, I think Smokey knew it was there and that was the purpose for heading to the plane.

    If he used a time bomb on the plane they could just throw it out the door, did he plan to get them all on the plane and kill them some other way?

  6. ScottB in DC says:

    @Coolpeace (sorry for the mispelling above!) and @Ryan got me thinking about the ambush at the sub.

    I’m not sure when UnLocke came up with the plan, but I think the people shooting at the Losties at the sub were actually some of the people from the beach that survived and were still loyal to MIB. They didn’t start shooting until it made sense for the losties to seek shelter in the sub. The only person they wounded was Kate, even though Jack was standing there plain as day shooting back. Seems like their mission was to wait, ambush the losties once they all got on the dock, and then injure Kate so the doc would be forced to go with her. Lock having switched the bomb to Jack’s pack HAD to have already figured out a way to get Jack to get on the sub.

  7. ScottB in DC says:

    @YAE – lot’s of people have been talking about how this lat4est episode felt rushed, and I agree, but on the other hand, it was nice avoiding the long trudging through the jungle scenes, getting all the pieces in place!

    After every flash sideways it’s like an hour or two or three had passed on the island.

    “How long will it take to get the fence up?” “About an hour to get the generator running” then flash sideways, commercial, and we find the fence up and running and then boom Sun and Jin are talking and the power goes out.

    When they trudged from the cages to the plane, they emerged at the runway and they made a point to shot us all the sweat circles on everyone’s shirts, as evidence of a somewhat long and arduous journey.

    They could have put up a title block that read “5 hours later…..” but they know we love a good mystery and putting together the pieces.

    I just today finally understand the 3 year discrepancy everyones talking about between the FSW and Island time……Flight 815 landed the day it was supposed to…..or it crashed and we have Claire who’s been stuck on the island since, and said she’s been on her own for 3 years, the same 3 years that the Oceanic 6 were back home.

    They could have put up a title that read “3 years ago or 2007” – but where’s the fun in that?

  8. Coolpeace says:

    @ Ryan : great observation… I absolutely made that assumption … but you are right … MIB must have had the C4 with him.

    @ ScottB : I didn’t re rewatch but if the rectangular box was the one that Ben took out of the air conditioning unit in the hotel room before getting back on Ajira 316… wow good catch and the possibilities could be very interesting. We had thought that the box contained the gun he used to shoot Desmond at the marina.

  9. BlahBlahBlah says:

    Weakest episode of the series. What was the point of Sayid’s resurrection at the temple if he was just going to kill himself on the sub? Why did he volunteer to die when we know already that Jack cannot be killed, so the bomb only exploded because he took it out of range of Jack. Why was Jack in such a rush to save Sawyer over helping Sun?

  10. Julia says:

    Hey guys,

    This is my very first time blogging about a Lost episode, and what an episode to do it with. I have watched it 3 times since it aired, and each time, I cry harder and harder. An episode has not hit me emotionally like this since the season 3 finale when we lost Charlie….:(:(

    RIP Jin, Sun, and Sayid. You will be missed by this super Lost fan!!!

    As far as Lapidus goes, we don’t know for sure if he is dead or not. I think the writers could have more in store for him before all is said and done.

    It’s hard to belive that there are only 3 new episodes left. I don’t know what I will do from May 23-August, when the entire series comes out on Blu Ray.

    Good night, fellow losties. I look forward to commenting on the final stretch of episodes.

  11. NuckinFuts says:

    @ docjkm- i never said I left team dark, just that it was a “bit uncomfortable” and that I wished I knew more about the rules. That being said, I also love this site/blog/board and don’t want to see any fights. I think it says a lot about the people here that everyone has always encouraged an adult-minded, serious, educational, and healthy debate. I Loved the characters that we lost, but also realize that their pasts were actually very…un-honorable. It is worth noting I guess that the island had changed them all (mowing we didn’t have all the Lapidus info except that he may have been a drunk) and like so many before them who changed, they died. I suspect Jacob isn’t really any better as he brought them all to the island to start with and I have been trying to think of a good reason to stay for 2 days now, but perhaps knowing you’ll stick it out with me I’ll come up with a theory before next week.

  12. NuckinFuts says:

    Another quick thought is that I feel like once you are on the island you are officially in the game. You are not supposed to leave the game board. Jacob is just as likely to let you die as mib — it’s just a matter of how you choose to die and if you choose to change your ways or not and become “good” or “bad”. Let’s not forget about all the “others” that died in service to Jacob. Perhaps he collects their souls just as MIB may collect the SOS if people who die not in service to Jacob. The premise of the island being more like purgatory wod mean that Jacob & MIB are simply wardens who are responsible for giving people choices to make that will decide their final destination…they cannot “kill” them because they are already dead… Their island death is simply the results of their final tribulations…

    Now how Dharma comes into play is that they found this place between worlds or the underworld and were allowed to stay as long as they did not interfere….I guess …gotta sleep…oh and above that should have said knowing instead of mowing…even though he was the lawnmower man.

  13. @ Nuckinfuts…
    the rules…

    if there was a time to know what the rules are…i would say its this next coming episode. fo sho

    “at least i loved her”

  14. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    Lapidus = Mikhail?

    Perhaps he will rise again mirroring Mikhail’s story?

  15. Carol from Boston says:

    @Julia- I know what you mean, I don’t think I will be ever able to watch the episode without crying. Jin and Sun went through so much to find each other again, and only had a couple of hours together.

    I have been thinking about their death and at first I was outraged that they didn’t think of their daughter, if I was Sun I would have pleaded with my husband to leave for our children’s sake. But if I were in Jin’s place, I do not think I could leave my husband to die like that, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. The whole situation was tragic.

    @ScottB – I think you hit on something, instead of taking the C4, I think Locke/MIB sabotaged the plane so it can’t be used in the future or if it is used, it will crash.

  16. Carol from Boston says:

    @Yann and Coolpeace- thanks for all the great MIB and Loophole explanations. The writers of the show must always have to think 10 steps ahead while writing. I can’t imagine having to be Greg Nations who has to keep track of all of this stuff.

    I saw a minute sneak preview of next week and it’s a can’t miss episode, I can’t wait. I don’t have any idea of what the clip is really about but it looks really interesting and it looks to be the episode that clears up a lot of mythology.

    Entertainment Weekly is supposed to have lots of Lost stuff in their issue this week with Lost Characters on the covers. They are having 10 different covers with different characters on each. I wonder which one I’ll get in the mail today. Hoping for Sawyer or Jack.

  17. Some thoughts:

    1) I assume that Locke has his near-death experience when he crash landed his plane with Anthony Cooper. Maybe he has already experienced something?

    2) Kate getting shot? That did not quite fit in. It could have been left out.

    3) It’s so weird how from time to time when Flocke speaks you heard MIB’s voice.

  18. Coolpeace says:

    @ Michael Gilmore : If Kate didn’t get shot then Jack would not have gone into the Sub. Kate was shot to get Jack into the Sub… Jack kept telling MIB that he would stay on the Island … MIB had to change Jack’s mind or force he into the Sub.

    Whoever was shooting was with MIB.

  19. Coolpeace says:

    @ Carol : you’re right about the writers having long term vision of the story … they definitely knew where they were going and coming form.

  20. ENL from Boston says:

    Re: “Catch a Falling Star”…I have to go back and check, but I believe Claire tells the adoptive parents to sing that to Aaron because her father used to sing it to her. In the flash-sideways, Claire not only says, “I never met the man” but neither she nor Jack recognize the song. I’m not sure what this means for Christian really. It appears that he drank himself to death in Australia in both timelines – but there may have been a different course to the same end (like Locke’s paralysis.)

    It’s funny…I love how much the show makes you think and theorize..but this last episode, I was speechless..I just wanted to absorb every minute.

  21. LReene says:

    Whooooo! Hold the phone here, I need something explained 🙂

    @ScottB – You said above; “@Ryan – Brilliant, I was sure we saw the c-4 in the luggage compartment, but after rewatching, you’re right it was a rectangular box wrapped in cloth.” Did you actually see this “rectangular box wrapped in cloth” in this episode? In the overhead? I have re-watched the episode several times, and have even disected the scene of FLocke following the wire to the overhead bin frame by frame, and I just do not see any “rectangular box wrapped in cloth”. In fact not much is shown at all of what he takes out of the overhead except for a blurred image.

    I do remember this box that Ben took out from behind the register in the 5-1&2 episodes, but I sure can’t find it in this one. If it was there, that could be a HUGE reveal. But I just don’t see it.

    PLEASE help – Someone!

  22. Will_In_Leeds says:

    ‘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.’

    We know that Jin can’t have been a Candidate because he killed himself. Assuming he’s dead, of course

  23. Matthew says:

    I just asking the question Mel asked earlier…why isn’t Kate a candidate?

  24. docjkm says:

    Perversity: contrary to the evidence or the direction of the judge on a point of law (old English def.)

    I have rarely encountered beings more perverse than the writers of Lost. This was THE salient characteristic I absorbed in the first two seasons. They are many other praiseworthy things, but I have not forgotten this. They are expectation and genre busters.

    @Nuckinfuts (Knives?) – Could Team Dark have received a greater boost than Lindeloff explaining that they needed to establish that Flocke is unequivocally the evil incarnate they have been suggesting? Why? See paragraph above. I don’t know why you reference a ‘fight’, and ‘adult-minded’. We are all, on this site, committed to The Great Experience of Lost. Fighting amongst ourselves would not be redemptive. Yes, yes, Team Dark has been the hot-seat of season 6, yet my bum blisters remind me of how good this all is. I have not been waving our flag much, but will now. Team Dark will in the end. Knives, your loss of Sayid was felt keenly. I find the more complex and compelling a character is, the less his/her chances. Mr. Eko, Anna Lucia, Sayid… we salute thee.

    Last season I proclaimed John Locke as “God”. Wow, I had no idea the idiomatic exercise would progress here. But whether the visage of John Locke, Esau, or Terry O’Quinn is encountered, one is able to stare into the eyes of greatness and consummate skill. But, the absence recently of his counterpart, the Laurel to his Hardy, I feel is telling. Michael ‘The Ben’ Emerson will burst forth with all the ferocity of being ignored (again). That he now lurks with Ricardus the Confused, and ‘I Could See For” Miles makes his reemergence a force of considerable potential.

    (Jeez, sounds like I’m mc’ing a WWF match)-NO! Much better!!! THE LOST ENDGAME. (sound of ginormous crowd cheering)

    @Yann and Coolpeace- NOWHERE have I found a more cogent and respectful analysis of Esau’s Long Con, ne ‘The Loophole’. Without a handy pocket edition of ‘the rules’, you have gone where others have tried (and returned with only a headache), and carefully dissected convoluted terrain. Your contributions this week should be lauded (and ARE here).

    Ryan and Jenn- Your time, effort, enthusiasm, persistence, and true love for all this has allowed us a forum of the most intelligent discourse I have found concerning ‘this whole Lost thing’. Thanks to you and Y’all Everybody, Lost is much more than it would have been for us all.

  25. gene e says:

    If we are to believe Jack/MIB/the writers/YAE, then Kate was the only viable target on the dock: the only one who could be put in danger of dying. That works in getting Jack on the sub.

    You can’t kill yourself. Ex. Jack (on Black Rocck), Michael (off island).

    You can’t kill a candidate. Jack (walking down the dock with gun a’blazing)

    Was Alex a candidate? Or was there an agreement not to kill children? Why did Ben say what he did WHEN he did?

    And where can I get one of them bullit proof tee shirts that FLocke was wearing?

  26. Embie says:

    FS question – when Claire and Jack were talking about the music box, did Claire say “I bet this is as awkward for you as it is for me. I’d never even met this man.” referring to Christian Shepard? We’ve seen a flashback in which they met, when she was in her black hair mode. So in the FS, whatever changed has to have been long before that. Please, anyone?

  27. Carol from Boston says:

    @Embie – Yup, I thought the same thing and I think that line was deliberate to show us how things have changed. Didn’t Clare in the FS find out that Christian was her dad from the lawyer Ilana? She mentioned that to Jack in the doctor’s office. The flashsideways goes back a lot further than the plane crash, the question is how far back and for what reason? Was it the incident or was it something that will happen on the island in the next few weeks.

    It all comes back to the island sinking. What caused it and when did it happen? Whatever caused the island to sink is what caused the flash sideways not the bomb. Because the flashsideways go way back before the crash. Though the bomb somehow must have caused the time shift back to 2007.

    Everytime I try to figure this out my head hurts from going in circles.

    @Doc – well you still crack me up. 🙂 though I left team dark a while ago, still on Team Sawyer which means get everybody off the island away from the two biggest manipulators in the world Jacob and MIB. Both are bad in my eyes.

    My new crackpot theory (which I am thinking up this second) the flash sideways has always been the real world, and the island world has been the alternate timeline. The island is the gameboard for Jacob and MIB and when their use in the game is over they go back to their real life in the flash sideways. Bernard and Rose stopped playing a long time ago so they know what is going on and are back in their real lives.

  28. Carol from Boston says:

    When I say “their use” I mean the Losties, not MIB and Jacob. The only way to end the game is to get rid of the creators. The island itself is a reality, which is why you have to find it in “time” rather in an exact location. Perhaps they have played the game more than one time with the exact same characters which is why Eloise gets angry when Desmond chooses to do different things in the different realities.

    Okay Lost experts – do you think this is plausible, the Flash Sideways is real and the island is the alternate reality? The people in the flash sideways are starting to remember the alternate reality, a game they already played.

  29. ScottB in DC says:

    @renee – you’re right – I am guessing at what Locke took out of the overhead bin, it’s out of focus and in silhouette, no doubt on purpose. It looked to me like a rectangular box wrapped in cloth, the way Locke handled it reminded me of the way Ben handled it…..as if it contains a liquid on a vile or something fragile. It sounded like whatever it was, UnLocke had to detach it from something to remove it.

    Whatever it is….
    Why was it on the plane?
    Why did MIB want it? It seems like the real purpose of his trip to the plane. By removing it did he sabotage the plane somehow and render it useless?

    Reading these posts and then rewatching, it’s like I’m watching an entirely different episode, there is so much deceit, subtext and symbolism washing over me the first time watching, I think I catch 15% of it!

    Ryan, Jen, YAE – you are rockstars.

  30. ScottB in DC says:

    Aw – Hell……………my head hurts too Carol!

  31. Carol from Boston says:

    The lighthouse wheel is the dice, if it points to a person they have to come to the island. The mirror allows Jacob and MIB to see into the flash sideways.

  32. Embie says:

    @Carol from Boston – thanks for clarification re when FS timeline may have started. I had another thought that maybe Locke in the hospital dream-talking of “push the button. I wish you had believed me” might mean the whole island plane crash thing is a dream that Locke is having. But this seems like a cheap way out so I hope not.

  33. docjkm says:

    @Carol – My deep philosophical and psychological insights… “crack” you UP???
    Ah, well.

    Yes, you have a thread caught in your teeth. The Alt v Island realities are related, but as dream to reality (said they wouldn’t, but we know how THAT goes), or as a shared consciousness deeper than random dreaming and uniting our Losties in an as yet to be revealed fashion.

    You are dead on in noting the ALT-verse begins far before the flight of OC815. I have been under the impression since the very beginning of this season that the ‘island under the sea’ reveal is the biggest of all. Yet, for a variety of reasons cataloged here and elsewhere, we know Jughead was not a direct cause in sinking it.

    NOR do we know that the bomb ’caused’ the ALT-verse. WE became aware of it in a fashion temporal to the ‘explosion’, but it may have been there, running, all along. Outside of sending our ’77 Losties to the present, what DID Jughead do?? Daniel? DANIEL??!! Where did you go? You’re holding out on us, and sending Des to the Stadium for a Pen meetup and a good faint is insufficient! You were getting your consciousness tied around blowing up a big one, and – poof – you’re relegated to off-screen matchmaker!?

    Yes, the ALT-verse far predates the crash of 815. It may be it has been spinning all along, and if so, what caused the reality diversion of our island Losties? We know Desmond slipped up in the hatch, but the poor boy had been there for three years. (etc, etc) So, that reality well predates the crash as well.

    Where is the origin of the divergence? Such minds as we have on this site, such intellects! Your help is thoughtfully and thoroughly appreciated. Me? I think the answer is part of the thread we seek. The Big one.

  34. LReene says:

    @ScottB in DC – Oh thank you, thank you!! I was thinking my eyes had devceived me.

    As for what it actually was that FLocke removed from the overhead, I guess anyone’s guess is as good as another. But I also heard what sounded like it being “detached” from something in order to be removed. Maybe from the wiring. Maybe from something else. Hopefully we will find out before it’s all said and done.

    @Carol from Boston – “The Lighthouse Wheel is the dice”……… you just might be on to something.

  35. Carol from Boston says:

    @Doc, no the comments you meant when you were being funny. Your theories are very good and so are your jokes.

    Now what do you mean by “the big one”? The final battle. Part of me dreads the ending of this show, part of me can’t wait to finally have some answers!!

  36. docjkm says:

    @Carol – – -The ‘Big One’ = the big thread. The one that leads to wholeness, coherence, and the final redemption of lost viewers viewing Lost.

    But hey! Eleven collectible EW Lost covers, and we get Claire BUT NO DESMOND??? Hellwittit! I want my Dharma jumpsuit. And while we’re on cultural tie-ins, am I the ONLY one not knowing that Ben’s Daddy, Roger Linus, is UNCLE RICO (Nap Dyno)???!!!

  37. Carol from Boston says:

    @doc I caught that too. He looks different without his football and van and toupee, lol.

  38. gene e says:

    What I try and do is throw something out here and hope someone will pick it up and run with it. It’s begining to dawn on me that noone knows where to run to, which leaves us running in too many different directions. I think the writing of the show is either genius or disjointed. Or, maybe we are neither geniuses or joined. For example: The collective failure to uncover the “rules” is disheartning at the least. Team Dark? There is no ‘I’ in team. But, there’s a big ‘I’ in the middle of MIB. No one survives the ‘MIB win’ scenario. Except MIB. I with Carol from Boston, Kill Jacob and MIB with a sinking Island.

  39. Carol from Boston says:

    I just got my entertainment weekly, Locke is on my cover. Excellent issue, LOTS of Lost coverage of now, and the beginning of the show, lots of great pictures and articles. I am just starting to read them now. I suggest you all look for it in stores. Needless to say I am keeping this issue.

  40. Embie says:

    @Carol, so is there a doubling cube?

  41. tvscifi says:

    # Carol from Boston Says:
    May 7th, 2010 at 5:59 am

    “Okay Lost experts – do you think this is plausible, the Flash Sideways is real and the island is the alternate reality? The people in the flash sideways are starting to remember the alternate reality, a game they already played.”

    ————

    I’ll do you one better and throw out another crazy theory, what if all the flashbacks we’ve been watching for the first 4 years were also fake?

  42. Embie says:

    @tvscifi – For a long time I have been thinking of Weaveworld by Clive Barker, another epic story involving a hidden world or alt universe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaveworld#Plot_summary Anyone else see this connection? Or is it just more skillful accretion of cultural elements by the writers?

    As for answers, I’m counting on not getting many final answers – it’s more fun to dwell in the mystery. The native American author and teacher Paula Underwood Spencer describes this well as follows:

    ” One of the attitudes taught in my tradition is the Rule of Six. The Rule of Six says that for each apparent phenomenon, devise at least six plausible explanations, every one of which can indeed explain the phenomenon. There are probably sixty, but if you devise six, this will sensitize you to how many there may yet be and prevent you from locking in on the first thing that sounds right as The Truth. . . . ”

    So much fun reading your ideas, YAE!

  43. Carol from Boston says:

    @tvscifi- you are right, that could happen!! Not sure if any of us could handle that.

    @Ebmie – could be, haha.

    I guess the flaw in my theory is if the whole “theme” is supposed to be the power of love as revealed earlier with the Desmond episode. Love has to be what destroys MIB. Not sure how that would happen.

    @gene- yup, you are probably right, as I have said in the past I have a feeling the whole ending is something so surprising none of us thought of it. That is the genius of this show. The writers use the whole “What if” scenerio and they don’t worry about it having to make sense or be rooted in reality. Sometimes I get caught up in the little things, I’ll buy Smokey as Locke but I’ll look at Locke’s hospital room and think, wow, that is too big to be a real hospital room.

  44. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    @ Gene e – I like your post regarding Alex. Which leads me to thinking about THE GAME and THE RULES

    @ Carol I like your Lighthouse Dice idea. “Love Power” could be another variable that affects play. Desmond is special and the Rules don’t apply to him and we are painfully aware there are loopholes.

    Going back to Alex as regards Rule Breaking: When rules are broken there are consequences if not outright penalties. Widmore may be paying the price or have sacrificed up front to be allowed to do so (eg his poor relationship with Penny and/or Daniel’s death)

    The Loopholes may create a whole other set of conditions or rules in motion.

    I wish I could write as lucidly as many of you do but these ideas just pop into my head while I’m reading your posts and sometimes my responses just spill out.

    Final thought on this: much has been made about the changes in light/dark (as in day/night). Some say this has just been the limits of where the story is filmed and tight deadlines. Ok. But what if this just lends support to the Island as the Game board idea and as the final moments of the game are played, the intensity increases and the conventions of time are less important?

  45. Saif from SoCal says:

    Why is Kate not a candidate?

  46. LReene says:

    @YAE – Guess it’s time for me to chime in on the light/dark-day/night discussion.

    Personally, I don’t think the limits of where the story is filmed, the tight deadlines, or anything along those lines have anything to do with it. I have not only been there to see the filming up close and personal, but we have ALL seen the results of carefully laid out filming and scene editing to tell the story they want us to see. So, I just have to believe that the quick shifts from day to night to day again are on purpose (they are trying to tell us something with the shifts). What is the purpose, and what are they trying to tell us? Haven’t figured that one out yet. 🙂 But I think it will be revealed.

  47. gene e says:

    I just took a trip outside “our” box/blog in a quick search on “the rules”. Needless to say the search was unfruitful. To the best of my searching, Ben notes that, “He changed the rules” after Alex gets shot.

    You ain’t got a game when a side can change the rules. I see that result as chaotic… unless two players have agreed to abide (or, are bound) by the whims of a third party . I’ve always thought of Jacob and Esau as brothers with differing personalities. I’ve always thought of them as being watched. Not necessarily judged, but watched. And the only logical overseer would be of a parental nature. Or, the entity that gave rise to their entities.

    I believe, though, that this story is multi-layered and multi-faceted. It depends on how you look at it. It also depends on how deep you look. It depends on who is looking at it. That’s just the start. Then you filter that through your own existence. Relate it to your own experiences. You adopt or adapt.

    Everyone will see the same thing, but there will be myriads of interpretations.

  48. Viktor from LA X says:

    For a guy who allegedly hates technology (and I guess it it safe to say that it’s MiB, not Jacob, who hates technology) MiB has excellent knowledge of it. It took him no time to assemble an explosive device using C4 and a watch he took from a dead guy.

  49. Beth from Houston says:

    A couple thoughts from this episode:

    Hurley, Kate, Jack, and Sawyer were the four of our Losties left on the beach after the sub sank. They were also the four people on the list that Michael brought back to the Others. Do you think there is any correlation there? Did Jacob give Ben a list of people to bring back…only Ben used them for his manipulative purposes (getting Jack to do the surgery)? Did Jacob know all along that these would be his “final four”?

    When the Man In Black fell in the water I think he lost his ability to transform into the smoke monster. That’s why he shot at Widmore’s people with a gun instead of just turning into the smoke monster and killing them.

  50. Julie in KS says:

    Did anyone else think that maybe the music box was a metaphor for Pandora’s box?

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