There’s no other way to put it; this week’s dose of Lost — ‘The Candidate’ – was harsh. In many ways, the episode was a dire warning, preparing us for the final month of Lost ever, as we had to watch the first batch of major characters get especially brutal sendoffs, one after another. The end is indeed nigh for Lost – and it’s starting to feel very real. But luckily, I don’t have to go through the five stages of nerd grief by myself, as Pop Culture Zoo’s main man, Joe Dilworth, has joined me in an attempt to lift my sunken submarine of a heart.
Ryan: Well — some stuff sure happened in that episode, huh?
Joe: Ok, now that was just a roller coaster of an episode. Also, for me at least, it’s the first episode that acted like it was a final season episode, if that makes any sense. So far, this year has felt like just another season, what with people switching alliances every other week and new mysterious cropping up.
But ‘The Candidate’ really propelled everything irrevocably forward and the show won’t be the same from here until the end. Finally, many things of significance happened and it feels like we are truly heading towards some kind of ending. Most significantly we get the on Island deaths of three main characters. (Four, if Frank didn’t wake up.)
What did you think of the additions to the body count?
Ryan: It was definitely surreal to see the major characters get taken out rapid-fire — Sayid, Frank, Sun and Jin — all in the span of what felt like seconds. But, I have to admit, for the most part, that the deaths honestly didn’t have much of an emotional impact on me. I felt a bit like Zombie Sayid with his heart of darkness, as most of the submarine-carnage unfolded.
The part that did get to me, however, was the way the Jin-Sun scene ended — with the shot of their drowned hands drifting apart. Sure, they died together, but that scene was salty metaphor on a deep wound, suggesting that maybe the two ill-fated lovers just weren’t meant to be together in the end, even after fighting time and space to reunite over the last two seasons.
Joe: Oddly, I’m more upset about Lapidus buying the farm than I am about Sayid, Sun, and Jin. Frank was my man, the untouchable rogue who didn’t believe or care about anything other than being a decent man and doing the right thing. Sun and Jin finally being together, but ultimately dying together was certainly the most emotional moment of the season (perhaps the entire show), but Frank Lapidus going out by way of flying bulkhead – that one really hurt.
Ryan: I do believe that will be the last we see of Lapidus on the Lost – and it does hurt — but I also think the door has been blown open (literally!) for the coolest spin-off since Booker, where a ghost version of Frank somehow fixes up the sub and goes on a magic mystery tour full of sea creatures, chest-hair and disgruntled one-liners. Hold onto your periscopes, it’s ‘The Aquatic Life with Frank Lapidus’ — coming this fall from ABC. (Please!)
Joe: I would absolutely watch that show! So, do you think if Sawyer had trusted Jack and left the bomb alone that nothing would have happened? Was it all just a ruse to get them to kill each other? I’m not sure I entirely buy that. It almost seemed to be like Schrödinger’s bomb, that there would have been no bomb counting down until Jack opened his backpack. Was it all just a punishment for Jack not going along with Smokey’s plan?
Ryan: I think that there was definitely a Catch-22. If Jack wouldn’t have figured out Smokey’s plan and kept the bomb in his backpack, I think it wouldn’t have gone off. But you can’t pull out a massive explosive and not expect someone to monkey around with it. The second Jack opened the backpack, the fates were somewhat cast. Way to go, Jack!
And backing up a sec — what’s sort of bugging me with Smokey plan is, why didn’t he blow everyone up on the plane? If he needed them in a confined space with explosives – it was already in place. The whole ‘let’s-go-to-the-sub’ thing seemed like misdirection for the viewers more than it did for the castaways. With his powers of manipulation, I’m sure Smokey could have figured out a way to get everyone aboard. Also, how did Ben, Miles, and Richard not get to the plane before them? Or are we supposed to assume that they’ve already been there – and that they’re also possibly taken hostage by Widmore?
Joe: Another thing that struck me as interesting is the way that Widmore seems very willing to sacrifice his people. I believe Smokey when he claimed that the guards at the plane were just there for show and fully expendable, but I think that also applies to the red shirts, I mean the guards at the cages. Obviously, there would be no need for the sham at the plane if Widmore was sure he could keep the group locked up in the cages. Is Widmore truly there to stop Smokey from leaving, or is he more interested in somehow taking control of the Island himself?
Ryan: Actually, the way a couple of things unfolded in this episode made me think Widmore and Smokey might be working together — or at least might have common goals. And it was weird that the gunfire from Widmore’s men at the sub didn’t start until UnLocke got pushed into the water.
Joe: Switching over to the LA X Universe we finally find out a new reason for Locke being in a wheelchair. Once again it involves John’s father, Anthony Cooper, but the shoe is almost on the other non-functioning foot, so to speak, in that Locke is responsible for his dad becoming more or less a vegetable. It was even more interesting that Anthony and John seemed to have a great father-son relationship previous to that. And once again we get puzzled near recognition between characters. Also, was it me or did the Bernard in this universe seem to know much more than he was letting on?
Ryan: I thought Bernard was being cryptic in a typical Lost kind of way. I really did think it was just because he didn’t want to tell Jack about what happened to Locke and his dad – the doctor confidentiality thing, as he said — but I’ve read a couple other theories out there, with people thinking that Bernard is one of the ‘Island-enlightened.’ I did find it interesting that both Rose and Bernard have separately helped out LA X Locke, though – with Rose giving him some tough-love and hooking him up with a new job earlier this season.
Joe: Next week we either get a bunch of answers about The Island or a boatload of new mysteries as none of the regular characters appear. Since we’re having this talk, any last theories before we head into the homestretch?
Ryan: Huh. I didn’t know that the regular cast had next week off. So, I’m guessing from the previews that we’re getting a strictly Jacob and Smokey origin story? That would be really cool, actually, and, I don’t know if this counts as a theory, but I’ll throw something out there that I’d like to see from their origin: Jacob and Smokey have been built up to be these kind of immortal god-like beings – well, what if they actually come from the future? I don’t actually like the odds of this happening, but after last years’ finale — seeing blue-eyed, blond Jacob – I really started to think that he might somehow be a grown-up Aaron.
Following that line of thought, what if the Man In Black is actually Jack’s kid from the LA X-verse? There’s a bunch of reasons why this doesn’t really hold –mostly how Smokey hates his mom – but it’d pretty cool if next week’s episode showed a new group of castaways, including Jacob/Aaron, Jack’s son/MiB – and maybe even a grown-up Ji Yeon and Waaaalt landing on The Island 20 years in the future and eventually taking a Frozen Donkey Wheel to the beginning of The Island.
Joe: You might be on to something there and I, too, wondered if that was going to be the big reveal. Ben himself, Michael Emerson, has previously stated that next week’s episode would be set in a time never previously depicted on television. Hyperbole? Possibly. I guess only time will tell, hunh? Yeah, ok, I’ll get my coat and hat and show myself to the door…
Ryan: Be seeing you!
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(Photos courtesy of ABC.com)