WRITERS: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Jim Galasso[SPOILERS] This was a strong episode of the season (one that felt like it's catapulted us into the final straight), but with caveats attached. There are now just four episodes left (although the two-part finale has been extended by half an hour) and there's still such a lot to explain. I don't think we'll ever get answers to everything, particularly questions raised in the show's formative years (like why the Others were so interested in stealing children), which is a shame, but I might be wrong. Maybe there's a unifying theory that will cover most of Lost's loose ends soon? Or a tie-in book for Christmas.
DIRECTOR: Jack Bender
GUEST CAST: Alan Dale, Katey Sagal, Kevin Tighe, Sam Anderson & Fred Koehler
X-Timeline '04: Jack & Locke
It turned out that alt-Locke became a paraplegic after crashing a light-aircraft he was piloting; an accident that put his passenger father Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe) in a state of permanent catatonia. Locke's own disability is the cross he bears as penance for the accident he blames himself for. There was an especially powerful moment when Jack saw Locke's dad at a care home, because (given the fact Cooper was one of Lost's more hateable villains) feeling intense sympathy for his character was an effective surprise. Anthony's glassy, zombified expression made for a genuinely haunting visual sting.
O'Quinn and Fox were also fantastic in a scene where Jack tried to convince Locke to let go of his guilt and improve his own quality of life. I'd go as far as to say this scene was more resonant than the overt attempts to stir emotions in the present-day storyline, but more on that later. Plus, there was a cute meeting with Bernard (Sam Anderson) as Locke's dentist, and Jack grew closer to his half-sister Claire (Emilie de Ravin) over a music-box their dead father left her in his Will. Note another "reflection shot" of the pair in the box's inside mirror, too.
The Island '07: Jack, Locke, etc.
Then, having spent so long being reminded that Widmore's (Alan Dale) team have erected a sonic fence to keep Locke/Smokey at bay, it turns out you can turn their fence off from the outside? What? And finally, there's been so much focus on the Ajira airplane as a means for Locke to escape the Island with the candidates, but within minutes it became clear that Widmore's rigged the plane with explosives anyway, meaning that's a dead-end. I hope someone gets word to Richard's splinter group, who were last seen heading to the Barracks to get explosives to do something that's now irrelevant! And doesn't that also make Jacob's insistence the group follow Richard's leader look very misplaced?
The Submarine '07: Jack, Locke, etc.
However, there was a cruel twist in the tale, with Jack discovering Locke had planted a bomb in his rucksack that's timed to detonate in three minutes. Still, Jack was sure that "rules" prevent Locke from killing "candidates" by his own hand, so they're only in danger if they try to disarm the harmless bomb themselves and thus activate it for real. Unfortunately, Sawyer wasn't convinced by Jack's theory and his attempt to disarm the bomb instead hastened the countdown -- forcing Sayid to commit suicide by taking the explosive to a different part of the sub, blowing a hole in the vessel's hull. As the sub sank, Hurley (Jorge Garcia) was forced to leave with the gunshot Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Jack was likewise committed to helping an unconscious Sawyer escape to the surface, meaning everyone was forced to leave Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) as he struggled to help free Sun (Yunjin Kim) alone, who had become pinned to a bulkhead.
Given my recent ambivalence for the Kwon's, the dual death scene for Jin and Sun worked surprisingly well -- although it irritated me that neither of them thought about the fact they're orphaning their daughter. And, unfortunately, all the deaths right now don't carry a true sense of finality because Sayid, Jin and Sun are all still alive in the tangent universe. So, maybe they could come back? In the case of Sayid, will we ever get an explanation for his resurrection and why it resulted in him losing all emotions? Or has that entire storyline died with him?
In Summation
Clearly, Jack's "the candidate" destined to replace Jacob, as even Sayid entrusted him with information about where Desmond's being kept (as the Scotsman's the key to uniting the two realities, right?) I just wonder if the Island-characters will ever come to realize this alternative timeline exists, as so far nobody's aware of it. I also wonder if alt-Desmond will contact alt-Jack and explain things to him soon, if only so we can be sure Desmond actually grasps what's happened. That's still not clear. He just knows that everyone on his flight from Sydney have lived another life, right? Does Desmond have a way to actually bring that reality back into existence?
Are the characters in the alt-universe with no living equivalents in the primary-universe doomed to vanish from existence entirely, or will they return to life? What was Desmond's plan with running over Locke, exactly? Did he know that would get him interacting with Jack at the hospital? Sounds like a stretch to me. Locke hasn't demonstrated any signs of having glimpses the original reality post-op, a la Hurley, Charlie and Libby.
Overall, despite some niggles with how the storyline's often bent into shape with a hammer, "The Candidate" had the emotional clout to prove itself a worthy and thrilling hour. There were a lot of deaths, the two that mattered (Jin and Sun) worked very well, and we were finally given clarity about Locke's motivations. The gloves are off, it seems. How will Locke possibly get the candidates to kill themselves, now they're aware that's what he needs to escape?
Questions, Questions, Questions!
- Where did Widmore get his "list" from? Does it exactly match Jacob's list of candidates? Is he on the side of the candidates?
- Is Lapidus dead? I take it he went down with the sub and drowned, meaning he's one of a few characters never to have been given a proper back-story flashback (along with Libby and Ilana.)
