I had to re-watch “The Candidate” this morning, as I decided not to take any notes last night and just watch it. Well, of course my dorkiness got the best of me and I went back to note-taking on the second viewing. I liked this episode, even though it was heavy on story and extremely light on mythology, if there was any at all. In fact, now that I think about it, there wasn’t even that much story. Sure, some significant events took place, but it was the dialogue that drove the episode. Interestingly, there was no “Previously on LOST,” which surprised me considering there hadn’t been an episode since “The Last Recruit” two weeks ago. I’d have thought they’d fell the need to catch us up, so to speak. Anyway, let’s get into it, starting sideways with…
1. Dr. Feelgood.
A recovering John Locke opens his eyes in a hospital bed to find Dr. Jack Shephard standing over him, who calls his name (“Mr. Locke? Mr. Locke?”) as he finds consciousness. “Welcome back,” says Jack. And, by the way, this was yet another instance of someone “naming” Locke; that is, going out of their way to identify Locke by name, something we’ve seen repeatedly this season. Locke, still groggy, says he knows Jack. Jack reminds him that they were on Oceanic 815 together. Not only will Locke be okay, but Jack tells Locke that he’s a candidate for a new surgical procedure that would not only restore feeling to his legs, but possibly allow him to walk again. “If you give me a shot, Mr. Locke, I think that I could fix you.” Ah, same old Jack, trying to fix everything. Locke refuses the procedure. Just then, Helen enters, kisses Locke, and hugs and kisses Jack for saving Locke, as Jack and Locke share a moment of recognition, happily staring at one another. We then go sideways to…
2. The Bear Cage. Jack wakes up in an outrigger, where he finds Sayid cleaning his gun. (No, that’s not a euphemism.) Sawyer and his crew are being led to the bear cage, where he and Kate were previously held captive. Sawyer pulls the old switcheroo on the “doughboy” from Kate and Allie, only to have Widmore threaten to kill Kate if he doesn’t let him go. He tells Sawyer he has a list of names and Kate Austen isn’t on it. Whether she lives or dies doesn’t matter to Widmore. Sawyer naturally surrenders and they’re all “imprisoned.” Widmore tells Sawyer that he’s doing this for their own good. He checks with his pathetic band of scientists/soldiers and tells them to hurry up and ready the sonic fence, as “He’s coming.” We then return sideways to…
3. Bernard Nadler, DDS. Jack enters the lab of Dr. Bernard Nadler, who is drilling on a set of false teeth. (I’m still trying to figure out the significance, incidentally. I mean, why go out of their way to show us those teeth? Who are they for? Is there a character with prosthetics outside of Pierre Chang?) Jack tells Bernard he’s a doctor at Saint Sebastian (a Christian martyr depicted bound to a tree and shot with arrows), and that he was interested in a patient of Bernard’s from three years ago, John Locke. (By the way, does it seem significant that it was three years ago, again considering that Sawyer, Juliet, et al were on the island for three years, from 1974 to 1977?) Jack mentions that he was on a flight with Locke, and Bernard says he knows, as he and his wife, Rose, sat across the aisle from Jack. Bernard says he can’t reveal to Jack what happened to lock due to doctor-patient confidentiality, but tells Jack there was another man in the accident and writes down the name of Anthony Cooper anyway? Umm, I think that breaks doctor-patient confidentiality, doc! We then return to the island where we find the return of…
4. Smoke.
Sayid tells Jack that they were attacked by mortars, and while the rest of the people they were with (conveniently) scattered, only he, Jack and FLocke have reached Hydra Island. (Well, writers, I suppose that’s an easy way to get rid of all those other meaningless people, huh?) FLocke appears and tells Jack that his “people” have been captured and they need to rescue them. FLocke’s plan is to get them all together, find the plane and leave the island. Jack tells FLocke that he’s staying on the island, to which FLocke says he hopes Jack will change his mind. When Jack asks why he should trust FLocke, FLocke tells him it’s because he could kill Jack right there and now, and he could’ve killed all of his friends, only he hasn’t. Meanwhile, back at the bear cage, Kate tells Sawyer that Widmore was bluffing. Sawyer tells Kate about the cave, and how her name was crossed out. “He doesn’t need you, Kate,” says Sawyer. (Something seemed pretty important about that. I don’t know if I think it means Kate will die, or if she’ll perform some type of selfless act in thinking she has no value. Not sure just yet.) On the other side of the cage, Sun and Jin have an unbelievably contrived conversation about Ji Yeon, and Sun returns Jin’s wedding band. Ho-hum. Just then, the generators go down and we hear the clickety-clack of Smokey, as he rips through and destroys the soldier boys, starting with “doughboy.” Kate reaches for his keys to free them, as Lapidus kicks at the cage door. Just then, Jack appears, grabs the keys and unlocks the cage, telling them (somewhat ridiculously), “I’m with him.” Yeah, that’s right. Jack’s with Smokey. Suck it! Daylight comes and they are trekking through the jungle en route to the plane. Along the way, Jack makes it known to Kate that he’s staying, that he’s “not meant” to go. Just then Sayid appears and tells them that FLocke’s waiting for them. We then flash sideways to…
5. Double Deuce (in His Pants).
(And if you don’t get the Road House reference, pfft! IMDB Anthony Cooper. You’ll get it in a minute.) Jack is in the lobby of Anthony Cooper’s nursing home, trying to talk his way into seeing him. Just then, Helen appears and tries to convince Jack to leave. She knows about Jack’s conversation with Locke, and says that Locke’s not interested in the surgery. She asks Jack why it wasn’t enough just to save Locke’s life. “Because it’s not,” he tells her. Well, that’s apparently good enough for Helen. Jack follows her in to see Cooper, who is now a drooling, wheelchair-bound vegetable. She wipes his chin, and we are left with a rather disturbing image of a once “powerful” figure on this show. We then go sideways to…
6. The Plane.
FLocke marches directly up to the plane where Widmore’s goons fire at him point blank. FLocke snaps the neck of goon 1, then shoots goon 2 and removes his wristwatch. He boards the plane and finds a wire running along the cabin into one of the overhead bins, where he (predictably) finds some not-yet revealed explosives. Jack, Sawyer and their crew approach the plane and find the dead bodies. FLocke exits the cabin and says Widmore knew this would happen. He only stationed two men there knowing they’d be killed, so FLocke and the rest of them could board the plane all at once and be blown to bits once the C-4 was detonated by turning on the plane’s ignition. Because of this, they’ll now have to leave by submarine. Sawyer tells FLocke he’s indebted to him, as FLocke now saved them twice. As they make their way to the plane, Claire apologizes to FLocke who forgives her. At the back of the pack, though, Sawyer tells Jack he doesn’t trust FLocke, and that he needs Jack to get FLocke in the water so he can’t get on the sub. We then jump sideways to…
7. The Box.
(For the record, I wanted a nice image of The Twilight Zone episode “What’s In the Box,” but I couldn’t find one. Cameron Diaz will have to do.) Locke is asleep in his hospital bed, talking in his sleep as Jack stands over him. Among his mutterings are “Push the button” and “I wish you had believed me.” In other words, I think it’s safe to say there’s some of that consciousness floating between both worlds at this point. Jack spots Claire in the hallway and leaves the room to talk with her. We see Jack get an Apollo bar from the candy machine, harkening back to the season 5 finale, “The Incident.” The two sit down and Claire asks about Christian. Jack tells her that his body was found in an alley behind a bar in Sydney, and that he drank himself to death. The two of them open the box left to her and discover it’s a jewelry/music box. They open it, and not only do they see themselves in the mirror inside (mirror moment!), but it plays the LOST classic, “Catch a Falling Star,” or “Aaron’s Theme” as we should call it by now. Claire is all set to leave when Jack invites her to stay at his place. Claire thinks it’s odd, as they’re strangers. Jack then tells her otherwise: “We’re family.” We jump sideways to…
8. Submerged.
Jack and crew reach the dock. Sawyer suggests they go in waves, as there are likely Widmore goons abound. He, Hurley, Lapidus, Sun and Jin go first and begin boarding the sub. On board, they manage to knock out one of the crewman and hijack the captain, while Lapidus drops one-liners all the while. (And by the way, I’ll be returning to him near the end of the post.) Jack and FLocke hang back, and FLocke pretty obviously switches packs on Jack. The rest of them make their way toward the sub, while FLocke asks if Jack won’t reconsider leaving with the rest of them. “Whoever told you to stay,” says FLocke, “had no idea what he was talking about.” “John Locke told me to stay,” Jack responds, then knocks FLocke into the water. Kate’s all “What up with that, Jack?” when she is suddenly shot in the shoulder. Widmore’s men are firing from the treeline. Jack and Claire are firing back and retreating all the while. Jack knows he has to get Kate to safety, which inevitably results in him boarding the sub, too. FLocke emerges from the water and begins firing at Widmore’s men with Claire. Sawyer’s head pops up from the sub. He yells to Claire to hurry up, but once he realizes FLocke is approaching him, he slams the sub shut and they begin to pull away from the dock, as FLocke holds Claire back. He gives an ominous smile before assuring Claire that she didn’t want to be on the sub. On board, Jack reaches into his pack to find a shirt to stop Kate’s bleeding, only to realize it’s not his pack at all. Instead, it’s packed with the C-4 with a timer (the wristwatch) attached to it, and it’s counting down. (Umm, when did FLocke have time to make the C-4 into a bomb? And when did he start the countdown?) Jack then, unfortunately, realizes, “We did exactly what he wanted.” (Interestingly, if you go back and watch this scene, FLocke was yelling, “James! James!” as Sawyer was shutting the top of the sub, as if he didn’t want him to leave him out. Or as if he wanted Sawyer to stay with him. Hmm. We know Sawyer’s name wasn’t crossed out in the cave, and that his name was on Widmore’s list. But I still say that cave belonged to Smokey, not Jacob. So perhaps FLocke wanted Sawyer to see that his name wasn’t crossed out, even though, perhaps, it should have been? That is, FLocke knew Sawyer wasn’t the real candidate to replace Jacob and wanted him to, perhaps, replace himself [Smokey]? I’m not sure.) We’re gonna’ stay with the sub, but it’s getting long and there was a commercial, so we then get to…
9. The Long Goodbye.
Jin calls to Frank and tells them they have to resurface. Sayid is explaining the explosive device and says that both cords must be removed simultaneously. Sawyer steps in to disarm it when Jack stops him. “Nothing’s gonna’ happen,” Jack says. “Locke can’t kill us. Everything he’s done was to get us here… Locke can’t leave unless we’re all dead. He wants us to kill each other.” (Okay, I’m kind of with Jack here, but I’m also a bit confused. Does he mean Locke wants them to literally kill one another in a Lord of the Flies type of manner, or that he wants them to kill themselves by detonating the bomb in trying to disarm it?) He begs Sawyer to trust him, but consistent with what we’ve seen with Sawyer in the last episode, Sawyer tells Jack to piss off and pulls the wires himself. The timer freezes at 1:31. (I took a quick look, incidentally, to see if that was significant in terms of the Bible. All I could come up with was Genesis 1:31: “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” I guess you could make some kind of correlation between creation and destruction here, as they essentially pulled the wires and risked killing themselves. Still, it’s a reach.) A moment later, the timer continues to count down, only faster. Sayid tells them about Desmond being in the well. When Jack asks why he’s telling them this, he curiously responds, “Because it’s going to be you, Jack.” Umm, what’s going to be you? Is Sayid saying that Jack is going to be Jacob’s replacement? A vague, yet important line. Sayid runs off with the bomb and it detonates. And while it doesn’t outright save the rest of them, it temporarily spares their lives, and in the process perhaps it redeems Sayid’s soul. The sub door is blown from its hinges and takes out Lapidus. The sub begins filling with water and Sun is pinned against a wall. Jack tells Hurley to swim to safety with Kate. Jack and Sawyer attempt to help Jin save Sun, when Sawyer is struck in the head by a beam and knocked unconscious. Jin tells Jack to get Sawyer to safety. Jack desperately wants to stay – to “fix” things – but Jin insists Jack get to safety. And, here, he can’t argue, really, as staying would mean killing all four of them. Jack’s face, as well as the face of Sun in this scene, is horrible. He knows Sun is going to die, and he knows Jin will die with her. It’s truly heartbreaking. Jack swims Sawyer to safety as Jin valiantly attempts to free Sun, but to no avail. They promise their love to one another, and the next 30 seconds are nothing but the sad, chilling score sans dialogue as we watch the sub sink further, and the hands of the drowned Sun and Jin unclasp from one another. And even though they’re not being together was inevitable, man, that was rough. (I did, however, take issue with the fact that there was no suggestion of “Hey, Jin, get your ass up to safety! We’ve got a daughter, asshole!”) We then go sideways to…
10. The Explanation. Locke is being released from the hospital when the newly-dead Jin (in the sideways reality) passes him in the hall, carrying flowers for Sun. Jack stops Locke to say goodbye, and tells him that he visited his father to find out about the accident that caused his spinal injury. Finally, a bereft Locke breaks down and explains the paralysis, as well as the injury to his father, was his fault. He explains that he just got his pilot’s license and convinced Cooper to join him on his first flight. The plane barely got off the ground and that’s how they ended up that way. (For the record, Terry O’Quinn is once again amazing in this scene.) Jack tells Locke that they both need to let their fathers go, that “What happened, happened.” (Nice callback that actually didn’t feel forced for a change.) He was hoping Locke would let his father go first, to sort of give Jack the strength to do so, too. Locke laughs and begins to wheel himself away. “I can help you,” Jack calls after him. “I wish you believed me.” (Yet another nice callback.) Locke pauses momentarily, then takes his leave. We then go sideways to…
11. And Then There Were Four. The remaining four survivors – Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate – all surface on the beach. Kate asks about Sun and Jin, to which Jack gives them the ominous head shake. Realizing they’ve died, Hurley and Kate break down. Jack, distraught and pissed off, walks toward the ocean, where he stares at the sky and has a moment of total agony. (And by the way, Kate and company, no mention of Frank Lapidus? I mean, you all know that Sayid blew himself up, but what about Frank?) Meanwhile, FLocke is standing on the edge of the dock overlooking the water. “It sunk,” he tells Claire. She is shocked and asks if they’re all dead. “Not all of them,” he tells her. FLocke then says, finally, he has to “finish what he started.” Well, I guess this means he needs another way for the rest of them to die. Interesting, too, is the question of how he knows they’re not all dead. I mean, doesn’t this kind of suggest that he would either transport away instantly or something like that. His still being on the island is what tells him they’re not dead, which makes me wonder what, exactly, is supposed to happen once they are. So, back to an earlier point, I want to quickly discuss…
12. The Lawnmower Man.
Frankly (no pun intended), I just don’t get it. When you consider the amount of screen time given to Jeff Fahey over the past few seasons, he was essentially worthless. He was nothing more than a foil. I mean, was he really nothing more than a distraction, a tool for us to believe that, yep, they’re gonna’ use him to pilot the plane and get off the island? I call bullshit. It would have been one thing to have kept him around and actually learned that his character’s back story was of greater importance to the overall plot, but that’s not the case at all. This season (and a good deal of last season), he was relegated to bad one-liners, as if he was some kind of Schwarzenneger-esque action hero. So, was that the intent? Did the writers merely want us to think of him as comic relief and nothing more? All I know is that there are plenty of unanswered, unsolved mysteries on this show, and I now feel like Lapidus was merely a waste of time. If you’re not going to have him do something significant by the end of the run, why the fuck even bother with him at all? He’s essentially the gun in the first act that never went off.
Well, that’s gonna’ do it for this week. Again, not a whole lot in terms of mythology this episode, yet I enjoyed it all the same. And frankly, even though I’ll be sad to see Sayid gone, I’m not gonna’ miss the Michael/Walt relationship of Sun/Jin, as they’d been reduced to unessential and their demise was inevitable. Still, I think the writers handled their death scene well, and I’m glad they weren’t afraid to kill them off.
With that, I bid you farewell. Until next time, have at it, you vultures.
BD
Cousin Brandon's Mr. Hipster Blog 
Yeah, not too much to dissect or discuss right now. I did notice that Jin brought Sun white flowers, which are traditionally reserved for Korean funerals.
Also, how did Bernard know Locke so well, but didn’t recognize him on the plane, or have him come up in discussion with Rose. After all, he did kind of give her a hard time at the temp agency. She would have mentioned it to Bernard, no? And for that matter, how did she not see her boss, Hugo on the plane? That’s a hard man to miss.
Last thing I can think of right now… when he said they weren’t all dead, I think FLocke was talking about Desmond. He knew Sayid didn’t kill him, and that’s where he was going. And that’s where Jack will be going too, because Sayid told him about it.
By: Major Minority on May 5, 2010
at 11:29 am
Nice catch on the flowers, MM. Any insight as to the signficance of the flowers Helen brought for Anthony Cooper?
I think there are some definite lapses when it comes to the whole recognition thing, but I’m forgiving the writers in that who do you really notice after the fact?
Ah, I think you’re dead right on that one. In other words, you’re suggesting that because he’s “still there,” so to speak, it just then hits him that Desmond is still alive? Again, I called bullshit on that whole exchange between him and Sayid back when it took place. Also, now that he’s heading to Desmond (as will Jack and company soon), I think we can assume to see some type of convergence with Miles, Richard and Ben.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 11:38 am
Can someone remind me where Miles and Ben are?
By: Richie on May 5, 2010
at 12:05 pm
They took off for New Otherton with Richard to find guns/explosives.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 12:23 pm
I’m thinking that FLocke KNOWS that they’re alive (Jack, Saywer, and Hurley). I’m guessing that there’s some kind of connection between him and them, which lets him know whether or not he’ll be able to leave the Island.
I’m kind of wondering more about the logistics of the Candidate, and of Jacob. He was obviously able to leave the Island, but keep the Man in Black from leaving. Is it just his mere existence that keeps him locked in? If that’s the case, then why bring everybody there to begin with? Or does he only get a certain allotment of time away?
Also, it was interesting how they only used old clips from previous episodes for next week’s preview, instead of showing new clips. Just something I noticed.
I’m glad zombie Sayid redeemed himself, although if I were crazy Claire, I’d be looking over my shoulder constantly, after seeing how easily he threw away his Sayid-Roomba. Was Sayid still a candidate at that point, or was he crossed out? What about Claire? And Kate – what happened where she was no longer eligible? She’s still alive, so its not that death-thing that’s going around.
I’m not really too surprised about Lapidus – he, Ilana, and Dogen were all characters introduced this season with no real purpose. They were either red herrings or a device to introduce/explain mythology.
By the way, where’s Alpert? Maybe he found Des in the well and they’re drinking rum on the beach and reminiscing of fond memories past. One can hope.
By: a. on May 5, 2010
at 11:45 am
See, I’m thinking MM is right, and here’s why: FLocke said, “It sunk.” When he said it, he seemed angry. In other words, the sub blew up/sunk, and yet he’s still on the island. It’s then he realizes that Sayid did not, in fact, kill Desmond. So even though he thinks they’re all dead, he now realizes there’s one more candidate to dispose of. At least, that would seem to make sense.
Are you sure they only used old clips? I accidentally stayed tune and watched the preview, and it seemed to me some new footage was spliced in. I’d have to watch it again. Bottom line is that the writers have said we’ve already seen the ending. That is, I once heard them say something along the lines of the answers having been given to us a long time ago. It might explain why, then, we’re going “backwards” with the clips.
Well, I think that’s where we’re being misled. On the lighthouse wheel, Kate’s name was NOT crossed out, which leads me to believe she’s still a candidate, and is essentially the mistake Widmore is making. For some reason, she’s not on her list; however, “Austen” wasn’t crossed out on the wheel. Hmm.
Ilana was introduced last season, and the problem with writing characters like her, Dogen and Lapidus was the amount of time spent (wasted) on them. Of the three, I was most intrigued by Dogen, but to introduce him in the final season didn’t bode well. As for Lapidus, he’s been on the show entirely too long just to be pointless, which is essentially what happened.
Again, Alpert is with Miles and Ben gathering explosives in New Otherton. Des? He’s chillin’ in a well.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 12:33 pm
Whether or not FLocke is aware Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer are still alive is, perhaps, the biggest question mark of this episode. I’m just now reading one of the reviewers I really dig, and this is his take regarding that final scene:
“And elsewhere, Not-Locke fumes alongside the perpetually left-out Claire, because he knows instinctively that three Candidates are still alive.”
So, he would appear to agree with a., as well as with my initial take on it. When I reconsidered it based on MM’s comments, I felt the other way. Now, I’m just not sure…
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 1:16 pm
My thoughts:
1. I personally really enjoyed the Jack-Locke interaction this episode and loved Jack’s response to Helen with the “i can’t” line. When he says that, she knows he’s not the type to easily give up (if at all). Although, the best line of the night was probably at the end with Jack telling Locke “i wish you would believe me”. Perfect way to go full circle with the two of them.
2. I don’t understand what happened with the fence thing. It was originally working fine with FLocke first saw it and now it’s not? Also, shouldn’t they have had soem guards around the circuit breaker box or whatever the power grid is? Wouldn’t they have not wanted anyone to tamper with it?
3. I figured CB that you would be happy that Sun finally mentioned their daughter to Jin. And in the death scene, I too kept waiting for Sun to say “you have to leave because of our daughter”. Oh well. Even though I’m 95% sure Jin is dead, part of me says that he could still turn up alive (like the island not letting him die).
4. FLocke was definitely playing Sawyer the entire time. His yelling was just acting and Sawyer took the bait.
5. I really thought Jack was going to say something about how previously Jack had a bomb in front of him that didn’t go off because he can’t die (at least for right now). However, what I think Jack was saying is that if they tampered with the bomb, that would be themselves causing the bomb to explode and not FLocke. Jack has figured out that FLocke can’t directly kill any of them. Good deducing on his part. I also thought Sawyer was gonna say something about Juliet and that’s why he can’t trust Jack anymore.
6. When FLocke goes to the airplane, did you notice he didn’t say 1 word and they shot at him and nothing happened to him. Not to beat a dead horse, but I think this has to be proof enough that it’s not about whether he speaks or not, but what he actually says that matters, :).
7. I think Frank ultimately became a victim of the show ending in a hurry. Even though they had time to plan everything out, I think his character got caught up in the lack of time to actually do soemthing with him. Basically like Ilana and Dogen. Personally, I didn’t really care about his demise.
8. As far as Major Minority’s point and FLocke at the end, I figured he’s either headed to the rest of the Losties or to Desmond. I guessed that the island let him know (either because the island let him know or nothing in his situation had changed so he knows something’s wrong) that canidates were still alive. I’m not sure what FLocke is gonna do since the rules are he can’t kill them so it should be interesting to see what he tries. Maybe Claire? I doubt it.
Think that’s it for now. Can’t really remember if I’m missing something or not.
By: dochielomn on May 5, 2010
at 1:41 pm
Here we go…
1. It’s funny, as I said the same thing, that the Jack/Locke scenes were the best. And I know I mentioned again above how Terry O’Quinn killing it this season, but how about some love for Matthew Fox? I think he’s been pretty damn great this season, to the point where he’s become a stand-out. Granted, he’s got a lot of screen time this season, but he’s done the “surrendering of leadership” thing pretty well for the most part.
2. Sayid turned off the power. Plain and simple.
3. Yes, I was glad there was some recognition of their daughter, but when it finally happened it was contrived. Just didn’t ring true. And I’m sorry, but there should have been some part of Sun that said, “Go take care of our daughter!” And believe me, they’re both dead. Sure, they might be in the sideways world still, but they’re dead here.
4. Again, though, why even yell after him? Unless, of course, it was just to get him to shut the lid so Claire wouldn’t be able to board.
5. Yeah, the more I thought about that, the more sense it made. Jack knew that the bomb couldn’t explode as long as they didn’t fuck with it. I must say, it was nice that for ONCE Jack wasn’t the one to lose his temper or do something stupid that only caused them to get into more shit.
6. Nope, I still disagree. First of all, Sayid was supposed to stab him with that “special” dagger. Second, it’s not like FLocke was trying to recruit these men for anything; that is, they weren’t candidates of any sort.
7. No, I’m not sad to see Lapidus go. I was bored with him, as he hasn’t done shit. But considering they’ve kept him around this long, and went so far as to consider him a candidate (per Ilana and Bram), the payoff was, well, there wasn’t one!
8. I think there’s going to be some other bit of importance with Claire, wherein FLocke manipulates (or tries to manipulate) her into killing the rest of them, as they once again abandoned her.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 1:59 pm
Another question from me (I only have questions, rarely answers. I am usually a bit of a simpleton when watching movies and TV shows. I usually just go along for the ride, without trying to figure things out. I usually don’t know “who done it” because I rarely try to get ahead of the story.)
Anyway, why did FLocke just walk up and shoot the airplane guards, but he killed the bear cage guards as Smokey?
By: Richie on May 5, 2010
at 2:10 pm
If the bomb wasn’t going to do anything unless the Losties interfered with it somehow – how could FLocke be sure that anybody would even find the bomb before the timer finished counting down? He got lucky that Jack needed to look in his bag for supplies in the first 3 minutes of being in the sub.
By: Richie on May 5, 2010
at 2:01 pm
For that matter – FLocke was lucky that Jack even ended up on the sub, because it wasn’t his plan to go on the sub.
BTW – does anybody else have trouble clicking the “reply” link? When I mouse over the link, a popup comes up that kills the link. It always takes me 3 or 4 tries to make it work. Lame.
By: Richie on May 5, 2010
at 2:03 pm
Well, I had the same thought initially when I wrote about it above. How do you put a timer on something mobile when you can’t determine where it’s going to end up? Sloppy, I agree.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 2:20 pm
As far as Lapidus, at least they used some nice foreshadowing, with him trying to kick down the door, and a door was the thing that brought him down.
When it comes to Sayid, I now think he was another Charlie, where he was supposed to die, but someone kept interfereing so that he could make a sacrifice. If Jacob hadn’t stopped Sayid in LA, both he and Nadia would have been struck by a car. If he hadn’t had him brought to the temple, he would also be dead. So the bomb was a “course correction” as well.
I agree with CB. Claire has more work to do for FLocke, and the fact that they keep abandoning her is only fueling the fire.
And I’m begining to think that however the whispers are trapped is the same way FLocke is trapped. And that they’re not just trying to escape the island, but the island is a metaphor for something more. Thus, as FLocke said, Jack was, “trapped on the island before he ever got there.”
By: Major Minority on May 5, 2010
at 2:17 pm
1. I noticed that about the door, too, but it doesn’t excuse how they handled him. He was a joke, essentially, and nothing more.
2. Interesting observation on Sayid. Not totally sure I agree with it, but provocative.
3. Word.
4. No, see I think Jack was “trapped on the island before he ever got there” to mean that it was Jack’s destiny to end up there. That is, he was always a candidate, and therefore no matter what he did he would always find his way to the island at some point.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 2:22 pm
Richie- As far as your questions, here’s my input:
I haven’t figured out any logic to FLocke being Smokey. Maybe he only prefers to be Smokey at night as the past few times he’s gone on a rampage, it’s been at night. I thought why didn’t he turn into Smokey at the end and whipe out the people that were shooting at all of them. Then again, if he wanted them to get on the boat, that would be a reason.
For the 2nd question, I think FLocke knew that Jack would wind up on the sub somehow. Maybe he set it up so that Widmore’s people would be there and shoot someone and Jack would have to help them. Otherwise, yeah, they wouldn’t have known about the bomb and been able to try to defuse it.
CB, for your replies to my original post:
2. The fence seems like a pretty important thing and if the only thing that can mess that up is some sort of power box, wouldn’t you make sure that it was guarded by an army of people so no one could mess with it? I know Sayid turned it off, I just have a tough time believing Widmore would be so casual about not keeping the power box under top guard.
4. Why yell? Because if he was like “go ahead James, i don’t mind” Sawyer might have guessed that something was up. Same way how in Star Wars when Han, Luke, and Leia get away from the death star and Leia says how their escape was too easy (only having to face a few emperial fighters) and yet they were actually being tracked. It’s for show.
6. I guess this is a point we’ll never agree on unless Lost comes out and gives us a definitive answer (like, hey, the purpose of not saying a word is this…….). I’m done trying to sway you, :).
As for Claire, she obvious still has a part to play in all of this. Maybe (going back to another Star Wars reference), she’ll be like Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi and at the end she’ll “turn from the darkside” back to the light.
By: dochielomn on May 5, 2010
at 2:32 pm
2. Considering Widmore is the same numbskull who hired these goons, and based on their utter uselessness, it doesn’t surprise me one bit. They’ve already demonstrated their inefficiency with the whole turning on the generator thing that zapped their fellow henchman.
4. Yeah, that makes more sense the more I think of it.
6. Agree to disagree. Just like “the whale’s vagina.”
7. Well, considering yesterday was Star Wars Day and all the Star Wars references on LOST, I think we’re missing the most obvious connection: Jack:Claire::Luke:Leia. Ah, brothers and sisters unite!
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 2:38 pm
So all this time you’ve been looking for bible verses and classic literature references for answers to Lost, when it turns out that Lost is really just a retelling of the Star Wars story? Hurley’s been trying to point us in that direction all along!
By: Richie on May 5, 2010
at 2:41 pm
I promise you, Richie, that some of us have been discussing the subtext/clues since the beginning. Again, I’ve been watching the show since it first premiered. In other words, I didn’t start watching three seasons in and catching up on DVD. It was a “mystery” since jump, and even then it became pretty clear that we were seeing things for a reason, even when we didn’t know what they meant.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 2:44 pm
See, that’s the only thing that I could think of as to why the fence isn’t working anymore. Maybe that large EMP knocked out the fence’s power supply. I would believe that more than just randonly saying “the fence doesn’t work anymore” and then later “Sayid knocked out the power”.
By: dochielomn on May 5, 2010
at 2:59 pm
They hadn’t set it up yet, it wasn’t not working, and then Sayid cut the power.
By: Manderson on May 5, 2010
at 5:01 pm
Yeah, I think you’re overthinking this, dochielomn. Again, they explained in the episode that Sayid turned off the generator. I had ZERO problem with that explanation. I mean, it’s Sayid. The guy kicks ass.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 6:56 pm
Ok, my issue with this is going back to when FLocke first went over to Hydra island with Sayid to find out what Widmore was hiding. Widmore and his cronies were hiding behind the fence and basically said “we’re not crossing” knowing that FLocke couldn’t cross over to them. So it appears to me that the fence was working then. Am I wrong here?
By: dochielomn on May 5, 2010
at 7:35 pm
Were you guys (or anybody) analyzing the symbolism of Lost very much in the first few seasons? Looking back, I don’t remember there being much symbolism or other deep meaning to look for in this show until maybe season 5.
By: Richie on May 5, 2010
at 2:36 pm
Really? Wow! I highly suggest you go back and watch for some of the Easter Eggs and allusions way back when. They’ve been there all along.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 2:40 pm
Like I said before, I wasn’t looking for that kind of thing at all while I was watching. I was planning to go back and watch a few episodes after this season ends – just to see if I can see new things after knowing what ends up happening.
By: Richie on May 5, 2010
at 2:43 pm
“Ok, my issue with this is going back to when FLocke first went over to Hydra island with Sayid to find out what Widmore was hiding. Widmore and his cronies were hiding behind the fence and basically said “we’re not crossing” knowing that FLocke couldn’t cross over to them. So it appears to me that the fence was working then. Am I wrong here?”
Okay, don’t you understand that this time around Sayid went ahead of FLocke and Jack and turned off the generator, thus deactivating the fence, thus allowing Smokey to whoop ass? Plain and simple.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 8:18 pm
Ok, but you at least admit that the fence was working before? So my problem is if the fence’s achilles heel (so to speak) is the power generator, how is that not guarded by like 10 guys to make sure no one messes with it. The original answer of “widmore just hired a bunch of bunglers” suffices for me and is rationale enough for how Sayid was able to take out any guards who might have been at the generator.
I guess my point is, I would be a better Widmore than the writers have made Widmore, :).
By: dochielomn on May 5, 2010
at 9:07 pm
In that sense, yes, I agree. I mean, if the point of the generators/fence is to keep out Smokey, fuck yeah! I’d put ALL my men on it. I simply think it’s poor writing. But at the same time, yes, the generator being shut off is why Smokey could enter. It might not be satisfying, but it’s the answer.
By: cousinbrandon on May 5, 2010
at 10:01 pm
Just wanted to post my boy Doc Jensen’s take on the final scene:
“Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley swam to shore. They wept. Jack tried not to rage. And Fake Locke seethed. He knew that his plan had failed. How did he know? That’s a great question — maybe the question that’s most pertinent to the endgame of the show. Perhaps if all the candidates had died, Smokey would have received some kind of permission slip from The Island that said, ‘You can go now.’ But I got the sense that the Monster was waiting for something else to happen — something like The End Of The World. I wonder: When Fake Locke said he wanted to go home lo those many episodes ago, did he mean a place of being — or did he mean a place of nothingness? Was he referring to a location — or was he referring to annihilation?”
Again, I think this really was the most confounding scene of the episode, and the one that raises the most questions. We touched on it in my write-up and in your comments, as well. And by the way, I really like DJ’s callback to the book Being and Nothingness.
By: cousinbrandon on May 6, 2010
at 9:01 am
Yeah, CB, that’s what I’m saying. Where he (FLocke) wants to leave to is the same place the whispers get to go. It’s not escaping the physical island, cause if that were the case, where’s he going to go? FLocke isn’t going to go get a condo in Alberta and chill out. Now, whether he wants to go to the alt timeline or the afterlife or whatever…. I don’t know. I certainly don’t think it’s nothingness. But I also don’t think it’s off of the actual island.
He wants his humanity back. And his body too. I know we’ll get a lot of answers next episode, which will also, hopefully, include who that little blond boy is. But I keep thinking back to that, “he took my body” line. Is it possible that Jacob and MiB switched bodies? Maybe. But, what if Jacob took MiB’s consciousness from his body and trapped it in Titus Welliver? Similar to Desmond, Jacob made MiB “see” another plane of existence, or timeline or whatever, and trapped him there. And he just wants to go to his original “plane” of reality. And I know it’s been thousands of years. But really, a lot can happen in 20 minutes. Desmond was knocked out for a few seconds and at least a day had passed in the LA X timeline. And even more so… that’s why Richard Alpert doesn’t age. Because, he too, was taken from his plane of existence and brought to “the new world” where time is relative. Well, technically, time is a dimension of it’s own, but you get what I’m saying. Or maybe not. I’m rambling. Maybe I’m crazy like the MiB’s bitch of a mother.
By: Major Minority on May 6, 2010
at 10:36 am
Have you given any thought to the notion that the “prison” containing MiB is one of his own making? That is, there seemed to be something extremely important about the conversation between Jack and Locke, about accepting that their fathers are dead and “letting go.” Perhaps MiB is really trapped on the island because he can’t forgive himself, and therefore can’t be redeemed. In the sideways world, Locke is blaming himself for his mother’s death. What if MiB was responsible for the death of his self-proclaimed “crazy mother” and can’t forgive himself? Just a thought.
I’ve been saying since his first appearance that the little boy was Aaron. And while I haven’t ruled that out, I’m starting to think that what if the boy FLocke is seeing is himself? What if it’s the manifestation of his own guilt? That blood on his hands? What if it’s both literal and metaphorical? That is, his guilt over his mother’s death, but also, perhaps, her blood? In other words, perhaps MiB killed his mother?
And by the way, it’s starting to seem more and more that the show is going to end with Jack and (F)Locke sitting together on the beach, a la Jacob and MiB. It only seems to make sense, seeing as how the two of them have always been the yin to the other’s yang.
By: cousinbrandon on May 6, 2010
at 10:51 am
Yeah, I really dig that FLocke looking at himself. Especially the blood on his own hands part. But why would he laugh/smirk at himself. Or remind himself of these “rules” that are in place? I don’t think it’s just him not being able to kill them because he would regret it, because Ben and Widmore couldn’t hurt each other either.
That sideways reality is getting fishier. Everyone seems to be in a bubble, or at the very least, they’re all connected. But it seems like there’s nothing but the LA world because everyone we know is there and there’s no mention of anyplace except LA and Sydney. Anyway, do you think the alt reality is after, before, or simultaneous with the island timeline?
By: Major Minority on May 6, 2010
at 3:45 pm
Why would the boy smirk at FLocke? Well, let’s just say that if he was, in fact, a manifestation of his child self, why NOT smirk at his adult self? Again, if he’s a reminder of the guilt he can’t let go, why not rub it in?
And that’s not what I mean about him not being able to kill the others. I really think FLocke isn’t allowed to kill Jack and company because they’re candidates, and it is part of the rules (just like MiB/Jacob and Widmore/Ben).
Well, I disagree with your take on there only being the LA and Sydney world, solely based on “Everybody Loves Hugo.” In the slideshow at the beginning, we see Mr. Clucks franchises in Paris and (I think) Tokyo or Nepal or something like that. In other words, there is a world outside of LA and Sydney. As far as WHEN it’s taking place, that’s a tough question. If I had to guess, I’d have to go with before because Claire hasn’t had Aaron. On the other hand, Jack has a teenage son. So, I guess I can’t really guess. The elements of the sideways world don’t really coincide in a linear fashion with the actual world.
By: cousinbrandon on May 6, 2010
at 4:53 pm
Well, i would say as far timeline concerns, the season started with them on flight 815 on their way back from Sydney so I would say it has to be 3 yrs from the island timeline story. But, since it’s a different timeline, other stuff has occured like Jack having a son.
Also, I think FLocke literally can’t kill any of the canidates. I think we’ve heard a couple of times “you can’t kill him” directed right at FLocke. The interesting thing is what would have happened with the bomb had Sawyer trusted Jack and left it alone….
By: dochielomn on May 7, 2010
at 9:23 pm
Let me also throw in, in my opinion, the bomb wouldn’t have been able to go off but I wonder how or what caused it to not explode. Maybe the timer stops working or just maybe nothing happens?
By: dochielomn on May 7, 2010
at 9:25 pm
Hey, did anyone ever think of this possibility: FLocke had planted the C4 on the 316 plane to begin with. That’s how he knew exactly where to look. Furthermore, he had another bomb, or made another bomb on the plane before Jack and company got there because he planted 2 packs of C4. He quite literally had one to show and one to blow.
By: Major Minority on May 9, 2010
at 3:02 am
It would have been just like the dynamite at The Black Rock. Whether or not the timer failed or it simply didn’t detonate is irrelevant. The point is that it wouldn’t have worked.
By: cousinbrandon on May 9, 2010
at 5:50 am
Oh, also, in respons to night and day interchanging; in the pilot, Charlie even mentions something to the extent of, “Is this normal? Day suddenly turning to night? End of the world type weather.”
Actually, that pilot is becoming more and more interesting as the show is ending. Rose commenting that the smoke monster sounded familiar, Kate recognizing Charlie (and not from Drive Shaft), Sawyer saying he’s been with girls like Kate and he knows who she is…
By: Major Minority on May 9, 2010
at 3:20 am
Let me respond to a few things:
“FLocke had planted the C4 on the 316 plane to begin with. That’s how he knew exactly where to look.”
The only reason this doesn’t seem accurate is because they made a point of him first finding the wire on the plane before locating the C4 in the overhead bin. Why not just go right to the explosive if he knew it was there?
“Charlie even mentions something to the extent of, “Is this normal? Day suddenly turning to night? End of the world type weather.”
Again, I think this was a way for the writers to get around the oddities of their shooting schedule; that is, by calling it out themselves. If they call attention to it by having one of their characters do so, it gets them off the hook.
I really need to go back and watch the pilot now.
By: cousinbrandon on May 9, 2010
at 5:49 am
It almost seems like they should have mentioned the weird day/night thing a little more often throughout the series. Now that Majority Minority mentions it, I remember Charlie saying it. I remember other times where it seemed to get light or dark really quickly and being bothered by it – forgetting all about the premise that day and night come quickly on the island.
By: Richie on May 9, 2010
at 6:23 pm
Yeah, they definitely should have made more of a mention of that phenomena, but they let it go. Again, I think it’s kind of lazy on the part of the writers. They’ve got a lot to keep track of, yes, but come on. I promise there are enough researchers on the show that should be aware of this shit.
Also, Dallas Braden just threw a perfect game for the A’s, in case you didn’t know.
By: cousinbrandon on May 9, 2010
at 6:30 pm
Wonderful. I have Dallas Braden, but pitched Ian Kennedy today instead.
By: Richie on May 9, 2010
at 6:38 pm
Hey CB, are you still going to try to havea pre-Lost chat room discussion (mentioned on the LCS show)? Not sure what else we’re going to be able to discuss there that hasn’t been addressed here.
By: dochielomn on May 10, 2010
at 8:17 am
Well, I’m certainly thinking about it, though I’ve not yet set something up. I might not be able to do it this week, though, but I’d love to do it at some point. Thinking it might be a lot of fun, actually.
By: cousinbrandon on May 10, 2010
at 8:23 am
I’m thinking a discussion during the show would be interesting but then we’d probably miss out on details while watching and typing/reading responses.
By: dochielomn on May 10, 2010
at 8:48 am
Not a chance. At least for me, at least. During LOST I’m watching LOST and taking notes. Period.
By: cousinbrandon on May 10, 2010
at 9:11 am
Duh! Something just dawned on me, and I even wrote it above in my write-up, for God’s sake:
“FLocke marches directly up to the plane where Widmore’s goons fire at him point blank. FLocke snaps the neck of goon 1, then shoots goon 2 and removes his wristwatch. He boards the plane and finds a wire running along the cabin into one of the overhead bins, where he (predictably) finds some not-yet revealed explosives.”
What I’m getting at is that FLocke grabbed the wristwatch BEFORE boarding the plane and finding the explosives, so obviously he knew they were on board. Again, I don’t know if this means he put them there or knew that Widmore put them there or what, but it at least confirms he knew the C4 was on the plane.
By: cousinbrandon on May 10, 2010
at 9:13 am
Here’s a possibility, what about Richard planting the bomb there? Richard was dead set against FLocke boarding the plane and was talking about destroying it so maybe he planted it there? Although, since Widmore had control of the area, he could have planted the bomb there as well. Either way, I don’t think FLocke planted it there. He looked annoyed when he found the wire and was trying to find the location of the bomb.
Speaking of Richard, with all of his island experience, shouldn’t he have have known FLocke’s true plan in wanting to kill all of the canidates? Wouldn’t he have seen this or learned it by now? Or is he in such disarray that he’s not really thinking clearly?
By: dochielomn on May 10, 2010
at 10:08 am
It seems like a convoluted plan to me, anyway, if all he wanted to do was kill everyone. Couldn’t he have just let them board the plane with the explosives (and that wire wasn’t hidden well at all) and then have them blow up? If Widmore put the bomb there, then FLocke wouldn’t be the one killing them, so he has his loophole. All the candidates were there and ready to go on the plane, except, I guess, Jack. But Jack is still alive anyway. And MiB could have convinced Jack that Widmore killed his friends and manipulated him into getting killed eventually anyway. I don’t know. Just seems overly complicated.
By: Major Minority on May 10, 2010
at 12:07 pm
Agreed, the whole thing is convoluted. I’m not saying FLocke planted that C4 on the plane; I’m saying that he knew it was there. Again, he grabbed the wristwatch BEFORE boarding the plane. Why? How would he know to do so?
By: cousinbrandon on May 10, 2010
at 12:18 pm
“How would he know?”
…sloppy writing?
By: Richie on May 10, 2010
at 12:48 pm
I actually now have a convoluted theory of my own. I’m on my cell, so I’m not going to type it up now. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that they’re in a Matrix type simulated reality. Dharma is probably running it. They escaped it. Their memories of it were buried in the subconcious. In the alt timeline, Desmond is bringing these memories to the forefront, and they’ll eventually expose Dharma and Widmore (as he and Eloise are involved) but the series will end with it being ambigous as to whether or not the LA X reality is another matrix as well. And we’ll all point back to Charlie saying nothing is real.
I’m 99.9% sure im wrong, but we will see in a couple of weeks. I’ll post the whole idea later. Maybe.
By: Major Minority on May 10, 2010
at 12:12 pm
Several people have made The Matrix comparisons in LOST, so it actually makes your theory both relevant and somewhat possible. What’s more, it would help to give credence to the whole DI, seeing as how it was such a major part of the show.
I wouldn’t give up on this theory just yet, or at least not entirely.
By: cousinbrandon on May 10, 2010
at 12:17 pm
I will be very excited if the Dharma Initiative winds up having a more important role in what all has been going on. The Dharma initiative was probably my favorite part of all of Lost – at least the mystery surrounding it. How/why did Dharma pick “the numbers” as the code needed to enter in the computer to release the magnetic power? Isn’t this going to tie back in to Jacob’s numbers by the end of all this? Please?
By: Richie on May 10, 2010
at 12:47 pm
As far as the numbers go, FLocke telling us that “Jacob had a thing for numbers” is piss-poor at best. They have been such a prominent part of LOST that to dismiss them as coincidental is total bullshit. I think they will end up having a pretty prominent role yet. Who knows? Maybe it factors into MM’s Matrix thingy.
And, yeah, the DI stuff was always great, at least when you go back to the idea of the Stations, the blast-door map, and the Chang videos. I loved that stuff.
By: cousinbrandon on May 10, 2010
at 12:51 pm
Ha! Yes, the Change videos. Everytime I saw those it was probably my most excited part of watching Lost. Something about the feeling that showing the video was going to reveal answers. I think I would have preferred if they would have spent more time with Dharma and less time wandering around the temple this season.
By: Richie on May 10, 2010
at 12:54 pm
[“(I did, however, take issue with the fact that there was no suggestion of “Hey, Jin, get your ass up to safety! We’ve got a daughter, asshole!”) ]
Jin would have never made it to the surface without an air tank. He was right to stay with Sun. And if he had survived, I could see him riddled with guilt for allowing her to die alone. He did the right thing.
By: Rosie on November 15, 2010
at 7:15 pm
First, Rosie, wow! No one’s made a LOST comment in, like, forever, so thanks for going back and reading.
More importantly, and respectfully, I disagree with your assessment. As a parent, there’s no way my then wife and I would have both shrugged off our daughter and accepted death. I mean, this is the whole reason parents often don’t fly together: if the plane goes down, one of them will remain to take care of the children.
In the Jin scenario, rather than even giving himself the CHANCE to survive and be there for his daughter, he passes. Sun would have “lived on” through their daughter.
By: cousinbrandon on November 16, 2010
at 10:31 am
I just want to say that I miss LOST.
By: Richie on November 16, 2010
at 1:49 pm