The Candidate

If “The Candidate” is any indication of how the finale’s going to go, I better stock up on Kleenex. Wow. Not only was it the bloodiest episode of Lost ever in terms of deaths of regular cast members, it was not coincidently one of the saddest. It left our four remaining 815ers – Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley – on the beach alone, battered, broken, vulnerable and exhausted with the Monster (I can’t call this horrible beast Locke) lurking just across the sea.

We lost Jin. We lost Sun. We lost Sayid. And that’s how I felt Wednesday night, like part of my group, like three of my friends, were gone. It was a horrible feeling. But then again, we’re going to be losing all these characters in just a few short weeks time. That’s the effect “The Candidate” had on me more than anything: for the first time it really felt like Lost is almost over. With just two episodes and the finale remaining, our time on the Island is quickly drawing to a close. And even though I still only have the faintest idea what that ending will be, I can certainly feel all the loose ends and divergent threads coming together. It’s a good feeling, but it’s a scary feeling.

I’ve watched “The Candidate” twice now. And I’ve got to say, the second time was just as rough as the first. More tears. But more insights! Enough to make this the longest yet of my many monstrous recaps. Let’s get to the episode, starting in the Sideways world.

I love the description Lostpedia uses to describe this one. Instead of the usual one character classification or the occasional “various”, it reads “Jack and Locke”. Coupled with next weeks that I expect to read “Jacob and MIB” and that’s quite the interesting parallel we have there. Like I talked about last week, the epic and complicated history between these two characters makes any interaction ooze with tension and history. This was especially the case this week in the Sideways world, where most scenes this year have alluded directly to conversations and situations we’ve seen in past seasons. As always, I plan to break those down in excruciating detail.

The title, “The Candidate”, like many Lost episodes, has a couple of meanings. One, most obviously, refers to Jack as the candidate to replace Jacob. I think at this point, the debate on that is all but closed. Jack is the chosen one. He has total faith in the Island. He recognizes his purpose. He sees the big picture. And now he can lead with a clear mind and monkey-less back. Once he embraced the fact that the Island had chosen him, all his preoccupations with being the leader and acting how he thought a leader was supposed to act crumbled away. What emerged was a man who could lead. Remember when Locke told him “A leader can’t lead until he knows where he’s going?” Yeah, well, Jack knows where he’s going now.

The second meaning refers to John Locke as a candidate for the new procedure to cure his paralysis. It’s one of the first things Sideways Jack tells Locke after he wakes up from surgery. You know who else decides who’s a candidate and who isn’t? Jacob. Like the moment later on where Jack offers the Apollo Bar to Claire, it’s the first of several Jack-Jacob parallels throughout the episode. In the same scene, in attempting to find out more about Locke’s condition so he could help him, Jack asks Locke about how he became paralyzed in the first place. Locke refuses to tell him. But Jack’s determined to find out what’s wrong with Locke. He’s going to unearth that baggage and help him deal with it. Just like Jacob would do.

His first stop is at Locke’s dentist’s office, and wouldn’t you know it, but Bernard (of Rose and Bernard fame) has been in the care of Locke’s chompers for at least the last three years. Bernard tells Jack that Mr. Locke came into his office a few years earlier following an accident with another man named Anthony Cooper. After an almost-knowing, “I hope you find what you’re looking for” (where have we heard that before besides from Kate earlier this season?), Jack bids Bernard adieu, now committed to tracking down this Anthony Cooper.

Jack’s quest leads him to a nursing home where he runs into Locke’s fiancé, Helen. She tries to get Jack to just leave it all alone. Of course, he refuses (something he won’t do later on with Jin), so Helen wheels over Anthony Cooper, vegetable edition. That’s why John doesn’t hate his guts in the Sideways world! It’s hard to pull off a long con when you’re brain-dead. Part of me thought the guy playing Cooper might not have had to do much acting to pull off the role this time around. Let’s face it, there have been some moments where the makeup department hasn’t lived up to the standards set by the rest of the show (yeah, 20-year old Ben in “Dead is Dead”, I’m talking about you), so for a guy who seemed so spry just three years ago, to see him so wrinkled and cold-faced was shocking. And kind of satisfying.

After seeing Cooper like that, Jack was stumped, so he heads back to the hospital. He stands by Locke’s bed, deep in thought, confused. Why would this guy refuse his help? Still asleep, Locke mumbles, “push the button”. Then “I wish you had believed me.” Sleeping Sideways Locke’s getting a little dose of Island Locke! Be prepared to have that last one thrown back in your face in a little bit, dude. I think Jack recognized that second mumble too. Just like he looked at the cut on his neck extra hard in “LA X”, and how he couldn’t remember how he got his appendix scar, Jack’s very, very close to having the “Charlie moment” as I like to call it. He’s going to have the crossover. I’d like to make a prediction right here though – Locke has already had it. He just refuses to believe it. Like Jack when he came face-to-face with Desmond in the hatch, Sideways Locke does not want to believe. He’s in the type of place mentally where he would encounter a real life miracle but insist on the looking the other way. He needs to take a leap of faith. He just needs a little push.

In the last of the Sideways scenes, Locke’s rolling himself out of the hospital, eager to leave the notion that he can be fixed far behind. But Jack catches up to him. He’s not going to let this go (no kidding!). He asks Locke one last time why he’s in that wheelchair and this time John caves. He spills it all, every heartbreaking detail. How he was in a plane crash, how he was the pilot, how he asked his father to be his “first official passenger”, how they never got off the ground, how it was his fault, and how could never forgive himself for what he did to his father.

Now, Jack Shephard knows a little something about guilt. And about causing irrevocable harm to his father. He gives it to Locke straight up: his father’s gone. He has to let it go. What follows is a perfect mirroring of their conversation from “Orientation”, one of the best bits of dialogue from a show loaded with memorable exchanges, which went like this –

LOCKE: If it's not real, then what are you doing here, Jack? Why did you come back?
Why do you find it so hard to believe?
JACK: Why do you find it so easy?
LOCKE: It's never been easy! I can't do this alone, Jack. I don't want to. It's a leap of
faith, Jack.

But this time, Jack’s the one urging Locke on, attempting to show a stubborn, struggling man a different way of thinking. He tells him it’s okay to let go. “What makes you think letting go is so easy?” Locke asks. Jack responds with complete honesty – “It's not. In fact, I don't really know how to do it myself. And, that's why I was hoping that…maybe you could go first.” But Locke’s had enough. He says goodbye and wheels away. Jack shouts after him, “I wish you believed me”. Locke pauses, then wheels out the door.

I’ve got goose bumps even now. Whether they’re on the Island or off, original timeline our Sideways, these two men need each other. In the hatch, Locke told Jack that he couldn’t do it alone. In the hospital, Jack asks Locke to show him how to let go. That discussion in the hatch laid some of the first bricks for Jack’s road to inner peace, toward his acceptance of the things out of his control, acceptance of his destiny. Even though it went against every instinct he’d ever had, Jack pushed the button. He took the leap of faith. Now it’s time for Locke to do the same. Once again, Locke needs to show Jack the way. And I think he will.

So a few episodes after the game-changing “Happily Ever After”, we’re not any closer to knowing “the answer” to the Sideways world. I’ve thrown my whole theory about the MIB causing the Sideways timeline and how taking him down on the Island will lead to the collapse of the “fake” Sideways world right out the window. This world doesn’t seem all that bad. And it doesn’t seem like the MIB’s going to be in the mood to give any rewards to Jack in the form of a loving relationship with his son anytime soon. So what is it? Are we going to end the show with two different endings, two different versions of all our characters? That would be odd. I could dig it, but I don’t think it’s likely. Somehow the enlightenment of Sideways Locke will be crucial. I can bank on that. But otherwise, I really don’t have the slightest idea. That’s just the way I like it too. That’s the show Lost has been for six years. I wouldn’t want it to change now.

Time to switch over to the Island action and, boy, was there a lot of it. We pick up with Sawyer and the rest of the Elizabeth crew in the captivity of Team Widmore in the Hydra cages. After Smokey rips through the camp, decimating the guards just like he did Keamy’s mercenary team, Jack hustles over, grabs a key and frees them from the cages. Woo-wee, saved by the MIB! Not so fast my friend. The last piece has fallen into place, the final trap set to fall over that block of cheese. He’s earned the trust of most of the group but, unfortunately for his plan, not the trust of its two leaders – Jack and Sawyer.

After a quick stop at the Ajira plane where the MIB effortlessly disposes of two clueless guards (Shooting the Smoke Monster with bullets? Honestly?) and collects a watch and a brick of C4, he gathers the group and tells them that flying off the Island isn’t going to work. They’re going to have to take the submarine. As he leads the group back to the submarine dock, Sawyer asks Jack to hang back with him for a little chat. Sawyer has no intentions of letting the MIB leave the Island with the rest of them, so he asks Jack to help buy him some time to get everyone sans MIB on the sub. Jack agrees.

The group reaches the sub. The coast appears to be clear. Jack and the MIB wait a beat while the rest charge the dock. Sawyer, Lapidus, Hurley and Sun make it into the sub, while the MIB makes one last attempt to get Jack to leave with him. “Whoever told you, you needed to stay had no idea what he was talking about,” he says. Without hesitation, Jack boldly answers, “John Locke told me I needed to stay,” and shoves the MIB into the water. Just one more of many badass Jack moments this season. And boy did it feel good to see him do that. Enough with the smack talk about Locke already! Jack’s going to prove to the MIB who was right all along.

But before the rest of the group can climb in, shots ring out over the dock. Widmore’s men have arrived (albeit pretty late) to protect their only means of transportation off the Island. Kate takes a bullet in the shoulder. If anything’s going to get Jack on the sub, it’s Kate. He hustles over to her, picks her up, and with the help of Sayid, gets her into the submarine. Before Jack can get out, the sub’s hatch has closed and they’re diving.

Frantically searching for a first aid kit, Jack eventually turns to his backpack. Little did he know the MIB had pulled the old switcheroo while they waited together in the bushes, so instead of first aid, Jack finds the C4 rigged to a stopwatch. Piece-by-piece, Jack began to put everything together. “This is what he wanted,” he starts. “[The MIB] said that he can’t leave the Island without us. I think that he can’t leave the Island unless we’re all dead. He told me that he could kill anyone of us whenever he wanted. So, what if he hasn’t because he’s…he’s not allowed to. What if he’s trying to get us to kill each other?” Sawyer’s not buying any of it. He wants to pull the wires like Sayid said they could (good to see Sayid flashing the tech skills again, by the way). Then Jack drops this doozie (one of many this episode) – “Nothing is gonna happen...James. We are going to be okay. Just have to trust me.”

But Sawyer doesn’t trust him. He can’t. Not after what happened with Jughead. Not after what happened to Juliet. He doesn’t speak destiny. So he pulls the wires and just when you think that maybe Jack was wrong, the timer begins ticking down, double-time.

Loved this scene. Jack giving Sawyer the Locke treatment, Sawyer giving Jack the Jack treatment. It was like looking in the mirror, but this time we’re not in the Sideways world. How many times has Jack been the one yelling “I’m not gonna stand here and do nothing!” while Locke was talking about purpose and the will of the Island? Well, this time it was Sawyer yelling. John wasn’t always right, but this time Jack is.

While everyone else begins to panic, Sayid springs into action. He knows what needs to be done, just like he has at almost every turn. Back in the day, when everyone was looking to Jack as the leader making the decisions, he had Sayid’s clear-headed approach to lean on. Whether on the Island with Rousseau, with Henry Gale, with their trap for the Others or off the Island when he shot himself to save Nadia, Sayid has always been willing to make the tough call. As he told Jack in “Through the Looking Glass”, “I’m willing to give my life if it means securing rescue.” That’s what he does here. He quickly informs Jack about Desmond in the well (See? He didn’t kill him!), tells him “It’s going to be you” then does what needs to be done. He grabs the bomb and takes off down the hall, trying to get as far away from the group as possible. The bomb explodes. Sayid’s dead.

As I (and everyone else) predicted last week, Sayid didn’t kill Desmond. Desmond’s question to him about how he’s going to explain to Nadia what he did to get her back, how he was going to justify his horrible means of achieving a selfish end, touched whatever good there was lying dormant in his soul. Sayid died a hero, plain and simple. Maybe this one final act doesn’t make up for all the people he killed, but it let us know that there’s never a point when it’s time to give up on a person, even when all hope appears to be lost. Just like Hurley said, even Anakin came back from the dark side. Maybe Sayid’s scale was more balanced than Dogen thought.

Speaking of Des, now that we know he’s still in that well, what’s the plan for him the rest of the way? The MIB fears his specialness, that much is clear. But how can Des use his electromagnetic immunities to take down the Monster? He’s immune to knives, bullets, explosions and water; it’s not like Des can shoot electromagnetism out of his hands, and even if he could, who’s to say that would have any effect on him? But once again, we find Desmond below ground, just like his days in the hatch, struggling for survival. It’s time for Jack to play the Locke role again and save Desmond’s life, brotha, so he can save them.

Despite his heroics, Sayid’s sacrifice couldn’t stop the bomb from damaging the sub. One of the other hatches blows off the side, killing Lapidus and sending water flooding in. It’s time to evacuate. Jack hands an unconscious Kate off to Hurley and tells him to swim to safety. He has to stay and help Jin pry away a large cabinet-looking object that’s trapped Sun against the wall. On three they lift it away, only to find that something else has also pinned her. And there’s no moving this one. After Sawyer gets knocked in the head, the stakes are clear. But Jin won’t let Jack stay and let Sawyer die. He urges Jack to save Sawyer. I’ve mentioned the history between these characters, Sawyer’s one of Jin’s best friends on the Island, going all the way back the raft through their Dharma days. They’ve been through a lot. There’s no use in everyone dying in this sub. He will stay and help Sun. Jack knows what comes next, but he listens to Jin anyway. It’s just Jin and Sun left on the sinking sub.

I really thought I was going to lose it watching this next scene. When Jin made the call to let Jack leave, my eyes welled up a bit. Sun kept pleading for Jin to leave, to save himself, but he wouldn’t. He refused to let them be apart again. He tells his wife in Korean “I won't leave you. I will never leave you again”. The Korean hit me the hardest. It was really, really beautiful. She kept pleading, but Jin wasn’t going anywhere. Finally, she embraced him. After one last kiss, we cut away to some shots of the sub sinking with sad music in the background. It was a heartwarming and gut-wrenching scene all in one. We didn’t have to see inside that sub; we knew what was happening. After they both passed away, we were left with a shot of their hands slowly drifting apart. That part was only gut-wrenching.

Sun and Jin were always the couple that weren’t meant to be together. Not “together” in the sense of being in a relationship with each other, but ‘together” as in the same physically proximity. The show continually ripped them apart and brought them together, only to rip them apart again. The raft, the Kahana explosion, the Island moving, again and again we saw these two separated, each time with greater and greater obstacles dividing them. But as Jack’s heavy-handed tomato metaphor in “The Package” taught us, sometimes sheer stubbornness can overpower even fate. Jin and Sun died together, and even though the last image we had was of them drifting apart, of separating once again, it was only symbolic of that stubbornness. Only death could keep those two apart. I’d almost consider it a happy ending for them.

(Quick note, because this isn’t the important part of the scene but in needs to be said: Jack never would have left Jin in Season 1. No way. Again, he’s now recognized the things he cannot change. He’s learning to let go. In “White Rabbit”, Christian told him a story about a little boy who died on his operating table. He says Jack doesn’t have what it takes to deal with that. Well, Jack sure did here.)

I’ve gotta say, I’ve been more worried about Kate getting shot than I would have expected. No, she’s not my favorite character. Or second, or third, or probably even fifth. But at this point, I’ve spent six years with these people. I’ve grown attached. I’ve learned to see the good in all of them. Losing any of them would (and following the rest of the carnage in this episode, is soon going to) feel like a big piece of Lost is missing. Plus, I’ve never for a second felt like there was a chance Kate wouldn’t survive to the end, so maybe it was more shock than anything. But guess what? We’re pretty much at the end. Everyone’s at risk.

This gives me a chance to talk about something that hasn’t been given enough attention – the fact that Kate isn’t one of the candidates. I find this hard to believe, and really a bit troubling too. I guess we don’t know why Jacob crossed out many of the others he had marked as candidates at one time or another, but I think we can assume it has something to do with their “goodness”. I just have a difficult time believing that Kate’s done something so egregious that she has to be stricken from the list. I mean, she’s worse than Sawyer? Really? If we’re considering what everyone’s done since coming to the Island, I think Kate’s as much of a model citizen as anyone. She’s always been there to comfort people like Claire or Sun or Hurley in the hard times. She’s always down for a good rescue mission. And she did the noble thing of leaving behind her life as Aaron’s mother – a life she’d grown to love more than anything, ever – so she could do what was best for him and what was best for Claire. Looking just at her post-815 life, I challenge you to name me one of the survivors who seemed more helpful and kind – who seemed more good – than Kate. You can’t do it.

So why would Jacob take her off his list? I’m guessing this isn’t a recent development, either; Locke told her back in “Left Behind” that the Others weren’t too keen on her joining the group. They said it was because of her past. But you’re going to tell me her past is worse than Sawyer’s? Or Sayid’s? Give me a break. There has to be some other reason. I don’t think they can just sweep this one under the rug. Kate’s to big of a character for us to just accept that she’s not one of the candidates without an explanation. End of rant.

At the end of “The Candidate”, we’re left with Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley alone on a dark, empty beach. A moment of utter despair. Out of all the low points these four have been through both together and individually in the past three years, this is the lowest. All hope is lost for them. It would be for me too if it weren’t for Jack. He feels just like the rest of the group. He’s been beaten down just like they have. But I know that Jack’s now armed with something the MIB can’t take away from him – faith in the Island. The MIB might have been able to prey on John Locke’s willingness to trust the Island, to make him into what he calls “a sucker”, but he can’t do that with Jack. He’s shown him his true colors and they’re as dark and rotten as they come. It’s the man who believes in the Island’s specialness versus the man who says, “It’s just a damn island”. The latter might be impervious to earthly weapons, but the former has all that comes from being chosen as the protector of a place where miracles happen. This week we will learn exactly comes with that territory, what kind of tricks Jack will have up his sleeve when that final encounter between Jack and the MIB finally come to pass. It should be a one hell of a ride.

Until next week…