6.14 The Candidate

“You saved John’s life. Why can’t that be enough?”
“Because it’s not.”

“Because it’s going to be you, Jack.”

“I won’t leave you. I will never leave you again.”

OK, a few weeks ago I wrote a blubbery and passionate response to “Ab Aeterno,” because it was one of the most epic hours of television I’d ever seen. A friend of mine emailed me right before tonight’s episode and said, “Make sure you have Kleenex handy” (he works at the TV station and gets to see the ep a few hours early) and I thought, “Uh oh...” But then it opened with John Locke in a hospital bed and Jack standing over him grinning and I thought, Oh! Maybe he meant tears of joy!!

NO. He most certainly did NOT mean tears of joy. The writers took out not one, not two, but FOUR major characters in one fell swoop. Sayid, like Titus in Edward Gorey’s “Gashlycrumb Tinies” poem, flew into bits. (WAAAAAH!!) And like a certain major character in the series finale of Buffy who’s sort of cut in half with a sword in the midst of battle and it happens so fast we have no time to mourn, it HAPPENED SO FAST WE HAD NO TIME TO MOURN!! There was no sad music, no montage of Sayidness, no characters saying, “Poor Sayid,” no tears, no tearful goodbyes, no body... NOTHING. Oh, Sayid. Let’s pause for a moment before dwelling on the major death scene and say goodbye to this character (and also lend our condolences to redeem147 and Joan...). This is a man who was a torturer, but he tortured himself more than he ever did anyone else. He loved with his whole being, and he hated what he did for a living. He died, and then came back an empty shell of his former self (perhaps THAT was his true death back then?) and only when Desmond talked to him did we see the tiniest shaft of light shine out of his eyes once again. He remembered who he used to be, he remembered that he loved, and he loved mightily, and he spared Desmond, and his final act is a heroic one, jumping on the grenade, so to speak, to save everyone else. Yes, the old Sayid was in there, knowing how a bomb worked, knowing he couldn’t do anything about it, and putting himself before the others. From the moment they arrived on that island, Sayid did everything in his power to get them off. And now, in his final act, he ensured that some of them would live to maybe see their way off the island some day.

And then, Lapidus was conked unconscious and we can probably presume he died, unless he washes up on shore next week. Don’t count him out yet, because he certainly didn’t get any final heroic scenes, but on the other hand, he was peripheral compared to everyone else on that sub, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he were dead.

But... that scene. Oh, that scene. For me, the most painful death has always been Charlie’s. We watched his final act, we saw the water pour in around him, we saw him cross himself and say goodbye to Desmond, and then float upwards in quiet death. The piano, the mournful violin, it all came together in a spectacular feat of sadness that I was gutted. But this? This topped it. OK, maybe, as I wrote in my notes (and then my brother immediately emailed me after) it was a little too Titanic, with Rose letting go of Jack’s hand. But I don’t care. It was beautiful. And YES I kept thinking, “Oh my GOD if you both die, then Ji Yeon will grow up an orphan and she will be raised by the Paiks. THE PAIKS!!!” But were they really ever going to get off that island anyway? Probably not. The beauty in that moment was how they died. I was really unhappy when they were reunited and spoke English (??!!) instead of their native Korean, a language that Jin would still be thinking in, and one that Sun has used almost exclusively for the past three years. So when it was clear she was trapped, I was alarmed, and then when they started speaking in Korean, I knew it was all over, and I started sobbing. SOBBING. I was whipping Kleenexes out of the box and really LOUDLY crying, with my husband chuckling on the couch (he has NO HEART. NONE. See, if a character on The Wire died, he’d have been in tears... but he’s never had that attachment to people on Lost. He said, and I quote, “Poor Nikki and her attachment to fictional characters.” Oh yeah, buddy? Let’s see how you handle it if anything ever happens to Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights... you will be a ball of goo on the floor). Anyway... And then they vowed they’d never be apart, and then the camera pulled back on the sub... the piano music, and then... the hands. Oh my GOD they had to show the hands. What a beautiful, beautiful image, but when the hands pulled away from each other I cried and cried some more. I wanted them to somehow be entwined for eternity. So I cried even harder. And when I finally got my sobs under control, HURLEY started sobbing and I was a mess all over again. Oh, Lost... four major characters in one go.

Why was I crying so much? I was crying for Sayid, for Jin and Sun, for Ji Yeon, a tiny bit for Frank (love the character, but it wasn’t tear-inducing, really)... but also for the end. This show only has 4 hours left (well, as of tonight, don’t know if you hear this, the finale has been extended by a full half hour, so we have four and a half hours left!) and I don’t know if I can handle these goodbyes. I don’t want to say goodbye to the characters, to the story, to the fine writing week after week... I don’t want to see the island for one last time, and know there’s no more Lost. The speculation will be over... but I LOVE the speculation!! I have to say goodbye to the questions, the mysteries, the clues, the hints. To Damon and Carlton’s skilled crafting of this series, to the collection of writers, to everything that Lost is about. I’m so excited to see it end, yet I don’t want to say goodbye.

And tonight’s episode was a forced goodbye, as if a trial run for the finale. Oh god... can I make it there?!

Highlights:
• Jack saying to Locke, “I think you’re a candidate.”
• Sawyer grabbing the gun away from “Doughboy.” HAHA!!! That was AWESOME.
• Bernard again!! We may never see them on the island again, but I’m so happy to see them in the sideways world.
• “Memory serves you were flirting with my wife Rose when I was in the bathroom.” LOL!
• Sun putting the ring back on Jin’s finger. Aw...
• Hurley when he hears Smokey: “And we’re dead.”
• Jack unlocking the cages and saying, “I’m with him.” WICKED line.
• Smokey taking out the two guys by the plane without even batting an eyelash. Oh my god that was epic.
• Kate shot!! ZOMG!

The Numbers:
Did I mention 4 major people died in this episode?? Wah.

Did You Notice?:
• So in this episode Jack seems to be putting together that something odd is happening. He hasn’t been hit by true love or a near-death experience, but he’s just using his own powers of deduction and, methinks, a faith he has in this world that he doesn’t have in the original timeline. In that one he’d think it was coincidence, but in this world he’s starting to think maybe they were on the plane for a reason. The new Jack on the island seems to have faith and a belief that things happen for a reason, and that hard-fought idea is something that the SW Jack seems to already possess. Can he put it together without falling in love or getting mowed down by Desmond?
• Sawyer gets the upper hand, but gives it up for Kate, exactly the same way he did when they were breaking rocks and he gave it because Juliet threatened to hurt Kate.
• Bernie’s still a dentist in this reality!
• There’s something odd about the way Bernard remembers Anthony Cooper, writes down the name, and when Jack says, “It was three years ago... you remember that?” he says, “Of course I do, Jack.”
• “I hope you find what you’re looking for.” Again, Bernard seems to know something more here. (OK, and I also really wanted Bono to jump out of one of those doors and start singing!)
• As Smokey is talking to Jack, you see the smoke from the campfire billowing behind him.
• Smokey is lying to Jack: We already know he can’t actually kill anyone, and he tells Jack that he spared them when he could have killed them.
• The scene of Jin and Sun chatting in the cages is so sweet. The reunion just didn’t get to me the way I wanted it to (mostly because I thought they were about to be zapped by that fence!!) and so this episode fulfilled the reunion fantasy I really wanted for so long.
• As soon as Chip is killed by Smokey, I started yelling, “Zoe!! RUN OUTSIDE!!! YOU ARE NEEDED BY THE CAGES.” ;)
• Jack being in the nursing home seemed to be him forcing Locke to be fixed... the other timeline Jack was coming through in this scene.
• When Helen went to get Anthony I said to my husband, “So is he going to be senile and drooling?” And then... he was. To which my husband replied, “Oh YEAH! In the sideways world, Anthony gets his!!” Only to find out he’s some sweet beloved man here.
• Ah, the old C4. You know, if I were Kate on the island, I’d take one look at that and say, “Oh for god’s sakes, if I see ONE more packet of that stuff, SERIOUSLY...”
• When Locke is explaining to everyone what could happen with the C4, he says, “Boom,” the same way Desmond says it while explaining the bomb in the freighter to Jin and Michael in S4.
• I’m sure it was obvious to most of us the moment Sawyer said, “I’m sorry for not trusting you” that he didn’t trust Smokey as far as he could throw him.
• OK, and right at this commercial break they had a CTV station ID with Josh Holloway looking into the camera and smirking that I’ve NEVER seen before and it made me melt. Holy freakin’ wow.
• Locke saying, “Push the button” and “I wish you had believed me” made me squeal. The first is obvious, the second was John Locke’s suicide note to Jack.
• Jack gets an Apollo bar out of the vending machine similar to the one Jacob got one from when he gave it to Jack.
• Christian died exactly the same way in both worlds. Significant?
• That rosewood box that Claire and Jack look at had a mirror in it, and notice at first it showed both of them, and then the camera turns so Claire disappeared and it was only Jack. A foreshadowing of something happening to Claire Bear?
• The first ones who run to the sub are the four Listies and Lapidus.
• The guy on the sub looked like Radzinsky! For a second I forgot we were in the same timeline and thought maybe it was him.
• Smokey said earlier that he couldn’t travel over water... I think he meant in his smoke monster form, but Jack and Sawyer seem to think he’s like the Wicked Witch of the West.
• Aw... my heart broke when they abandoned poor Claire AGAIN.
• OK, I know that technically, Jack was right and Sawyer was wrong and by Sawyer pulling the wires when he did, without consulting anyone, at least four people died. BUT... considering the last time Jack gave a big speech and was SO sure that he was right, Juliet died as a result, you can’t blame Sawyer for doing his own thing in this scene.
• “THERE IS NO SAYID!” Oh, SADNESS!!!
• John Locke is momentarily distracted as Jin walks by, as if he knows him.
• Like in the other world, Locke has an African-American male nurse.
• When Jack talks to Locke in the hallway, there’s a “Caution: Oxygen” sign behind them, right after the scene where everyone needed oxygen.
• When Jack tells Locke that he went to see his father, I just thought, “GOD, Jack, you have totally overstepped your bounds here...” I know he wants to fix him, but he has to understand that Locke has free will, and should be allowed to exercise it, even if he is punishing himself for what he did to his father.
• What was with Jack using all the catchphrases there? “What happened, happened. And... you can let it go. Come on, John, if we don’t live together, we’ll die alone. I mean, son of a BITCH! This is the beginning of the end for you. I’m a man of science, but also a man of faith... fine, if you’re leaving, fine. I’ll see you in another life, bruthah.”
• I am NOT choosing sides here, but simply pointing out that... did you notice when Hurley and Kate hit the shore, she immediately ran to Jack, grabbing him and upset that she couldn’t find him, but doesn’t seem to notice Sawyer bleeding out on the beach?

So Many Questions...
• Widmore’s list has Ford, the Kwons, and Reyes. What is his list? Considering two of the people on it are dead... does this mean bad news for Hurley and Sawyer?? NO NO NO NO!!!!
• “He’s coming.” Who is he? Is Widmore preparing for The Rapture or something? Is Jacob returning the same way Jesus returned?
• Seriously, WHY are Jin and Sun speaking English??!! It’s really bugging me. But I must admit, having them speak Korean was more powerful at the end because they spoke English up to that point, BUT then it comes off as contrived, since there’s no logical reason why they would speak in English when both of them are more at ease in that language.
• What is the significance of the rosewood box that Christian left to Claire?
• How is Claire staying at a motel if she gave Kate her credit card? (Assuming she had a second one?)
• How many people did Widmore bring with him? Every time you turn around there’s another dozen shooting at everyone.
• I don’t know anything about submarines, but why do they dive for only 30 seconds and it’ll take 5 minutes to go back up?
• “Because it’s going to be you, Jack.” What the WHAT?! Did Sayid just reveal who the candidate actually is? Because my money is on YES. I think most people have been torn between Jack and Desmond, and I’ve thought it would be Jack from the beginning of the season (though I’d be equally happy if it were a surprise).
• Locke says he’s off to finish what he started. What does that mean? He’s going to drive the rest of them to kill each other? He’s going to kill Desmond? (NOOOO!!!)


Me tomorrow:
I’m on Facebook! Come and find me. I am here. :)

Tomorrow listen in to Marshall and Forbes on The Ocean 98.5 in Victoria, BC at 7:10 a.m. local time, 10:10 a.m. EST. Go here and click on the Listen Now button if you’re out of the listening area.

And tomorrow at noon I will NOT be participating in the Globe and Mail Lost chat from noon to 1pm EST (I will be on a plane to NYC... I’m also missing an opportunity to guest-host Innerspace, ARGH) but it will still be happening! Go here to ask questions and comment.

And finally, listen to KEX 1190 at 6:20 p.m. PST, 9:20 p.m. EST where I’ll be on the Mark & Dave show (and they’re big Lost fans so it’s always fun). Go here and click the Listen Now button.

Next week:
A preview that didn’t actually reveal a THING (all old material) but I know what it’s going to focus on. Let’s just say it might be THE episode we’ve been waiting for. (Please don’t kill off anyone, please don’t kill off anyone...)