Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Lost: The Candidate

Whaaaaat just happened? I'm not sure I can even sum it up. Let's just start this thing.

Play...

0:02 - I guess Jack and Locke are always meant to be rivals, no matter what. Well, not direct rivals, but men with conflicting views of the world. Jack thinks he can help Locke walk again, Locke says no thanks, does not compute with Jack who thinks everyone wants to be fixed and he's the one to do it.
0:03 - How much better would the world be if Widmore had shot Kate like he threatened to? I can't have been the only person yelling at my TV for Sawyer to hang onto his gun and Widmore to do as he said. Grrr.

0:09 - Bernard! I completely forgot he was a dentist, but he didn't completely forget Jack (who he claimed was flirting with Rose on the flight). Doesn't seem like sideways Jack is quite so defensive about destiny as he didn't fly into one of his trademark "it's just a coincidence!" tirades when he started to realize how many people seemed to be on that flight.
0:11 - Important point made by Smokey, if he wanted all the castaways dead why does he keep saving and forgiving them? Seemed to convince Jack a little bit, but he still knows he's not supposed to leave. Good to see him sticking with a conviction that's supported by the facts on the island, crazy as those tend to be.

0:12 - An interesting mystery involving Kate? Impossible!...but WHY was her name crossed off in the cave? I'll just guess that Jacob realized how INCREDIBLY annoying she is and figured Smokey being stuck with her for an eternity would only make him more vindictive.
0:14 - "What are you doing here?!" Seriously Kate? You all think you're about to be murdered by the Smoke Monster because you're stuck in a cage, Jack shows up and opens it, and you stand in the doorway blocking everyone's escape so you can look stupid and ask that? Isn't Kate supposed to run, isn't that her thing that she does? RUN KATE YOU IDIOT!

0:21 - As much as we all hate Anthony Cooper for being a complete dirtbag there was something really sad about seeing him catatonic in that rest home.
0:22 - Two things. #1 Why the hell did Smokey need a watch? #2 that wooden staircase to the plane was very Gilligan's Island. If only it had been a wooden staircar we'd have an Arrested Development reference instead!
0:26 - Nice to see things moving along quickly. Earlier in the season we would've had a whole episode about the trip from the cages to the plane, then the twist before the credits would be the bomb Widmore planted, then Smokey's line about leaving on the sub would be in the preview for next week. Instead we got all that in the span of a few minutes. Again, glad to see Jack refusing to change his mind about staying, and glad to see Sawyer is at least determined to leave Smokey behind.

0:30 - Sideways Locke unconsciously muttering about pushing the button and his "I wish you had believed me" suicide note to Jack? Yes please!
0:35 - This was one of my favorite Lost moments of all time and if you told me two seasons ago that it would involve Jack I wouldn't have believed you:
Smokey: You sure you won't reconsider Jack?
Jack: Yeah, I'm sure.
Smokey: Whoever told you you needed to stay had no idea what they were talking about!
Jack: John Locke told me I needed to stay. *SHOVE* *SPLASH*
Amazing to see Locke get some redemption from beyond the grave with all the garbage Smokey has been spouting about him with his own voice. Jack is no longer begrudgingly believing Locke's claims, he's proudly sticking up for him.
0:35 - THEN! IN THE VERY SAME MINUTE! Kate gets shot! SOMEONE SHOT HER!!! I'm sure someone will be offended that I leaped up and cheered, but whatever. I was on cloud 9 after this minute of television.
0:37 - I knew there was something up with Smokey fiddling with the backpacks, and the moment it became clear. The C4 is in Jack's backpack! Smokey IS the bad guy, I was right! It's been obvious the whole time, but I'm still happy to be right.
0:38 - So THAT'S why he took the watch. A timer on the bomb. Very clever.


0:45 - Welcome to the button pushing scene part 2. Jack urging someone else not to do something to save themselves, because the truth is nothing will happen. Old Jack, down in the hatch, made that decision about the pointlessness of the button out of defiance and frustration. New Jack on the sub makes that determination about the bomb based on logic and evidence, but it's logic based on the rules of the island. Smokey can't kill them, just like Blond Ghost Kid said, so that bomb can't go off just like the dynamite Jack lit couldn't kill him and Alpert. Sawyer wasn't there, he doesn't trust Jack, and he pulls out the leads, the timer stops, everyone is saved, Jack was wrong again...
0:45 - ...until the timer starts going faster. Congrats Sawyer, Smokey can't kill you, but you can. Well, he shouldn't be able to because he's a candidate, but I guess since Smokey made the bomb and Sawyer merely changed it then it could kill them.
0:45 - Goodbye Sayid...I'm always amazed by what can happen in one minute of Lost and how little can happen in entire episodes. I guess Desmond's question of what he would tell Nadia had a major effect on Sayid. He told Jack where to find Desmond, and that he must be important since Smokey wanted him dead and seemingly couldn't do it himself. Then he ran as far as he could with the bomb before it exploded in his hands, saving everyone else from instant death. Before he went he said something very interesting when Jack asked why Sayid was telling him everything; "because it's going to be you Jack." Jack will replace Jacob? How could Sayid know that? Might have something to do with him being dead.

0:46 - Okay, so Frank got hit with a steel door, but did that kill him? Many people seem to think so, but I'm not believing it until someone explicitly says on the show that he's dead. Maybe I'm in denial, but I need to be right now.
0:52 - I was never invested in Sun and Jin to the degree that others seemed to be. I didn't really care about them having their reunion last week, and it wasn't on the list of things that HAD to happen or I'd be pissed this season. Still, their death got to me. Watching it again, when Jin sends Jack away with the air you know it's over for them. If Jack can't get out without a canister then Jin doesn't stand a chance since he still has to free Sun. It's interesting that their deaths are set up by their time apart, and almost justify the amount of time the show held them apart. If they had always been together it might have seemed a bit convenient that Jin stayed so the show could get rid of both of them in one go. The fact that they had been separated for so long meant you could understand when Jin refused to leave.

0:59 - Great sideways scene between Jack and Locke. Sideways plane crash put Locke in a wheelchair, island plane crash got Locke out of one. Being used by a father he hated ruined island Locke, injuring a father he loved ruined sideways Locke. Seems like he's a tragic figure no matter what.

1:00 - There's something so crushing about Hurley crying over Jin and Sun. In that moment it felt like he was crying over everyone and everything. The guy who is the positive light of this show finally breaking down and wailing was brutal. Normally Jack walking away so no one could see him cry too would have annoyed me, but since he's really been getting it lately I'll let him have this one.

It seems like we've waited all season for things to start to pick up, and they officially have. We now know that Smokey is officially evil, he is officially trying to kill everyone (just like Ghost Michael said), and they really are supposed to stay on the island. I still don't think it lets Widmore off the hook. If Smokey can't be harmed by gunfire then would shelling the camp really have taken him out? Anyway, let's take a quick status report just so I can get my head straight.

  • Jack, Kate, and Hurley are on a beach (I'm guessing on the main island)
  • Smokey and Claire are at the docks on Hydra island
  • Widmore and Zoe are in the Dharma station on Hydra island
  • Desmond is in the well
  • Richard, Ben, and Miles are somewhere (hopefully we'll find out next week because I miss these guys)
  • Ghost Michael, Blond Ghost kid, and Ghost Jacob are all on the island somewhere
  • RIP Sun, Jin, Sayid, and Frank (okay, he wasn't on the beach with everyone else, which means neither Hurley or Jack saved him. I'm accepting that he's dead too)
Great episode and my despair/hope theory is still going strong. Despair can't kill you directly, it can only put you in a situation where you can do harm to yourself. That seems to be what Smokey is stuck with as it relates to candidates. My other theory about the sideways world being the flimsy, patchy creation of Jughead got some possible support too if I may take a leap. Locke can't remember what happened that caused the plane crash. Yeah, you could chalk it up to stress and trauma, but it's also possible that it's a blank that hasn't been filled in yet, or may never be filled in. Maybe all the sideways world knows is that Locke and Anthony were in a plane crash, maybe it's not complete enough to know what happened before or during that crash. Exactly how much past and future did Jughead create? That's my crazy question for the week. We don't have much Lost left, might as well push the craziness while we can!

Status: *ding ding ding* 3 thumbs up

No comments:

Post a Comment