LOST -- Episode 6.14 -- "The Candidate"

I've been having a hard time dealing with this episode. I didn't realize it till a few days elapsed and I still hadn't posted my reflection. Sun, Jin, and Sayid are all dead (and maybe Frank, too). It's like I've lost some friends, and the grieving has been tough.

No, I haven't been bawling non-stop, or even thinking about it that much. It's just with only 4-1/2 hours remaining in the series, "The Candidate" made me understand -- yet again -- that this series is going to be ending. And the ending will probably not be a happy one.

Several things were made clear in this current episode. They are:

1) All bets are off on who will live and die.

2) Evil Locke is truly, legitimately EVIL.

3) Kate is Jacob's dirty litle secret.

4) Jack will be Jacob's replacement.

5) Desmond is going to be needed by Jack in both timelines to bring this whole thing to a resolution.

But what was mostly clear was how much I've come to love these characters. When Hurley collapses on the beach at the end in a fit of tears at losing his friends, I couldn't hold back my own. I wanted to console the big lug. As Hurley goes, so do we, it seems, and what "The Candidate" did -- besides enter the pantheon as one of the best episodes of LOST ever -- was re-establish the emotional connection we have to these characters as we enter the final leg of the season.

Emotional Breakdown

There is something wrong with you if you didn't feel the agony of losing Sun and Jin. Separated first by secrets and lies, then by space and time, these two deserved a meaningful reunion. They got it, too, by dying together. As much as I hate losing them, though, this was the perfect end to their story. I know some will want to hang me for that statement, saying that it would have been better for them to reunite with their daughter, but for me their story has not been about Ji Yeon, but about reconciling their feelings for one another. By dying hand-in-hand, they finally reconciled all of the distance between them.

Oddly, though, the last shot of them has their dead hands separating in front of the red light of the sub. This symbolism is very ambiguous. Maybe it's meant to suggest that despite this minor reprieve, they are destined to be separated. Or maybe the red light is meant to tell us to stop crying over this because they are still alive and kicking in the Sideways World.

I am hoping that the Sideways World is not a Happily Ever After land for our characters at this point because it will only ruin the impact of majestic scenes like these. Dead is dead, the episode title told us. Sun and Jin are dead in the Island reality. This means they are meant to be dead. Sad, but I think true.

The Dirtly Little Secret

Holding a gun to Kate's head, Charles Widmore announces to Sawyer that she is expendable because she is not on the list. Later, Sawyer tells Kate this is true because he saw her name crossed out on Locke's cave wall. So, we are meant to believe here that Kate is not a candidate and therefore can die. Yet, when she is struck by a bullet, she is only wounded and is able to be rescued, first by Jack, then by Hurley.

So, what are we to make of this? Are Widmore and Sawyer correct?

No. We are privvy to more information than that. Not only did Jacob touch Kate's nose as a little girl during her New Kids on the Block lunch box heist, she was also one of the names that was not crossed out on Jacob's Lighthouse wheel. She was number 51 there. What this tells us is that Jacob has hidden her from the Man in Black, meaning that she is destined for something big and essential here in the endgame.

Kate is Jacob's dirty little secret, and that's not just because she hasn't showered in a few days. She may not be a candidate, but she, like Desmond, is a wild card.

Jack as Jacob's Replacement

I've already talked about this in previous blogs, but this episode gave us another great hint at Jack's greater destiny when Sayid told him, "It's going to be you, Jack," right before throwing himself on the bomb. Jack is meant to take the role of Jacob, to reconcile the two timelines, and to bring together everyone for one final battle against the Man in Black.

Desmond and Jack

Jack, thanks to Sayid, knows that Desmond is in a well on the Island. How will Jack know which well exactly? I imagine one of Hurley's deceased friends will be of some help in that respect. But, regardless of how Jack locates Des, he will need him if he intends to reconcile the two timelines.

That is the only way to defeat the Man in Black, by bringing together the timelines. When Jack encounters Desmond, I imagine they will have a moment where Desmond will lay his cards on the table and let Jack in on this Sideways World, or at least whatever information changed Desmond's attitude about being back on the Island.

The same union will take place in the Sideways World, too, as Jack and Desmond will team up in an attempt to get Locke on board for the surgery that is necessary to restore him to his former walking glory.

I will post later on Evil Locke and why it is important that we now know he is evil. I will need a full post to discuss this.

Happy Mother's Day, all...