On Wednesday night, I watched episode 6.14 again, accompanied by a pack of tissues. Although I did not pause or take notes, I found myself jotting down a long list of thoughts over the next few days. So here we go again - below is round two of "The Candidate" analysis. I have also responded to a few of your comments from round one.
ASHES AND WINE
Has there ever been a better nickname for the dueling island duo (Jacob and the Man in Black) than Ashes and Wine? I think not. But I digress...
Hurley still has Ilana's bag of Jacob's ashes. Given his ability to communicate with both Jacob and other deceased island inhabitants, that should come in handy during the final showdown with Smokey. {sidenote: I continue to find it odd and ironic that ash deters smoke.}
CROOKED TEETH
Bernard's behavior and demeanor was a bit unusual, upon second glance. It didn't really make sense to me until he told Jack about Locke's accident and Jack responded with "that was three years ago - you remember that?" When Bernard answered "of course I do," it seemed to me that he (like Eloise Hawking, Desmond and Sun in the ambulance bay) had a moment of absolute island experience recollection. But just as he and Rose were blissfully out of the shoot 'em up/blow 'em up business on the the island, Bernard is at peace with whatever he knows in the Flash Sideways.
DELIVER ME
I love that Claire is going to stay with Jack, because now I'm convinced that she will go into labor. At his house. And Jack will call his ex-wife Juliet to deliver Aaron. Of course at that very moment on the island, I have a sinking feeling that the exact opposite will happen to Crazy Hair Claire and her second son, Squirrel Baby.
EVERYBODY RUN, THE SMOKE MONSTER'S GOT A GUN
I watched that final scene a few times, because it was not clear who notLocke was referring to when he told Claire that he was going to finish what he started. I've changed my tune - I think that when notLocke said "not all of them" after Claire asked if they were all dead, he was referring to Desmond rather than his former friends on the sub. Even though Desmond is not a Candidate, his "uniquely and miraculously special" presence is preventing notLocke from leaving the island.
GUIDING LIGHT
Blog reader Evelynnes_Mom wondered about the significance, if any, of Sayid holding Claire's hand while approaching the Ajira plane. Excellent observation! I missed that the first time around.
My take on that is that Sayid was paying it forward. Desmond rescued Sayid from the dark side with their conversation, and then Sayid brought his enlightened and almost restored soul in contact with Claire's infected yet vulnerable soul. Just as Jacob made physical contact with his chosen ones off island, Sayid took Claire's hand to infuse her with just enough sense memory to help her realize who she used to be and wishes to return to.
Or he was just being a friendly fake zombie.
I JUST DIED IN YOUR ARMS TONIGHT
In a very unfortunate parallel, Sun died a very similar death to Juliet. Explosion. Trapped. Crushed. Letting go of the hands belonging to the men they loved as they died.
The flashing red light under water behind Jin and Sun as they floated away after dying was disturbingly reminiscent of the flashing yellow light on the console below Charlie as he floated away after dying.
ICE SKATERS
With apologies to the Skaters, if there was ever any doubt who Kate really loves - look no further than the scene on the beach after they swim back to shore. Kate ignores an unconscious Sawyer to hug and kiss Jack because "I couldn't find you."
INTO THE OCEAN
I still have no idea what Sawyer thought would happen if notLocke got pushed into the ocean. What was his plan, had he been on the dock when notLocke was in the water?
My only thought is this - Sawyer knows that the Others used the Spring in the Temple to heal. Perhaps he thought that water would do the opposite to Evil Incarnate. Or as Prius suggested in a comment - because notLocke took the form of smoke...he would be unable to do so if drenched? Both sound crazy to me, but I have been wrong before. And am frequently.
OH! I have to share something significant I noticed this time around: notLocke very specifically held the Man in Black Backpack in his hand while approaching Jack on the dock. It did NOT go in the water with him when Jack pushed him in. Again I must state...WTF.
Note to JustineJennifer, who left a comment about the backpack: after watching it several times, I believe that notLocke has his same backpack; that he simply put the C4 in Jack's. Note the differences in the photo above. They had 2 different types of packs, and even under rushed and stressful circumstances - I think Jack would have noticed if notLocke handed him the wrong one. But that's just my opinion!
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
I am reconsidering my original thought that Frank Lapidus perished in the sub. Although it would be rather miraculous for him to wake up so soon after being pummeled by a steel sub door, and then manage to swim up to the surface unassisted and with a major head injury - this is Lost. It is entirely plausible. Wishful thinking?
I like Diane's theory that in the end it may turn out that Lapidus is the Candidate (which Ilana suggested in S5), that he becomes Jacob's replacement while everyone else dies on the island and lives in the Flash Sideways.
PAPA, CAN YOU HEAR ME?
In the Flash Sideways world, both Locke and Ben have very different relationships with their fathers than in the original timeline. Both men are involved in their dads' lives, and have sympathy for their ailing, aging fathers. Ben lives with and cares for Roger Linus, while Locke is living with guilt for piloting and then crashing the small plane that left his dad in a catatonic state.
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Let's take a look at the current status of the main characters in both worlds:
Dead on Island/Alive in Flash Sideways
Charlie
Charlotte
Faraday
Ilana
Jin and Sun
Libby
Locke
Sayid
Alive in Both Worlds
Ben
Bernard & Rose (presumably, on island)
Claire
Desmond
Eloise
Hurley
Jack
Kate
Miles
Penny
Sawyer
Widmore
Status Unknown in Flash Sideways
Alpert
Jacob
Juliet
Lapidus
The Man in Black
Michael & Walt
Given that right after Ilana died on the island, we met her in the Flash Sideways, and that following Jin's death in this episode he walked by Locke in the hospital - I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of Sun or Sayid in the Flash Sideways world yet.
I am still at a loss for how the two worlds will converge or collide, but with only two regular episodes left until the finale, I have faith that our patience will be rewarded.
WARNING SIGN
In the S6 premiere (LA X), Dogen told Jack and co. that the paper inside the ankh in Hurley's guitar case said, "if your friend there dies, we're all in a lot of trouble." While it is safe to assume that is because Sayid was on that list as one of the final Candidates, I can't help but think about the fact that immediately after Sayid died - so did Jin and Sun. If the deaths of our beloved characters start to pile up before and in the finale, it seems that Jacob was right and is probably on the Good side after all.
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If any fellow Bay Area Lost fans are interested, I will be attending the May 20 screening of Times Talk Live: Lost in Dublin with a few friends - and would love for you to join us! By the way, this one-night-only Darlton chat is screening at theaters around the country, so check that link to for the one closest to you.
Thank you again for tuning in! If you leave comments on this post, you are eligible to win this week's giveaway (a photo of Josh Holloway). See previous episode post for details.
And if you haven't already heard about it, I am giving away all 5 seasons of Lost on DVD in a new contest. It ends right before the finale, so put on your creative caps and enter to win. :)
See you back here very early Wednesday morning, following the new episode.
-Jo
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16 comments:
I've never commented before (I never trust my theories enough-- you're the expert here!), but have a thought on the last episode that, for whatever reason, makes a ton of sense to me. I think the reason NotLocke knew everybody didn't die on the sub is that he was waiting for something that would have happened if all the candidates were dead. What that something is, I don't know-- he would be "free"? Would be all-powerful? Would be exempt from the "rules"?But whatever that something is, when he saw the sub blow up and nothing changed, he knew that at least some of the candidates had survived.
Just my theory. Probably totally crazy!
Hey Jo - thanks for the bonus post!
Re: the backpacks - I remember thinking while watching FLocke pick them up, he definitely reached over and took the one most to the right for him self, and gave Jack the one most to the left. Meaning, logically, they would be in the same order they were croaching, and he specifically made sure to give Jack the one that would have logically belonged to FLocke. I don't know how else he would have been able to get the C-4 onto Jack.
Thanks!
Great to read your further thoughts...one small thing, though: It was Bram who suggested that Frank was a candidate when Ilana said they had brought him along because he was important. She just looked at Bram and then Frank but didn't deny or confirm Bram's suggestion.
You might add a list: "Dead in both timelines": Keamie, Omar, Patchie, and Anthony Cooper, who is as good as dead. I feel that list is somehow significant as the really unredeemable end up dead or catatonic in both timelines, so for them "dead is dead".
About Sawyer telling Jack to get Locke in the water so they could escape on the sub - Sawyer did know that smokey couldn't fly accross the water to Hydra Island. Could Sawyer have made an assumption that water has some power over Locke's ability to transform? Or perhaps it was simply to buy them a few seconds to get far enough away from the dock before Locke could become smokey, thereby putting water between themselves and it/him.
Great thoughts! And thanks for the heads-up about that LOST talk on May 20; this is the first I've heard of it, but I see my theater is doing it too. Woohoo!
Interesting thought about Lapidus. Now that we know after the finale we are going to have a look at three alternative final scenes on Jimmy Kimmel, maybe one will include Lapidus still standing as Jacob's replacement? Three alternatives is a lot! Even Casablanca had only one - Ilsa stays with Rick instead of getting on the plane : )
Re: Sayid's hand holding:
They also held hands in 6x12, which I think was pre-redemption for Sayid.
My personal theory is, Claire was holding hands with Sayid for the same reason she grabbed Kate's hand, she was lonely, she had missed her friends. Sayid was either just letting it happen, or part of him still craved human contact, and he knew and understood that Claire was in the same boat as him.
Sorry you can't make it, but thanks for mentioning tomorrow's San Francisco event!
I know this is a s t r e a t c h but couldn't Claire really be considered a Shephard since paternally the last name should go to her? Is she, therefore, still a candidate?
To follow up on Diane's theory that Lapidus could be the one left to deal with Man in Black on the island, remember that the pilot was the very first victim of the smoke monster. Even though it wasn't Frank, the smoke monster chose the pilot, thinking it was Frank, as his #1 target after the crash.
I always thought it was strange that Frank missed that flight due to an alarm clock malfunction. Maybe Jacob touched him (or his clock) after all.
ok one more crazy thought....this time about Bernard. I've often wondered if any of these characters had a twin (Locke????) and when we see a dentist involved in the aftermath of an accident I couldn't help but think about needing dental records to i.d. a body. Wonder if Locke had a twin brother who maybe died (or didn't die but disappeared) as a result of the plane crash. Crazy, I know!
I wonder if UnLocke can sense the candidates... Does he even know that there is one more to come to the island? He must, if he's the one keeping track in the cave. So again, to whom was he referring? Could be Desmond... Could be he "senses" that Jack, Sawyer and Hurley didn't die... Could be he knows there is still one candidate out there OR could it be about BEN, RICHARD and Myles?
Thanks for the bonus blog and new theories. I wonder too if everyone on the island is going to die except for one person who stays there. Who knows.
I might be at the Dublin May 20th show. If so, hope to see you there.
Add Dogen to your list of Dead on the Island/Alive in the Alternate Timeline
Hey, Jo!
We saw that you'll be going to a Dublin, CA theater to catch the Times Talk Live session with Damon and Carlton (http://www.nytimes.whsites.net/talk/2010_live.html)! Well, we live out here in VA on the East Coast, so we decided to get tickets and go to NYC for the event itself.
I have no idea if any cameras will pick us up, but if they do, they'll be seeing Linda in a Jopinionated shirt! She'll be proudly wearing the burgundy one you gave us while we were at Comic Con!
We're looking forward to hearing one of "Darlton's" last media appearances before the finale!
Sunday May 23rd is going to be bigger than the Superbowl for us!
Hope you have a great time on Thursday and all through LOST finale weekend too!
Sincerely,
Frank and Linda
Out of curiosity I just re-watched the backpack sequence, and Locke's backpack does in fact land in the water.
It flies out of his hands after he's hit, then lands in the water, and as we see Locke get out of the water he tosses the backpack onto the deck.
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