Running out of candidates

By Chris Oliver and Ken Sury

Chris Oliver and Ken Sury might swear off plane trips and submarine rides after the latest episode of "Lost." We discuss how the candidates are getting thinned out in the episode "The Candidate."

Ken: I think I might have to lobby for the continued existence of the flash-sideways world after this episode, because at least everyone is alive there. We knew the body count was supposed to start rising with four episodes remaining, but the death tally was really gut-wrenching this time. Sayid (probably the only definite casualty we were expecting soon), Jin, Sun, Frank, and it's not looking too good for Kate and Sawyer, who are both bleeding. I was a bit shocked to see that much death in a short time. What's your take on this?

Chris: An upcoming episode is called "What They Died For," so I had a hunch some deaths were coming. Still, it was pretty shocking to see them go. My wife was blaming Jack for this, but I put the blame on Sawyer (or James, is the name Sawyer officially dead?). I think Jack was right, if they let it count down, it wouldn't have gone off. But by Sawyer pulling the cords out, he created the condition for their death. It's like, FLocke can load the gun, but you have to put it to your own head and pull the trigger. James pulled the trigger.

Ken: Exactly. Jack was recalling the non-exploding dynamite scenes when Richard tried to kill himself inside the Black Rock. He knew that if they left it alone it wouldn't go off. But I understood where Sawyer was coming from. He doesn't have the faith Jack now has, plus he's thinking "You know, Juliet listened to you too and now she's dead. Sorry, Doc, but I ain't buying.'

I think we all knew the initial stop of the countdown was short-lived. Sayid redeems himself and tells Jack about Desmond before getting as far away as he can in the sub before those four bricks of C-4 go kablooey. There was the Sayid we loved. So FLocke tells Sawyer that "Of Mice and Men" was before his time, but he knows how to rig explosives, conveniently provided by Widmore. Hmmmm.

The whole Sun-Jin demise really does break my heart. We got a much better reunion scene for them than last week once they were marched into the cages, Jin told her then that he'd never leave and he kept that promise. But now Ji Yeon is an orphan. That bites.

Chris: I had a sneaking suspicion that FLocke was trying to kill all the candidates. In "Ab Aeterno," the Man in Black said he'd kill Jacob and anyone taking his place. He didn't need an airplane to leave then, so obviously he doesn't need one now. If you thought he might not be a bad guy, all ambiguity sunk with the sub. We know he is one evil mofo. If Jacob could channel Homer Simpson, he'd say "That's what I've been trying to tell you!"  Although you're right, it's funny how he knows how to rig a timer for explosives.

But does the flash-sideways diminish the impact of these deaths? We know we'll see Jin and Sun again, and the odds are pretty strong Sayid ain't out of the picture yet.

Ken: It doesn't diminish the impact for me. If anything, it gives me new hope for these characters we've come to love. That being said, they still have to find a way to stop FLocke from leaving the island. Some "Lost" fans have theorized that the flash-sideways world is occupied by the Man in Black because he did escape. I don't think that's the case. It may be that FLocke has to be stopped on the island in order to preserve the sideways world.

Jack appears to be putting the pieces together in sideways world with all these Oceanic 815 connections and Locke was dreaming about pushing the button and saying "I wish you believed me." The bleed-through between these two worlds also may be ramping up.

Chris: We found out how Locke ended up paralyzed in this world. He was an amateur pilot and he wanted to take his father, the man he loves more than anyone, up for a flight. But he barely got off the ground before he crashed, putting himself in a wheelchair and making his father a vegetable. Locke is ridden with guilt, so he won't let Jack try to fix him. Although I wanted to tell him: Dude, your dad deserved it.

Speaking of bad fathers, Claire found out Christian willed her a music box with her favorite song, "Catch a Falling Star and Put It In Your Pocket." Jack didn't know why he gave that to her, but I'm sure it will have some importance down the line. It kinda of drove me crazy that Jack seemed so uninterested in Claire's story. He didn't even get back to her after the surgury. She had to find him, and his reaction was "Oh, hey pregnant girl from Australia who happens to be my half-sister, do you need something?" At least he offered her a place to stay.

Ken: That was kind of a sudden change of heart by Jack to offer her a place to stay because "hey, we're family," when he seemed to be keeping her at arm's length before. Maybe it was Island Jack whispering in his head, "She's not playing with a full deck. Beware!" I really liked the use of the "I wish you'd believe me" comments that Locke mumbled while he was dreaming and then Jack uttered the same thing trying to get Locke to reconsider having the spinal surgery. Jack wants to fix Locke, but Locke has to want to be fixed. Kind of that free will thing again, isn't it?

Frank finally got a little more to do and a few extra lines this episode, only to have a submarine door blow open on him. RIP, Frank. You would have been awesome in "Smokey and the Bandit."

I did want to get back to FLocke, his grand plan, and telling Claire that now he has to finish what he started. Do you think keeping them together was merely his way of trying to get rid of them in one fell swoop? (A side note: We were really anxious to have Jin and Sun reunited, but when it finally happened they end up dead shortly thereafter). Or does the island keep him from physically killing any candidates? I wonder if FLocke is essentially saying, "I'll be damned what that boy says about the rules. I'll kill them because I can."

Chris: Well, maybe Frank didn't go to that great Burt Reynolds' movie in the sky just yet. I'm read Internet speculation that he made it out. And we know how accurate speculation can be.

I think the rules are he can't physically kill them, but they can kill themselves, and that's what James almost did by pulling out the cords. Yeah, he wanted to kill them in one fell swoop. Before, he was acting like he has the key to their salvation. But now they know the truth, and it will be hard for him to kill them.

But what is Widmore's role in this? Once again, he looks like the good guy, trying to keep the candidates alive. Although that fire bombing stunt almost got one of his candidates killed.

Ken: I see Widmore in the role of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," which means that despite their little visit to the polar bear cages, they'll need to side with Widmore and repair the dang sonic fence to fend off FLocke. I'm feeling sorry for crazy Claire now. She just wants to get back to see her bay-bee and now FLocke's telling her it's a good thing she didn't get on that sub because then she'd be collateral damage.

Widmore had better hope that Frank made it off the sub. He's going to need a pilot without a sub to get him home. Unless he's planning to stay on the island.

Whatever happens next Desmond is going to play a big part in it. And that may hold true in both timelines.

Chris: Widmore may want to stay on the island. Although, remember, he knows how to get off the island, just like Ben and Richard. Speaking of which, where the hell are they? When do they ride in and save the day?

Ken: I don't think there's any question that they'll join the rest, but when and how will their arrival turn the tide? I'm hoping we'll see how Ben, Desmond and Widmore react to each other. After all, Ben threatened Widmore that he'd kill Penny, and he did shoot Desmond. Makes for a pretty uneasy alliance, don't you think?

Chris: True. I guess Jack's next move is to find Desmond's well and fish him out. I don't know how they find it, but someone will eventually.

One last question: Why did Widmore put the C4 on the plane? Was he really planning to blow up FLocke? Can you blow up FLocke? I still have a suspicion FLocke and Widmore are working together. Widmore had all the candidates together, but it just so happned the fence wasn't working. There's holes in this theory a plenty, but I think it has some merit.

Ken: I'm a little troubled by that C-4 on the plane myself. Not sure I understand what that was about. Maybe Widmore's throwing anything and everything at Smokey in the hopes that something works. Perhaps he was thinking that if Smokey somehow got to the plane he needed to make sure if wouldn't have use of it for long. I'm guessing that FLocke still can't travel across water in Smokey form, as he told Sawyer (unless that was a lie).

I think Widmore is committed to stopping him. And I can't wait to see what's next.

Chris: I just read that the finale is now two and a half hours. A precious extra half-hour added to our "Lost" experience. I can't wait to see the rest but I don't want it to end.

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