Fan Stop Central

Six years of entertainment and escape, magic and wonder, culture and creativity has come to an end last night. The television phenomenon that created an entire culture went out with a bang last night … and to this fan, it didn’t disappoint.

Now, to some viewers, they were left with a bitter taste … case in point – my buddy from St. Louis, who sent me a text right after the final scene saying, “… if the writers were in front of me I’d punch them in the face …” or something to that effect. Already, message boards are filling with polarized feelings … and if you’ve paid any attention to those “writers” (Lindelof and Cuse), they have said since the end of season 5, the end of the show will do just that; you will either love it or hate it … I am in the former camp. I liked it … a lot.

Probably the biggest divide can be boiled down to perception and perspective. Those who hate the ending seem to have been yearning and looking for answers, while the ones who loved the ending were more searching for resolution. I think it was written in such a way and left just ambiguous enough for each viewer to make their own conclusions about what it was that really mattered, and to resolve things in their own way.

Were there more questions that were revealed in the finale? Absolutely.
Were there existing questions that went unanswered? Absolutely.

Unlike some comments I have already seen, I do not feel the past six years of appointment television, discussions & debate, theories & emotions have been a waste. Just as each of the characters had to figure their way through this journey, so did we; taking the entertainment and story given to us and make it our own.

So, in a different twist on my own article, I’m going to defer the recap to someone else who I’ve read and feel has given it its full due:

LOST Finale Review >>

I don’t think we could have asked for more from the “Lost” finale. It was what it should have been — a love letter to all the characters and the moments from the past six seasons. It didn’t reveal much more than we already knew, except explaining the sideways flashes, but it ended the best way it could. It was emotional and epic. I’m glad they decided to just let us spend time with these characters. Maybe the explanation for the sideways flashes — all dogs go to heaven — was a little strange, but it was the only way to not undo what had been done. As they kept saying all season, “whatever happened, happened.”

I expected the finale to be part exhilarating and part massively depressing. But it was surprisingly upbeat for a lot of the time, despite the blubbering I did in Jack’s final scene, laying on his back in the bamboo, with Vincent for company. Instead, this was all about the people and remembering those things that make them such amazing characters.

The way they cut between the island scenes and the sideways flashes scenes worked really well, the best it ever has. It was so much fun to see all the Lostees remembering each other in the no-crash world. The first hour or so of the finale was kind of joyous and light. Kate making fun of Jack’s father’s name (“Christian Shephard, seriously?”), Sayid and Hurley recreating their fugitives-on-the-run scenes at the same hotel from the Season 5 premiere, Hurley grinning like an idiot when he knocked on Charlie’s door, and then tranquing him. They were having fun on the island, too. Hurley was quoting “Star Wars” left and right, saying Jacob was “worse than Yoda,” and Sawyer got in a jab about Kate not following him into the jungle.

Things did get serious, of course. The two posses — Flocke/Man in Black and Ben on one side, and Kate, Jack, Sawyer and Hurley on the other — set off for one last scenic walk through the jungle. Desmond was an unwilling part of Flocke’s posse, after having been rescued from the well by Rose and Bernard. It was very cool that they worked in Rose and Bernard one last time.

Desmond was kind of wrong about a lot of things in this episode, but it all worked out in the end. He assumed that removing the cork from the tunnel of light would send everyone into the wonderful sideways world he’d remembered. Which makes me wonder how much he knew when he was busy gathering everybody up in sideways world. Did he know it was a kind of holding place for heaven?

But it turns out that removing the bathtub stopper was necessary. It started making the island fall to pieces, but it also made Flocke and Jack mortal again. Therefore, Flocke could be killed. It was a pretty epic battle scene between Flocke and Jack. Of course it had to come down to those two. It was like something out a Bruce Lee movie — two adversaries charging each other on a crumbling cliff in a pelting rain, and Jack even pulled out a flying punch.

Flocke managed to stab Jack before Kate delivered on her promise and shot Flocke, who was then unceremoniously kicked over the side by Jack. Foolishly, they all thought killing Flocke meant setting everything back to normal. When it was clear it hadn’t, it wasn’t surprising that Jack said he was staying behind to make things right, and not surprising that even after all that’s he done on the island, and all that it’s done to him, that Ben would stay. It’s really the only home he’s ever known. It was surprising, though, that Hurley chose to stay behind. The guy who was always most fearful of the island, and the one who felt the losses of the people who died on it the most, dug deep and decided to support Jack. Kate and Sawyer left, but not before Kate made Jack promise they’d see each other again.

Meanwhile, two thought-dead characters Richard and Frank Lapidus — weren’t dead after all. I was surprised about Richard, not about Lapidus. Anytime they don’t show you a body, the person probably isn’t dead. Plus, somebody had to fly the plane. I cheered when he raised his arm out of the wreckage — there’s one Grizzly Adams who can take a licking. So the new Three Stooges — Lapidus, Richard and Miles had a new, much better idea — let’s not blow up the plane, let’s fly it off the island. And Richard is starting to age — he’s about the happiest a person has ever been to find his first gray hair. By finally wanting to live again, he set himself free from the curse of immortality.

I suspected that Jack might not end up being the final, final candidate. Flocke even referenced it himself by saying Jack seemed like the obvious choice. Instead, Jack passed those powers over to Hurley, the guy who least wanted the job, but the one who was always best at taking care of people. It was a really interesting scene with Ben and Hurley, when Hurley finally accepted that Jack wasn’t coming back from the tunnel of light, about being the new protector of the light. Hurley asked Ben to be his No. 2, the guy with experience, and Ben was clearly touched. No one had ever asked Ben to be their support guy before. He gave everything to the island, even his daughter, and did everything for Jacob, but was never really a partner. So instead he schemed and plotted and strangled and gassed. But with Hurley reaching out to him, asking for him help, he finally felt needed.

Ben also brought up an interesting point about Jacob’s tactics of keeping people prisoner on the island. He said Hurley could find a new way to keep the protector lineage in tact. A much easier job when there’s no Smoke Monster around to eat your candidates. It’s kind of weird to think about Ben and Hurley living out their lives on the island together. (Assuming they shipped Desmond back home, ironically probably on the ship he rode in on, the Elizabeth.) Maybe they occasionally popped in to have lunch with Bernard and Rose, or played a round of golf or took a Dharma van for a spin. I wonder how long Hurley did the job, and who he found to be his successor.

Back in sideways world, the connections and memories were ramping up. Miles spotted Sayid, and it was not in handcuffs or an orange jumpsuit, so he knew something was wrong and sent Sawyer to protect Sun at the hospital. Fittingly, Juliet is of course the obstetrician who comes in to see Sun and Jin. In sideways world, everybody needs a big jolt to remember their pasts. Sun and Jin get theirs when they connected with their daughter via the sonogram. It was pretty hilarious that along with remembering the island, they also remembered English. Memories intact, they were wearing goofy grins when Sawyer showed up.

Once Jack and Juliet exchanged “hello doctors,” it became clear that Juliet was Jack’s ex. They seemed to have a pretty amicable divorce, especially since they were still able to work in the same hospital together. I’m don’t see the significance of having this relationship in the sideways world, and of giving Jack a son, but maybe since Jack and Juliet were dead long before Sawyer and Kate, they were marking time. They might have been happy together, but still weren’t quite right, so got divorced.

And yet another couple reunited — Sawyer and Juliet. Who thought a vending machine reunion could be so romantic? Sawyer didn’t have to let her go this time. He got to say, “I got you,” and mean it.

Hurley did a lot of the “remember your past” matchmaking in the episode. He took Sayid to witness a bar fight, and the girl involved just so happened to be Shannon. After getting a “you’re-not-a-bad-dude” peptalk from Hurley, Sayid jumped out to break up the fight, touched Shannon and they both instantaneously remembered, and start making out. Nadia, who? It was a nice to see Sayid stop torturing himself as much as he ever tortured anyone else. Maybe it was Shannon, not Nadia, waiting for him on the other side because Shannon was a fresh start, not a remnant from his past. Boone apparently had already remembered on his own, and helped Hurley set the whole thing up.

The benefit concert with Faraday and Driveshaft was apparently the big social event of the season and everybody turned up. It was cool to see many of the dead characters, along with some of the living, reunited in one spot. Desmond, Kate and Claire of course sat at table No. 23, and Claire and Kate got a bit of a “Twilight Zone” moment when they spotted each other. Later they reenacted one of Lost’s many powerful scenes — Kate helping deliver Aaron. It was by mirroring this pivotal island moment — Kate helping bring life into the world, Claire meeting her son and Charlie being reunited with his “family” — that all three got their memories of the island back.

Jack was, not surprisingly, the hardest one to crack. He needed several jolts to get him moving. First, when he fixed Locke, he got a little down-the-hatch-hole vision. And even when Kate touched his face, he didn’t remember everything, or was still fighting it. There was one little clue tossed in there that not everything was normal, Kate telling him, “you don’t know how much I’ve missed you.” Making it seem like it had been a long, long time since they’d last seen each other. It took Jack touching his father’s coffin to finally get enough mojo to remember it all.

There was one more important reunion to take care of — Locke and Ben. These two have always been like brothers — the kind that shoot and strangle each other. They’re worthy of having their own name mashup, Blocke maybe? Ben finally apologized for all his heinous deeds and Locke very simply forgave him. Ben did redeem himself in the end, even if he couldn’t quite bring himself to join the rest of the Lostees. He’s still got some penance to dish out for himself. Locke, though, in getting his legs fixed, finally felt whole.

I liked the surprise about Christian Shephard’s body. When Jack opened the coffin and it was empty, I started thinking maybe Flocke/Man in Black was fibbing that he’d been the only one in the starring role of Christian on the island. But then there was that “Sixth Sense” moment when Jack realizes he can see Christian because he’s dead, too.

So what to make of the sideways flashes? Apparently, they were a kind of waiting room for heaven or whatever constitutes “moving on.” The sideways world was all about people correcting their mistakes, finding the people they love, forgiving the people who hurt them most, and forgiving themselves. It was kind of a purgatory. They were all just waiting to be rejoined with the people who meant the most to them from the most important part of their lives. As Christian explained it, everything that happened to them on the island was real, including the deaths. Some died on the island before Jack did, and some died off it much later. But they’re all together now.

There were some people notably missing from the collection — Michael and Walt, Mr. Eko, Miles, Ana Lucia. But for people like Michael, they might have moved on as soon as they were reunited with the most important people in their lives, in his case, Walt. It will be interesting to go back and watch some of the Season 6 episodes and look for any hints of the outcome. There were a few I can think of. Jack’s constantly bleeding neck was a big one. It was from the cut Flocke gave him on the island, and a sign that what was happening in sideways world, was not really reality. And when Hurley asked Desmond if they were going to “wake up” Ana Lucia, he said she wasn’t ready yet. Maybe she hasn’t had her moment, improved her character (she was taking bribes), or let go of the past. Because that’s what Desmond said he was trying to do, help people let go. Apparently, it wasn’t Miles’ time either, and Desmond let Daniel stay behind with Eloise Hawking and Charlotte. That’s their own version of heaven, and they’re already with the people most important to them.

Presumably, when Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Lapidus, Claire and Richard (the Ajira 6), flew off the island, they made it back safely and lived their lives for awhile. Maybe Kate and Sawyer made a go of it for a time, maybe he also went back to be a better father to his daughter and Kate helped Claire raise Aaron. Maybe Richard did a little dance with every gray hair and wrinkle he got and Lapidus retired and opened a buttons-optional clothing store with Richard. It’s hard to think of their lives going on without some of the people on the island, but in the end, most of them came back to be with the people who impacted their lives the most.

That final scene was a gut-stabber, in a good way. Jack on his back, seeing the Ajira plane go overhead, and knowing he hadn’t died for nothing. And then his eyes closing, mirroring the pilot scene when his opened his eyes for the first time. Talk about coming full circle.

The finale didn’t answer many questions, but it was hugely emotional and importantly all about the characters. It ended kind of the only way it could because undoing all that happened on the island would do an injustice to the show. The ending was a little rough, and a little cornball, and will probably cause all sorts of panic that the Lostees have been dead all along (Christian Shephard says no to that one), but the island happened, it wasn’t all a dream, and the sideways flashes were a chance to correct what went wrong. So mostly, it was a happy ending while maintaining the “whatever happened, happened” mantra. “Lost,” you’ll be missed.

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Now, this is how an episode of LOST is supposed to be. There were good answers. There were good storylines, and of course, there were added questions. This was one of the rare LOST episodes that wasn’t centric to one character, but played out nearly everyone who was left after the sub went down a few weeks ago.

More information and details at Lostpedia.com >>

In the Sideways (off-island)
We open at Jack’s place. He wakes up and goes into the bathroom where he notices the same bleeding spot on his neck that we saw in the first episode. He goes and eats breakfast with David. David asks if he will be coming to his concert that night. Jack says he will, and then Claire joins them (if you don’t remember, Jack asked Claire to stay with them – since, you know, they’re siblings and all). Jack receives a call from Oceanic saying they have found his father’s casket and he must go and retrieve it that night. The shot pans outside Jack’s place and we see that it is actually Desmond placing the call.

Desmond then drives to Locke’s school and waits for him again. This time Ben confronts Desmond who gets out and beats the crap out of Ben and tells him he’s not here to hurt Locke this time; he’s here to get him to “let go.” While Desmond is beating Ben, Ben has flashes of the time when Desmond pummeled him on the dock in “Dead is Dead.” Ben goes to the school nurse where Locke rolls in. Ben tells of his encounter and what Desmond said.

John Locke knocks at Jack Shephard’s office door. He remarks about a photo of Jack, David and Christian. Locke tells him that they were on the same flight, that after he was hit by a car he was treated by Jack “of all the doctors in Los Angeles”. He says that he still didn’t want to be fixed. He tells Jack that the same man who ran him down beat up a teacher at his school and said that he wasn’t there to hurt him but to help him let go and that these were the same words Jack had used when they were last together. Jack doesn’t get it. John says that maybe this was all happening for a reason. Jack suggests that he is mistaking coincidence with fate. Locke says whatever it is called he is ready to get out of his wheelchair.

Back at the school, Alex finds Ben and asks what happened then offers a ride home with her and her mom. Her mom gets out of the car and it’s … Danielle. Ben agrees and they go to the Russo house and have dinner. As they are cleaning up, Danielle thanks Ben for helping her daughter so much. Ben asks about her father. Danielle says he died when Alex was young (2?) and that she has so much to thank Ben for because he has been so much like a father figure to her. Ben turns and gets emotional to near tears.

We then go to Saywer and Miles as detectives. Miles asks Sawyer to go as his “date”, but when Sawyer discovers that the red head he went out on a blind date with will be there, he passes. Desmond shows up at the same LAPD precinct where Sawyer and Miles are detectives and turns himself in. He is then taken to the same holding cells where Sayid and Kate are being kept. Sawyer comes back and says they are all being moved to county lockup. On the way, Desmond convinces Kate and Sayid to trust him and he will get them out of custody as long as they do something for him. The van stops and the back doors open to Ana Lucia, who unlocks all the handcuffs. She asks if the money man is there, and a yellow Hummer pulls up. Hurley jumps out and hands Ana Lucia an envelope of money. Desmond tells Sayid to go with Hurley and Kate to go with him “to a concert” (assuming the same one Miles was talking about) … oh, and in Hurley’s red Camaro.

In the original timeline (on-island)
Jack prepares to stitch Kate’s shoulder wound. As Jack stitches she reflects on Ji Yeon, that Jin hadn’t even met her and with gritted teeth that Man in Locke did this to them and that they have to kill him. Jack says “I know”. Jack says it is time to go. He says that they need to find Desmond who Sayid said was in a well. Jack adds that if Man in Locke wants Desmond then “we are going to need him.”

As they hike a miserable Sawyer wonders why Locke didn’t just kill Desmond, Jack says that maybe it was one of his rules. Sawyer comes to the point of his conversation and says that he was the one who killed the people, and their friends on the Sub. Jack tells him that Locke killed them. Just behind them Hurley looks to the side of the track and sees a mysterious boy standing by an ancient hut. Kate checks that he is O.K. and walks on. The mysterious boy is suddenly in front of Hurley and demands the ashes in Hurley’s pocket. As Hurley asks what he wants them for, the boy snatches them and runs off. Hurley chases him and comes across Jacob seated by a fire. Hurley asks whether he saw a boy with the pouch of ashes. Jacob tells him they are in the fire and that when the fire goes out he will not be seen again. He adds “We are very close to the end”.

It is night. Hurley leads Kate, Sawyer and Jack to Jacob’s fire. Jacob greets them by their first names. Hurley is surprised that they can all see Jacob. Kate asks Jacob whether he is the one who wrote the names on the wall. She asks whether that is why her friends are dead. Kate wants to know that Sun and Jin and Sayid didn’t die for nothing. Jacob says he will tell the group what they died for and why he chose them. He adds that by the time the fire is out one of them will have to start protecting the Island.

Around the fire Jacob explains that a very long time ago he made a mistake and as a result there is a good chance that everyone is going to die. He tells them that he made the Monster the way he is. Jacob says the Monster has been trying to kill him and that when it did someone would have to replace him and that is why he brought them all to the Island. Sawyer asks why he should have to suffer for Jacob’s mistake because he was “doing just fine until you dragged me to this damn rock”. Jacob points out that he didn’t drag anyone out of a happy existence but that they were all flawed. He says that he chose them because they were all like him – all alone, all looking for something that they couldn’t find. He says he chose them because they needed the Island as much as the Island needed them. Jacob tells Kate her name was crossed off because she became a mother, but that it is just a line of chalk in a cave and that the job is hers if she wants it. He explains that the job is to protect the light at the center of the Island.

Jacob says that they must protect the island from “him”, that they must do what he couldn’t do: kill the Man In Black. Jack asks whether that is even possible and Jacob says that he hopes so because he is certainly going to try to kill them. When Hurley asks how he is going to pick the new protector, Jacob says he wants them to have the choice that he did not have. Jack briefly hesitates and offers himself saying that he is on the island for this purpose. Jacob asks Jack whether Jack’s statement is really a question. Jack asserts that it is not.

Jacob and Jack find a spot by the creek away from the others. Jacob asks Jack if he remembers the bamboo field that he woke up in after the crash – he says that beyond that field across the ridge is the heart of the Island where the light is and that is where “he” is trying to go and that is what must be protected. Jack says there is nothing out there, but Jacob tells him there is and that he will be able to get there “now”, implying that it was more than mere chance that prevented the Man in Locke, and others, from discovering the Source. Jacob says an incantation and takes some water into Jack’s cup and offers it to him. Jack asks how long he will have to do this job and Jacob tells him “as long as you can.” Jack drinks. Jacob embraces him and says “Now you are like me.”

Meanwhile, Ben, Miles and Richard have all hiked back to Dharmaville and found Ben’s house and hiding places. On the way, Miles says one of the best lines of the season. Ben says, “this is where I used to live.” Miles retorted with, “well, I lived there 30 years before you did … also known as last week.”

As they enter, they find there are others in the house – Zoe and Widmore. Locke arrives in Dharmaville, Ben tells Widmore and Zoe to hide in his hidden closet, and Richard decides to go and talk with Man in Locke, when suddenly Smokey rushes out of the jungle and throws him out of site. Man in Locke walks up to Ben’s house where Ben is sitting on the front porch. Man in Locke says he needs him to help kill some people. Ben leads Man in Locke to the closet to face Widmore. Man in Locke shoots Zoe and talks with Widmore. Man in Locke says that if he doesn’t tell him what he wants to know, his only goal will be to get off the island and kill Penny. Widmore whispers something to Man in Locke; as he does, Ben shoots Widmore and says, “I can’t let him save his daughter” (referring to when Kimmey was given the go-ahead to kill Alex.) Ben then asks whether there are some “other people to kill.” Man in Locke gives a gloating look.

Man in Locke leads Ben through the jungle. Ben asks why he bothers walking if he can be the smoke at any time and Locke says that he likes to feel his feet on the ground, it reminds him of when he was human. They arrive at the well and see it is empty. Locke says obviously Sayid didn’t kill Desmond. there is a rope hanging in the well. Ben says that someone helped Desmond out (of the well), but Locke says that, actually, someone helped him out. Ben asks what Widmore said to Man in Locke. Locke tells him that he said Desmond was a fail safe. That if he killed the “beloved candidates” he was one final way for Jacob to be sure that he would never leave this place. Ben asks why Man in Locke is happy that Desmond is still free. Man in Locke says that when he finds Desmond he will get him to do the one thing he could never do himself: “Destroy the Island.”

LOST

More information and details at Lostpedia.com >>

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Well, seeing as to how the guide description was “Locke’s motives are finally explained” sounded like it was going to be great forward momentum to the end … this really disappointed, and is flirting with becoming bat-crap-crazy**. Sure we got another glimpse into the origin of Jacob and Man in Black, but there were still so many holes in the story that I was left wondering why I just wasted an hour on this? This episode moved us no closer to understanding any of the mythos* of the show.

We open on a woman in the water. It’s fairly obvious her ship has wrecked as she is clinging to a piece of broken wood. She comes up onto the beach and we see she is pregnant. She stumbles through the jungle, finds a stream from which to drink and another woman appears. The Lady in White tells preggers she can help and they go to the caves. There, preggers goes into labor and the Lady in White delivers the child. Preggers calls him Jacob then screams again … another kid is on the way. She delivers another son and says, “I only chose one name.” Preggers asks to see her kids and the Lady in White says, “no,” and whacks her with a rock to the head. Preggers is dead – and once again, we have no clue what name was given to the Man in Black.

The kids grow up (about young teenagers now – 13ish we find out), and the Kid in Black finds some pieces to a game. He asks Jacob if he wants to play and they do but Kid in Black says to not tell mother … oh, and the game pieces are black and white. Anyway, the boys go boar hunting and they come across some Others. Evidently their mother had told them there is no other place but the island. They run to her, she freaks and says all other people are bad and they run off into the jungle. She tells the boys that “*she has made it so that they can’t harm each other.” She has them blindfolded and leads them to a stream that seems to run underground, but at the mouth of this underground stream is a great golden light. She says she’s been guarding this light and that men want to come and take it. It’s special, they’re special, it’s their purpose and one day one of them will takeover as guardian of the island light. Great … tell us something we didn’t know.

The boys are playing the black and white game one day when Kid in Black sees the ghostly appearance of his true mother. Jacob cannot see her. Kid in Black follows her through the jungle to see a village of other people. She tells him that she is his real mother. Kid in Black goes back to the caves, gets Jacob and tells him they are going to leave and go with the Others and get off the island. Jacob freaks, beats Kid in Black, Fake Mom shows up and stops them. Kid in Black says he’s leaving, he knows she’s not their real mother and goes away.

They grow up. Jacob checks in on Man in Black from time to time. They continue to play the black and white game (a little more advanced now) and Man in Black says he has found a way to leave. Jacob calls B.S. and Man in Black throws his dagger at a stone well where the dagger sticks to the stone like a magnet. He says the smart guys on the island have found a way to use these spots where metal behaves strangely and they dig until they find something or nothing. This time though, they’ve found something.

Fake Mom (Lady in White) comes to visit Man in Black who is down in the well they have dug out. He tells her he has tried to find the light she showed them before. He has dug many holes and has now found it. He takes out a piece of the rock and the golden light shines into the well – hitting a large donkey wheel propped on the wall. He tells her they are going to cut a large hole into the light source, place a structure and then turn the wheel and that will allow him to leave the island. She gets sad, they hug and she says, “sorry,” just before ramming his head into the wall.

She comes back to the caves and tells Jacob, “it’s time.” They go to the source of the light and she tells him it’s time to pass the torch from her to him to protect the light. She pulls out the very similar wine bottle we saw in episodes before, pours some into a cup, says some kind of incantation and tells Jacob to drink. He does and she says, “now we’re the same.”

They go back to the caves, Jacob stops off to get some firewood, Man in Black is waiting for Fake Mom at the caves. Man in Black stabs Fake Mom with his dagger and she dies. Jacob freaks and beats Man in Black. Jacob takes Man in Black to the light source, throws him on the rocks in the water. Man in Black says, “you can’t kill me. ” Jacob says, “I’ll do something else.” Jacob then pushes Man in Black into the stream. Man in Black hits his head on the rocks, gets knocked out and floats into the light source. There is a lot of light and noise and suddenly, the smoke monster pours out of the light source and off into the jungle.

Jacob finds Man in Black’s body further down the stream. He takes it to the caves and lays Man in Black next to Fake Mom and places a black and white rock in a pouch. We flash back/forward to when Jack and Kate found the skeletons and the pouch with the black and white rocks. John Locke arrives and says, “who were these men?” Jack says, “one was a woman.” Locke says, “well, our very own Adam and Eve.”

LOST.

* OK, so this wasn’t a complete waste of time, but seriously. Here’s the deal, Fake Mom said she “made it to where the boys couldn’t hurt each other.” Great – we knew that. What we need to know is how did she make it that way? With whom did she make it that way with? There has to be some greater power they answer to in order for her to make these kind of deals. Seems to be the same kind of deals that Jacob was able to make for Alpert … so who/what is this greater power?

** The only things missing from this episode that didn’t make it fully bat-crap-crazy were tinkerbell fairies, talking woodchucks and Vincent guarding the cave entrance to the light source.  This episode was a far cry from any part of the mythos we’ve ever had to accept on this show.

This was definitely not a favorite; however, it will not keep me from finishing strong with the series. I still have high hopes for a satisfying ending … thank God this wasn’t the finale!

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Wow! It’s been a real ride engrossing ourselves into LOST, and now they are coming at us with gloves off, landing hard-hitting blows that Kimbo Slice himself wouldn’t be able to handle. The Candidate continues on the fast-ending slide that the writers, producers, creators and actors promised us we would get. This episode was very powerful and very close to one of the best episodes of the series. It moved very quickly, had a lot of action and drama. There was a lot of role-reversals from the sideways timeline and the original timeline that was pretty brilliant to see. A+ on this episode.

More information, details and photos at Lostpedia >>

We open on John Locke in the sideways. Jack has repaired his dural sack explains that he could fix his paralysis and that Locke is a “candidate” for an experimental procedure Jack is developing, but Locke refuses the surgery. Jack (who can’t let things go) does some investigating and finds Locke’s dad (Anthony Cooper) who is in a hospital of his own … in a highly catatonic looking state. Jack returned to Locke’s hospital room to find Locke saying things in his sleep. Things like:

• “… push the button …”
• “… I wish you had believed me …”

Jack tells Locke that just as Locke told Jack in the airport that his father was gone, Jack tries the same approach to convince Locke to have the surgery. Locke tells Jack that he had just gotten his pilot’s license and promised his father that everything would be alright. Something went wrong at takeoff and Locke crashed the plane which caused his father to be where he is now. Locke again refuses to let Jack help, and wheels away.

On the island, Widmore’s crew puts Sawyer’s group (Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Jin and Lapidus) in the polar bear cages. Smokey arrives, kills people and Jack gets Sawyer’s crew out of the cages and they all head off to the Ajira plane where they are to meet Man in Locke, get on the plane and all fly away.

Meanwhile, Man in Locke has already arrived at the plane, killed two guards and found some C-4 that was wired to the plane’s electrical system. Man in Locke tells the crew that it was Widmore’s plan to get them all in one confined place and kill them all. He tells the crew that they will now be hijacking the submarine and leaving that way. Sawyer has other ideas, and tells Jack that when they get to the sub, Jack is to push Man in Locke into the water and Sawyer will take care of the rest.

This all happens to plan. Sawyer takes a group to the sub (Sawyer, Lapidus, Sayid, Sun and Jin). They head down into the sub and overtake the crew (one guy) and captain. 30 seconds later, Kate, Claire, Man in Locke and Jack run to the sub. On the way, Jack pushes Man in Locke into the water and about that time snipers from the treeline start shooting. Kate gets shot in the left shoulder. Jack shoots back. Clarie shoots back. Everyone but Man in Locke and Claire make it onto the sub and they begin to dive.

Jack looks in his pack for something to help Kate’s wound and finds the C-4 Man in Locke had found, only this time it is rigged to a watch counting down from 3:50 (ish). Jack believes that nothing will happen to them if they leave it alone, but Sawyer doesn’t and pulls the wires out of the clay. The watch stops for a moment, then speeds up … rapidly. Sayid grabs the bomb, tells Jack they will make it and runs to the other end of the sub as fast as he can … BOOM! Sayid and the bomb (and the sub) explodes, filling the sub with water. As the sub is sinking and pressure is building, we see Lapidus in front of a sub hatch that blows off its hinges and hits him – we assume knocking him out if not killing him.

Jack grabs a personal breathing tank, hands it to Hurley and tells him to get him and Kate out of the blast hole, taking turns with the breathing tank. We turn around to see that Sun is pinned against the wall with a filing cabinet or something. Jin, Sawyer and Jack are all trying to unwedge the object to free Sun. More blasting and shaking occur, knocking Sawyer out. Jin tells Jack to take the one remaining breathing tank and get Sawyer out while there’s still time. Jack and Sawyer leave the sub.

Jin remains with Sun, frantically trying to free her from some other objects underwater that still have her pinned. She tells him to go. He says he won’t leave her. Jin tries and tries, but to no avail. They accept the fact there is no more hope to free themselves and we see a shot of their grasped hands releasing each other, and believe Sun and Jin have now died too.

Hurley, Kate, Jack and Sawyer somehow make it to the beach. Sawyer is breathing, but still unconscious. Hurley, Kate and Jack realize their friends did not make it off the sub and have died. All of them breakdown (as probably many viewers did at this point, too).

Still on the dock, Man in Locke somehow knows that HIS plan to have all the candidates die in one confined spot did not work and now he is on his way to finish it.

LOST

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“The Last Recruit” pushed the abandoned Dharma van  of the LOST franchise over the edge, speedily hurling towards its curtain call … and it can’t be more bittersweet. All of us are so glad to finally get some answers and see if our theories and hopes for the show will come true or not – yet, it also means the end of one of the most engaging and intriguing television series’ in the history of television.

Man in Locke now thinks he has everyone together to head over to Hydra Island to get on the Ajira plane and get off the island … or so that’s what he says has to happen (liar imo). Sawyer is to take Kate and get a boat and meet Man in Locke at a certain point, but Sawyer has a different idea and takes the main players (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Lapidus, Sun and Hurley) to a different spot where they will ditch Man in Locke, head to Hydra, hijack the sub and get off the island … BUT … Claire sees them leave the pack and confronts them at gunpoint. Kate convinces Claire to come with them.

On the boat, Jack is wrestling with the decision and tells Sawyer, “This just doesn’t feel right. If Locke – that thing – wants us all to leave, then what’s he afraid of happening if we stay.” Jack tells him that it doesn’t feel right leaving the Island because last time when he left it was like a part of him was missing. He believes that they were brought to the Island to do something, and if that thing wants them to leave he may be afraid of what happens if they stay. Sawyer tells Jack to get off the boat and not talk that “crazy talk.” When Jack reaffirms that leaving is a mistake and that the Island is not done with them yet, Sawyer says he is done with the Island and that if Jack wants to take a leap of faith he should take it. Jack says that he was sorry he got Juliet killed and jumps into the water to swim back to the main island. Kate sees him in the water and says they have to go back and get him but Sawyer says that they are done going back.

Sawyer’s group arrive at Hydra Island and swim ashore. Widmore’s people confront them with guns but lower their arms when Zoe says that she knows Sawyer. Jin arrives, spots Sun and runs to embrace her. She regains her voice and says aloud that she loves him. Jin promises Sun that they will never be apart again (as they have been for the past 3 seasons). Zoe radios Widmore and then tells Sawyer’s group to put their hands up and kneel down. Sawyer asks about his deal but Zoe says the deal is off, she checks that Widmore has a sightline on Man in Locke and says to fire when ready.

Jack swims back to the beach where Man in Locke and seven Others await on shore. Man in Locke makes light of Jack’s swim and confirms with Jack that Sawyer has taken “his” boat. Widmore fires the artillery which lands in their midst and throws Jack and some of the others through the air.

Man in Locke runs to Jack who is prone in the sand and carries him inland as another shell hits. Man in Locke puts Jack down and says to him that he should not worry, because: “You’re with me now.”

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