If you are a follower of LOST, but haven't seen The Candidate, you might want to stop reading now, unless you're a fan of spoiled surprises. If you aren't a follower of LOST, you might as well stop reading now because this post won't make a whit of sense (of course, considering what show we're talking about, it might not make sense anyway. . . )
First of all, why is Kate not a candidate anymore? We knew from a previous episode that her name was crossed off in that cave. But why? What has she done, or not done, that the Kwons, Hurley, Jack, and Sawyer have or have not done?
Second, I'm beginning to question my hard-core belief that Widmore is a bad guy. As near as I can tell, Ben's word is the only word we have that Widmore is bad (and the Smoke Monster/Locke thing, but I think we all agree that he's bad, so let's not complicate things). All the stories about "Big Bad Widmore" are from Ben. Do we trust him as our sole authority on the matter? What if Ben is the bad guy? Ben didn't ever directly talk to Jacob (until he killed him), Ben didn't know what/who the Smoke Monster was/is, Ben only became leader after staging a coup (?) and ousting Widmore - what if he doesn't have the best interests of the "island" and the Others at heart, either through blind ignorance (indirect) or blatant disobedience (direct)? I'm beginning to lean towards the former explanation.
My main reason for this is because Widmore put them in the cages to keep them safe, at least according to Widmore. I don't know if we can trust Widmore, but Ben is MIA with Richard and Miles right now. What if Widmore knows that they are candidates to replace Jacob and knows that Locke (the smoke monster, but I'm referring to him as Locke for simplicity's sake) wants to kill them and is trying to keep them from being killed or killing each other? Despite what Locke said about being able to kill Jack and all his friends, I don't think he can. I think it's against the "rules," whatever those are. Locke can't kill them, but he can manipulate others to kill them, just like he couldn't kill Jacob but had Ben do it for him.
I had another theory about how Locke can only leave the island if he brings certain people (like the Oceanic survivors) with him, but I think it's wrong, which brings me to my third point. I think Jack nailed it on the head when he told Sawyer that nothing was going to happen if they didn't touch the bomb. Two reasons: First, is the island done with them? Richard's little suicide attempt didn't work because the island isn't done with him and/or Jack. What if it's the same principle here? Second, if Locke can't directly kill the candidates, then a bomb designed by him won't work. It won't go off. Jack recognized that fact and tried to talk Sawyer out of attempting to diffuse it. Sawyer, being the jerk that he is this season, didn't listen and BOOM. (As a little aside, I find it ironic that, when Locke was describing "Widmore's plan" outside the plane to get them all in a confined space and blow them up, he was actually describing HIS plan to get them all in a confined space and blow them up.)
Fifth, WHAT THE HECK?! They just killed off Sun, Jin, Sayid, and Lapidus in one fell swoop! Are they allowed to do that?! I'm beginning to go back to my original theory that the writers are going to kill almost everyone off sometime during the season and then have an epic sword fight/battle as the last scene that kills off any remaining characters. At least we know Desmond is still alive. There is still hope for Desmond and Penny's happily ever after. (Of all the characters on the show, those two deserve it the most.)
A few remaining thoughts:
- Where are Richard, Ben, and Miles? They went to go get bomb-ish stuff from the "New Otherton." Did they plant the bomb on the plane? Highly unlikely, probably not, but possible.
- Richard and company are barking up the wrong tree. They're on a mission to blow up the plane so that Locke can't leave. Well, Locke doesn't want to leave, at least not in the traditional way. He only needs to kill off the candidates. So, unless Richard and friends blow up the plane, protect the remaining candidates and dispose of Locke all at the same time, their mission is futile. The sad part is, they don't even know it.
- Can Smokey be killed/exterminated/taken care of for good? Bullets go right through him and mortar shells don't faze him at all. Is he a mortal being, or something far more sinister?
- Jack promised Sun that he'd get her off the island and back home. He failed. Heart-breaking.
- How does Locke know they're not all dead? Does he have some sort of sense of bondage or something? He pretty much declared war on them when he stalked off, leaving Claire behind on the dock.
- What role did/does Claire play in Locke's master plans?
- By the end of the episode, I was crying - I mean, they just killed off 3 major characters and 1 minor character - but I was going to be okay. But when Jack and Hurley started sobbing, that's what did me in. There's something about men crying that is just gut-wrenchingly sad.
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