LOST Review: And Then There Were Four

Tears on my pillow.

I spent this week’s episode of LOST jumping on the couch, screaming, and crying. If you have not seen this episode, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. I can’t really deal with what happened on the island yet so let’s start with Universe X goings-on:

First of all, I guess the split between the worlds is breaking down in my mind like the writers wanted it to. At first, I thought of Universe X just as a “what could have been,” but now with Desmond and his psychic connections, I suppose the two really are intertwined somehow (see: Fringe). I’m starting to care about the other world… kind of. Even if I am getting more invested in it, it still didn’t compare to what happened on island this episode. But I am getting ahead of myself. We arrive back in the hospital with John Locke waking up from his surgery. He is greeted by Jack, his doctor. Jack says surgery went well, and while he was in there, he saw John’s original injury, and believes he is a candidate for a new spinal surgery that could help him walk again. John is all, “forget it,” and Jack is all, “let me save you.”

Luckily Helen comes in to see Locke and breaks the tension, and Claire comes to see Jack. They figure out they were both on the same Oceanic flight (weirdtown) and Claire has a music box that she got in Daddy Shepherd’s will, and is hoping Jack can shed some light on why he wanted her to have it so badly. Jack is stumped, and so are we, but the mirror theme was in full force as the long lost siblings had a little self reflection to the tune of “Catch a Falling Star.” Being a good big bro, Jack offered to have Claire stay at his place, since they are fam after all. Cute.

Later, even though Locke clearly isn’t buying what Jack is selling, Jack presses on because he has attachment issues. He goes to Locke’s dentist (duh, it’s Bernard! ps where the eff is Bernard on the island?) who did some work on him after the “incident”. While Bernard can’t give Jack any real info (?), he can tell him that another person was involved in the accident: Anthony Cooper. Oh yeah, and Bernard was on Oceanic 815. Jack gets freaked out, and forges on.

Since he can’t let go, Jack tracks down Anthony Cooper at a nursing home, and wouldn’t you know it Helen is there too! I was excited to get to see Anthony, since it seems like he had a relationship with Locke and was maybe normal? But no. Jack totally oversteps the patient-doctor line and forces his way to Mr. Cooper with Helen, where he sees that Anthony Cooper is…brain dead? Looking rough? His mind is elsewhere? It was a sad sight and I thought maybe Dr. Shepherd regretted all his prying for a moment.

But no. Jack makes it back to the hospital in time to catch Locke on his way out. He asks him again how the accident happened, because he so desperately wants to help fix him. Again, no means no but Jack presses on, eventually telling Locke that he went to see his father. Broken down, Locke finally tells him his guilt-ridden story of how he got his pilot’s license and took his father as his first passenger, only to get in a crash and paralyze himself while rendering his father brain-dead. Oy. Jack knows Locke doesn’t want to help himself because of his guilt, but he tells Locke that his father is gone, just like how Locke told Jack his father was gone in the airport. Jack tells Locke that he needs to let go and try to move on, that there is nothing he can do about it. Locke rolls away, and then Jack stops him in his tracks saying “I wish you believed me,” which were Oceanic 815 Locke’s final words to Jack. Psychic connection intact.

Now for the gut-wrenching, anxiety ridden island time:

Widmore is terrible. If I was on the fence before, I got down. His threats to shoot Kate (even though she was sure he was bluffing… of course) if the rest of the losties didn’t get into the Dharma cage for their own protection was reminiscent of the bitch slap Flocke served Claire a few weeks ago. All to say, these people are bad news. So I don’t know what Widmore’s plan is or if he is really trying to protect these people (my guess is no) or if he is serving some other endgame. I don’t think he is in cahoots with Flocke, but something is definitely afoot.

Meanwhile, Jack wakes up in a canoe with Sayid lookin creepy as per usual. Sayid says that they were attacked and the others who survived scattered into the woods, so it’s just them and Flocke. Flocke comes back and tells Jack they need to get the others and get a move on. Flocke tells Jack that he could kill him right now and all of his friends (can he really?) if the good doctor doesn’t help get the other losties out of Widmore’s custody. Jack eventually agrees to help, but makes it clear that he is not leaving the island. So team bad storms Dharmaville. Sayid cuts the power source, which allows Flocke to kill the cage guards in smoke form, and Jack gets the rest of his peeps out of the cage. To the plane to the plane!

Flocke gets to the plane, kills the guards and discovers that the plane is rigged to explode with C4 once the power is switched on. He tells his team and announces that they are going to take the sub instead. Sawyer knows this is bad news, and takes Jack aside and tells him that he does not want It on the sub with them. Jack repeats that he isn’t leaving either, and Sawyer basically says, whatever, just make sure Flocke ends up in the water and he will take care of the rest. Strange.

The gang makes it to the dock, and have a little game plan about how to get on the sub. For the next few minutes I was jumping on my couch while watching this, screaming “look out look out!” in vain from my living room. A mess. Widmore’s people are in the brush/trees and start shooting at the losties while they try and take control of the sub. Bullets everywhere, Kate gets shot (it was bound to happen eventually with all her Rambo-ways), Jack pushes Flocke into the water, and Claire gets left behind. Ho-ly crap.

Poor crazy Claire, she is very distraught about getting left behind again, and this time it really wasn’t her fault and made me kind of pissed at the others. But then Flocke says not to worry, the last place she wants to be right now is on that sub. Dun Dun. Side note: why did Sawyer want him in the water? Why can’t smoke monsters swim? Didn’t it always rain before in the earlier seasons before Smokey came out? Whaaaaat.

On the sub: heart palpitations. Kate is shot and looks to be in a bit of a shock, Jack is looking after her and asks for his pack for first aid stuff, only to find the C4 rigged to explode with a Timex watch attached to it. Hand me a paper bag to breathe into. Sayid checks out the device and says that theoretically, if two of the wires are pulled out at the same time it should stop the final countdown for the losties. TENSE. Right before Sawyer is about to do the deed, Jack stops him and tells them all that this is exactly what Flocke has wanted all along. In a BEAUTIFUL moment of clarity, Jack seems to figure out Flocke’s endgame: since he can’t kill them (thanks creepy children in the jungle), he is trying to get them to kill each other. So, according to Jack, if the watch had gone to zero, nothing would happen because it would be Flocke killing the candidates, which apparently he can’t do according to some rule? Theoretically, Jack? Trust is a tricky thing.

Unfortunately, I think Sawyer is harboring some resentment over Jack’s last big decision that got Juliet killed, so he pulls the wires. Heart stops. Then watch zooms towards zero. Since Sawyer pulled the wires, Flocke was no longer the one setting the bomb in motion and it was his human action/choice that is going to make the C4 explode, thus killing everyone on the sub. Sayid tells Jack to listen to him, that Desmond is in a well and he has to save him because Flocke wants him dead, so he must be important. He then tells Jack it has to be him (how the hell does he know what is going on?) and runs off with the bomb to try and minimize the damage. Bye bye Sayid.

Chaos. Full on Titanic moment. Kate is shot and barely mobile, Jack has Hurley grab her and get her out while the sub starts to fill with water. Eff. Frank is in the hallway and gets hit by a door as water rushes in, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Sun is trapped by a bunch of crap and the boys try to get her free until Sawyer gets knocked out by something breaking off the ceiling. AHHHHHHHHHH. Jin tells Jack to get Sawyer out of there, Jack does. Jin frantically tries to get Sun out, but she is pinned and he can’t get her loose. She tells him to leave, but he says he is never leaving her again. WHAT ABOUT YOUR BABY? Don’t the Kwons have any qualms about leaving their daughter alone in the world? Tears streaming down my face as water fills the room and Sun and Jin kiss and kiss until they drown. HEART BREAKING. Even in death, their hands separate under water, showing how they were never able to truly be together, on the same page, in the same place, happy. LOST WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!? Dig the knife in deeper why don’t ya.

Episode ends with Hurley, Sawyer, Jack and Kate crying on the beach about their terrible fate (except Sawyer because he is unconscious). Sawyer is going to have some MAJOR problems when he wakes up for basically being responsible for Sun, Jin, Frank, and Sayid being no more. Eff. On the dock, Flocke tells Claire that the sub sank and Crazy freaks out that they all died. Flock says not all of them, then stomps off to “finish what he started.” WHAT? How does he know they aren’t all dead? Where is he going? Is Claire going to freak out on everyone for leaving her again? Is she ever going to figure out how to not make her hair look like a small nest of baby birds is inhabiting it? Yes to the former, no to the latter.

Well this week was just too much for me to take. Terrible Titanic PTSD and I can’t BELIEVE Sun and Jin are gone. I know people are saying “but they are together in the alternate world,” but I don’t care. Those people are not the ones I grew to love over the past 6 years and aren’t the ones that traveled though time and space to be together only to get the short straw once again.

Damn you, LOST! The end has definitely begun.

For other opinions about this episode, read Last Minority Standing by Nicole C and Waterworks by Bilal Mian.

Season 6, Episode 14: The Candidate (original air date May 4, 2010)

For more on Lost, click here.

Tuesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC and Mario Perez.