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Number 5: Episode 6x14 – “The Candidate”
Featured Character: Jack
Major Events & Revelations: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Jin, Sun, Sayid, and Lapidus attempt to leave the island; the Locke Ness Monster’s motives become apparent, revealing him as the villain in this conflict
Major Deaths: Sayid, Jin, Sun
While number six looked at the series’ first death, number five focuses on the episode that featured Lost’s greatest death toll. It would be easy to argue that the perception that this episode is significant lies in the fact that it’s still so fresh, but I honestly believe that when viewers look back at this series from a fresh, big picture perspective, season six’s “The Candidate” will be regarded as one of the most legitimately thrilling, shocking, and emotional episodes of the entire series.
Even though his grand leap occurred in “The Last Candidate,” it was in “The Candidate” that Jack truly emerged as a new hero – the leader he always needed to be. The anger, bitterness, judgment, and stubbornness was gone, now replaced by a man who knew what needed to be done and was determined to make it happen. And he did so in a calm, rational, well thought out manner. Instead of arguing, he explained. Instead of yelling, he spoke evenly. And yet, he didn’t allow himself to become blinded by his renewed sense of faith – which is something that John Locke was never able to do. Compare Jack’s actions in “The Candidate” to Locke’s in “The Man from Tallahassee.” Despite knowing that they shouldn’t leave the island, Jack willingly helped his friends leave, since that’s what they desired. In fact, he put himself in a legitimately dangerous situation, fending off Widmore’s men and physically assaulting the Locke Ness Monster. On the other hand, Locke quite selfishly and recklessly blew up the submarine when Jack and Juliet were scheduled to depart, which would likely have led to the rescue of our castaways.
And while this episode was highlighted by the climax of a spiritual reawakening and clear cut battle lines, I believe it will ultimately always be remembered for what we lost, and that’s three major characters that have been with us since the beginning. And rightfully so, as this episode showed us what Lost possibly does best: Play with our emotions and comfort level by taking away somebody we’ve grown to care for. It’s quite fitting, and likely no mistake, that the two death scenes were polar opposites of each other. Sayid’s death was abrupt and with little build up. In a matter of seconds his character tied up any loose ends (revealing the destination of Desmond) and achieved redemption before he was suddenly blown to smithereens. It was reminiscent of the far less significant (but nearly as shocking) blink-and-you’ll-miss-it deaths of Ilana and Artz. Sayid’s death rattled us, and made us realize that at any point, in any way, one of these main characters could die.
Conversely, you had the drawn out, tender hearted moment with Jin and Sun. Unlike with Sayid scene, this felt like an entire act. There was the discovery that Sun was pinned behind some debris, there was the attempted escape, the evacuation of the rest of the key characters, and then the flash of acceptance where both realized she wouldn’t break free, and Jin chose to stay with her. I would go as far as to say that it was, next to Charlie’s memorable demise, the best scripted, most beautiful death scene ever featured on this show. It far surpassed the point of being “tragic” or “unexpected.” It was legitimately sad – so much so that the characters actually broke down and wept.
And in a compliment to his spiritual awakening in the real world, Jack seems to be the only character in the sideways world that is able to piece together the oddities and strange coincidences of their reality without Desmond’s intervention.
This episode also gave a tragic alternative to Locke’s unfortunate relationship with his father. In the real world, Locke’s father hustled him in order to manipulate him into giving him his kidney. After he got what he wanted, he cut ties with Locke. Circumstances repeatedly brought them back together, which would first cost Locke the love of his life. Later on, it nearly cost him his life, as dear old dad threw him out of a hotel window, paralyzing him from the waist down. These events left Locke a severely damaged, ultimately vulnerable man.
In the sideways world, things played out differently. One can safely assume that Anthony Cooper still planned on conning his son into donating his kidney, except a plane crash (ironically enough) prevented this from happening. Racked with guilt, Locke viewed his wheelchair as a prison – a metaphoric cell that incarcerates him for the irreparable mistake he had made. In a sad way, this is an even more unfortunate fate for our Man of Faith, as the viewers know the dastardly motives behind their reunion.
And finally, the sideways interaction between Jack and Locke was a fun twist on their island rivalry. In the hospital, it was Jack asking Locke to put his faith in him, with Locke stubbornly refusing. And as Jack has discovered on the island, sideways Locke won’t truly evolve until he’s able to embrace the beliefs of the man who’s challenging his thought process.
If “The Last Recruit” set in motion the events of the series finale, “The Candidate” sprinted there with a rush of adrenaline.
Click here for my original review of the episode
Watch this episode in its entirety:
Featured Character: Jack
Major Events & Revelations: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Jin, Sun, Sayid, and Lapidus attempt to leave the island; the Locke Ness Monster’s motives become apparent, revealing him as the villain in this conflict
Major Deaths: Sayid, Jin, Sun
While number six looked at the series’ first death, number five focuses on the episode that featured Lost’s greatest death toll. It would be easy to argue that the perception that this episode is significant lies in the fact that it’s still so fresh, but I honestly believe that when viewers look back at this series from a fresh, big picture perspective, season six’s “The Candidate” will be regarded as one of the most legitimately thrilling, shocking, and emotional episodes of the entire series.
Even though his grand leap occurred in “The Last Candidate,” it was in “The Candidate” that Jack truly emerged as a new hero – the leader he always needed to be. The anger, bitterness, judgment, and stubbornness was gone, now replaced by a man who knew what needed to be done and was determined to make it happen. And he did so in a calm, rational, well thought out manner. Instead of arguing, he explained. Instead of yelling, he spoke evenly. And yet, he didn’t allow himself to become blinded by his renewed sense of faith – which is something that John Locke was never able to do. Compare Jack’s actions in “The Candidate” to Locke’s in “The Man from Tallahassee.” Despite knowing that they shouldn’t leave the island, Jack willingly helped his friends leave, since that’s what they desired. In fact, he put himself in a legitimately dangerous situation, fending off Widmore’s men and physically assaulting the Locke Ness Monster. On the other hand, Locke quite selfishly and recklessly blew up the submarine when Jack and Juliet were scheduled to depart, which would likely have led to the rescue of our castaways.
And while this episode was highlighted by the climax of a spiritual reawakening and clear cut battle lines, I believe it will ultimately always be remembered for what we lost, and that’s three major characters that have been with us since the beginning. And rightfully so, as this episode showed us what Lost possibly does best: Play with our emotions and comfort level by taking away somebody we’ve grown to care for. It’s quite fitting, and likely no mistake, that the two death scenes were polar opposites of each other. Sayid’s death was abrupt and with little build up. In a matter of seconds his character tied up any loose ends (revealing the destination of Desmond) and achieved redemption before he was suddenly blown to smithereens. It was reminiscent of the far less significant (but nearly as shocking) blink-and-you’ll-miss-it deaths of Ilana and Artz. Sayid’s death rattled us, and made us realize that at any point, in any way, one of these main characters could die.
Conversely, you had the drawn out, tender hearted moment with Jin and Sun. Unlike with Sayid scene, this felt like an entire act. There was the discovery that Sun was pinned behind some debris, there was the attempted escape, the evacuation of the rest of the key characters, and then the flash of acceptance where both realized she wouldn’t break free, and Jin chose to stay with her. I would go as far as to say that it was, next to Charlie’s memorable demise, the best scripted, most beautiful death scene ever featured on this show. It far surpassed the point of being “tragic” or “unexpected.” It was legitimately sad – so much so that the characters actually broke down and wept.
And in a compliment to his spiritual awakening in the real world, Jack seems to be the only character in the sideways world that is able to piece together the oddities and strange coincidences of their reality without Desmond’s intervention.
This episode also gave a tragic alternative to Locke’s unfortunate relationship with his father. In the real world, Locke’s father hustled him in order to manipulate him into giving him his kidney. After he got what he wanted, he cut ties with Locke. Circumstances repeatedly brought them back together, which would first cost Locke the love of his life. Later on, it nearly cost him his life, as dear old dad threw him out of a hotel window, paralyzing him from the waist down. These events left Locke a severely damaged, ultimately vulnerable man.
In the sideways world, things played out differently. One can safely assume that Anthony Cooper still planned on conning his son into donating his kidney, except a plane crash (ironically enough) prevented this from happening. Racked with guilt, Locke viewed his wheelchair as a prison – a metaphoric cell that incarcerates him for the irreparable mistake he had made. In a sad way, this is an even more unfortunate fate for our Man of Faith, as the viewers know the dastardly motives behind their reunion.
And finally, the sideways interaction between Jack and Locke was a fun twist on their island rivalry. In the hospital, it was Jack asking Locke to put his faith in him, with Locke stubbornly refusing. And as Jack has discovered on the island, sideways Locke won’t truly evolve until he’s able to embrace the beliefs of the man who’s challenging his thought process.
If “The Last Recruit” set in motion the events of the series finale, “The Candidate” sprinted there with a rush of adrenaline.
Click here for my original review of the episode
Watch this episode in its entirety:
3 comments:
I think these season 6 episodes would mean more to me if I didn't know the series was supposed to end. Don't get me wrong, the deaths were well done. But since they announced Season 6 would end it (which was back after Season 3, wasn't it?), I've been assuming "Well, get ready for deaths". And that's been drilled into my head. As we get closer people will get knocked off, including people we've seen forever. Hey, only a couple more episodes, it's not like we'll have tons of Lost to go without them, ala Charlie or Boone. It doesn't make the deaths meaningless or less sad, we've come to care about these characters, but the impact it would have had if this was just the end of the season instead of the series isn't quite there. Plus the fact that the alternate world is so prevalent (i.e., okay, Sayid, Jin, and Sun are dead in the main world but it's cool, they're alive in alternate world)...just didn't have as much effect on me as I might have thought.
To be honest Matt, I am slightly shocked that your top 10 list features so many episodes from Seasons 5 and 6. I mean the Candidate was good, but to put it in the top 5 episodes ever is a bit much.
Kyle: That's a very fair point, but in a lot of ways I viewed the deaths from "The Candidate" as being symbolic of what we should expect. Like I said, there can be a Sayid-type blink and you'll miss it death, but you can also expect the emotional and drawn out death scenes, as we saw with Sun and Jin. But I do see your point that it doesn't quite have the impact, since we're going to be saying good bye to all of the characters soon anyway.
However, if you think about it, it's almost a little more tragic that these characters made it THIS far, and have been through SO much, yet they don't see it to the end.
DaBooty: To be honest, I wanted to put in more episodes from season five, but only one made the cut. I did expect some debate regarding my inclusion of a number of season six episodes (there's 3 in total), but as I said in the introduction, in a lot of ways the season one episodes were the introduction of most of the show's mysteries, while season six was the resolution to most of them. So in that regard, there is an inherent bias to seasons one and six. That being said, I do stand by my assessment of "The Candidate."
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