Broken Frontier

As we have reached the last few episodes of Lost, it was inevitable that eventually we would witness a few major character deaths. This week's episode “The Candidate” certainly gives us death, and plenty of it. Not one, but three major characters bite the dust this week, and by the end of the show most Lost fans will certainly be somewhat heartbroken.

The flashes this week start with a bedside visit between Dr. Jack Shepard and his recent patient: hit-and- run victim John Locke. Jack has saved Locke's life but thinks that he could also help him regain the use of his legs, but Locke refuses to be considered a “candidate”. Jack is not dissuaded by this setback, and seeks out Locke's old dental surgeon (surprise! It's Bernard!) for more information. Jack subsequently discovers Locke's strange relationship with his father Anthony Cooper who is brain dead and also stuck in a wheelchair. Jack and Claire have a conversation about their late father, and Jack tells wheelchair-bound Locke “I wish you'd believe me” but he still rolls away.

In the island timeline, Hydra island becomes the setting for the confrontation between Un-Locke and Widmore. Widmore has taken the gang from the boat captive, and has locked them away in the old bear cages. Jack comes to after the mortar attack on the beach of Hydra island where Sayid and Un-Locke have apparently brought him in preparation for the attack on Widmore's camp. Sawyer and Kate reminisce about being trapped in bear cages and Sun and Jin barely have time to reconnect before the power cuts out. Uh oh. Smokey attacks Widmore's camp and Jack sets the captives free.

The plan to escape the island finally comes to fruition, and Un-Locke storms the airplane only to find a bomb set in it. Not willing to trust that there are not any other bombs set within the plane, Un-Locke decides to switch focus to the submarine as a means of escape. The taking of the submarine is a crazy encounter filled with backstabbing, manipulation, and gunfire. In the end Un-Locke is not on the Sub when it launches, and all the candidates are. There's also a bomb on the Submarine. Sayid sacrifices himself so the others can live. Sun, stuck in the sinking wreckage, pleads with Jin to leave her and save himself. Jin vehemently and bilingually refuses. Lost fans weep en masse. Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate seem to be the only characters left alive, with Un-Locke setting out to finish them off.

So much happens in this episode that it's really hard to put in perspective. There's enough action, suspense, and heart-wrenching drama for three episodes packed into this one. “The Candidate” is definitely the payoff for weeks of slow moving episodes and has most likely highlighted Jack as the replacement for Jacob. With no time left for anything unimportant, the final episodes should all be this amazing, so keep yourself buckled in as Lost reaches the home stretch.