'Lost': Course Corrections for 'The Candidate'

In the immortal words of Alec Baldwin's character Bob Barrenger in the film "State and Main": "So, that happened." It's twenty-four hours later, and we're all still trying to recover from the emotional onslaught that was "The Candidate." Yet try we must. I like how Todd VanDerWerff phrased it in his recap last night: ""Lost" has always argued that the way people live on is by being remembered by other people." So let's try and remember what happened last night, as painful as that might be, in this week's edition of "Course Corrections."

As always, these will be eight thoughts about the most recent episode, with the cold light of day and a few more hours to contemplate what went down under my belt.

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I totally missed Smocke snagging the watch from Widmore's goon both times I watched this episode last night. But I did enjoy Smocke's resourcefulness, marrying a "if life gives you lemons, make a lemon moral time bomb" attitude with the skill set of MacGyver. But here's what I wonder: is there more than a practical reason for keeping Claire off the submarine? In other words, instead of merely leaving someone behind so Smocke isn't talking to himself once his plan gets set in motion, is there a dramatic reason that she wasn't onboard? She's not a candidate. He technically doesn't need her anymore. Might we finally get payoff from the prophecy in "Raised by Another"?

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I read more than a few people call what Jin did suicide. Jin did not commit suicide. He made a choice. Here's what Jacob said to them on their wedding day: "I'd like to offer you my blessing. Your love is a very special thing. Never take it for granted." Their time on the Island showed how much they HAD taken it for granted before Oceanic 815 crashed, and just when they figured it out, they were split apart for three years. It's very easy to play armchair quarterback and argue that he should have left to potentially raise Ji Yeon, or that Sun should have insisted that he leave for that same reason, but trying to apply logic and reason to a moment like that seems a bit unfair. And who knows: their fulfillment of Jacob's wish might have ramifications we can't even imagine yet.

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While it's hard to fine anything funny after such a somber episode, I do chuckle at people who have the nerve to be mad at Darlton for misdirecting them on Smocke's motives during their interviews, podcasts, and other speaking events throughout the season. As if 1) they have some obligation to tell the truth about their mystery show, and 2) there's no precedent for them either sly misdirection or blatant untruths in order to keep a shroud of secrecy about the show. I've made that mistake in the past, got burned, and moved on. People might feel dumb for thinking that Smocke might have been the good guy because Darlton posed a question about his potential motives earlier this year. But getting mad at Darlton for doing what they've always done just seems like the search for a straw man. It's like getting mad at the magician for pulling the coin out of your ear.

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If you're going to get mad at Darlton about something, get mad about them posing in front of their whiteboard with plot details of "The Candidate" sitting behind them for a photo shoot for Wired Magazine that hit newsstands before the episode actually aired. I saw this a little while back, yelped, and then had people tell me for weeks that I was clearly playing into their game of misdirection. While the board doesn't give away epic bits of info (like the deaths), it does betray the appearance of Bernard and other tidbits, as well as future episode titles. I understand that a lot of the shot was staged with "Lost" paraphernalia and assorted knickknacks, it's still staged in front of a board that showed future events. In other words, on purpose or not, Darlton spoiled me and many other "Lost" fans that subscribe to Wired. I am hoping they simply didn't realize the street date for the magazine when posing for it. Go see the photo for yourself (if you wish) and you'll see what I'm talking about.

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Speaking of misdirection, I want to start us thinking anew about what it means for The Man in Black to go "home." It's been his stated goal since "LA X," told to Ben in the foot of Tawaret. We've long assumed "home" was some unknown place in the real world, which he could access via airplane while riding Candidate Airlines outta Dodge. Well, now we know for sure what many of us suspected and Jack only realized too late: as long as one candidate lives, Smocke is tethered to the Island. So if Smocke doesn't actually need to leave the Island, merely kill all the candidates in one fell swoop, then we have to rethink where "home" is. My instinct: it's on a part of the Island we've never seen, a place that The Rules dictate The Man in Black cannot enter. And it might be a place related to the infamous donkey wheel statue. In "Happily Ever After," "Everybody Loves Hugo," Smocke hinted at great knowledge about the construction of the wells on the Island, wells that tied into the pockets of energy (or dormant volcanoes) that dot the landscape. Home might not be far from one of those.

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In last night's recap, I called a semi-foul on Sayid's sudden...well, Sayid-ness when faced with a ticking bomb. Seemed a bit odd considering he's spent most of the season looking depressed, blank, out-of-breath, or mustache-twirly. But in thinking about it today, I can't help but wonder if it's a commentary on the true nature of "infection" in the show. Perhaps Sayid's return to form shows just how self-inflicted that infection is, another way of illuminating just how little control The Man in Black (and Jacob) actually have over these people once they put their minds to doing something. I liked Noel Murray's talk of false choices versus real ones in his recap for "Happily Ever After," and I think what he talks about their holds true: these people have been broken for so long, they have no idea how strong they can truly be. Just as Jin died making a choice, so too did Sayid, who realized just before it was too late that he had the power to make that choice all season long. He was just too weak to make it, so he let The Man in Black make it for him. His sacrifice reclaimed not only his own soul, but provided a window of opportunity to help others stave off what looks evermore like a cataclysmic disaster.

****

There's already a lot of talk about this episode's place in the Pantheon of All-Time Great "Lost" Episodes. Obviously such lists are a matter of taste. Just people don't agree with my Pantheon doesn't mean they are bad people, it just means they are smelly and probably hate kittens. I would say this, however: while it's dangerous to rank any episode in any order until the sum total of the series is over, I feel confident stating that this episode would not crack my All-Time Top Ten when all is said and done. That attitude has nothing to do with the emotional impact of the episode. It totally John Cougar-ed me (ie, it currently hurts so good). But in general, I'm a fan of episodes that feature less frantic action and more intimate, character-based focus. Obviously, most "Lost" episodes are a mix of the two, but I tend to keep past season finales off my All-Time Great lists because of their focus on events as opposed to interactions. There was certainly a ton of narrative momentum last night, but that momentum served largely to confuse the candidates so Smocke could spring his trap. When I hear the plot points clicking furiously like the sounds of the smoke monster attacking, I tend to appreciate what's going on from a distance, instead of loving it on a visceral level. (More on "appreciating" versus "loving" can be found in my entry earlier this week.)

***

Let's end, as always, with TV/music suggestions based on this week's episode. If you're looking for another show about a man at the center of a makeshift family, worried about holding back the forces of darkness from literally remaking the world around him, go no further than the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off series "Angel." To some, this is heresy, but I'd rank "Angel" higher than "Buffy," top-to-bottom. It's really, really close, but "Angel" ultimate wins out on the Ryan McGee Scale. Nothing tops "Once More with Feeling," but "Angel" just hits me in a way than the sum total of "Buffy" doesn't. I could write about 12,000 words why, but this isn't a Whedon blog. Yet.

Onto the musical elections...God, this is a mixtape made for listening to in the dark, with maybe a candle or two lit to pierce the blackness. In some ways, Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" would be the perfect theme for this week, although I bet The Man in Black would prefer the version by the OTHER Man in Black, Johnny Cash. For Sun/Jin: Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," Ani Difranco's "Both Hands," The Beatles' "Things We Said Today," Stevie Wonder's "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)", and Coldplay's "Swallowed in the Sea." For Sayid: Beck's "Already Dead" and Moby's "When It's Cold I Like To Die." But we can't entirely wallow in misery. Since Jack needs to stay around, he's cranking up Ryan Adams' "Note to Self: Don't Die" when not playing Garbage's "Fix Me Now." Over in the sideways world, he and Claire might have heard Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" mingle with the strains of "Catch a Falling Star." Meanwhile, there's Sawyer on the beach, humming John Wesley Harding's "I'm Wrong About Everything." And finally, I'm hoping Sideways Locke heeds Jack's advice, so the two of them can go on "The Walk" Imogen Heap suggests. "There's no way out/We are surrounded," she sings in that song. Sounds about right to me.

Those are my thoughts 24 hours after "The Candidate." What's on YOUR mind?

Photo credit: ABC