No spoilers for future episodes here, just talking about what went on in “The Candidate,” this week’s episode of LOST. Since a lot of major stuff went down in this episode, I’d recommend NOT reading this post until you have seen it!
I love Frank Lapidus. This man has a purpose, just as lofty and important as Dr. Jack’s or Desmond’s. And it’s not, “pilot the sub down, then make it go back up just in time to get killed so Jack and Sawyer and Kate and Hurley can escape, but not you or Jin or Sun.” That is NOT Frank’s purpose. Sorry. Just can’t be.
I am fully expecting Frank to wash up on the beach, clinging to a piece of submarine hull or possibly the liferaft that he found at the very last second. Or maybe be the dude who sneaks up behind the bad guy and whacks him over the head, just when you think your heroes are done for.
This man has survived a helicopter crash, two emergency landings, cows, the Smoke Monster, and disagreeing with Martin Keamy. Plus, he’s a pilot. A great pilot. And they have a functioning plane. Whoever makes it through this alive is going to need him. What are they going to do, defeat the Man in Black and then think, oh crap, too bad that shaggy pilot guy got killed a little while ago, we’re screwed after all? Just because surging water and a metal door knocked Lapidus down a split-second after he uttered a cheesy one-liner, doesn’t mean he’s dead.
This week’s episode was just chock-full of death, most of it seemingly purposeless. What was the point of Sun coming back to find Jin, and Jin searching tirelessly for Sun, if it just meant they were both going to die? What about little Ji Yeon? Sayid trying to reduce the bomb impact with his own body was pretty cool – now that’s a purpose. Plus, a confirmation that not only was there still some good left in Sayid after all, but that he realized that he had made a deal with…yes, the devil, I believe. And that the only way to get out of it was to sacrifice his own life in the service of whoever was trying to fight the Man in Black.
Sayid’s last words to Jack are pretty chilling – it’s going to be you – and that makes me terrified for the rest of our group, especially after the Man in Black’s “all right, enough screwing around, I’m going to go kill me some candidates” attitude at the very end of the episode. This guy’s pissed. This may still be one big game, but he’s done playing. That look he had on his face as the sub pulled away, like he was about to start cackling with diabolical glee, terrified me. (Note to whoever invents awards for sci-fi: There should be a Terry O’Quinn Award, presented to actors who brilliantly play a character who’s dead and now has some evil supernatural entity inhabiting his or her body. Nobody does it better!)
Speaking of evil supernatural entities, it was pretty interesting to see that even the illustrious Man in Black is not infallible. The sonar fences, of course. But ol’ Sawyer picked up on another one: Water. Which is the reason the MIB has to use boats to get from Island to Island and can’t just turn into the Black Smoke and fly. I had kind of forgotten that. Getting shoved off the dock into the water didn’t kill him, of course, but it did seem to take him an awfully long time to pull himself back up, and boy was he mad. Something about him and water. An Island’s a good prison for a being that can’t tolerate water. But I think water would make an even better one…maybe the bottom of the ocean! What if there was a way we could sink the Island? Oh, wait….
I’m sure there’s a lot more dying coming up, and much pulse-pounding action, but I stand by my claim: We will see Lapidus again. Since the writers continually set him up to toss off the witty one-liners and move the plot forward – hey, guys, let’s go find some food so Jack and Sawyer can have a meaningful exchange of dialogue without so many people around – I sense he’s going to get to be the deus ex machina somewhere in the finale. One of those moments where there’s no way out, gotta do what the Man in Black says or Kate gets a bullet, dramatic tension, tears, Kate begging Jack (or Sawyer) not to give in even though it means her life…and here comes Lapidus creeping up behind the MIB with a big bucket of water! Or something. I’m sure of it. The Island isn’t done with Frank Lapidus.
Tags: claire littleton, desmond, desmond hume, flocke, frank lapidus, hugo reyes, hurley, it's going to be you, jack shephard, ji yeon, jin, jin and sun, kate austen, lapidus, LOST, lost final season, lost on abc, lost season 6, man in black, martin keamy, MIB, sawyer, sawyer ford, sayid, sayid jarrah, smocke, submarine, sun, sun and jin, terry o'quinn, the candidate, TV, unlocke, widmore's sub
While I disagree with you that the MIB is “The Devil” I stand behind your feelings that Frank Lapidus will be ok! I love that guy and, coming from a die-hard Lost watcher since Season 1, I felt the worst when he “died”. Sun? Sayid? Jin? Ehh, it’s sad but why did they have to off Frank!?! I really do hope he turns out alrite. I really really do.
No way Frank died, if anything they would have at least shown more of what happened to him. I first thought that Frank came and pulled Jin out of the water when you see Jin’s hand pull away, but the lost producers have said that Su, Jin, and Sayid are all dead. They said nothing about Frank so im going to be an optimist and pray he made it out of that forsaken submarine.
Agreed, Nick, that those other deaths were sad. We kind of sensed them coming, though, esp. with Sun and Jin (though I feel bad for Island-timeline Ji Yeon now). And Sayid was kind of already gone; nothing left but for him to redeem himself in some way. He’d already had Nadia and lost her, and I think he realized that the MIB’s promise that they’d be reunited was coming at too great a cost. (Thanks, Desmond, for pointing that out to him!) But Frank? Frank’s a great guy, not to mention an awesome pilot, and he’s got to have a greater purpose still to come.
Eric — I had not heard that the producers confirmed those three deaths. It’s good to hear, in a way, because the list specifically does not include Frank! It wouldn’t surprise me if he managed to grab a liferaft on his way out, and drag one of those Widmore crewmembers to safety along with him. :-)
Thx for your comments! :)
Agreed Completely. Frank is a pretty underrated guy, and that had been showing a lot in to recent episodes. I felt exactly the same way when he did the ‘get some food’ line on the boat, he was essentially just serving as a plot piece. Of course, the ‘Aww Hell’ as the sub flooded are classic last lines, and there was that vibe like ‘We don’t have time to expand his character more, and we don’t want to keep him like this, so… kill him’ coming from the writers regarding Lapedius, but… I can only say: Come ON! this is the guy who walked off of the set of a Burt Reynolds movie! Guys like that don’t just die. Well, I’ll just cross my fingers for a Wicked Witch of the West-esque bucket-o’-watery-death for the MIB at the last second coming as a victory strike from Frank, as you suggest.
Excellent points, by the way ;]
@Thomas: Thanks for the comment! I think my favorite Lapidus line has to be when he was helping bury Locke, and said, “This is the weirdest damn funeral I’ve ever been to.” With a close second being “Heyyy…don’t talk about bacon.” I much prefer Frank as comic relief than as move-the-plot-along guy!
When they first introduced the freighter folks it seemed like his role in things was going to be much bigger — after all, this was the guy who was supposed to have piloted 815, and became obsessed with the cover-up because of that. Essentially he was the only non-Widmore person off the Island who suspected a conspiracy. I always thought he was going to turn out to be much more important. I think he still will be!
I completely agree that Frank Lapidus is ALIVE! I mean he is the only one that can fly a plane even though Jack took several flying lessons. MiB onlky intended on killing the candidates and not Frank and i think that he lert Frank live. He realizes that not everyone on the sub died and I think he knows that Frank is alive. In my opinion, I think that MiB NEEDS Frank to fly him off the island. He’s planning on killing Hurley (darn he’s the best), Jack, Kate, and Sawyer but I think he wants to keep Lapidus so he can leave the island. LONG LIVE FRANK!
@Charlie — thanks for the comment! I have been a Lapidus fan since the first episode he was in. One of the only guys on the show who’s been consistently trustworthy, and geez, he just seems like a nice guy. Who else apologizes to someone after knocking them out with a rifle butt, you know? :-)
My impression was that the MiB knew not everyone on the sub had died because something would have instantly changed for him once all the Candidates were dead. He would have been able to leave, somehow. I’m wondering if he really needs that plane, or if there’s some other way he can travel. Maybe, however Jacob used to get off the Island to visit the Candidates?
My favorite line is the original ‘Crashed? What kind of a Pilot do you think I am? I landed it over there.’ That’s pretty much the point where I realized: Oh yeah, this guy’s cool. Then later, when he showed up, the equally classic ‘Wait a minute – we’re not going to guam, are we?’ Was where I realized ‘Oh yeah, he’s back’.
To your last comment, well, considering what we learned in across the sea, Apparently the Donkey Wheel is specifically for getting off of the island. Maybe that’s his plan.
LOL — yes, makes you wonder if 815 would have ever crashed on the Island had Lapidus been behind the wheel. Could be that was the reason the Island made sure he overslept! Another great line of his was from that helicopter scene, where he wakes up, says, “I saw a cow,” and then passes out again.
Yes, the MiB could be planning to turn the Wheel again — yet after seeing “Across the Sea”, I’m wondering if he will just fall dead once all the Candidates are dead. Maybe that’s all he wants, is to be able to die. Maybe that is what he really means by “leave” now that he’s been hanging around the Island so very, very long.
If that IS the case, though, and Widmore is telling the truth, the MiB’s death would have disastrous consequences for all of existence. The MiB, of course, doesn’t care who he takes with him, even if it’s the whole universe, he just wants to be done.
Another thing I have been wondering about recently is whether the Candidates are candidates from which Jacob (or somehow the Island itself) was supposed to choose — or are they selected based on their likelihood of being “the One” because Jacob doesn’t really know who it is himself? If that is the case, it means that only one of them was EVER destined to take Jacob’s place, the same way Mother suggested that Jacob was always destined to be the guardian of the Island.
I am really going to miss this show after this week! Though I assume there will be a lot of post-show analysis that will take months to unravel. Hopefully! :-)
great season for lost. you can watch the full lenght episode on watchlostseasonfinale.blogspot.com
Well done. I agree mostly with what you say. I think people go about making up because of always only remembering the good times.
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