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.
