Lost: "The Candidate"

In what was the deadliest hour of Lost since the Pilot, "The Candidate" left all of us with intense emotions. We lost major characters who have been with us since September 22, 2004. But, let's start with the flashsideways.

Jack was able to save Locke. While in the hospital, the two talk about being on Flight 815. Jack then reveals to Locke that he may be a candidate: for a medical treatment that could allow him to walk. Locke denies this offer. Jack wants to learn what happened to Locke to cause his paralysis, and goes to Locke's dentist, Bernard Nadler, for info. Bernard also lets Jack know they were on Flight 815 together. Bernard refuses to help him, but decides to send him to "Anthony Cooper", who also was in the accident with Locke.

Jack tracks him down where Locke's fiance, Helen, is there. She warns against Jack seeing Anthony, but Jack insists. Jack and the audience is surprised to see that Anthony Coopper, who is amongst the most evil men on Lost, is now in a vegetative state. And that's why Locke will not have the surgery.

Back at the hospital, Jack is by Locke's bedside as he murmurs "Push the button...I wish you would have believed me". Claire walks in, and Jack leaves to talk to her. She shows him the music box Christian wanted her to have. She also inquires as to how her father had died. He recounts that Christian drank himself to death in Australia, and he had to bring his body back. Claire prepares to leave, but Jack offers to live with him because they're family. And she agrees.

When Locke is finally ready to be discharged, Jack tells him he knows about Anthony. Locke then tells him what happened. Locke got his pilot's license, and Anthony was his first passenger. But, they crashed. Anthony was left catatonic while Locke was left paralyzed. Jack reminds Locke of their conversation at the airport helped him come to terms with his father, and now Jack will help him come to terms with his father via the surgery. Locke still refuses, to which Jack replies "I wish you believed me". He then exits.

But whatever happened in the flashsideways was easily overshadowed by the on-Island stuff. Sun, Jin, Kate, Sawer, Claire, Hurley, and Frank were captured by Widmore and put in the polar bear cages. Flocke recruits Jack and Sayid to help him them escape. Jack shuts down the power for the Island, allowing Flocke to attack in the form of the smoke monster. He kills several of Widmore's goons while Jack runs to save the traped Losties. They reunite with Sayid, and head to the plane, where a angry Flocke kills gaurds in the plane and finds C4 bombs strapped to the plane. Uh-oh.

When the Losties arrive, Flocke explains the plane is not safe due to the bomb, and they will have to take the sub. Jack agrees to help, but still refuses to leave the Island. As they leave, Sawyer pulls Jack aside and tells him to push Flocke into the water as they leave because he doesn't trust him.

At the dock, Flocke asks Jack to reconsider, stating that whoever told Jack they needed to stay was wrong. Jack replies "John Locke told me I needed to stay" and pushed him into the water. As Kate watches, she is shot in the shoulder by one of Widmore's goons. Jack runs and brings her into the sub, and orders Sawyer to get Clarie. He tries, but sees that she is too busy shooting and orders the ship to leave. Claire is furious, but Flocke tells her it the sub isn't safe. And with that, the growing feeling of dread builds. But what happens next is shocking.

Kate needs first help, but it's put on hold when Jack finds a bomb in Jack's pack. Jack realizes they have done exactly what Flocke wanted them to do so he could kill them all. The sub begins its assent to the surface, but it would never make it in time. Sayid tries to help them diffuse the bomb. However, Jack offers another plan: don't do anything. He thinks that diffusing the bomb will kill them, and Flocke cannot kill them. Sawyer doesn't listen, and pulls the plug on the bomb. The timer stops momentarily, then quickly counts down. Uh-oh.

Sayid takes the bomb and tells Jack that Desmond is alive on the Island in a well. He tells Jack "It is going to be you" then runs down the sub's passage as the bomb explodes in his hand. And with that, Sayid finds redemption by trying to save his friends. After all the bad things he has done, he is redeemed. But Sayid will not be the only death of the night. As the sub sinks, Frank shouts "Ah, hell" as he is overcome with water. And true to Frank's personality, his last words are a one-liner.

Jack orders Hurley to take Kate up to the beach, which he does. Unfortunately, Sun is trapped. Jin, Jack, and Sawyer struggle to free her but Sawyer is knocked out. Jack grabs him, but Jin orders him to save Sawyer. Jack has a long final look at the doomed couple, and leaves. Jin cannot get Sun free, but refuses to listen to her pleas for him to go. He holds her and refuses to leave her again. His daughter is safe with her grandmother and an attempt to get to the surface is slim to none. Jin decides to die next to the wife he loves. The final shot shows their hands drifting apart in death. I was speechless. And yes, I cried.

At the beach, Jack tells Hurley and Kate that Jin and Sun didn't make it. Hurley and Kate cry together as Jack leaves and sobs by the ocean. Meanwhile, that Son of a Bitch Flocke takes a shocked and saddened Claire to "finish what he started".

Top 3 Questions I Want Answered:
1). What exactly are "The Rules"?
2). How does Desmond play into this?
3). What is the story behind Jacob and The Man in Black?