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Drowning, Not Waving: Sea of Love on Lost

"We're not strangers; we're family." - Jack

Last night's episode of Lost ("The Candidate"), written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jim Galasso and directed by Jack Bender, may have started off a little wobbly with yet another switch-up among the alliances and another about-face with their destination but, by George, the last twenty minutes of that episode still has me in tears the morning after.

We can cross a few more names off the cave wall now, thanks to an episode that definitely brought the emotional painfulness back to Lost as well as brought things full circle to the notion of family and the bonds between these characters. When Lost first began, it was essentially a story of survival as a group of strangers--united by tragedy--had to discover a way to stay alive, deciding whether to live together or die alone.

Over the course of six seasons and countless threats to their survival, these disparate characters have grown into something akin to a family. A highly dysfunctional one, granted, but one nonetheless. The invisible threats of fate that linked them at the beginning have been replaced by strong emotional tethers. When Lost-X Jack calls Claire "family," it's not just about their newly discovered sibling bond but about all of the characters on the series.

Family, after all, is what you're willing to lay down your life for, to make the ultimate sacrifice, to stay to the bitter end as the waters rise up over your head. What's united these castaways all along is love.

So what did I think of this week's episode of Lost? Grab an oxygen bottle, bite into an Apollo bar, open up the music box, and let's discuss "The Candidate."

As I mentioned earlier, I found the first half of last night's episode a little tiring. This season, we've seen an endless array of alliance permutations as the castaways splinter, reform, and splinter again, choosing between following Jacob and following the Man in Black, between staying on the island or leaving, between heading for the plane or the sub.

It's felt, to steal a phrase from Sawyer this week, like they've been "running in circles."

With only a handful of episodes remaining, I wanted some real emotional impact, some major stakes raised, rather than just another trek through the jungle or another double-cross of ol' Smokey. Fortunately, the Lost writer gods must have been listening to me because the last twenty minutes of "The Candidate" packed in more plot twists and unexpected tension than several entire episodes.

And, thanks to the death of three major characters (and the assumed death of another), we saw the castaways shattered in a way we haven't seen them in a very long time. Escaping from the wreckage of the submarine, they're scared, shaken, and very sad. Those moments on the beach bring it all home. There's been so much talk of supernatural entities, candidates, and greater purposes that it's become easy to lose sight of the true battle going on here: survival. The deaths of Sun and Jin and of Sayid are an inescapable reminder that they--and we--are just all too mortal. When your time is up, it's up. You don't always get to have the happy ending that you deserve.

I thought that the submarine sequence was gorgeously shot and that the entire last twenty minutes or so--from the time they arrive on the dock to the very end of the episode--had me on the edge of my seat, either gasping in shock (Kate's shooting) or sobbing (Sun and Jin's death). I had a feeling, as soon as I saw that the Man in Black had removed the C4 explosives from the plane that something awful was about to unfold but even I couldn't have predicted that the producers would be killing off three major cast members in one fell swoop. (As well as leaving the fate of poor Frank Lapidus so ambiguous, though I can't imagine that the pilot survived.)

The Man in Black. Say what you want about the mysterious Man in Black, but he's a master manipulator, a cosmic trickster who lies right to your face with a wink and a smile. He knows exactly what he'll encounter on the Ajira plane as soon as (if not before) he steps into the clearing and dispatches Widmore's flunkies without breaking a sweat. Yes, I'm saying that he knew he'd find explosives on the plane because he knows that Widmore has planted them there and left just two redshirts to guard the plane. Why? Because he steals a watch off one of the corpses before he even boards the Gilligan's Island-style bamboo staircase to investigate the plane.

He knew that he'd use the watch to create a ticking bomb that he'd use to kill the remaining candidates... just as he knew that Sawyer would once again try to double-cross him. He was counting on everything playing out just the way it did, in fact. Hell, he was so confident that he let the group in on his plans, displaying the C4, and telling them that Widmore's plan would have them all in one place, in a confined space, with little chance of escape.

And that's just what happened. While it's not Widmore's plan, I believe that the Man in Black always knew just how he'd attempt to get rid of the castaways. While he claimed that he needed them to escape the island, I believe that the reverse is true: he needs the candidates to be dead before he can leave. No replacement for the jailer means that the exit will no longer be barred to him. As long as there is someone to take Jacob's place, he's trapped on his island prison.

So what does he do? He proves that he knows the castaways all too well. He knows that Sawyer will attempt to escape and betray him... and that Jack will likely be caught up in the escape plot, which he is. All he has to do is sit back and let the counter go off and his trouble with the candidates will be over.

Which seems a bit at odds with his inability to kill the candidates, with the fact that his hands are tied due to certain rules that govern the island. Or does it? We've been told that the Man in Black can't kill them and, in fact, he often goes to great lengths to save their lives (Jack, Sawyer). So how could he think that his bomb threat would work?

Because he knows these castaways inside and out. Had they waited out the clock, the bomb wouldn't have gone off, as Jack suggests. They're protected by Jacob's influence. But because Sawyer removed the wires and tampered with the mechanism, he is therefore acting on his own behalf and unleashing a threat against the others. (As Jack said, the Man in Black wants them to kill each other.) It's not the Man in Black's hand on the detonator, but Sawyer's. He knew that someone on the sub wouldn't follow Jack's belief that they were protected and therefore provide a loophole by which the candidates would be vulnerable to death.

Then there's the matter of the ending, as the Man in Black and Claire wait on the docks. He's immediately aware that the sub has sank to the ocean floor (though obviously it can't be seen from there) as well as the fact that not all of the candidates perished in the explosion. Grabbing his pack and his gun, he sets off to "finish what [he] started."

That anyone could say that the Man in Black is nothing less than evil incarnate is beyond me. He doesn't want to help the castaways. He wants off this rock and is prepared to kill all of them to do so. He can't directly cause their deaths but he can create a situation that, once one of them acts, will lead to their deaths (i.e., Sawyer pulling out the wires). As for that scene on the dock, you might be wondering just how he knows that the candidates aren't all dead. Simple: he can leave the island once they're all dead. If he can't leave, then they are still alive. Just as he knew the sub had sank, so too does the Man in Black know that the way is still barred to him. Escape is still not a possibility.

Widmore. So what was Widmore's game then? Why throw the castaways into the bear cages? He claims that he's doing it for their own good and, while I've doubted Widmore's motives in the past, I do actually think he's telling the truth here. He orders his men to move the sonic fence around the cages and locks the castaways inside in an effort to shield them from the Man in Black.

Which would mean that Widmore's mission is to keep the castaways alive. The longer they live--and the more of them that do--the less chance the Nemesis has of escaping the island. Widmore is attempting to keep the balance between light and dark, to keep the scales even as Jacob's candidate is called. He knows, therefore, just what the Man in Black is attempting to do.

So why rig the plane with explosives? To stop the Man in Black and his few remaining followers. After all, when the plane was likely rigged, Widmore already had the majority of the candidates--save Jack and Sayid--in his custody. So if the plane went boom, it would likely only kill the Man in Black's followers. (He did seem to take an awful lot of precautions to keep the Man in Black from the candidates but didn't think about back-up generators, clearly.)

Sun and Jin. I was one of the viewers who was disappointed by Sun and Jin's reunion two weeks ago, which--after all of this time--lacked a real emotional hook. Yes, it was cut short by the arrival of Widmore's men and the brandishing of firearms, but I didn't feel like the brief moment of reunion was strong enough, given how long many of us have rooted for these two to find one another again. This week, they get a brief scene in the bear cages where Widmore's men have stashed them as they talk about Ji Yeon and Sun returns Jin's ring, another symbol of coming full circle. (We also find out just who is watching Ji Yeon back in South Korea.)

(I was surprised that there wasn't a moment of frisson passing between Sun and Widmore, who had, after all, had some words together back in Seasons Four and Five about their mutual interests and Sun's desire to kill Benjamin Linus. But, alas, there wasn't even a flicker of recognition between the two.)

Here, we get the scene that their entire relationship has been building to as Sun is trapped in the wreckage of the sinking submarine. Faced with an impossible decision, Jin can either escape and save himself or they can die together. The fact that the Kwons were always represented with a single candidate number--42--is a poetic foreshadowing of the way they exit the world: bound together, united, hands intertwined. Their moment of unity is heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time: an undersea ballet of billowing hair and clasped hands, a blue-hued postcard of the power of true love. These two never get their happy ending but they also get to die together, in each others arms, beneath the sea. It's only in death that their hands are separated...

(Sigh. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it again.)

Sayid. I was glad to see the old Sayid again, even if it was just one last time at the end of his life. For too long, we've seen a cold, emotionless Sayid, a walking zombie, who cared little for anyone else. But this week, Sayid seems to spring back to life again, recalling the Sayid from the earlier seasons, with his knowledge of defusing bombs. A zombie wouldn't willingly sacrifice themselves for the greater good, but Sayid--now once again alive, it would seem--does just that. He tells Jack about Desmond's location and instructs him to find Desmond and tells him that he is the one, the candidate of the title. And then he runs with the bomb and is blown to smithereens. He redeemed himself with that one act, proving that redemption is possible for anyone, regardless of their past actions.

Frank. And then there's Lapidus, who is felled by a bulkhead as the compartment fills with water. I don't see how Frank could have possibly survived that and escaped the submarine in time. I'm sad to say that our 1970s style pilot may actually be well and truly dead.

Claire. Like Sayid, Claire too seems to be more in touch with her emotional state this week, perhaps influenced by proximity to the castaways. Just as she is stunned that they would leave her behind once more, she seems terrified that the Man in Black has killed them all on the submarine. It's as though she's seeing the Nemesis clearly for the first time in all of these years. (There's also a brief moment of emotion when Sawyer thanks the Man in Black for saving their lives at the Ajira crash site and says he was wrong about him. Claire seems to react briefly to this comment as though she's all too aware that the Man in Black is far less kind than he seems.) There's not only a sense of horror on the dock but also deep sadness for the fact that some of her former comrades in arms may be dead or dying. Could it be that Claire has come back from the land of the shadows at last?

Kate. Would Widmore actually have killed Kate? I think he might have. He's proven himself to be an ends-justify-the-means sort of guy and he knows that Kate isn't a candidate to replace Jacob and therefore is expendable. If killing her would protect the others, he's all too willing to do so in order to prove a point. And it's Kate who gets shot on the dock, after all. Did Widmore give instructions not to hit any of the others? Hmmm...

Jack. I have to say that I've liked Jack a hell of a lot more since he finally embraced his destiny and became the man of faith that Locke had pushed him to be for so long. But we also see here a Jack that is shaken by uncertainty. He believed that, if they let the counter go off, there would be no explosion. That they couldn't be killed. I do feel that Jack was right: it was Sawyer's involvement that led to the explosion. Just as the dynamite didn't kill Jack and Richard Alpert, the bomb here would have failed to detonate when the timer reached zero. But because Sawyer chose to pull the wires out, it's his action that has consequences for the rest of the group and his hand on the trigger.

Despite Jack's conviction about the bomb, it doesn't make the aftermath any less painful for him. Saving Sawyer's life and getting him back to the beach and reuniting with the wounded Kate (who was desperately looking for him), the group succumbs to tears as Jack walks over to the water's edge at stares up at the heavens as he too begins to cry. It was a powerful scene that spoke volumes about Jack's journey and his struggle to believe in something unseen, something powerful and invisible, and give himself over to his destiny. But it doesn't cut any less to lose the people that matter to you. To lose the family that keep you going and protect your back. Lost might be about love but it's also about lost love just as much.

Lost-X. The flash-sideways this week brought together a number of characters, most notably Jack, Locke, and Claire (though Jin is glimpsed en route to Sun's hospital room as Locke wheels by). Locke-X, following his surgery, appears to have regained the lost memories from the island, as seen by his use of "push the button" and "I wish you had believed me" (from his suicide note to Jack). Which means that Desmond successfully awakened him, even if he's still not completely connected to those memories yet. But there's enough of a tenuous connection that he feels a profound sense of deja vu at the end when Jack utters those words to him, "I wish you had believed me."

This John Locke is one who refuses to take a leap of faith and who won't allow Jack to operate on him--after he's told he's a "candidate" for a new spinal surgery--to enable him to walk again. While the other timeline's Locke was paralyzed after being pushed out a window by his villainous father, Anthony Cooper, here his paralysis is a punishment for injuring Cooper in a plane crash just a week after getting his pilot's license. The other Locke saw the magic of the island because he was able to walk again; it was proof positive of the existence of something bigger than him, of something mystical and powerful. But here, Locke can't let go of his past. He's atoning for an accident but carrying around tremendous guilt for making his beloved father catatonic. Because he will never walk again, neither should John.

It's interesting here that the tables have been turned. Whereas Anthony Cooper did nothing but harm to John and use him, here he's a much loved father for whom Locke would do anything. Locke finally got his perfect family but at a staggering cost. Here, he's to blame for the fate that has befallen them and he's unable to move through his guilt.

Jack's advice to let go is a particularly profound one. That's been the struggle of each of the characters since the beginning of Lost, really. The flashbacks have illuminated their personal conflicts throughout their pre-island lives while, in the present, they attempt to move on, to let go of their conflicts and flaws, to accept who they are and become fully formed people. Could it be that once the two timelines come together again (as I believe they will once the island is raised up from the ocean floor) the survivors will finally receive their missing pieces, the parts of themselves that they needed to complete their very being?

The Music Box. Jack seems staggered that he keeps encountering people that were on Oceanic Flight 815 with him, from Bernard Nadler (yay!) and John Locke to his half-sister Claire Littleton. I wanted there to be a bit more of a shocked reaction from Jack than there was; after all, this is seriously weird. If you were on a plane from Sydney to Los Angeles and kept running into people who were on the flight a week later in strange and unpredictable ways, wouldn't you think there was something profound going on here, something that was propelling each of you to come together again?

While Jack goes in search of Anthony Cooper and attempts to heal Locke (his need to always fix things seen again here), he's surprised when Claire visits him at the hospital, bringing an item that their father had bequeathed to her. It's a music box that just happens to play "Catch a Falling Star," the nursery song that Claire had been singing a few weeks back. It also contains another appearance of the looking glass as well, as both siblings stare into the box, their reflections staring back at them. Could it be that these two are the next to "awaken"?

Jack is not going to let Claire go. He invites her to stay with him, saying that they're not strangers but family. As I mentioned earlier, this is an important piece of the Lost puzzle and, here in the alternate reality, we're going to see these characters be pushed together closer and closer as their purpose becomes clear.

Jack, meanwhile, doesn't want to let Locke get away either. He wants to fix him, to help him let go of his demons, his guilt, and his shame. Both of their fathers are gone, lost to them, and nothing they do--not punishing themselves, certainly--will fix that. Whatever happened, happened and hey have to let go and move on. They have to believe.

And they have to find what they're looking for. It's a subtle comment made by Bernard to Jack but it carries significant weight here. Just what is Jack hoping to accomplish? What are each of them looking for? And by coming together once more, will they achieve that end?

Ultimately, the writers are telling us that we're at the end of the narrative. The players are narrowing as the bodies begin to stack up once more on the island. I don't think we'll be seeing Sun and Jin again. Unlike Michael, their souls will be free to leave the island and won't be trapped there to whisper in the jungle. The final battle approaches and it will likely be a bloody and horrific one as the Man in Black makes his final gambit to escape his prison and unleash himself on the world. Will the remaining castaways be able to stop him and restore balance on the island? Are they each prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice? And will Jack be able to fulfill his destiny and become Jacob's replacement and the island's protector? I can't wait to find out over the next three episodes.

What did you think of this week's episode? Were you as moved as I was by Sun and Jin's death? Now that we're moving into the final act of Lost, where do you think the story is going? How do the timelines connect to one another? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on Lost ("Across the Sea"), the motives of the enigmatic Man in Black are revealed.

Comments

Nicole said…
My eyes are puffy this morning...oh LOST. What will I ever do without you???
While I'm not surprised all our beloveds would not make it to the end, I can't believe four of them (!) died in 10 minutes. I cried for two hours. Literally. I'm not emotionally prepared to let them go or let Lost go. That sounds dramatic, but I don't think I'm kidding.

Looking forward to your write-up, Jace.
frank1569 said…
Could not watch anything else after last night's ep. Just awesome.

But, remember - there's still a Kwon alive, as there is a 2nd Shepard.

And if last night, plus the preview, doesn't nearly confirm my theory that Jacob is the wolf in sheep's clothing and Smokey's the good guy, well...

See how upset Smokey was when he realized the sub sank? That was not his plan...
Unknown said…
Smokey was not upset the sub sank, he was upset that not all of them died. Good point about a 2nd Shepard.
Harley said…
Here's the problem. There are two big narrative questions out there that will determine how the rest of this runs. First? Will Smokey Get Off The Island? This is basic action stuff, requiring the usual suspension of disbelief when it comes to motive and outcome (just take a minute to track Smokey's thinking last night when it comes to setting that diabolical sub trap). On the other hand, it allows for another balletic underwater death -- a twofer! -- so there's that. The far more interesting question? What is the Relationship between the Sideways World and the Lost World? There was some movement on this in recent weeks -- Desmond's actions in particular -- but I'm starting to feel like this is more tease than anything else, just a way to keep some actors in play while their characters get killed off elsewhere.

Here's hoping I'm wrong.
Tempest said…
I managed to keep it together until Hurley started crying. * sniffle *

I am, however, still peeved about the death of Frank Lapidus. I am going to live in denial about that one until I hear otherwise. Yes, I know logic isn't really on my side. That's never stopped me before.

I can't believe we're almost at the end.
Calfoodie.com said…
When we were all crying at the end I was grateful to the Lost writers, et al for giving us an opportunity grieve together with our beloved characters.

Couldn't replacing Jacob be Sawyer or Hurley's destiny, or perhaps they will govern by committee? Live together.
Anonymous said…
I am undone! Stunned is more like it, and still spinning from last night's episode. Shocked about the deaths of Sayid, Sun and Jin. You realize that they all can't survive, but, my goodness...

Was excited and anxiously awaiting the final upcoming episodes, but now I don't know if I'm ready for them.

Have to give it to you Jace, I think you're right on point!
Patrick said…
nice article as usual but I have to disagree with your comment that Sawyer caused the bomb to explode. It's been established that MIB can't kill the candidates but also that they can't kill themselves. If they had let the counter run down to zero after Sawyer pulled the wires, I don't think it would have blown because that would have amounted to Sawyer killing himself. It only blew up because Syed ran away with it. I figure, smockey's plan was to have the backpack blow up somewhere away from everyone to sink the sub without killing anyone directly.
ticknart said…
I was saddened by the circumstances of the death of Sun and Jin, but it was far outweighed by my anger over them abandoning their daughter. I know, eternal love, sacrifice, linked forever, blah, blah, blah. They have a child who needs a parent. Sun should have told Jin to leave, to be a father to Ji Yeon.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the episode.
AskRachel said…
Thank goodness they didn't promote this episode as a "Not everyone will survive!" kind of thing like they used to (starting with the ep where Boon died, I think). It makes the deaths not only more surprising but more meaningful as well. The emotional impact is much greater.

And amazing performances by Jack, Hurley, and Kate. That final scene on the beach was a killer.
Workman said…
So Jack's actions got Juliet killed. Now Sawyer's actions got some people killed. Hopefully now the two of them can get on the same page and get stuff done.

Gotta love the foreshadowing of Frank's line "Its nothing personal". After all, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What a great episode.
Anonymous said…
This was the first time I've cried during LOST since Charlie died. Well the greatest hits episode and the season 3 finale episode.

I was thoroughly upset with the fact that both Sun and Jin decided to end their lives together. I'm torn because, as mentioned, what about Ji Yeon. Neither of them mentioned her in their final minutes. It's so sad that Jin never got to meet her. At least he saw pictures. In a lover's embrace while facing death I guess one can only think of each other. I'm just mad because they spent SO LONG apart and were only together briefly. I think their moment in the cage was beautiful and made up for their somewhat unsatisfying reunion a couple episodes back.

When the sub sank and only Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer were on shore I immediately yelled "WHAT ABOUT LAPIDUS??" That silver fox was a nice side character and I have yet to believe he's dead until it is officially confirmed. Hopefully he'll either show up back on the island (who's gonna fly that plane?! maybe a Widmore lackey...) or he's seen in Lost-X.

It was also refreshing to see Bernard! I don't think we've seen him or Rose this season, right? Where the hell are they?!

I would have rather seen Kate die then Sun, Jin, and/or Sayid. I've been tired of her character since last season. I mean we've known she's not a candidate for some time... why is she still around? I guess she's a true survivor.

It seems like Hurley is hardly there the past couple episodes. Now that there's only 4 (plus Claire and Desmond somewhere) the focus on those characters better be amazing, revealing, and all around jaw dropping.

Now that I think of it I've cried during LOST more recently than Charlie's death. It was when pathetic, parapalegic, hopeless Locke was about to give up and kill himself. Then he decided not to and Ben killed him. I MISS THAT LOCKE! ugh.
HipHopAnonymous said…
Jace, I'm not sure I agree with your theory about raising the island. And let me preface this by saying that I've pretty much given up trying to figure out how everything's going to play out at this point. But the one thing that I do still feel strongly about (kinda, sorta, I guess...) is that the show is going to end with the destruction of the island.

Team LOST has been pretty vocal about the fact that once the show is finished, it's finished for good and forever. No sequels, spinoffs or reunion specials. And I'd argue that the only way you can have true closure on the series is to destroy the island, otherwise there always exists the potential for some character (existing or new) to find their way back to the island, thus starting the whole cycle all over again.

Even if they destroy MiB-- whom I hope we can all agree now, is in fact malevolence incarnate... yes, Frank1569 I'm looking at you ;-) --if the island still remains this mysterious, magical place where miracles happen, then the story isn't really over. In a way, they already told us how the show was going to end last season when MiB says, "They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt; It always ends the same." To which Jacob replies, "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress."

Ergo, the yarn being woven here will come to an end when someone finally manages to break the above cycle of destruction and corruption on the island, perhaps by sacrificing themselves, or the island, or both. And given LOST's frequent biblical undertones, would it really be that surprising to see a finale wherein man loses paradise again?
Laura said…
There's just something about this season...nothing resonates for me. Nothing feels permanent or real. At a time when the show should feel like everything is at stake -- I'm having a hard time caring what happens. Yes, I shed a few (but only a few) tears when Sun and Jin died, but that was almost muscle memory.....chalk it up to dead people showing up in Sideways world, and me not enjoying how fractured the storytelling has been this season (between the changing loyalties and sideways timeline, I'm having a hard time even remembering what's happened in sum since Lost returned), but I still feel like the show wasted a lot of early episodes with dead-ending exposition and sideways storytelling, and now it seems to me like they're rushing to kill characters so we-the-audience feel and believe they are indeed wrapping it up. Maybe I'm alone but I'm still disappointed and meh about this season (save the Richard-centric opus which I thought was pitch-perfect).
Unknown said…
Two thoughts:

1. I think Lapidus is still alive, but it's just a hunch.

2. How many people really remember their flight number a week after the flight? I usually forget the flight number by the time I leave baggage claim (after having looked it up when I got there to figure out which carousel has my suitcase), and I'm a math nerd!

I might ask someone if they were on the flight from Sydney to LA last week, but no way I would include the flight number in my question.
Anonymous said…
I'm glad I wasn't the only one getting misty during last nights episode. Sun and Jin have been my faves since season one. I can't believe they are gone, I also can't believe Jin didn't try to survive for his daughter.



Despite that, I thought the ep was great. A sad surprise but as we all know by now, just because you die on Lost doesn't mean you are dead.

I was glad to see the emotion shown by Hurley, Kate and Jack once they got to shore and realized that Jin and Sun didn't make it. I've seen many die on the island and sometimes through circumstance everyone just has to keep moving and get over it to survive. I guess the emotional toll is starting to catch up. They really let it out, it seemed like it was for the Kwons and probably for all the loss they've had to endure over the last three years.

The island really might be hell after all, having to watch so many people you care about die and all your efforts to escape slip away over and over. Sounds like hell to me.
Crystal said…
You've been saying it for awhile, Jace, that something's keeping Jin and Sun apart. So now they finally get back together only to be pulled apart with finality(see the way they drifted apart after drowning?). So my question is why were they not supposed to be together? What was it that was keeping them apart? Or am I just reading too much into it and their death really was just a way to show how truly evil Evil Locke is?

Also, I can't believe that they would kill off Lapidas like he was an extra! I don't even recall seeing him after the bomb went off. I mean, we've invested enough into the character to at least get a death scene--something to give us closure for the character! And wasn't he supposed to be on the first plane? He, then, still ends up on the Island, TWICE! They can't kill him off so dismisively!

Another insightful article! And I was also excited to discover that you are as big of a Veronica Mars fan as I am!
Jesse said…
Fellow Losties to my aid! My short term memory is failing me. Where are Ben and Richard?
Patrick said…
Jesse, The last time we saw Ben and Richard was when they left the camp to go get some C4 from one of the Dharma building so they can blow up the plane. At first I thought it was their C4 in the plane but it doesn't make sense, they would have blown it right away so I think they are still on the move.
Jesse said…
Thanks Patrick! I guess Miles is with them too. When I saw that group splinter off I thought for sure they were dead meat, especially Miles. But they actually ended up surviving the horror. Interesting.
Sooze said…
Sawyer wasn't trying to kill himself, he was trying to save himself. That is the difference. Michael was trying to kill himself. With Richard and Jack, they lit the dynamite on purpose.

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While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns