After a week away, LOST returns anew and drives us straight into the deep end—literally. We hope you’re caught up because, ahoy, sailor, there be major spoilers ahead.

Robert

I have to admit that I initially had a hard time sticking with this episode, and I couldn’t help but think that not having a new episode last week broke some of the momentum that had been building. From the first scene with alt-Jack and alt-Locke in the hospital to the action on the island, it all seemed to fly by in rapid bursts and none of it seemed to matter. Jack wakes up and Sayid tells him something, Sawyer gets feisty and Widmore tells him something, Locke needs Jack’s help and tells him something. Blah, blah, blah.

Even the developments in the flash-sideways, while filling in some blanks about alt-Locke and his alt-Dad, felt less compelling than if they would’ve been revealed earlier in “The Substitute.” Although, having alt-Locke mutter “Push the button…I wish you had believed me.” in his sleep—a nod to Locke’s pleas from Season 2 and suicide note from Season 5—was a nice reminder of the  character we’ve come to know for the last five years.

And then, in an inspired move, all hell seemed to break loose back on the island. Smokey storms Widmore’s camp and frees the Losties, then rolls up to the the Ajira plane, kills Widmore’s guards and tells the Losties that they’ll have to make for the sub to leave the island. It all happened so fast that I thought—for a moment, at least—when there was no resistance at the sub that they would all actually board it and Smokey would find his way off the island, but no dice. Bullets start flying, Kate takes one to the shoulder and everybody dips into the sub leaving Claire and Smokey behind. And after that, it only got worse.

It wasn’t the way I’d imagined the episode going at all, but I thought it was a bold move, and judging by the shocked reactions from viewers, I think it was a strong finish on our way towards the finale. While it’s sad that we won’t get to see a more-rounded Sayid, who apparently found his moment of redemption in the clutch, it’s a lot more sad that we won’t see a better end for Sun and Jin. I think back to my theory that maybe they got their happy ending in the flash-sideways after all.

Scott

So Jack is the new Jacob, huh? I never coulda guessed, given that Matthew Fox is the top-billed star of the show and the name “Jack” is basically the 21st century version of “Jacob”. I think everyone is probably pretty impressed with “The Candidate”, an episode that unfurled at a breakneck pace, delivered lots of forward movement, and killed about a half-dozen characters. I wasn’t all that impressed though. Even with that body count, I wanted a tad more blood. I would’ve loved to see Kate die, though I now think she’s in Jack Bauer ridiculous immortal territory: this character who’s made absolutely no development since episode 2 of season 1 took a bullet to the chest and somehow made her way out of a sinking submarine several hundred feet underwater by being dragged to the surface by a 400 pound man. I also really wanted Smokey to completely decimate Widmore’s camp and kill that mean ol’ coot once and for all.

It’s all part of my slow LOST comedown, an experience that’s a bit like watching The Matrix Revolutions. The endless possibilities that the first installments offered are now narrowing down to a smaller and smaller cone, and when that final moment comes I have less and less confidence that it’ll be the whammy that washes all my doubts away. Now that we’re at the end, it’s hard to look back on the early parts of this season without thinking about just how much time has been wasted. How many new characters and set pieces were introduced when we could’ve been bringing closure to the old ones? Why introduce another entire group of Others when almost nothing is explained about who they are or why they’re there? The list of explanations that are due in the remaining 4 1/2 hours of this series grows longer and longer and the show seems less and less interested in answering them.

All that aside, I absolutely loved Terry O’Quinn in full blown villain mode. He has clearly relished playing the bad guy this whole season, but seeing him walk into a hail of gunfire to snap a henchman’s neck and sporting an evil grin while telling Claire that she doesn’t want to be on the sub was truly fantastic. The show has lacked a strong antagonist since Ben was Henry Gale, and seeing Smokey’s true colors gives the show a strong baddie to root against. Jin and Sun’s sad farewell felt a tad rushed to me, but it definitely tugged at the heartstrings. Imagine how we would’ve felt if we’d had a whole episode devoted to them leading up to it.

Dennis

I kind of feel like Sodapop Journal’s resident cranky old man when it comes to this show. Another of LOST’s final episodes, another episode I didn’t necessarily love. RIP Jin and Sun? That was a touching moment, watching Jin refuse to leave her side (or her blockaded front, as the case may be) in the sub. But I have a hard time mourning anyone on this show at this juncture, after they’ve spent all season trotting out dead characters in the Sideways World.

It’s like on 24 or Heroes when someone “dies.” We all know they’ll be back, so it’s just “ta-ta for now.” (Ironic, then that Walt is like the one character that didn’t get fatally written off and we won’t necessarily see him again). And being that a “Kwon” is a candidate, we still can’t cross that name off DarkLocke’s wall since as everyone’s pointed out since we saw the last name (instead of say, a first) on the wall, there’s still their kid.

But, in other LOST reactions: What’s this, Jack actually has some brains and some balls all of a sudden? And super grifter man Sawyer managed to get conned by a Smoke Monster, and boarded a sub full of explosives? If I wanted characters to start acting abnormally, I would’ve watched LOST’s timeslot competitor Glee instead. Still the episode wasn’t all bad. We saw Katey Sagal again! And Kate got shot! Yaaay! …But she didn’t die. Booo. Meh, it’s OK, nobody dies for long anymore anyway. Next week: Jacob flashbacks? I hope we find out that the only thing he and The MIB can agree on is their love of black and white cookies.

Armando

Danger Island. There was a show I watched growing up called “The Banana Splits” (greatest kids show ever—YouTube is your friend) and they showed a live action, short cliffhanger serial called Danger Island. It was action packed and it would jump right in to where it left off every week, and if you didn’t know where it started or how they got there, you were pretty much out of luck. But yet, while incredibly cheesy, it would suck you right in and you wanted to watch the snapshot of these characters stories. I don’t think I ever really watched or know how that story ended, and it didn’t really matter. It was fun to watch. No matter what happens in the last LOST episode, there is no way all of us are going to be totally satisfied with the way the story ends—or doesn’t end—or whatever will happen right before that last frame goes dark. And honestly, it won’t change the way I feel about the show.

Now, I am not saying that LOST and that incredibly cheesy and fabulously lame (in a good way) cliffhanger serial are one in the same but this week’s LOST episode gave me that same feeling and vibe I had watching Danger Island. If I had never watched one single episode of LOST and “The Candidate” was my first experience with it, it would make me want to go and find and watch the rest of the series to how we got to this point.

Did we just see Locke be defined as the “Bad” finally? I was leaning that way myself. He was just helping a bit too much with everything; trying too hard to convince everyone that he was on their side. Although, the scene with the smoke monster being shot at/taking out Widmore’s troops and Jack saying “I’m with him” almost had me thinking he might be the “Good”. I was actually kind of cheering for Superman Locke when the bullets did nothing to him and he walked towards the airplane, but the second he handed Jack the backpacks, my first thought was he gave him the explosives and he wanted them dead.

In the alt-timeline, everything is still coming to a head. Jack finding out everyone was on this Oceanic 815 flight along with the characters all almost being drawn together by fate to be connected and in the same place at the same time. It’s looking like there will be a flashpoint where something clicks and maybe happens that ignites how the story ends.

Regarding the little mirrored music box, I wonder if the mirrors in it are somehow a connection to the mirrors in The Lighthouse? When Locke was sleeping and talking about things which seemed to be connected to the Island timeline, I couldn’t help but think, are dreams going to be somehow connected to the back and forth of the timelines? Or how one can see the other?

I think it’s also becoming quite clear that Jack seems to be The One. The catalyst to whatever happens in the end. How awesome was Sayid when he took the bomb and ran? Go find Desmond and you are the one Jack and then BOOM! And poor Jin and Sun—at least they were together. But as I sat there watching their demises, I couldn’t help but think we haven’t seen the last of them. Or is that the end for those characters?

All in all this was an action-packed, thrilling episode that was far from some of the bridge episodes we have had of late. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Even shed a tear or two when I saw the tear roll down Hugo’s cheek.

How will it end? Can’t wait to find out. Still the best show ever.

Quite the difference in opinions over “The Candidate.” Some positive, some not-so-positive. As always, we’re interested to know what you thought!