The Candidate (S6X14)
Airdate: 27 April 2010
Written by: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Jim Galasso
Directed by: Jack Bender
Running Time: 43 minutes
Lost was, without doubt, a very dark show that never hid this grim disposition from its fans. From the moment it premiered, the series began with a harrowing depiction of the chaotic aftermath of a catastrophic plane crash, setting a tone of despair and survival that permeated the narrative for the duration of its run. Over the next six years, the show diligently dwindled the numbers of its original survivors, introducing new characters only to have them brutally taken out in unexpected and tragic fashion. While the series prided itself on killing off significant figures, few of such events could have matched the emotionally devastating impact of what had happened in The Candidate, the thirteenth episode of the sixth season. This instalment delivered a massive “wham” moment to the audience, setting the stage for an even more impactful finale that would reshape the destiny of the remaining castaways.
Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jack Galasso, The Candidate plays cleverly with its title, which, like with many of the episodes of Lost, can have different meanings depending on one's perspective. In an alternate 2004 timeline, known as the Flash Sideways, the title refers to John Locke. In this reality, Locke’s life has been saved with his surgical skill by Jack, who offers him another, experimental operation that could restore feeling in his legs and the ability to walk. Jack describes Locke as the perfect “candidate” for this procedure, a medical term that echoes the metaphysical one. However, Locke refuses the offer outright. Intrigued by this refusal, Jack starts to seek the reason why, inquiring at Dr. Ben Nadler, a dentist who performed an emergency procedure on Locke three years ago in a period that corresponds with the accident that left Locke paralysed. The trail leads to a nursing home where Anthony Cooper spends his days in a near-vegetative state. Jack later confronts Locke with this discovery, and he hears that it all happened due to a plane crash, caused by his inexperience as a pilot. His father was a passenger and ended in such a sorry state because of his injuries. Jack fails to make Locke change his mind, and returns home, offering accommodation to Claire, whom he describes as “family”.
In the regular 2007 timeline, some of the actual candidates for the title of Island’s protector belong to the group that arrived on Hydra Island in hope of escaping via a hijacked submarine. Yet, at the beginning of the episode, this group – Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Frank, Jin and Sun – are held captives by Widmore’s men. They are freed by a raid conducted by Man in Black, who is helped by Jack and Sayid. With electricity taken down, sonic pylons are disabled and Man in Black can turn into Smoke Monster and cause enough mayhem to let them escape. In the morning, they head towards the Ajira plane, which is guarded by two men. Man in Black easily disposes of them, but declares that the plane was a trap, rigged by explosives with obvious intent of bringing all of the candidates into a confined space where they would be easily killed. So, the alternate plan becomes to raid the submarine instead.
The group approaches the submarine and begins to board, with Jack in the last minute stating his intention to stay on the island. Sawyer manages to take over the vessel, but Widmore’s men begin to approach and shoot. Kate gets wounded in the shoulder and Jack instinctively rushes in order to bring her to safety down the hatch. Sawyer orders the submarine to dive, leaving Man in Black and Claire on the pier. This sequence is frantic and tense, raising the stakes significantly. However, the tragedy is just beginning. In the submarine, while tending Kate’s wound, Jack notices that Man in Black slipped C4 explosive with the timer in his bag. In that moment, he realises that Man in Black lied to him; instead of needing candidates to leave with him, he needs to have them all killed, and by their own hand, according to the Island’s arcane rule. With the submarine underwater and the bomb ticking, there is very little time to do anything. Sayid can’t disable it in time and instead rushes in a different section when it goes off, killing him. The water begins to pour, Frank gets injured, while Jack and Hurley leave through hatches carrying wounded Kate and incapacitated Sawyer. Sun gets blocked by debris and can’t move; Jin refuses to leave and drowns with her. Four survivors swim to the beach, while Man in Black tells Claire that he must “finish what he had started”
The Candidate was the episode where three major characters perished, which represented a record for Lost, a series that was never shy of taking out protagonists, often in unexpected and shocking action. Yet, the impact of the final scene in the submarine was arguably the most shocking for the original audience. It could only compare with what Game of Thrones fans experienced with the Red Wedding scene, at least those unfamiliar with G.R.R. Martin’s novels. This is even more devastating due to Jin and Sun, characters who had spent years apart, only to have their time together ended by an extremely cruel twist of fate. Their deaths were not glorious sacrifices but tragic accidents resulting from a deception that could have been prevented if the group had trusted Jack’s warnings.
The episode ends with almost all hope for survivors lost, with three characters on the beach crying; the script again confirms Man in Black being irrevocably evil and able to shamelessly lie and manipulate protagonists to engineer their own doom. This is seen when the candidates enter the very confined space he had previously warned about, only for Sawyer to make the timer go off by taking the logical step of removing wires despite Jack warning him not to do it. This specific interaction highlights the tragedy of hubris; Sawyer’s attempt to solve the puzzle with the bomb ultimately sealed submarine’s fate, proving that Man in Black knew exactly how they would react.
Jack Bender directs the episode with great skill, allowing the plot to unfold in a comprehensible way, despite the rapid pace. This speed was caused more by television episode length format than any actual creative choice. While the direction is competent, the density of plot points creates a sense of breathlessness that mirrors the characters’ desperation. The action is clear, but the emotional weight of the deaths lands hardest because the direction does not shy away from the brutality of the situation.
Finally, The Candidate would have been a much better episode if not for the Flash Sideways storyline, which again proves to be redundant and, until the clear connection between two worlds is established, largely inconsequential in the great scheme of things. While it provides context for the alternate reality, it distracts from the high-stakes action of the main timeline just when tension should be at its peak.
However, this does not diminish the power of the submarine sequence itself. It remains a pivotal moment that stripped the survivors of their hope, their leader, and their most beloved couple, leaving them vulnerable to the dark force that had been orchestrating their demise from the shadows. Ultimately, it shows the narrative ambition of the series that it could inflict such profound grief upon its audience while still moving the central mystery forward, setting the stage for the final confrontation to come.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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