Lost: The Candidate

Sayid, Jin, Sun, and Frank all died in what I can only describe as the most catastrophic Lost episode in the history of the series.  Sayid found some form of redemption even though it was not what he hoped for.  Frank died in almost an Illana type way without explanation or motivation when the sub door blew off its hinges and smacked him in the head.  While Jin and Sun passed on in much the same way we lost Charlie.  This time the blood is on Sawyers hands and I wonder how he will deal with it when he wakes up.

I am fairly certain the entity we call Un-Locke, the Man in Black, the Smoke Monster, Smokey the Nemesis, Smokey, Man in Locke is Jacob.  Somehow the island split the original Jacob in two, certain qualities manifested in the being we know as Jacob while others concentrated to create the Man in Black.  This would explain "Jacob's" occasional violent streak which was exemplified by mass murder of the Dharma Initiative, the killing of the soldiers that brought Judgehead, and Widmore's decision to kill baby Alex rather than bring her into the fold.  Un-Locke could not kill Jacob because he could not kill himself and be allowed to leave the island.  In order to replace Jacob on the island Jack must kill Smokey then the island will split him in two. 

More than anyone else on the island we have seen the light and dark sides of Jack Shepard.  In literally the same episode we have seen him portrayed as a shinning hero and a drunken suicidal addict.  We have seen the erratic "let's blow up the island with a thermonuclear device" Jack and the more zen, "Locke cannot kill us so he is trying to get us to kill each other" Jack.  Jack has obvious daddy issues, while Smokey has confessed to having serious mommy issues.  Jack is already of two minds, they might as well make it two bodies.

While I am happy that Jin and Sun have evolved from the seemingly abusive couple to the couple that refuses to leave its other half behind I was dying on the inside when Jin refused to leave Sun.  He decided to orphan his 3 year old daughter.  While he was faced with an impossible choice he should have listened to Sun and gotten off that submarine.  That said, the scene made me cry and I therefore feel emotionally manipulated and used.

Claire did not know Un-Locke's plan for her friends.  She seemed genuinely shocked when Smokey told her he was going to finish what he started.

Widmore is still out there though his camp has been decimated by Smokey the Nemesis.  He would have killed Kate, there is no doubt about that, but is he really the good guy in this story?

Sayid told Jack that he had to find Desmond in the well because Jack was going to be the one to replace Jacob.  I still am not positive how Desmond fits into this whole narrative but I cannot wait to find out.  Is it possible that Desmond is the catalyst by which Jack is split in two or is he simply the weapon Jack must use to kill Un-Locke?  I just hope they do not kill him off in some cold disconnected flash of a scene like they did with poor Frank.  Hurley and Kate did not even bother to ask Jack if Frank made it out of the sub.

Miles, Richard, and Ben are still out there hatching some kind of anti-Un-Locke plan.  I hope they blow up the plane before Smokey can finish what he started. 

I am now convinced more than ever that the Flash sideways are some form of therapy and the connections between the characters are forming the perforations that will slowly and deliberately tear the therapeutic world apart.  Claire's music box from Christian played "Catch a Falling Star" which is the song she asked the couple who were going to adopt Aaron to sing to him if he could not sleep (right before she ran out of the room and headed to L.A.).  Locke rambled about the on island world in his sleep and had frequent moments of reality tearing.  Even Jin made a cameo in the Mr. Locke/Dr. Shepard conversation minutes after his own watery death.

Were the flash sideways created for Jack specifically?  A window onto a world without Jacob?  While it seems obvious that Jack will replace Jacob at this point it is worth noting that both Sawyer and Hurley are still alive and candidates.