Captain Nemo by Yetilocke

In this episode several characters are on board a sinking submarine. The producers have said before that "The Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne is one of the main influences of the show. This novel is the sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In the latter, Captain Nemo is thought to be dead as his submarine, the Nautilus, sinks. But in "The Mysterious Island", it is revealed that he survived and retreated to one of his island bases.

At this point, we do not know the fate of Frank Lapidus. He is technically a captain. So far he is the only member of the freighter team that we don't have much of a backstory for. We know he was supposed to pilot flight 815, and that he is a bit of a conspiracy nut, but that is about it. If his purpose was only to land Ajira 316, then why has the island bothered to keep him around for this long?
The writers may be making a reference to Captain Nemo's survival. Frank Lapidus is still alive, and he is more important to the central storyline than we think.