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Libby helps Hurley remember. Photo: ABC
Hello LOSTies! Only 5 more episodes until the LOST series finale … still haven’t quite wrapped my head around that one. Although this week’s episode (‘Everybody Loves Hugo’) wasn’t the powerhouse of last week’s ‘Happily Ever After,’ I still really enjoyed it. I mean c’mon, how can you NOT like a Hurley-centric episode?
“Being here with you is so familiar – like a date we never had.” –Libby to Hurley
The episode title is, of course, a direct reference to Season 2’s ‘Everybody Hates Hugo,’ in which the key line is “Everything’s going to change.” Those who stayed tuned for Tuesday’s previews of ‘The Last Recruit’ will attest to that craziness … but more on that later. ‘Everybody Hates Hugo’ featured a flashback with Hurley and best friend Johnny – could the Mexican restaurant Spanish Johnny’s be a shoutout to that character? In this episode, Hurley is not comfortable with his new role as rationer of Dharma food (much like the way he’s adjusting to being a new authority figure in taking the dynamite out of the equation and leading his friends to the man formerly known as John Locke). The episode also saw Hurley drinking from a milk carton that featured Walt’s likeness … let’s hope we see more of Walt before everything is said and done. We’ve seen this sort of companion or mirrored technique a few times this season (and mirrors are often referenced in the sideways timeline) -– first with ‘What Kate Does’ (reminiscent of Season 2’s ‘What Kate Did’), ‘Recon’ (reminiscent of Season 1’s ‘Confidence Man’) and ‘Lighthouse’ (which repeatedly refers to Season 1’s ‘White Rabbit’).
Here are the things about ‘Everybody Loves Hugo’ that caught my attention:
In the opening scenes, the Man of the Year award is presented to dear Hugo by none other than Pierre Chang (or Marvin Candle, Mark Wickmund, Edgar Halliwax, or whatever he’s calling himself this week ). Love how the characters are destined to cross paths, even in sideways-world. Hurley’s mom sets him up on a lunch date with a woman named Rosalita. When Libby walks into the restaurant, my first thought was, “Hmmm, she doesn’t look like a Rosalita.” Hurley takes a gander at her and says the exact same thing. But, of course, she’s not Hurley’s lunch date but his long lost love. He doesn’t realize it, though, as he doesn’t remember her. Libby is at the restaurant with Dr. Brooks and the folks from Santa Rosa, so she’s not exactly sure if she’s remembering an actual past with Hugo, or just jumbled thoughts in her head. It seems that sideways Hurley was never admitted to Santa Rosa – but Libby remembers not only the plane crash, the island, and her connection with Hurley, but also being in Santa Rosa before. She knows ALOT for a crazy girl, eh?
Hurley and Desmond at Mr. Cluck's. Photo: ABC
Desmond, still on a high from his electromagnetic revelations, is using the 815 manifest to track down other Oceanic passengers and share his piece of the puzzle. First on this list: Hugo Reyes. Without coming off like a whack-job who knows more than he possibly could, Des gives Hurley a gentle nudge toward Libby and the things she’s telling him. As they talk, the Mr. Cluck’s cashier is calling out order numbers. “38,” he says. Wait, that’s not one of the numbers. “41.” Closer, but still no cigar. As Des draws Hurley in, you can almost see a light bulb go on over his head as he is convinced not to give up on Lib. Des tells Hurley to go with his gut, and the deed is done. “42” is called out – it’s Desmond’s number – and everything is back on track.
The scene transitions to Hurley and Libby having their picnic on the beach. Hurley opens a large blanket into the camera and it makes me think, “Wait, wasn’t it a stinkin’ picnic blanket that got Libby killed in the island timeline? They planned their date, she said she’d go to the Hatch and get some blankets and be right back. Then she walked in on Michael shooting Ana-Lucia and it was bye-bye Libby.” Anyway, I digress. The two finally get their romantic date, and Libby’s kiss makes Hurley remember! Libby no longer feels crazy, Hurley is in love and has a lot to think about, and Des moves on to the next name on the manifest.
Back on the island, Hurley is missing Libby and wondering why she has not visited him even though other dead characters have. At his prompting (and as if sent by Libby), the ghost of Michael appears and warns Hurley not to let his friends use the dynamite from the Black Rock as it’s dangerous. Proving Michael’s point, Ilana blows herself up by being careless with four sticks meant to take out the Ajira flight’s cockpit.
“The island was done with her. Makes me wonder what’s going to happen when it’s done with us.” –Ben
After Ilana’s death, Hurley takes matters into his own hands by destroying the Black Rock and keeping anyone from ever handling the dynamite again. Pretty solid for a guy who was too scared to stay in the room a few weeks ago when Jack had his little sit-down with Richard in the very same spot. Once again, the party splits, and Richard takes Ben and Miles with him on a quest to Hydra Island. Jack, Lapidus, and Sun side with Hurley. Hurley gets an apology for Libby’s murder, and we get a quasi explanation for the whispers. I say quasi because it was kind of quick and dirty – and also because I thought we were being lead in a different direction when time travelling Sawyer and company heard the whispers just before coming across Kate and Claire during Aaron’s island birth. At that point, I was certain that the whispers were the voices of different timelines overlapping or bumping into each other.
Miles: “Does that happen a lot? Dead people yelling at you?”
Hurley: “It happens enough.”
Miles: “And you just listen to whatever they say?”
Hurley: “Dead people are more reliable than live people.”
The MIB is growing more frustrated and ready to get off the “God-forsaken rock” known as the island. God-forsaken? Interesting choice of words for Flocke. He tells Kate that they’re waiting for Hugo, Sun, and Jack to get there. And by the end of the episode, fate has played directly into his hands as they have come to him. Hurley, the group’s new protector, asks for the MIB’s word that if they show themselves they will not be harmed. I’ve got two problems with this scene: (1) The MIB hands over his knife, as if Smokey really needs a knife to take out the whole room, and (2) after he does this, Lapidus and company come out from behind a couple of branches WITH LIT TORCHES -– like no one could have seen those flames coming through the jungle. Okay, whatever. Hurley has Ilana’s bag o’ Jacob, has found his destiny, and wants everyone to know that he no longer wants to be considered the third wheel that slows down search parties and gets sent back from Pala Ferry.
Jin is the only holdout now – the remaining candidate that the MIB needs to complete whatever dastardly plan he’s been hatching. My heart bleeds for Sun who STILL has not been reunited with Jin (it’s been since Season 4, people, can you believe that?!) But at the same time, Jin is the linchpin keeping the MIB at bay.
Sayid brings Des back to the MIB. Call me hopeful, but the last time we saw island-Des, he was more than willing to go with Sayid … now he’s tied to a tree. Could Sayid be holding out on the MIB? Fingers crossed, brutha. But even if Sayid is still lost (sorry, bad pun), we still have Shannon’s return to look forward to. Darlton have said that they have a really good story to bring her back, so perhaps she will be the one to save Sayid from himself?
Desmond gets the same view as Juliet. Photo: ABC
Des is playing it ultra cool with the MIB. But Smokey is not amused. He knows that Widmore brought Desmond back for a reason (and Sayid did say that he was under armed guard), so he’s not taking any chances. And it really seemed to piss Smokey off that Des was not afraid of him. I think he was still distracted by the teenage boy they saw in the jungle. So, into the well Desmond went! Saw that coming from a mile away, but no matter how loudly I yelled at my TV, Desmond didn’t seem to hear me.
“There’s nothing special about me, brutha. This island has it in for all of us.” –Desmond
In the final scenes, we’re back in the sideways timeline and Ben is suspicious of Des. Great banter as I’m wondering when Ben Linus became the moral backbone for society? LOL. Des doesn’t miss a beat, though, and explains that he’s looking for a school for his son Charlie – all the while watching Locke wheel himself across the parking lot. Charlie, eh? I guess dear Mr. Hume has retained his memories from both timelines and is now well on his way to becoming the next Eloise Hawking. Hmmm. Maybe he’s a candidate for that job. Easy going Des then plows his car right into John Locke’s wheelchair, sending the man with the worst luck in the world up and over the top of his vehicle and then skidding across the pavement. When my mouth finally closed from what I’d just seen, I wondered aloud why Desmond would do such a thing? Was it to send Locke to the hospital and reunite him with Jack? Surely there was an easier way to pull that off. Was it because Des knew Locke would eventually be taken over by Smokey and he wanted to nip things in the bud? Nah, because then he should have taken Ben out as well. Was it to force Locke out of his chair and demonstrate a miraculous recovery not unlike the one that occurred after he survived the crash of Flight 815? I don’t think the school pavement has the same regenerative powers as the island. Or was it because he didn’t believe the man in the wheelchair was John Locke at all? You be the judge. But the longer I thought about it, the more I became convinced that the two timelines are converging, and Flocke had just thrown island-Des to the bottom of the electromagnetic well – Desmond was just returning the favor, so to speak. Agree or disagree?
The end is near, folks. And everyone has their part to play in the final act. On the finale, actor Henry Ian Cusick said, "It's not gonna be about one character, but all of us."
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Your opinion counts: Speaking of electromagnetic pockets, reader Eric B. believes that all those mapped magnetic hotspots are the “bars” on Smokey’s prison … they are what keep him from leaving the island. Can you contribute to this theory?
Examining all things LOST ... email your LOST questions or news to LOSTExaminer@earthlink.net.
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The next episode, “The Last Recruit,” airs April 20 and promises “Alliances are forged and broken as the Locke and Jack camps merge.” So drop your buffs, Survivor fans, as the merge is coming and it ain’t gonna be pretty.
Take a look at the attached slideshow of promo photos, and here are the lyrics from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory's “Wondrous Boat Ride” used in the teaser:
"Round the world and home again
That's the sailor's way
Faster faster, faster faster
There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing
Is it raining, is it snowing
Is a hurricane a-blowing
Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of Hell a-glowing
Is the grisly reaper mowing
Yes, the danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing"
The whole Locke-Claire, Claire-Locke split face thing really creeped me out! In the teaser promo, Sun's note says, "You did this to me," and ABC declares, "The time is now." You know it's going to be a great episode because there's then a two week hiatus before the next new show. Curses, ABC!
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