“Everybody Loves Hugo” brought some memorable moments, from touching to downright shocking. We got a good dose of pyrotechnics, and a surprisingly blunt explanation to the perennial mystery of “the whispers.” Once again we saw some of our characters part ways, but we also saw our candidates come together sooner than we’d anticipated. And perhaps in keeping with the inherent intensity of this final season, this Hurley-centric episode was fortunately not overloaded with comic relief. Yet, on the heels of an epic Richard Alpert tale and a brain-busting Desmond episode, this week’s entry felt more like the sharp intake of breath before a grand declaration, a mechanically necessary repositioning of game pieces for the few chapters remaining ahead.
On the island, Unlocke unpacks a little bit more of his game plan… or at least fleshes out his cover story. The candidates’ return to the island was possible only together, and so then must they be reunited to leave. I’ve been wondering if Widmore’s return was to exploit the island, rather than to do the right thing… but now that Unlocke says Widmore is only after power, I’m more inclined to think he might actually be trying to save the world, after all. It seemed telling when Unlocke agreed with Desmond that the island had it in for everyone. And UnLocke, of course, had it in for Desmond. The way Terry O’Quinn’s face twitched moments before pushing Desmond down the magnetic well sent shivers down Jen’s spine. But despite Desmond’s fall, I’m confident we’re not quite done with our favorite Scottsman.
I enjoyed Hurley’s double bluff, first pretending to back Richard’s plan (only to blow the Black Rock to bits), then pretending to get direction from Jacob. It was great to see Richard called him on the ruse (“Jacob never tells us what to do”), and to see Hurley still play it cool. And in terms of repeating themes and scenarios, we again see sides chosen, and a group dividing in the forest. Miles and Ben follow Alpert, while Jack, Sun, and Frank follow Hurley. It’s a nice coincidence that Hurley’s fellow candidates chose to go with him, and that doesn’t bode well for what may be our last splinter group.
Jen is definitely warming up to Jack, though I’m not sure how to read his turn in this episode. He also knew Hurley was bluffing, but still went along with him because he’s concluded it’s time to trust other people. There are some things he can’t fix. That’s a good lesson for control-freak Jack, I suppose, but the epiphany sounds very similar to the one he had in Season 5. During his DHARMA days, he decided not to act, but rather wait for his moment. That didn’t turn out so well, so… now he’s going to take even less initiative? That’s not going to work, since Jacob told Hurley that Jack indeed has something he needs to do.
Michael’s return was odd. It provided some catharsis in his apology to Hurley, but the big “reveal” seemed really underplayed. Tonight, Hurley suddenly concludes that “the whispers” are essentially the voices of the dead “who can’t move on,” and Michael says he’s right. Is that it? The island is purgatory, after all? Over the past five seasons, there seemed to be some significance to when and where the whispers were heard (by people who don’t otherwise have communion with the dead), and a fair amount of theorizing was based on meticulous transcripts of what they were saying. My favorite theories involved DHARMA experiments or some other group of “observers,” or maybe a side-effect of time travel (or even the flash-sideways). I’m hoping there’s more to them, but probably not.
Even odder was the abrupt departure of Ilana. Kudos to the writers for avoiding another Arzt joke, but her death certainly frustrates people like me, who had just begun to accept that this “new character” was key to the bigger picture through her off-island connection to Jacob. The writers even let Ben comment on this curious development. But, he concludes, the island was merely done with her, and it will likely soon be done with everyone. We’re definitely sensing a theme, here.
And what to make of Miles? He finally has another conversation with Hurley about talking to dead people, but his own expertise is not even mentioned. And while Hurley seems to conclude that “dead people are more reliable” than the living, I’m wondering why Hurley isn’t more skeptical. His first reaction to Michael seemed the natural one. But something changed Hurley’s mind, and led him to blow up the Black Rock. What was in the bag he found in the camp? And while trying to blow up the plane was a plan that was apparently going to get everyone killed, walking right into Locke’s camp was also a heck of a gamble.
Their arrival was, in fact, foretold by Unlocke when he told Sawyer, “There’s a difference between doing nothing and waiting.” He knew the other candidates would come to him. And I was glad to see both groups reunited tonight, though. I’d assumed we’d have to wait for the finale. Can Sun and Jin’s reunification be put off much longer?
For those clamoring for a resolution to the Libby storyline, the flash-sideways in “Everybody Loves Hugo” brings direct relief. It doesn’t explain how she came to be in the institution with Hurley in the original timeline, but who cares? It was worth it to see Hurley struck by lightning in the Mexican restaurant, and to see him finally see “the truth” on their long-delayed picnic on the beach. In some respects, the flash-sideways felt like one giant checkmark on the long list of “LOST” mysteries. But Jorge Garcia and especially Cynthia Watros sold it. The date was nice, but I was actually a bit misty-eyed during the rec room scene when Libby again heard that Hurley had no memory of her. It’s hard to imagine what depth her character might have brought to the show had Libby survived beyond Season Two.
The final scene, though, was a hell of a twist. The tension was built masterfully, with Ben rightfully suspicious of a man staking out a school parking lot, and Desmond’s fixation on Locke as he wheeled his way past. Then, bam! Locke is flat on his back, in shock. I was half expecting the scene to close with a close up of his toes.
It is curious, though, that Desmond was content to subtly suggest that Hurley go with his instincts in his curiosity about Libby, but then decides to take a much more direct role in Locke’s introduction to “the truth.” Whereas Hurley’s connection with Libby echoes the “love” invoked for Charlie and Claire (and Desmond and Penny, and Daniel and Charlotte), poor Locke had to get the “near death experience” treatment instead. Presumably, “love” would be less effective for Locke, given his good relationship with Helen in the flash-sideways, but… how would Desmond know? And how is he, so far, picking out our island survivors from among the hundreds of presumably innocent or uninvolved people aboard Oceanic 815?
Notes and Notions:
- The opening slideshow, narrated by Dr. Pierre Chang, was fun. It seemed to include a few real-world photos of Jorge Garcia. He got his dog, Nunu, onto “LOST” via the shot of him in front of the Hawaiian Humane Society (its logo clearly visible). And I’d bet those were real baby pictures, too.
- I liked how even “lucky” Hurley was intimidated by talking to women, a trait that goes back to Starla at the record store in Season Two. I don’t know what happened to his blind date, Rosalita, but it was also nice to hear that Grandpa Tito is apparently still around in the flash-sideways.
- Jen loved how subtly Henry Ian Cusick played the faint moment of confusion after Desmond immediately came up with the name “Charlie” for his son when confronted by Ben.
- It’s a small thing, but I love how one of the extras (a long-haired Asian woman) looked perplexed in the scene where Hurley meets Desmond in the Mr. Cluck’s restaurant. Hurley yells, “What?” And we see her clearly reacting as if Hurley might be yelling at her, rather than Desmond. A lot of times, background extras in scenes are a little too oblivious to the action we’re watching. It was a nice touch.
- The creepy boy, who Desmond saw, is back to haunting Unlocke. His smile was disconcerting, taunting, in the same vein of his earlier admonition, “You know the rules. You can’t kill him.” The more we see of him, the more he seems like a young Jacob. Gloating Jacob.
- After Locke’s “Blow Up Everything That Can Get Us Off The Island Tour,” tonight we had the “Blow Up Everything (and Everyone) That Can Blow Up Everything That Can Get Us Off The Island Tour.”
- What is Unlocke the Wood Whisperer carving? Claire already has a crib for her scary squirrel baby. Part of me would like to see him recreate Mr. Eko’s carved “Jesus Stick.”
- Looks like Richard’s back to declaring, “We’re dead, we’re all dead!”
- Books: The Russian book Hurley found among Ilana’s belongings was “Notes from the Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Wikipedia says it is considered by many to be the world’s first existentialist novel.
- Locations: The awards ceremony was filmed at the Koolau Golf Club/First Presbyterian Church in Kaneohe. The “fajita fieldtrip” to Spanish Johnny’s was filmed at Bandito’s Cantina at Pearlridge. The Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute was again the YWCA on Richards Street downtown, and Mr. Cluck’s Chicken Shack was again the Popeye’s Chicken on Dillingham Boulevard. The beach where Hurley and Libby had their date was the west end of Ala Moana Park. And the parking lot where Desmond met Ben and hit Locke was August Elementary School in Waipahu. And, of course, the slideshow included shots of the Hawaiian Humane Society, the Honolulu Zoo, and the box company exterior at Gentry Pacific Design Center.
What did you think? We’d love your thoughts for our podcast. Please comment below, and share your reaction, thoughts, theories and theories with fellow fans. Or, you can email us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or call the LOSTline at (815) 310-0808.
I’m so glad they FINALLY explained what the whispers are! But I wish they did it a bit less overtly. Nice to Michael back though.
Desmond’s attempt to kill Locke did seem to come out of the blue, but it’s just like what Charlie did for Des last week. The near death experience will enable Locke to see the island universe. (Not sure he’ll like what he sees, though)
@ Rus, don’t think Desmond rammed to “Kill”
@ Lucydog – Sun made do with a questioning look, but it makes me eager to see their reunion.
@ John Fischer, that is an awesome theory by Bonnie. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, great episode, yet still so much ground to cover before the finale! I fully expected Hurley to be recognized at the asylum, or for him to hear the old guy repeating the number sequence…
(And to the noble inventor of the remarkably apt ‘Transmission’ compliment “Holy Freakin’ Monkey Crap”, I salute you sir!)
The good – Desmond makes things happen in FS, libby & hurley have their date, explosions, the well
The bad -jack’s explanation for following hurley, Ilana dies before we get her story
The ugly – a couple of pieces of exposition felt forced (Ben speaking about Ilana, Michael explaining whispers)
@Bonita: Same here. If Desmond really wanted to kill Locke, I’d imagine he’d back up his car after hitting him just to make sure. Or at least double check. Alt-timeline Desmond doesn’t really strike me as sloppy.
That boy can’t be Desmond, Desmond saw him and didn’t recognize him. If it were him, he’d surely recognize himself!
If it’s Jacob, why is his hair brown, not blond? I suppose it could just be dirty, like the rest of him, though. I’m looking at him paused right now, and there may be some blond showing through the grime.
If it’s not Jacob, I’d think it could be young MIB.
@Dave Roman
I agree 100%. I had to manage my excitement about finally knowing the answer and my disappointment with the poor execution of how it was revealed. It was almost like they were spoon feeding casual viewers who weren’t that knowledgeable about the show.
I loved everything in this episode, and this is the best Hugo-centric episode of the whole series. I have always thought that Hurley was key to the endgame of LOST and tonight was the night he took control. Sorta.
I now think that our suspicions about the blond kid in ”LA X” being Jacob are now at least strongly reinforced with the intro of that darker-haired kid with a smirk. I think it is obvious that kid was the young MIB.
THE WHISPERS! I am satisfied with the explanation. Not the one I was hoping for but very acceptable nonetheless.
I like how the writers managed to to tie up Libby’s Santa-Rosa story with the flash-sideways. It just plain made sense that Hurley would ”wake up” through the intervention on Libby.
There were jokes on the net about how Desmond would show the 815ers by bringing each one of them on a near-death experience. That what he intended to do with John Locke tonight. How vicious was that?!
Can’t wait to see a Ben Linus / Charles Widmore reunion on Hydra island. That should be interesting.
I think Miles will die on the out-rigger.
And finally, RIP Illana. the Island was done with you.
So sun spends the last 2 seasons saying “where’s Jin?”. And then when she finally gets to where he was just a couple days earlier, she doesn’t say squat. Lol, that made me laugh.
g’night you all everybody, can’t wait to blog some more tomorrow!
HOLY FREAKING CRAP!
I didn’t think last week’s episode could or would be topped so quickly, but it just happened. The answers are starting to spew forth. I think it’s fairly obvious why Desmond ran over Locke, and the answer is actually twofold: the first, as John says, is to give Locke a near-death experience so he can “remember” his other life. The second is to get Locke to the nearest hospital where he knows Jack is a doctor and work on Jack as well. He was there to observe Libby and Hurley, so he knows the “realization” can happen other ways besides near death.
I started to make the leap into Flocke is the Good One/Jacob is the Bad One Camp, but Flocke’s treatment of Desmond forces a non-committal there. I do know that I hate Sayid and wish had just died when he was supposed to. I don’t think he can be redeemed at this point.
@John Fischer – I agree with Stacey, NC. I don’t think it’s the same well either. I think FLocke pointed out that there were several “wells” like it on the island. And during the time flashes, the last we saw of the FDW well it had been filled in. Stones and everything were still around it, but no well left. So I would say this is a different well also.
((((( SPOILER )))))
Richard is now a confused weeny.
Illana is a pile of ash.
Sayid is a zombie soldier.
Hurley grew a pair (finally).
Ben is, well… still Ben. He’s been quiet but will have the podium shortly.
Desmond is annoyingly gullible. Seriously, what’s going on in his mind? Or is he playing along?
Whispers anyone? A definite answer/reveal, but nothing critical to the story.
Mattfromnd – How sad that Sun gets no lines in so many episodes. The writers/Damon/Carlton seem to view women as throw away characters. The come, they stand around and they ultimately die. This is the ultimate weakness in LOST.
@Brendan. I didn’t say anything about the promo that would tell you anything. Sorry if my note was improper.
Amazing episode.
On island thoughts:
The whispers explained- makes sense. Do they whisper as a warning?
Ilana we hardly knew ye. Interested to note that Ben says “the island” rather than “Jacob” was done with her. Is the island itself a player in the Jacob-MIB game, rather than simply the gameboard. Clearly we’ve always believed the island was ‘alive’ in a way, but does it pick sides?
Jack’s revelation that he can’t fix everything, Hurley’s taking charge it was perfect.
There’s a Scotsman down! …um, a well. oh well. there’s got to be much more for Des to play.
Off island:
I loved every bit of the Hurley-Libby stuff.
Nice to see Dr. Many Names…would have been nice to find out his REAL name though.
I see a massive coming together at St. Sebastian’s soon.
I really enjoyed the episode! It was great to see both Michael and Libby again.
I think they made it obvious that Ilyana was going to explode the way she was handling that dynamite. Her death seemed pointless though. I am happy they explained the whispers, but it was kind of awkward. The beach scene between Hurley and Libby was very touching. Desmond hitting Locke with the car was great once I realized why he did it!. That was great. I have been looking forward to the reunion of Jack and Locke for a long time now. I cannot wait to see that play out!!!
@Thom It’s OK, I’ve already seen others mention parts of it. And I didn’t really read yours, I saw bits of it, including the word “promo,” so I stopped reading and threw up the alert for others. Most of the other promo talk I’ve seen hasn’t really said much anyway. Thanks, though!
Other than the “hey everyone… let me tell you what the whispers are!” cheesy reveal that was a powerful – and somewhat creepy at times – episode! Loved it!
@John Fischer Technically, can’t you say the same about Frank, or even Sawyer (for the past couple of episodes)? I mean, Frank literally had one line of dialogue tonight and shook his head when Richard asked for help. Meanwhile, all Sawyer’s been doing is questioning Locke to death (no pun intended).
I wonder if Desmond has found the ability to see both time lines simultaneously.
@Terry B: I think we’ll see Ilana again, soon. I have a feeling that they got rid of her so she can show up in the flash sideways.
I could have sworn that the producers said that LIBBY was gone forever.
wow. major shock!!!
TELL ME DESMOND IS ALIVE!!!
HOLY F*CKING S*IT!!!!
Game changing..
RIP ILLANA
You were so hot…
@Brendan Ah good point!
slow episode with crazy last 5 minutes. alternate desmond is just a sick fu.. epic payback. and ben accusing des of being a pedophile was amazing, hahaha!
http://i41.tinypic.com/2aiomxz.jpg
@Bonita
The young boy was definitely the elder sibling, MIB before his birthright was stolen and he lost his humanity.
@ John Fischer
Is Desmond’s hit and run just another case of making them all wake up to the alternate reality or is it an attempt to change a variable therein? It could just deprive Esau of his vessel due to the interconnectedness of worlds. Or how about this version, since “your word is your bond” is one of the cardinal rules: if Desmond can subvert the promise made to even one of the principals to get them to agree to a false paradise, he has found a “loophole” to nullify the devil’s bargain.
False Paradise.
Were there not a few troubling elements in that opening montage? A Mr. Cluck’s right beside the pyramids? An experimental farm? It’s death under the guise of cosmetic happiness like the smiley face in The Stand (which also appeared on Henry Gale’s balloon.)
The Stand
Four ventured out into the wilderness to face the dark man, but only three of them were marked for sacrifice. Lapidus may live to tell the tale.
@Sobaika
This season has been a masterpiece on par with season one, but the whispers reveal was very inorganic. It didn’t arise from what the scenes with Hurley in a great epiphany, but was rather spoon fed.
The well Desmond fell into is not where the donkey wheel is. There are many wells and the people who dug that one did not find what they were looking for.
with Hurley sshowed
The Whisperers are bound to be a big topic of discussion from this episode. Michael told us that they are the voices of the dead who somehow are still confined on the island. Damon and Carlton have sworn that the island is not purgatory but how can we think anything but the opposite? The souls of the dead seem to be stuck in limbo on the island observing all of those who come after them.
I have been a long time listener of the podcast and long time “lurker” on the blog. Thanks, Ryan and Jen, for the podcast and “you all everybody” for the great conversations. Desmond hitting Locke reminds me of when Locke’s mother was hit by a car sending her into early labor. Presuming that Desmond was trying to kill Locke, could that have been an earlier effort to rid the world of Locke? Makes me think of the movie The Butterfly Effect…trying different points in time to stop someone.
@John Fischer: Do you think it’s more important to ask where the “souls” will end up if they do get redeemed? Heaven, the alt-timeline, some where else? Maybe the island isn’t purgatory in the literal sense, but yes, some sort of limbo at least.
Hi everyone. I am a little let down by two things about tonight’s episode. One, being Illana’s demise. It was hardly even acknowledged!!! I hope that we will find out who she really was and why Jacob chose her to perform these tasks in the first place. The second being the reveal of what the whispers were. For 5 and a half years we have been guessing about this is the payoff??? Oh well I guess that I have to pick my battles wisely and not worrying about these things.
Lastly, who out there didn’t see MIB throwing Desmond down the well…come on writers, I hope that the next episodes are written better.
What do you think was in the satchel that Hurley discovered (just after Illana’s death)?
The worst thing about this episode was that they obviously tried to cram too many things in it to wrap the show up. This made it kinda all over the place and disjointed in a way. One word to describe this episode: Explosive! Ilana was the bomb all right–literally. And Hurley, too.
Just like others called upon to step up, Henry Ian Cusick is getting his day in the sun and handling it great! Desmond seems to be taking over the Locke/Jacob role in the Sideways world. He is making sure all the candidates get to where they are supposed to.
The explanation of the whispers was weak, but I guess it was nice to get an answer.
This episode was really a tear jerker. Despite all the explosives. I am so bummed that Locke threw Desmond down the well. I don’t know what to make of it. But boy payback is a trip as he runs over Locke in sideways world and I guess we hope he killed him.
It’s very hard to know who is on the right path that will make all right with the universe. Hurley is unsure, and Jack having faith in him doesn’t inspire confidence that he is heading in the right direction for me.
The preview for next weeks show? Best re-purposing of a movie segment EVER! Melding Willie Wonka’s creepy boat ride lyrics and Lost was genius.
@Rus: I thought it was Jacob’s ashes.
One more thing..I think that Widmore and Eloise saw BOTH timelines while on the island back in the 50’s. How they did it is still a mystery that keeps me up at night. Anyone have any thoughts about this? If some already posted this theory please forgive me.
So what does it mean that the whispers are so often heard / associated with the Others? Ben seemed to make it pretty clear when he told Rousseau “every time you hear whispers, run the other way”…and in LA X pt2, the whispers in the catacombs just before the Temple Others grabbed Jack etc. seemed to indicate that these were some kind of technique intentionally used by the Others. Thoughts?
@Rus from Texas – I think it’s the satchel of Jacob’s ashes. At first, I thought maybe Miles’ diamonds, but Ilana had just blown herself up, then realized it looked like the same bag she filled with Jacob’s ashes.
HFC squared!
Libby and Hurley on the beach made for one of the classic “dusty” moments for me.
The roller coaster has crested the tall hill. Time to hold on from here on. Expect the unexpected!
@James: I think the island is only limbo/purgatory for people that are directly connected to someone on the island. I was originally thinking it was only for people that died on the island, or who killed other people on the island, but Richard’s wife, Isabella, contradicts that. She’s the only one I can think of that wasn’t ever on the island, and didn’t do anything bad in her life. Either Isabella was stuck there to be close to her true love, Richard, or she was able to come back just recently for a visit. I’m going with the former.
Bravo for another great episode. Jorge was amazing – I felt very emotionally involved in his on & off island story – had some tears real close to falling more than once. And literally had at least 2 jaw-dropping moments during this episode. Can’t wait for the podcast to hear what you thought!
@ John Fischer – Have the producers claimed that the island wasn’t purgatory…. Or have the producers merely claimed that our characters themselves weren’t in purgatory.
The island could be a purgatory for those who come, fight, are corrupted, and kill (or whatever MiB said). Since our characters are still in the land of the living, technically they wouldn’t be “in” purgatory.
Bonita’s question, why did Jack look at Flocke so stangely…
I’m pretty sure this is the first time Jack has seen “Locke” since he was putting his dad’s shoes on a corpse. It would be pretty shocking to me.
The young boy was blonde last time right? Now he is a brunette. Looks like a brother to me.
Ilana got Artz’d! Saw that one coming. She was much too casual with the dynamite.
If the whispers are just dead people connected to the island, why did we always here them just before something bad happened. Who was it that said “if you hear whispers run”? Poor Michael.
Fast episode but kind of a downer. I knew that Locke was going to push Desmond in, Desmond is probably the only one who can stand up against him.
@james – good catch re: the ashes.
Definitely think Locke is a bad guy now. I like the theory of Locke remembering and going back into his body on the island.
Lots to think about till tomorrow. I am too tired to think straight right now.
Bothersome:
Jack said something along the lines that once he let Juliet die he had a hard time accepting others telling him what to do. Not true, Jack spent most of season 5 just moping around waiting for people to tell him what to do.
It was the whole reason Jack went from reluctant-hero-fans-love to former-hero-that-whines.
I too was curious about what is supposed to be going through John Locke’s head when he was laying on the ground after Desmond creamed him.
If he get’s flooded with Island Time memories, does he remember getting killed? Would he have any connection to MiB whatsoever? Probably not, since MiB is not actually in Locke’s body.
He sure did look frantic though… That said, if I got smashed by a car an dthought I might be dying I’d be frantic, but I just couldn’t help think he saw all of it.
Don’t forget folks-
MiB is not in Locke’s body. Locke’s body was in a box on the beack with crabs crawling on his face. I don’t think FS John Locke wants to go into that body.
Disregarding hair color and all that – the child actor today looked a lot like the adult actor who played Jacob.