Next: “Everybody Loves Hugo” (Episode 6-12)

“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.

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375 Responses to Next: “Everybody Loves Hugo” (Episode 6-12)

  1. Emma in Oxford says:

    Please please PLEASE don’t let that be that be the only answer we get from the whispers! However cool it is that Hurley gives the explanation, they CAN’T sum up a season one mystery in “oh I think I know what that is”.

  2. alex c from sydney says:

    why hasnt pierre chang aged at all? roger linus did, but yet chang has not? might sound nit-picky but just a thought that flashed in my mind when he appeared on screen.

  3. Mib pushing Desmond because he has no fear proves that he ain’t nice guy.
    The whispers are dead people… the whispers are heard everytime we see Christian… Christian was in the Cabin with “the eye” and took Claire… How “good” are the ghosts? That is going to be interesting to find out.
    But anyway… how good is Jacob? Ilana’s “father” brought her to the Island to be killed (reminds me of Widmore)? They are all tool to the Island and then dispatched?
    One thing for sure tho: Jacob is not responsable for what the Others did… the purge, the killings are all “they come, they corrupt, they destroy” without anyone’s help. Well… Jacob is responsable for the abductions (at least the preCabin’s ones).
    The Island might be a Cork but it is definitively more than that.

  4. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    @ Ryan – in your review your write:

    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?

    I think because he knows the numbers from those years of pushing the button and he learns who they represent, the question is how he knows each person’s Archilles heel. Theories:1) he’s seen or been told about the Lighthouse and/or Cave 2) He learns the key to each from the Flash sideways awareness overlayed on his Island life experience

  5. Cat says:

    Good episode although I thought the sideways story was much stronger than the island story. Some thoughts.

    @ John Fisher – brilliant theory by Bonnie about Des giving Locke the near death theory. It seemed to me that his face passed from one of pain to one of “understanding” which could have been the flashes of island life

    Also – the writers are toying with us again. It is a fine line saying that the island isn’t purgatory – it isn’t for the living but it seems to be for those who died succumbing to their base nature. Guess if people died as heroes like Charlie, they get off the island. Seems like there will be some sort of showdown with the whispers in the finale as they strive to be released like the undead in the lord of the rings.

    @Ryan – totally agree with you about Ilana. What a waste. Disapointing death just when we became invested in her story and importance.

    The new Peter Pan seemed older and different looking than the other Peter Pan and why can Desmond see him. We now have Sawyer and Des able to see him and not Richard. What the heck is that all about?

    Also – waste of all the main characters who had about 3 lines on the island – Kate, Sawyer, Sun, Lapidus, Miles etc….I thought the island stuff was all over the place, disconnected and frustrating.

  6. Carol from Boston says:

    Tons of comments to read and for some reason my computer is annoyingly slow this morning.

    Just a thought – does smokey need fear to manifest and to scan? He seemed annoyed that Desmond didn’t fear him. I guess he isn’t allowed to “kill” him which is why he was annoyed with the boy. So he put Desmond out of the way in the well. Though if it is a magnetic site will that help or hurt Desmond?

    @Ryan figures they would kill Ilana, the one person who Jacob instructed to help them and actually gave her some answers, which she can never share with them.

    If the island is “done” with people, why are they trapped on the island as ghosts? I feel this is a pergatory cop out.

  7. Carol from Boston says:

    I just read my post again and it isn’t really clear. I mean that Locke was annoyed at seeing the boy who reminded him that he can’t kill Desmond.

    The blond boy had blood on his hands, and the dark boy didn’t. What if the two boys are Jacob and MIB and the incident that happened with them and the island was when they were very young.

    Still not awake yet so these aren’t fully formed thoughts. I was dreaming about Lost and the well and then got woken up by my alarm this morning. Almost had a breakthrough.

  8. Carol from Boston says:

    @Doc – I agree, I am not a huge fan of this episode, Nice to see Hurley and LIbby and the flash sideways was interesting. But the dark feel of the island wasn’t something I enjoyed and the whispers reveal was lame. I expected more.

    Hopefully when I watch it a second time I will enjoy it more. I am sure the rest of the season will be pretty dark, not sure if I am ready for that. How many of our losties will be left standing? I don’t want any of them to die. Poor Sun, no Jin again.

  9. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    There’s really a simple explanation for the Whispers explanation, we are being prepared for the Zombie Season!

  10. RIRedinPA says:

    I’m not too crazy about the deus ex machina/All You Need Is Love direction that the show has gone…not that I don’t mind epic battles between good and evil and all that but the show was never initially framed that way…it was all suppose to be based on science, pseudo science, fringe science but science all the same. I remember reading message boards back in S1/2 where people were debating that Smokey was really a compilation of nanobots…I bet they’re really pissed that it turned out to just be an evil genie.

    Anyhoo, that foot stamping aside, the connection between the island characters and their sideways dopplegangers might be found in some theories developed out of research on near death experiences. Back in 2001 Pin Van Lommel, a Dutch cardiologist was published in The Lancet on his studies of over twenty years of near death experiences. He was fascinated that people, who were technically brain dead, could tell hospital staff what they had done or where they had placed personal items (i.e. – you put my glasses in that draw over there) during the event.

    He found that not only are people conscious during a near death experience but their consciousness is more expansive than ever, they recount early childhood memories and have an intense connection with everything and everyone around them, all while there is no brain activity. These observations led him to consider what exactly is consciousness.

    He contends that consciousness exists outside the body. That our brain does not produce consciousness or store memories. Researchers, independent of his study have concluded the same, that simply watching, interpreting and storing the data from one hour of television would overwhelm the capabilities of the human brain.

    Instead, the brain is simply a transmitter/receiver and our consciousness and associated memories are stored outside the body. Van Lommel does not know where it is stored, though he speculates on the idea of another dimension, a collective consciousness where all identities and memories are stored. Think of the “cloud” in computing, Google for example, where you can store documents, email, photos, files and what not at a central location and access them via your desktop.

    The username/password, to continue with the computer analogy, to get our stored data and not that of our billions of cohabitants, our DNA, specifically our junk DNA, the 90-95% of the total and whose function we don’t understand.

    Okay, so tying this into LOST. Say, the multiple universe theory is true, and there are many, many universes with many, many versions of me (and if so let me add I am quite pissed I am not living the playboy movie star version of me and some other me is…). Let’s also say Van Lommel’s theory is also correct, that our consciousness is stored outside the brain and we only retrieve what we need in the moment and our DNA is the password to get it. If so, then perhaps another filter which prevents me from retrieving memories of the movie playboy version of me having a threesome with two Hollywood starlets in his Beverly Hills mansion, is the universe you exist in.

    However, on LOST that has all gone haywire because Desmond blew up the Swan, Locke turned the donkey wheel, Juliet detonated Jughead, something happened on the island which has allowed people who have visited the island to somehow share their personal memory collection with the versions of themselves in the alternate universe.

    Back to some foot stomping.

    The whispers. Really. It’s dead people unable to leave because they behaved poorly in their life time while on the island? What a crap way to shoe horn some means to give Hurley insight onto what to do next. Seasons 1-3(?), for the most part the whispers are associated with the Others showing up or what not. Look, I’m all for mystical and supernatural stuff and what not but hate changing horses midstream, if the whispers are dead people unable to exit the island then make them so from the beginning. I’m not buying the explanation here except for a, oh shit, we got six episodes left and need to get group a and b together from the writing staff…

    Ilana blowing up…ug…when Ben said I guess the island was done with her he really was saying I guess the writers are done with her. Lazy, lazy writing.

    Could you have given Sawyer worse lines than last night’s? And Sayid, the zombie, is just getting comical…kill him already. But for the love of Shakespeare and other great writers please, do not have him have a soul changing conversion in the final battle where he suddenly has a vision of Nadia and turns on Smokey…you made him evil, keep him evil.

    LOST seems to be stumbling to the finish line instead of running hard to it.

  11. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    @ Carol – you got a bonus episode of Lost last night in your sleep, too!

    @ Rus I thought the same as @ Dave in NY when I first saw Hurley grab that bag (that they are the Backammon pieces) but now I’m learning to @ James call that it’s more Jacob’s ashes. I think you are also onto something re: throwing Flocke in the “box”.

  12. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    Short summary of LOST: Mystery Mash-up

  13. Stephen says:

    I love how Desmond was #42 at Mr. Cluck’s, meaning, at least at the Chicken Shack, Desmond is The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Love the shout out to Douglas Adams.

  14. Keara says:

    There’s really so much you could say about this episode.

    First and foremost…the “resolution” of the whispers was done in such a ham-handed way that I’m kind of disappointed. Not so much in the explanation, as in how it was handled. “Oh, this is what they are.” “OK” Let’s move on. Plus, for those of us who have theorized about those whispers for the entirety of the show, you can punch truck-size holes in that explanation because it doesn’t explain why Shannon saw Walt (who wasn’t dead) after hearing the whispers. It doesn’t explain the rain that so often came after the whispers. It doesn’t explain why Michael is on the island when he didn’t die on the island. And what about Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, etc. You’d think we’d be seeing them too. Since they weren’t exactly angels who should be able to move on. But Hurley saw Ana Lucia in LA. Too many inconsistencies for me to be comfortable with that explanation. Like Ryan said in the blog. Just another checkmark on the writers’ and producers’ list.

    The actions and motivations of Desmond in the both worlds are mysterious. I believe he knows and has a plan greater than the audience is aware in both timelines. I believe he is executing both methodically. Why he hit Locke with his car is beyond me, but curiously, I didn’t feel so sorry for John Locke, since I’ve seen him as the smoke monster for some time now. My husband predicts that all the characters will find themselves converging on St. Sebastian’s hospital in the sideways timeline. As for Desmond in the well…who knows. Was the Smoke Monster not listening? Did he not get that Desmond can survive electromagnetic energy. Is he thinking the fall and thud at the bottom would kill Desmond or was he merely planning to imprison him?

    We had the same thoughts about the splintering of the two groups. The Ben/Richard/ Miles group seems destined for the end of their lives. The candidates and Frank (Was Ilana right when she saw something more in him?) stayed together and went to meet Locke. I almost thought Jack would take over the reins from Hurley in the middle of the jungle and become the leader again.

    The brilliant thing is that I have no idea where we’re going to go next, who will die, what the endgame will be. I love the mad speculation and I’m along for he ride.

  15. Tim from DC says:

    I thought Sun’s weird can’t-speak-English thing was kind of silly when it happened, but when she walked into Unlocke’s camp tonight and her eyes got all big, and I remembered Jin wasn’t there, I could not have been more glad that she couldn’t say anything.

  16. Sobaika says:

    @docjkm

    Glad to know there’s someone who agrees. I usually enjoy Hurley episodes but was a bit let down by this one. I like answers, but that’s not *why* I love Lost. I love the subtlety and beauty involved in building up to a reveal, and the whispers part was far too amateurish and forced. Lost is renowned for its strong writing, I’m looking for a return to that standard next week.

    Not to be harsh, but if I wanted to be hit over the head with awkward dialogue, I’d watch Heroes.

  17. tvscifi says:

    Reading the transcripts of the whispers takes on a whole new mystery. http://lostwhispering.blogspot.com/

  18. Cue Dblu in Chicago says:

    After being in the minority last week in not raving about ‘Happily Ever After’ (I still feel that way after a second viewing), this week’s episode was a real joy for me. Hurley episodes always seem to have a little levity, and this one didn’t fail to deliver. His scene in Mr. Cluck’s was a classic Hurley scene, as was his scene with his mother cuckolding him about his lack of women friends.

    I found the episode to be poignant. Hugo’s lack of female companionship, his feigned leadership and sheepish admittance to Jack that he didn’t really know if what he was doing was right, his beach kiss with Libby when his other life revealed itself. All of these scenes gave this episode a nice, human touch… a respite before the carnage to come as foreshadowed by Ilana’s explosive demise, Desmond’s fall down a well and his mowing over of John Locke in the sideways world?

  19. LReene says:

    @Ryan – My thoughts exactly on the stick FLocke was whitling away at. The very first thing I thought of was Mr. Eko’s Jesus Stick. When Sawyer asked FLocke if the stick was going to be a spear, FLocke even responded that he didn’t know what it was going to be, but “When the time is right, it will tell me.” VERY reminiscent of Locke listening to Mr. Eko’s Jesus Stick.

  20. Stephen from NH says:

    I think that the whispers might in essence be the “audience reaction” of the island-bound dead at the moments when something crucial is about to happen. This could happen either because they have knowledge of future events or because they are aware of what *everyone* on the island is doing. (Maybe if we decode the whispers we would hear: “OMG! They just blew up the hatch, what will Desmond do now?”)
    I think the key point of Ilana’s death and her casual handling of dynamite was to show first that she thought she was invulnerable because the island needed her and second that she was in fact no longer needed. What I wonder is who is the entity called “the island”? Is that Jacob or a something else?
    It’s also interesting to think back to Season 1. Arzt blew up but Jack was safe to carry dynamite because he was a candidate! If Kate is not in fact a candidate, it’s a good thing that he overrode the drawing of lots and took the dynamite himself. (Bad thing if you are a Kate hater I guess).

  21. @Keara: I think the ghost’s are “connected” to the Island… They can go around the world (as Eko, Charlie, Christian…) but they eventually return to the Island (the nearest place to hell).
    Whispers are not heard outside the Island because their are not enought “dead people” to create Whispers…
    Walt apparition’s could have been mib’s… the point was to make them nervous enough to get Shanon killed or to have John kill Naomi. Or maybe since the Others did all sorts of test on Walt…
    The “ghost” makes sense since the first time we heard something from the Whispers it was Duckett.
    The Others do “speak” whispers twice tho: season2 and season4 finale before attacking (losties or Keamies)

  22. Rusty says:

    A few quick thoughts.

    1. When Richard said that Jacob never tells us what to do, he apparently doesn’t know that Jacob has directly told Hurley what to do on several occasions. For example, Jacob recently told Hurley to take Jack to the lighthouse.

    2. I’m concerned that alt-Desmond has resorted to violence. It’s one thing to track down the 815 passengers and share the “truth” with them. It’s altogether different to commit hit-and-run. In the end, I expect this incident with Locke to be ignored by the writers: it’s just an easy way to get Locke to the hospital where he’ll reconnect with Jack.

    3. On the island, I predict Jin will die. The long awaited Jin/Sun reunion will be short-lived. More on this point later.

    4. I couldn’t help but laugh when Ilana blew herself up. Especially after Hurley warned her about the dynamite being unstable.

  23. Bob from Oxford says:

    When Hugo and Libby kiss on the beach, he has memories of them together in another place where Libby kissing him and she was crying. What episode was this originally from?

  24. Stephen from NH says:

    I can’t help but comment on what seems like ingratitude from a lot of people. First, a bunch of folks are all “If they don’t tell me what the whispers are by the end of the series then this show is Dead To Me”. Then, they answer the question and they are all “They didn’t have to be so blunt about it”. I blame those people more than I blame the writers for these clumsy bits of exposition that find their way onto the show.
    Personally I would prefer that many of the questions be left unanswered. The speculation and theories that people came up with are *bound* to be much more interesting than the actual answer the writers had in mind. It would be justice for the “all the questions must be answered” people if the finale of the show was Hurley on a bare sound stage reading the answers to the questions in a sullen monotone.

  25. tvscifi says:

    Still not buying Michale’s “ghost” explanation for the whispers and what he is. For one thing the producers promised, on more than one occasion, that the what is going on on the island will have a science fiction explanation and not a supernatural one. Second, the whisper transcripts just don’t make sense if they are ghosts. Here’s one, I found interesting. Would ghosts be worried they’d be shot?:

    SAWYER ON THE BEACH
    Posted by DarkUFO at 6/08/2006 04:36:00 PM (20 Comments and 0 Reactions)
    Labels: Beach, Outlaws, Sawyer

    Episode: “Outlaws”
    Transcript By ‘RVTurnage’ Overlapping Left, Center & Right Audio Tracks
    Download Penyours MP3’s
    Download RVTurnage MP3’s

    (Sawyer breathing)
    There goes another poking his head in here
    (could be ‘There goes somebody’)
    Yeah, let’s see what he’s doing
    Let’s
    Let me decide
    Come back
    Wait
    I see another one
    It’ll come back around
    (Frank Ducketts voice)
    ——
    Oh my god there’s a guy out there
    Dennis (?) find out what’s going on
    Did he see us?
    Maybe
    Open it
    Did you see what direction he went?
    Right through those trees
    Go and get him
    There is an explanation (resolution?) and I bet you haven’t thought of it
    What is it?
    He’s been in a plane crash
    Are you sure?
    I know what it’s like for a plane to crash
    Complain, complain, complain
    I want to get closer
    I know what you said, but he’s looking around
    What if he shoots us or something
    ——
    There may be something, but it may be slack (?)
    Let’s go
    Has he seen us?
    (Alarms go off)
    I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry
    (faint…could be echo from alarm)
    Intruder, Intruder
    Hide against the bushes
    Open the door
    I know what it’s like for a plane to crash
    Complain, complain, complain
    I know what you said, but…

    Many more at
    http://lostwhispering.blogspot.com/

  26. Russell in Raleigh says:

    The only thing I liked about this episode was that the Black Rock was destroyed. It’s endless supply of dynamite was getting really ridculous.

    I also thought Desmond’s hit and run was really random. It would have been a little more satisfying if he had been planning a more subtle approach and then had a flash of John Locke (smokey) pushing him down a well and then decided to get some payback by running him over.

    The thing that has bothered me the most about this season is that the on-island action has seemed to me to be a lot of stalling–we have to go to the temple, we have to leave the temple, we have to go to the beach, we have to leave the beach, we have to run away from smokey, we have to go talk to smokey–to allow time for the flash sideways to develop.

    I hope thing are set up enough now that they can just get to whatever it is we are getting to.

  27. Stephen from NH says:

    @tvscifi: Perhaps that particular whispering was from Others hiding in the bushes.

  28. Genevieve says:

    @Mimi – Of course you’re right. Just because it’s one day on the island doesn’t mean it’s one day in the sideways. I guess I wasn’t thinking. lol

    @Ryan – I was fine with Ilana going bye-bye. She wasn’t my favorite character, and I’d much rather see her die than one of our Losties.

  29. Embie says:

    I agree with @Dave in AL (and others) that the bag Hurley found is most likely Jacob’s ashes. Nice contrast with the bag of diamonds that Paolo and Nikki were fighting over. Ashes after all are one of the things that can limit the actions of the smoke monster.

    Maybe Unlocke is fashioning a spear to drive through the heart of young persistently-living Jacob. Can’t wait to hear your podcast. Keep up the good work!

  30. Michael says:

    If LOST tells you straight out what the whispers are, then that is certainly a lie. Perhaps Flock is the leader of the whispering souls and they all want released. So when they talk to Hurley they are misleading him so he will inadvertently release them. Jacob killed his twin (or at least brother) and now must keep him and the others here for eternity.
    Also I think the sideways candidates and those on the island are starting to share knowledge with each other. Some when they experience love and others when they experience injury/violence. Sun hit a tree and there was blead over from sideways sun who can’t speak english, when Jin hits his head on the freezer door he suddenly can understand kimmeys english but not speak it. Charlie nearly chokes to death and remembers Claire…. But Hurley’s comes from a kiss/Love, Desmond from meeting Penny love and from car crash with charlie. Claires may have happened way back when kimmey blew up the bungalow she was in. She was not quite the same after that.
    I don’t think the bomb caused the dual timeline, I think it was there all along. One line touched by Jacob, the other not.

  31. Victor says:

    Illana’s death was just lame.

    When it happened to Artz it was funny because he was a C-List survivor/nobody. Illana, however, was a legit characater with a legit background. She was, as Ben put it, handpicked by Jacob. I really liked her character ever since she made Ben dig his own grave… all the other characters were like “Oh, Ben is a MURDERER, who not only MURDERED people, but they were JACOB AND JOHN LOCKE. NO BIG DEAL.” Illana was the only one to realize that Ben was a killer who ended the two most important people to her cause. Everyone else looked the other way. Then Illana’s character went to a new level and forgave Ben, and gave him a second (fourthteenth) chance.

    Now she’s dead? Just like that? Not even a great death scene where she gives her life for a candidate?

    We’d better get to see her ghost or something. 🙁 super cheese ending to a great character.

  32. docjkm says:

    A LOL post (for me)! Thanks Stephen from NH! I could not agree more, and your pithy two paragraph summation had me laughing as a form of cheering! YES!!! Now, I do not blame fans for what the writers do, but it was sort of poetic justice, no? Your opinion re questions v. answers is shared here.

    I feel compelled to shout out to Ryan for the excellent episode summations he shares weekly (but not weakly). Though I love the podcast’s Lost in 8 minute summaries, Ryan’s weekly synopses are mandatory reading for me, and I give my sincere thanks.

    Russell in Raleigh- I agree that on island Losties have been inert since the temple. Lot of waiting and pointless wandering. But, the Oceanic 6 ‘had to get back to the island’. I would seriously think they would collectively and individually be wondering why??? I like that Sawyer is pacing the cage, but his laments are starting to replace Sun’s “have you seen my husband” (had to laugh at the relief of some to her mute status), and are now accompanied by Richard’s inane and mindless “we’re all gonna die, we’re all gonna die”.

    I am on this ride to and past the end. This week was a bathroom break. Too bad, because I expected Hugo to be some sort of moral glue. Maybe that will be the case, but if so, the case was not stated well. Our original Losties are not being treated to the endgame exposition that I anticipated, and a certain ennui seems to pervade. The sight of Kate and Sawyer in the camp at the end of this week’s episode seemed vague, and pointless. I am hoping this will be a short detour. At least all are back together (sans Jin), and now maybe something can precipitate.

  33. Rusty says:

    The last two episodes have given us a ton of insight into the flash-sideways universe. I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but please bear with me.

    1. So far, we have seen five characters experience the cross-timeline visions: Charlie, Desmond, Daniel, Libby and Hurley. In all cases they’ve had a blissful vision of their soul mate.

    2. In the alt-timeline, each of the five characters is faced with a seemingly disappointing life. Charlie is a drug addict, Desmond has no loved ones, Daniel is a twitchy music geek, Libby is in a mental institution, and Hurley (like Desmond) has no one to love.

    3. In their visions, the characters see Claire, Penny, Charlotte, Hurley and Libby, respectively. Their vision is limited to images of their soulmate, without providing any real context. More importantly, the visions provide no clue about what happens after their blissful embrace.

    4. For Charlie, Daniel, and Libby, the original timeline results in their death. For Desmond and Hurley, the original timeline isn’t fatal (yet), but generally kinda sucks.

    5. Its understandable that all five characters would feel a sense of longing for the restoration of the original timeline. After all, they could seemingly replace the disappointing alt-lives with a glimpse of this blissful love. We’ve seen Charlie and Desmond actively try to restore this other life they have glimpsed. But this glimpse is a lie.

    6. If they knew the real TRUTH, our five characters would know that the original timeline is actually quite terrible (and even fatal). Further, they’d realize that their respective soulmates are right in front of their eyes in the alt-timeline. They all still have the chance to experience true love by accepting this alt-timeline, and by letting go of their misplaced desire to restore their other lives in the original timeline. Plus, nobody has to die in the alt-timeline.

    7. Who are we likely to see experience similar visions in upcoming episodes? Well, Locke seems to be next, although his vision might be different due to the MIB thing. We will almost certainly see alt-Sawyer reconnect with Juliet (“let’s go for coffee”). I expect that Sun and Jin will experience a shared vision due to her near-death, non-fatal gunshot wound. Based on this pattern, I expect one of them to die on the island in the original timeline. Probably Jin. In the end, possibly the finale, alt-Kate and alt-Jack will experience their own shared vision.

    8. Why are these visions happening? Why are the characters being shown these misleading glimpses? My first thought is that the MIB is trying to lure them all back, thereby repairing the timeline splinter caused by the Incident in 1977, and thereby restoring the original timeline.

    9. In the end, the characters in the alt-timeline will play an active role in the final outcome of Lost. They will decide individually (or maybe as a group) to reject the love glimpsed in their visions, and instead choose the uncertain future of the alt-timeline. In so doing, they will help defeat MIB, will find true love in the alt-timeline, and will live happily ever after.

    The End.

  34. Metasteve says:

    Last week, Desmond seems willing to help Widmore and is ready to “get started”. Maybe in the flash sideways he is doing the work Widmore needs him to do. Maybe what needs to be done is all in the flash sideways time line – helping everyone “remember”, killing Locke, etc. All of these things are what Widmore wants Des to do to help render Unlocke powerless, leading to the big battle at the end. This wold be why Des is just going long with Locke and seems un-phased. He IS doing the work in the other time line while just waiting for the final encounter on the island.

  35. The Man in Gray says:

    “Michael’s” explanation of the whispers was a lie.

    The dead people who appear are artificial creations of whoever is behind the Smoke Monster (think “Solaris” by Stanislaw Lem).

    Desmond did not not intend to give Locke a near death experience. This would require a little more precision than bashing him with a BMW (or whatever he was driving) and Desmond knows exactly what he is doing.

    Near death experience is the essential component of the initiation rituals of most esoteric societies, dating back to ancient times. It is intended to give the initiate a glimpse of the spiritual reality, a reality as real, or more real than our own reality (see “The Secret History of the World” by Mark Booth).

  36. Russell in Raleigh says:

    If Libby was in the mental hospital, does that mean that she was not on Flight 815 in the alt-timeline?

  37. aaron r says:

    i think Desmond just got closer to his next major magnetic event. i really doubt that Unlocke really was expecting to kill him, if MIB is anywhere as omniscient as he has appeared. and i think Desmond was providing Locke with his NDE.
    i keep saying Hurley is a saint- maybe he really is? i got the purgatory suggestion from Michael, too. Hurley and Libby was just swell. two characters who it would be nice to see come out on top and together. and Illiana… wow. and doesn’t the boy look more like Jacob than before? Unlocke making a spear for the boy… i like that, it works. we’ll see.
    i’m staying with my theory that Jack and Desmond are a team of some sort, and will (maybe?) be the ones to stay with the island. Desmond has more than one ‘other life’, and this latest test from Charles Widmore helped to bring Des in touch with this fact. i’m not sure he can control moving between his existences (tests?), but he’s learned to relax and go with the slips.
    i still have no idea….

  38. Carol from Boston says:

    @everybody – questions I have right now that I need help with:

    We have been told the island is not purgatory and the flash sideways is not an alternate reality.

    If the island is not purgatory what is it? Is Michael a ghost? Is his spirit locked on the island because he can’t forgive himself or he needs to be forgiven? Why does the island keep them even after the island is done with them? (doesn’t seem like Richard has a bad deal after all, at least he has a body) Is Michael stuck on the island because in the flash sideways he is still alive?

    If the flash sideways is not an alternate reality, but is their actual new reality, how will remembering the other timeline help them? If it is not an alternate reality how can they flash to theirselves on the island? I am not big into science but are parallel realities different from alternate realities?

    I hope it will all make sense soon. As Jen likes to say: I am getting a headache.

  39. aaron r says:

    oh yah, and Hurley called it “Bizarro” world. i’ve been calling it that for a while now… lol.

  40. Athens from NYC says:

    @Victor

    Yeah, I don’t know why they killed her off either. I thought she was one of the more interesting new characters. But maybe now that she spoke to Hurley about keeping him safe, she’ll return to him in ghost form.

  41. Genevieve says:

    Oh, I’m sorry I’m being so annoying, but I read other people’s thoughts and remember I had a question. 😛

    I’m curious as to why the REAL John Locke hasn’t appeared to Hurley. His body’s on the island. You would think that he’d have something to say to Hurley about what’s going on. In fact, when Hurley asked Michael, “Where’s Locke?” I thought he meant dead-spirit-Locke, not Smokey. I was a little disappointed when it wasn’t him.

    Also, I agree that the pouch Hurley picked up from Ilana’s things is the ashes. Since Hurley was at the cabin and the temple, maybe he knows that his ashes might do something to Smokey. Or that Jacob will come back and give him more guidance?

    I can’t wait to see what happens next week. I assume Locke will go to the hospital to be treated by Jack. Then there’s Sun, who just got shot and will need medical assistance. I’m thinking they might all just end up at the same hospital and something will happen that sort of “snaps” them all into “reality” and they’ll suddenly remember who each other is. I’m also waiting for the end of the Kate and Sawyer meetup from Recon. I’m assuming they won’t need to go to the hospital, but it sure would be convenient if they ended up there.

  42. Carol from Boston says:

    @Genevieve – wouldn’t you love a “locke vs locke” showdown. I never thought of it that way, the real Locke appearing to Hurley.

    Did Hurley take the pouch with him or did seeing the pouch just give him the idea to say Jacob was talking to him?

    So has Christian been Christian all along? Not MIB?

  43. Genevieve says:

    @Carol from Boston – Hmmm. I assumed Hurley took the pouch with him. Looks like I’ll have to watch it again to be sure.

  44. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    Regarding Jack’s look at Locke. Everybody makes a good point about Jack seeing resurrected Locke for the first time but I still think there is much more to it. Unless Matthew Fox was overacting it. I mean, I’d think that Jack would have to know from the other Losties that this Locke is not the same man.

  45. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    I think there is a lot more to the whispers than was explicitly revealed and some of you above make that point. It could just be the writers are throwing a bone to the viewers and may intend to leave the deeper meaning or function of the whispers to our conjecture, letting us theorize about them for the next 30 years.

    My evolving theory about the whispers has to do with information in the form of electrical impulses. This information is like digital bits of data about our Losties and those they knew (like Christian, Ben’s Mom, Isabella, even the horse Kate saw). When we see Smokey this season,we have seen what appeared to be electrical impusles, these carry the data. We sometimes hear the whispers because Smokey is dialing in on a specific set of data bits to use when he encounters our Losties. Almost as if he is tuning in a radio station. He then projects an apparition he uses to manipulate our characters. I doubt Michael or any characters are “trapped” on the Island – this is just a convenient and convincing explanation to use to manipulate Hurley. In my mind this will eliminate Hurley as a candidate.

  46. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    @ Russell – great point about the dynamite supply! I wondered about that, too.

  47. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    @ Stephen – well written observation about those critical any ‘answers’ we get but it’s still great we can all state and discuss our opinions on all things LOST thanks to Ryan and Jen’s dedication!

  48. LReene says:

    @Rusty – Of all the theories and ending conjectures I have read, I sure do agree with (and like) yours the best.

    As for the pouch, after 2 additional rewatches so far, I swear I can hear something rattling (like stones or game pieces or something) when Hurly first picks up the bag. I originally just automatically thought it was Jacob’s ashes too, until I rewatched it a couple times and listened as well as watched. Ashes? Maybe not.

  49. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    @Lreene – my first thought was that these are Backammon pieces and/or black and white stones – possibly representing our candidates? Who knows may they’ll brink in some Celtic mythology and they’ll be Runes that’ll be cast to determine someone’s fate?

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