This week’s Lost, despite being Hurley-centric, raised quite a lot of questions about other major players. From the Man in Black, to the Island’s trapped souls, to what exactly Desmond is up to, fierce debate raged on, with special attention to whether or not Flocke is actually John Locke. As usual, we took a fajita field trip and consulted our favorite bloggers, theorists, and commenters for their takes on “Everybody Loves Hugo.â€
• Vozzek69 believes that this episode recontextualizes the endgame that will lead to the series’ conclusion. Instead of two opposing forces, one light and one dark, we now see the emergence of a third party: the whispering ghosts. They’ve been around the whole time, but only now are they intervening as directly as Michael did with Hurley, suggesting the stakes have been seriously raised. [Dark UFO]
• If Hurley doesn’t want to blow up the plane, then what’s his plan? Whatever it is, don’t be surprised when the bag of Jacob’s ashes now in Hurley’s possession comes into play. Also, the well Desmond was thrown into wasn’t the Orchid well, but if there’s electromagnetic activity there, can he disable it? [Mistaking Coincidence for Fate]
• This blogger thinks the reason Charlie and Libby were the first ones to remember the original-flavor timeline is because they’re both dead in that timeline, so they have no split consciousness. But if that’s the case, what will happen to Flocke when Sideways-Locke regains his Island memories? Will the original John Locke return? [Televisionary]
• Widmore, and now Richard, keep insisting that everything will end if MIB is allowed to leave the Island. Everyone’s assumed they’ve been referring to the end of the world, but what if they’re just talking about the Island? If the Island “ceases to be,†then all its special properties will be gone, too. Also: These bloggers don’t think that the two strange Island boys (one with light hair, one with dark) we’ve seen are young Jacob and MIB. They’re guessing the blonde is Aaron, but they’re not sure who his opposite would be. Young Jack? A son of Kate we don’t know about? [Celebritology/Washington Post]
• Doc Jensen dives pretty deep into existentialism, which we don’t have the space for here, but he does point out that Hurley not quite understanding his powers could have some devastating effects, as it leaves him easily open to manipulation. Miles seemed a bit thrown off that the people who visit Hurley yell at him; does he know something important about belligerent ghosts? What are these ghosts anyway? If they are truly the spirits of souls who have died, what are there intentions? Are they trying to help the castaways, or could they have their own agenda: to escape the Island? Also, were the butterflies on the wall of Santa Rosa an allusion to the Butterfly Effect theory? Bonus: Doc’s thinking that maybe Flocke threw Desmond into the well because Des figured out his secret: that he really is John Locke. [Totally Lost/EW]
• Tom and Lorenzo think Sideways-Desmond ran over Sideways-Locke because it’s not actually John Locke, but escaped-from-the-Island-Smokey, and Desmond’s goal is to either get him back to the Island, or kill him. They also “forgot how enjoyable a character Jack can be when he’s not being a total douchebag.†[Tom and Lorenzo]
• Another possible explanation for Desmond hitting Locke with his car: Maybe damaging Locke’s body in the sideways world will help take down Smokey on the Island. [What’s Alan Watching?]
• It turns out everyone who guessed way back in season one that the Island was purgatory was right, in a sense. Obviously, it’s not (technically) purgatory for our castaways, but it is for quite a number of souls we’ve met along the way (this blogger takes this as proof that all our speculating can be correct). She also wonders if the museum will hold any important keys, considering Miles, Charlotte, Daniel, and Hurley are all connected to it. Perhaps it holds a statue of Tawaret? Finally, like many other theorists, she thinks MIB and Sideways-Locke have switched places. Or maybe Locke is just doomed to bring people together with his demise, no matter what reality he’s in. [Nik at Nite]
• The revelation that the whispers on the Island are the sounds of souls stuck there revives the previously discarded theory that the Island is a kind of purgatory. But it must be a hybrid of sorts, since it’s not purgatory (or hell) for the still-living characters. But if everyone can hear the whispers, why is it that only Hurley who can talk to the ghosts? Perhaps he just has a special sensitivity or skill that other characters lack. [Tuned In/Time]
• So if Michael is stuck on the Island, what does he need to do to get off, and who decides that? Can we only hope that his escape will involve a reconciliation with Walt so that we can finally see Really Tall Walt? [MTV Movies Blog]
• How will the ghosts move on? By assisting with a take-down of the Man in Black, which will create a resolution that frees them from the Island. [Magic Lamp]
• Could it be that Flocke didn’t throw Desmond down the well to kill him, but to keep him safe? If he really wanted Desmond dead, there are a lot of ways that would have produced far more reliable results. Speaking of the well, if explorers came looking for what was in them, and they built more than one, can we assume that whoever dug the wells also built the Frozen Donkey Wheel? [Crave Online]
• So why did the Smokester throw Desmond down the well? It’s possible he just wants to make an act of war against Widmore by killing his precious “packageâ€, and because he doesn’t like secrets. A more interesting possibility is that Smocke knows exactly what Desmond’s capabilities are with regard to electromagnetism, and he doesn’t want to be controlled or manipulated by yet another person. [Watcher/Chicago Tribune]
• Let’s talk some more about that well. Smokey said it wasn’t the only one, but did he mean on the Island, or off-Island too? Remember that we’ve already seen special pockets of energy in other parts of the world: the one where the Lamp Post station is, and the one in Australia, where Bernard took Rose to get healed. Presumably, there’s also one in Tunisia, where the Frozen Donkey Wheel’s exit is. Smokey says Widmore’s after power. Could that be why the Island moves — to prevent any one person from controlling all the wells? Also: What effect would the defeat of Smokey have on the trapped souls on the Island? [It Happened Last Night]
• Did Desmond make a mistake by following Smokey to the well? This writer thinks Des had a choice to talk to the mysterious boy who appeared, but he foolishly ignored it, and in doing so, paid a price for ignoring someone the Island was offering to him. [DocArzt’s LOST Blog]
• What sort of relationship is there between the whispers and MIB? This writer doubts that you can have dead, communicating souls and a smoke monster that can take the form of dead, communicating souls on the same Island, and not have them cross paths somehow. The “ghosts†certainly don’t seem that trustworthy; after all, Michael led Hurley directly to Flocke’s camp, which was exactly what Flocke was waiting for. [The Lost Blog/FilmFodder]
• There are simply too many inconsistencies in the Lost’s history to take Michael’s explanation of the whispers at face value, considering they’ve accompanied apparitions of the living and the dead, the arrival of the Others, and so on. Either this is a lie meant to advance one party’s agenda, or the producers are engaging in a bit of historical revision. [TV Club/Slate]
• What are we supposed to make of the fact that Marvin Candle apparently hasn’t aged at all since the 1970s? Either it’s a glaring mistake or, hopefully, it can tell us something about the Dharma Initiative. Perhaps an allusion to time travel? [TV Squad]
• Jorge Garcia hopes everyone caught the cameo of his real-life dog in the museum montage. Also, SPOILER ALERT: This won’t be the last episode this season to be “marred with death.†But you could have guessed that. He refers to it as “housecleaning.†[TV Watch/People]
• Commenter like_shootin_fish_in_a_barrel thinks Des hit Locke because if he’s dead, then Smokey can’t possess his body. His/her cubemate disagrees, and thinks he hit him to get him to go to the hosptial to get fixed by Jack.
• right82 wants to know why Jacob didn’t actually just appear to Hurley and tell him what to do, like he kept doing earlier this season.
• JREESE3 wonders if Flocke threw Desmond in the well as retaliation for hitting him with his car, as the worlds start to blend together.
• BENLINUS99 reminds us that back in season five, Jack told Ben that Locke said that some “very bad things†happened when they left the Island. As the timelines bleed together, could this be what he was referring to?
• Annie_in_NY has a hunch that Jacob is like a phoenix, and that he’s been reborn from his ashes. She thinks he ages quickly (hence weird Island boy), which is why Smokey is so insistent on getting off the Island ASAP.
• annetay thinks Sideways-Locke is going to be able to walk again, and that Jack will get his memories flashed into him when he operates on Locke, remembering when he operated on Ben.
• TadAllagash wants to know where Vincent is, and so do we.