'Lost:' 'Everybody Loves Hugo' (Even When He Tells a Fib . . . Unless You're Richard Alpert)

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the latest episode of Lost.*

I’m really getting into the glimpses of the post-crash Lostie lives bleeding into the consciousness of the uncrashed Losties in their sideways flashes. It's very encouraging.

Last week, the sideways-flashing Desmond Hume got glimpses of his life on the island and his experiences with Penny Widmore only after he was submerged in the water during his car accident (caused by Charlie Pace, he of the "Not Pennys Boat" message on his hand), as well as when he shook hands with Penny.

Charlie Pace had flashes of the woman he believes he's meant to be with (the assumption is that he saw Claire) when he was choking on the bag of heroin when his Oceanic 815 flight experienced turbulence, only to be brought back to consciousness by Jack Shephard who saved him.

Daniel Faraday Widmore got them when he saw someone we can only assume was Charlotte, but we don’t know a lot of the details.

Libby had one when she saw Hurley on a TV ad for his restaurant chain, Mr. Cluck. Hurley had his when Libby -- whom he encountered by “accident” in a restaurant after he was stood up by a blind date -- kissed him during a beach picnic, which was ironic because the post-crashed Hurley and Libby never got to enjoy their picnic on the island because Michael shot Libby.

Meanwhile, I’m also in love with the idea of Desmond, in his suave duds and shades, tracking down the Oceanic 815 passengers in the sideways-flashing alternate universe and prodding them – Jacob-like – into uncovering their hidden memories (if that’s what they are, memories) of their island/post-crash experiences. This is, to me, a very promising development.

As for Hurley – who was the main focus of this episode – I found it curious that in both of his realities, he’s behaving differently than the Hurley we’ve come to know and love. The Hurley in the sideways flash is a successful businessman and a respected philanthropist. The Hurley in the post-crash/post-Jughead life is asserting himself like a leader, blowing up the Black Rock wreck (after which I think the unhinged Richard needed a sedative, or 10), even lying about seeing Jacob and saying that Jacob told them to find Locke and walk right into the arms of the Man in Black. Surprisingly, Jack trusted Hurley, even when he too suspected that Hurley was lying. (Is this a step Jack needs to take -- submission -- in order to become the new Jacob, as I’m guessing he’ll wind up being?)

Three major unexpected turns which I didn’t see coming in “Everybody Loves Hugo:” 1) Ilana blowing up. 2) The Man in Black/Smoke Monster/Locke chucking Desmond down a well (kinda wish it was a rabbit hole, to go along with the Alice in Wonderland analogy the show’s been milking) and lastly 3) The shocking episode capper with the sideways-flashing Desmond intentionally running down wheelchair-bound John Locke with a car at high speed as Locke was in the school parking lot heading to his own car. My mind melted at that point as teacher Ben Linus (who killed Locke in the post-crash world) hovered over sideways-flashing Locke who was bleeding on the pavement.

Oh, and we learned, via “Ghost” Michael, that the other “ghosts” who whisper in the jungle are “stuck” on the island a direct result of something they'd done . . . like in purgatory. “We’re the ones who can’t move on,” Michael said.

So what does that mean for the likes of Walt, who wasn’t dead when Locke saw him while he was lying in the pit of Dharma employee remains after being shot by Ben? Or when Walt appeared to Shannon? Certainly Walt didn't do anything which would warrant him being stuck on the island. And why would people saw “ghosts” off the island, like Hurley seeing Charlie at the mental hospital and Jack seeing his dad in the hospital lobby? Can the ghosts travel off the island AND still be stuck there?

Quotes of note:

“Do you believe that two people can be connected, like soul mates?” Libby to Hurley.

“That happen a lot? Dead people yelling at you?” Miles to Hurley. Hurley replied, “Dead people are more reliable than the live people.”

“If that thing leaves the island, that’s it, it’s over,” Richard said of Man in Black/Smoke Monster/Locke. When asked what “it” was he replied, “Everything.”

What did you think of “Everybody Loves Hugo”? About the revelation that the ghosts are “stuck” on the island because of what they did? The new development that the post-crashed/post-Jughead experiences are bleeding into the consciousness of the uncrashed Losties? Desmond running down Locke?

Image credit: Mario Perez/ABC.

'Lost's' 'Ab Aeterno,' Otherwise Known as 'What Fresh Hell is This?'

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Lost.*

Dorothy Parker’s famous line, “What fresh hell is this?” came to my mind immediately upon the conclusion of the most recent episode of Lost, “Ab Aeterno.”

The island’s hell. No it’s not. Richard’s dead. No he’s not. Isabella’s dead. Kind of. Well, she’s a ghost. Maybe. But she can only be seen by Hurley who has suddenly assumed powers held by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie Ghost and can talk to communicate with the dead. Oh, and Hurley can see the dead. Or at least Isabella. (Is Hurley a Miles 2.0?)

Don’t get me wrong, I like the Richard Alpert character. I’ve been patiently waiting for the writers to delve into his backstory and explain why he never ages (Jacob’s gift of eternal life), when he came to the island (1867) and why (crashed on island while on board the Black Rock where he was chained as a slave after being spared hanging for the accidental death of a man with whom he’d been scuffling). And ever since undead/Man in Black/Smoky Locke remarked that it was nice to see Richard out of his chains, I’ve been wondering why Richard was ever in chains to begin with because he always seemed like a decent enough guy.

I was pleased to obtain that information, to see that Richard also had an epic love which ended in a personal tragedy, like many of the other Losties . . . or, like many of the other Losties in the post-Jughead/post-crash world. As for the sideways-flashing Losties, I’ve got no real clue about the status of their love lives. Post-crash/post-Jughead Locke, for example, had lost Helen, the love of his life, but the uncrashed/sideways-flashing version of Locke was, last we saw, getting ready to marry Helen.

I saw a number of parallels between the way Richard now feels about Jacob (betrayed, let down) and my feelings about this final season. I’m trying really hard not to delve too deeply into all of these new developments (I so do not care about Zoe), not to look for loopholes and inconsistencies because, as I’ve said before, I’m (mostly) done with all of that . . . But I can't help myself . . . haven’t the Lost writers said that the island is not an afterlife or some form of limbo? Haven’t they said that or am I mistaken? The island can’t be hell or a place of reckoning where people go to redeem themselves, can it?

In “Ab Aeterno,” (which is Latin for “from the beginning of time”) Jacob told Richard that Jacob’s job was to make sure that the Man in Black remains on the island in order to keep him from unleashing hell on earth.  We also know that there are six remaining “candidates” to potentially replace Jacob as the guardian to keep the Man in Black on the island to spare the world from his wrath.

But wait . . . in Richard’s flashback, didn’t the Man in Black hand Richard the same dagger that Dogen handed Sayid, and issue identical instructions: kill without allowing the man to talk? What in the heck does that mean? How does this all jive with ABC's "The Last Supper" photo where they posed Locke in the center in the Jesus-about-to-be-sacrificed-by-God-and-crucified position?

You know what else I keep getting stuck on? The fact that last season, Jack Shephard was hell-bent (pun intended) on corralling all his plane crash buddies together to go back to the island in order to “save” their friends because Widmore wanted to kill everyone on the island and take it over. The Ajira flight that Jack & Co. took to return to the island brought Ben, who killed Jacob, and it carried Locke’s body which was claimed by the Man in Black. So the whole, “We’ve got to go back,” wasn’t really about saving the Losties left behind but about trying to save humanity? And why is Widmore hanging out in a sub off shore and whose side is he on? Is he God and Jacob and the Man in Black are his Biblically warring sons?

No, no, no . . . not going to try to figure this all out. I'm just going to attempt to ride the final handful of episodes out without trying to work this out in my head because then I’ll end up making myself frustrated that the Lost lore doesn’t all add up, at least not to my satisfaction. However the Lost Untangled recap of “Ab Aeterno” below was hilarious. I like the way the people who write these videos think.



What did you think of “Ab Aeterno?” Of Richard’s backstory? Of the evolving final episode(s) arc about the Losties having to keep the Man in Black on the island in order to save the world from becoming a living hell?

Image credit: Mario Perez/ABC.