they call it a wasteland, baby.

I’m going to dispense with the apology for being gone for so long and get right into the good stuff. Hope that’s ok with the four of you who actually read this nonsense.

“Everybody Loves Hugo” has easily moved into the top spot on my list of favorite episodes of this final season (and it’s fairly high up there on the all-time list as well). It was a fantastic balance between character-driven story and subtle holycrapdidyouseethat moments. Plus, how can you go wrong with a Hurley-centric episode?

When the moon hits your eye like a fried chicken pie
Somewhere along the way Lost has turned into a giant pile of sappy chick-flick love. And for some strange reason I don’t really mind at all. The latest version of the Lost Love Connection featured the formerly star-crossed Hurley and Libby. After three seasons and a pile of bodies they finally got to have their beach picnic date. And who couldn’t see that mind-altering kiss coming a mile away? It was about as obvious and on the nose as Lost is likely to get, but it fit so perfectly. I think Hurley is the only character outside of Desmond that is universally loved. All of us were pulling for him to somehow end up with Libby and the writers gave it to us.

You’ve got some…meta…on you
I really felt like Ilana getting blown up by the dynamite was a message to us from the writers. It was as if they were telling us that not everything on this show is going to be tied up neatly when the final credits roll. Once a plot element no longer useful they have no problem simply walking away from it (or blowing it to hell). Ben echoed this later on in the jungle when he talked about the island being done with her. Maybe I’m looking way too deep into it, but I think they are trying to remind us that not every dangling question is going to get answered. They’ve said it dozens of times out in the real world and now they are reminding us in the show’s world.

He’s our you
And what do we make of sideways Desmond? His early appearances in this episode find him playing Chuck Woolery to Hurley and Libby. Then at the end of the episode things take a weird turn. He watches John from across the parking lot for a little while then decides to run him down with his car. I’ve heard some people theorize that Desmond is bad or is trying to punish Locke or whatever. I don’t really buy that at all. I think this Des is simply the sideways version of island Locke. He’s a man on a mission, and he is going to do whatever it takes to see that mission through. In some cases it’s just a little nudge to pursue a crazy woman. In the case of sideways Locke, stronger action was needed. Sideways Hurley was not at all content so pushing him towards Libby was easy. All it took was a well-placed line or two and Hugo was off to the mental hospital. In this new sideways world, John Locke was content, happy, and complacent. He needed a wakeup call much stronger than a simple beach kiss, and I think that’s why Des ran him down.

Think about it….John Locke was the same man who drugged Boone and tied him up to help him break free from his totally gross and completely wrong feelings towards Shannon. He blew up a sub that would have taken Jack and Juliet home. He spent hours and hours secretly trying to get into a hatch because it’s what he thought he was supposed to do. Destiny was his driving force and no one was going to get in his way. That’s exactly what I see in Desmond. He’s manipulating people to get them to do what he thinks they are supposed to do, mo matter the cost.

A mystery no more
One of the longest-running Lost mysteries was solved last week. Ever since season one we’ve thrown theories around as to who (or what) the whispers were. Now we know. But Michael’s face leads me to think there’s more to the story than he’s letting on. I don’t think he’s lying…I think he’s omitting a very important piece of the whisper puzzle. The two conversations he had with Hurley reminded me very much of the when he betrayed our castaways and left them on the dock with the Others. His first conversation at Libby’s grave was quite direct. It was very reminiscent of when he was convincing Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, etc. to come with him to get Walt. There were very specific moments in the second conversation that reminded me of the moment when he gets on that boat with Walt and heads away. It’s like he was being forced to tell Hurley this stuff….he didn’t want to, but he had to. Or else.

Or else what, you ask? I think all the souls that make up the whispers are not only stuck on the island but are also somehow enslaved to the man in black. He forced Michael to convince Hurley to lead everyone to FLocke’s camp. Michael had no choice but to obey even though he didn’t want to see his friend hurt. There was something in his face beyond the regret that came with being a double murderer. It had that same, “I’m so sorry…I have no choice…please understand” feel to it as when he and Jack locked eyes on that dock.

Predictions
I honestly have no idea what we are about to see (t-minus ten minutes and counting). The Willy Wonka promo at the end of last week’s episode really got me going though. It set and incredible mood and felt like a great teaser trailer for an epic movie. I do think that at some point soon we’ll find out more about the relationship between Jacob and the man in black. As I have said before, I don’t think that Jacob is explicitly good. I think we’ll find that he is someone with a job to do and will use our castaways as needed to make sure it gets done. His job – keeping smokey on the island – is probably inherently good. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out that his methods cross into a gray area or two. I highly doubt this while happen tonight though. My guess is we won’t see much clarification on their story until an episode or two prior to the finale.

That’s all for now. I’ll post some initial impressions after watching tonight with a full post later in the week.