All You Need Is Love

In the sideways, the name Hugo Reyes is synonymous with giving. And apparently, George Costanza is alive and well, or at least his made up "Human Fund" is. And how about Hurley's award? Remember when it seemed like the Smoke Monster could have been a dinosaur in the jungle?


I thought this episode was great. It was full of excitement, romance, humor, explosions, and more great acting. But answers? Well...

This week, Flocke showed Desmond that there's more than one well on the Island. This well was dug by hand, by people who were looking for answers. At this point, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and start digging my own well! Answers, huh?

I have a question I'd like to have answered. Why do the producers keep returning to the purgatory theme? They assured viewers early on that the Island is not purgatory. But now Michael appears, to tell Hurley that the whispers are spirits trapped on the Island "The ones who can't move on." Sounds like a textbook definition to me!

And how about that "answer" we got about the whispers? If they're those on the Island who "can't move on" what then of Frank Duckett, who was killed in Australia? Did Sawyer landing on the Island "trap" Duckett there? And if so, by implication, also Kate's father Wayne, Ben's mother, or even Christian Shephard? (Not to mention Christian appeared off the Island to Jack, and to Michael on the Kahana!) Has every person that ever came to the Island brought some ghosts with them as spiritual baggage?


This still doesn't address the disappearance of Cindy the flight attendant in season two. We heard whispers, and she was just gone, only to turn up with the Others in seasons three and six. What gives? Add to this the appearance of Harper Stanhope in season four's "The Other Woman". Plus, before Shannon was killed, when Walt appeared speaking backwards. It's all still fairly bewildering.

For some time now, Hurley's been taking orders from ghosts. But I'm with Miles - "And...you just listen to whatever they say?!?" Actually, I'm not even sure if that was Michael! The Whispers have previously seemed to signal the appearance of the Monster as well as the presence of the dead. And while Hurley did come up with his plan on his own, Michael gave him a little nudge in the "right" direction - directly into the Smoke Monster's hands!


How incredibly sweet was Hugo's scene at Libby's grave side? The producers told us we would not be learning "Libby's incredibly tangential backstory" and that was true. But they managed to give us more of Hurley and Libby anyway, and I loved it.

Hugo finally found his true love, in the sideways. He's not going to want to lose that now, and why should he have to? This season has been suggesting that love is very important - especially in the sideways.


Hurley marching into Mr. Cluck's and ordering, "Gimme a bucket" hilariously reminded me of the notorious restaurant scene in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Then, we have Desmond suddenly arriving to tell Hurley he should get in touch with Libby, "find out where she thinks she knew you from before you give up on her." Then his order is called - number 42. The answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. All you need is love, indeed.

It wasn't enough just to meet, or even to touch, but when they kissed Libby triggered Hugo's memory of the original timeline. Just like Charlotte did for Daniel, and Penny for Desmond. But if all you need is love, then why didn't Nadia "wake" Sayid? Or Helen for John X? Why didn't love for his son trigger Jack? (OK, Jack didn't have a kid in the OG so that could explain why no flash in the sideways.) And whatever became of the constants?


Meanwhile, the producers are clearly drawing a parallel between Desmond and Jacob. They both have the power to travel off the Island (in a fashion) and both visit the Losties, giving them a little nudge (or in the case of poor John Locke, a full on Ker-Splat!) in the right direction. They know a lot more than they let on, and possibly have visions of the past and future. Plus, Wikipedia tells me in the Qu'ran, Joseph son of Jacob was once thrown into a well.

Widmore says he'll ask Desmond to make a "sacrifice" and it would be an easy bet that he means Des will become the new Jacob, have to stay on the Island forever, and never see Penny and Charlie again.

But I think it's just a red herring, to take the focus off Jack for a while. It's just too obvious that Jack will be the "winning" candidate, so they're trying to throw us off the case. I think there are also implications that Hurley might end up being the new Jacob, and his personality is more in line with an "Island protector" than our dear Dr. Shephard. (And boy, did Jack look intimidated when staring down Smokey this week!)


But Desmond's name isn't on Jacob's or MiB's list. And Jack's candidate number is 23. The network moved the finale episode to Sunday, May 23. And Psalm 23 (also referenced in the title of episode 210) says, "the lord will be my shepherd." Sure, Lost is going to end with some kind of amazing twist, but I don't think this will be it.

The show has set up a major theme of two sides - white and black. And they've also set up a dichotomy of Man of Faith vs. Man of Science. Jack and Locke have embodied the theme of duality through the whole series - continually at odds even when they swapped who was the one with Faith.

In the last scene on the Island this week, Flocke addressed only Jack, and the shots of each character reaffirmed their positions. I think these are the leaders of the two "sides" that will ultimately face off. The Smoke Monster was looking smug, as he realized that all the remaining candidates (except Jin) have walked into his camp on their own. But he's already made a critical mistake.


Flocke actually dumped Desmond in just the place he was supposed to be heading. Desmond was ready to go along with Widmore, and Widmore was searching for mega-pockets of EM on the Island. Flocke implied that this well is just such a place, before pitching Desmond in head first. This actually turns out to be exactly what Desmond wanted, and why he's been so calm about this.

Desmond can now see the future, and I think maybe the Monster knows it. It was hinted when Des looks down that well, and Smokey says, "Why aren't you afraid?" The Monster is the one who's afraid now - Desmond is something he can't deal with. The Man in Black uses fear to manipulate, and now he's faced with a man who says, "What's the point in being afraid?"


Once he falls into the well, Desmond wakes up in the sideways universe, fully aware. The question remains, why did he run down Locke X with his car? Is this revenge for throwing Desmond in a well on the Island? Is Des stopping the "vessel" for the Man in Black before he can make his escape from the Island? If he's there to "show him something" what is it? I can't say for certain, but I can say that events are definitely swirling around Jack's hospital.

Injured John X will probably end up at St. Sebastian Hospital. Sayid's brother is already there, as is Charlie. Sun will probably be headed that way with a deadly gunshot wound. Will Kate be injured, and will she trigger Sawyer? We saw them meet, and touch. Will it be a kiss? We'll see.

But the shots at the end of the episode - that moment between Locke and Jack - leads me to guess that when they meet in the sideways, that will be the event that "wakes" the two. It's even possible in a far-out theory that Jack will heal Locke's spine, so he can walk again in the sideways like he does on the Island (much like Island Sun could only speak Korean, like Sun X. Convergence of timelines.) Who knows.

Back to the Island - I thought Ilana's death was awesome! Boom goes the dynamite. Richard looked heartbroken, and he should. It was basically his fault!


Too bad Ilana wasn't simply standing closer to Jack or Richard, since they "can't die" or whatever. Even better if, you know, one of them carried the deadly dynamite! Or, best of all - after the Black Rock was finally destroyed Richard was like, "Oh yeah, hey Ben what about the guns and grenades at the Barracks? Yeah, let's use those instead." Too little, too late for Ilana.

I thought it was a hilarious bit with Ben snarking about it later. "Kinda makes you think doesn't it? Ilana. Hand picked by Jacob. Trained to come and protect you candidates. No sooner does she tell you who you are, than she blows up. The Island was done with her. Makes me wonder what's going to happen when it's done with us." It reminded me of when Richard asked Jacob what happened to all the other people he'd brought to the Island? "They're all dead."

The Island was done with Ilana. And it seems like it really is the Island - not Jacob or MiB. They're both players in this game too, and I think we still have yet to see the power behind the Island. Unless, it's embodied by the young boy who appears in the jungle. But what's up with the boy's hair turning dark? And MiB was not alarmed that Desmond could see him, as he was with Sawyer. I'm still wondering if perhaps this is Jacob reborn and struggling te re-exert himself on the Island proper. Or, since originally the boy was blonde, is it some representation of MiB this time?


Who knows. I could go on for hours and hours, and at the end of the day I'd probably have put more thought into some things than the writers did in the first place.

Next week, "The Last Recruit" followed by a week off (Oh noes!!) Then we have three regular episodes and a two-hour finale. Whew, we're getting close the end!