Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Thoughts on LOST: Everybody Loves Hugo

Sigh....Only 5 more episodes left. And Damon Lindelof is sending Tweets about his "last day on set", so they are apparently wrapping up filming on the finale.

Sigh.

I am really going to miss this show.

Let's dig into this week...

- I totally loved the Hurley slideshow...the images of Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack superimposed in front of things like the Eiffel Tower and the Egyptian Pyramids just cracked me up.

And yes, that was actually Jorge Garcia's baby picture, as well as his dog NuNu.

- I wonder if one of the exhibits in the Hugo Reyes Paleontology Wing is the Hurley Bird?

- Nice touch to have Pierre Chang narrating another video...he seems to really have a knack for it.

- So multi-multi millionaire Hugo can't get anybody to go out with him? Seems hard to believe...

I think the issue is that he doesn't have any confidence in himself, and that keeps him from seeking out female companionship...he's thrown himself into building his "empire" (both the business and the philanthropic side) because he's not comfortable in his personal life.

- Jorge Garcia kicked serious tail again in this episode...I hope everybody realizes that he's not just comic relief. His scene at Libby's grave just killed me.

By the way, when he was talking about Libby never coming to see him, I got to thinking about why that might be. We found out later that the dead folks hanging around the Island are there because they are not being allowed to move on due to some of the things they did when they were alive, so I can see how Libby would not be one of those people.

But we DID see Libby show up on the freighter and talk to Michael, right? Back in "Meet Kevin Johnson", the first time Michael tried to set off the bomb, Libby showed up and told him, "Don't do it, Michael". So was Libby still hanging around then?

I actually don't think so...I think Michael was just hallucinating, just like he did when he was in the hospital after his suicidal car crash. His guilt was playing tricks on his mind. I actually am starting to think that a lot of the stuff we have seen over the years that we blamed on the Island has in fact been something else entirely.

- Yeah, Michael is back. Out of all the characters that we could see return, he is probably last on my list.

Except for maybe Nicki and Paolo...or Bai Ling.

- I'm not totally sold on Michael's motivations, either...more on that later.

- YAY!! Libby is back! I thought it was great how easily these two picked up the same kind of vibe that they had on the Island...she likes Hurley because she recognizes what a great person he is (in this case, even just through what she got through her "flashes"), and he is not convinced that anybody like her would ever be attracted to him.

- I think it's really cool that everybody in the Sideways timeline is gaining "awareness" through different ways...Charlie needed to almost die and Desmond needed the trauma of the accident, while Daniel and Libby only needed to see someone who they felt "connected" to, and Hurley needed a kiss. It's like Jacob told Hurley back in "The Lighthouse". Some folks, you can just show up in their cab and tell them what to do...other folks need to sit and stare at the ocean for a while.

I am kind of curious about all of the "background" people in the Sideways, though...is this the "wrong" reality for everybody, or did this reality already exist and now our characters have just been inserted into it (like Peter Bishop, for the Fringe fans out there).

I think it would be funny if all of a sudden the waiter bumped his head on the door or something and started freaking out that this is not supposed to be his life.

- As I mentioned in my initial thoughts, I didn't like the fact that Ilana blew up. If that really is the last we see of her, what was the purpose of her character? Did she actually end up "protecting" anybody? Ben says later that she told people they were candidates, but I don't really think she was necessary for that.

I don't know...I guess I just really want to find out why she was in the hospital covered in bandages when Jacob visited her, and how she healed from all of those injuries with no visible scars. Hopefully we will find that out at some point....but there are only five episodes left.

- Can't decide if we will see whatever it is that Locke is carving again, or if it's just supposed to demonstrate how little is actually going on in Locke's camp.

This is why I'm not sure of Michael's motives in getting Hurley not to blow up the plane. Locke is just sitting here, waiting...and what he is waiting on is for all of the candidates to be together in one place. Could the doomed souls that are left here be under Smokey's control somehow? Maybe Michael was sent to steer Hurley into doing what he eventually did...keep the plane from being blown up and bring the remaining candidates to Smokey?

- Dude, Zombie Sayid FREAKS ME OUT. When Sawyer asked him where he had been, Sayid reacted like a cobra deciding whether to strike or not. He reminds me of a coiled spring...I'm tense every time he's on the screen.

- Desmond still seems very Zen, doesn't he? Even tied up to a tree, he looks like he has maybe found the secret Dharma greenhouse where they kept the medicinal marijuana.

- Still loving new Jack:
RICHARD: We get more dynamite. Or else she died for nothing.
JACK: Maybe she died to show us to stay the ___ away from dynamite.

- What did Hurley see in Ilana's Bag O'Ashes? Was he reminded by seeing Jacob's remains that Jacob has chosen him as the one he is going to speak to, and that gave him the confidence to act proactively instead of just letting things continue to happen?

- Also love that Jack doesn't argue with Hurley...Hurley says to trust him, Jack says OK.

New Jack is awesome. Can we keep him away from Kate for the rest of the season, please?

- Back to the Sideways, and Hurley is drowning his sorrows in chicken.

- Desmond may not want a Cluckateer key chain, but I'm pretty sure I do.

- I love having Henry Ian Cusick back, if for no other reason but to have him in scenes with some of these other great actors.

- Desmond tells Hurley to "go with his gut" (no pun intended, I'm sure)...I think this is more of the message that Desmond is carrying, rather than one of "true love conquers all" or whatever. At least I hope so...if this thing turns into a Nicholas Sparks novel over the next few weeks I'm going to be disappointed, I think.

- Back on the Island...Desmond says that of course he knows who Smocke is: "You're John Locke". I have to think that Des actually knows that's not the case, right?

By the way, did you see Locke's reaction to Desmond talking about Widmore's experiments with electromagnetism? I think he knows that Widmore is on to something.

- This makes me very sad to even think about...but I think Ben was foreshadowing his own death. What use does the Island have for him at this point? And seeing as how he wasn't even supposed to be a main character originally, I can see the writers killing him off somewhere in these last few episodes.

- Hey...how did Hurley move so fast that he not only beat everybody else to the Black Rock, but he had time to set up the dynamite, create the fuse, light the fuse, and be around 100 yards away from it by the time everybody else gets there?

Jorge was actually laughing about that one on his podcast...

- I still think it's kind of funny that Richard has been in a pretty constant state of agitation and panic ever since he saw Locke emerge from the tunnel...after Hurley blew up the Black Rock, he totally freaked out. Again.

It's just funny to remember how he was for the over three seasons that we have seen him up until this point, compared to how he is now.

- Great conversation between Miles and Hurley...I miss them being together.

Was this the first time that Miles has heard that Hurley communes with dead people? I can't remember....but you could see that Miles could definitely sympathize with Hurley a little more when he heard that.

But I also think that Miles doesn't share Hurley's belief that dead people are more reliable...maybe personal experience tells him otherwise?

- So Hurley pays $100K for the opportunity to talk to Libby again...kind of makes the rest of us guys look bad in comparison, huh?

- GREAT, great stuff between Hurley and Libby in their conversation in the mental hospital. They have such a unique and sweet chemistry together.

- To further reiterate the point I made a few bullet points ago...how awesome was it to have Terry O'Quinn and Henry Ian Cusick playing off each other?

- Loved Desmond firing back at Locke: "Do you know better?" Yeah, I think he knows that this isn't really John Locke.

- Creepy Teenage Boy shows up again...this time his hair was darker.

Nope, still no idea who he is. I'm not going to try to figure it out, honestly...we'll know soon enough, I'm sure.

- So, once again, we have folks dividing up into factions...normally, this happens as we get to the end of the season and pieces start moving into place.

Sorry, but I don't feel good about the group that doesn't contain any candidates. Good luck Richard, Ben, and Miles.

And it was awesome to see Jack sticking with Hurley, and how good it made Hurley feel.

- "How do you break the ice with a Smoke Monster?"

Hee.

- JACK: Ever since Juliet died - ever since I got her killed - all I've wanted was to fix it. But I can't. I can't ever fix it. You've no idea how hard it is for me to sit back and listen to other people tell me what I should do...but I think maybe that's the point...maybe I'm supposed to let go.

Awesome. Basically, Jack is fixed. This is what he needed to come to terms with, ever since the Pilot episode.

Yeah, I totally think Jack is supposed to be the new Jacob. But I think he's going to have to choose it, and I'm very interested to see how that choice is presented to him.

- And now we know what the Whispers are. If you've ever read the Whisper transcripts on Lostpedia, this actually makes a lot of sense. They always seem to be watching, and worrying, and often trying to warn characters, which is why you so often hear them when danger is approaching.

- And that's probably as much closure as Michael is going to get...more than what he had before, but he is still being punished, which I think is the right way to end his story.

- Hurley and Libby finally get to have their picnic....and the dialogue right before they kiss is VERY similar to the conversation they had on that cliff back in "Dave", the first time we saw them kiss.

And, even though I knew it had to be coming, the moment when Hurley started remembering their time together still got to me.

- Locke and Desmond get to the well...I'm not sure this is the same well that Locke fell down last season. The surroundings look different, but that could be because we are in a different "when" now rather than a different "where". Regardless, Locke tells him there is more than one of these on the Island, anyway.

Are these the pockets of energy that Widmore is talking about?

- Again, Locke is probably telling the truth about Widmore...Widmore IS interested in power, from everything we know about him. I'm still having a hard time making Widmore be the "good" guy in this story.

- Locke DEFINITELY notices that something is different about Desmond. No fear whatsoever. Locke doesn't like it when he can't use peoples' fear against them....so he shoves him down the well.

This is another time, like when he's chasing people, that I wonder if there is some kind of rule as to when he can change into Smokey. Because wouldn't it have been more effective, as well as more of a sure thing, to just change into the Smoke Monster and kill Des, rather than risk him not dying from the fall into the well?

- Hurley get's Smocke's "word" that he's not going to try anything. Not sure that would have been good enough for me.

- Sun immediately looks for Jin...no, Sun, the writers aren't ready for that reunion scene just yet. The only people more ready for it than you and your husband is the audience.

- Jack looks...TERRIFIED. Like I said in my initial post, he doesn't look like he's seen a ghost...he looks like he's seen the DEVIL.

Which makes sense, if he is "transforming" into the new Jacob...he can see him as his adversary, not just an image of John Locke.

- Ryan McGee of Zap2It called Sideways Ben "LOST's version of Chris Hanson".

Hee.

- OK, now Desmond is going to have a nice little talk with John, probably telling him that he has seen a reality where Locke is actually out of his wheelchair and walking around, and maybe that will be enough to cause John to see - HOLY FREAKING CRAP DESMOND JUST OBLITERATED LOCKE WITH HIS CAR.

Did NOT see that coming. At ALL.

Like I said earlier...I don't think that this has ANYTHING to do with the fact that Locke just threw Desmond down the well on the Island. I don't think Desmond is seeing everything that is happening in both timelines...I think that in this timeline he just has the sense that something isn't right, and he's trying to get as many people on board with that concept as possible in order to do whatever it is he is going to do to fix it. I think that he was just trying to make Locke "see" it, and I think it worked.

On the Island, I think the reason he seems so relaxed is because he knows that, as screwed up as things may seem, THAT timeline is actually correct, and thing are actually progressing as they have to in order to maintain "order".

Final Thoughts:
This was a "transition" episode, one where we really were just seeing the pieces start to move into place, but I still thought this was a great episode...it had humor (it's a Hurley episode, duh), mythology (specifically the Whispers explanation), some sweet moments (especially with Hurley and Libby), stupendous acting by everybody involved....plus a bunch of stuff blowed up real good. That's a winner, in my book.

Only five more episodes to go......Sigh.

Namaste.

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