Sorry I’m late with this “Lost” recap, but as the show continues to wind down, these episodes are getting increasingly mind-blowing. (Well, there’s that and the fact that, at times, I’m shockingly lazy.)I’ve spent the better part of the last week cleaning up pieces of my brain (and Ilana) off my wall. (I’ll try to keep it short because much smarter and more insightful people have already said far more interesting things about this episode.)
Coming into “Everybody Loves Hugo”, I was looking forward to wrapping up our initial tour of the Sideways world since Hurley was the last major character who hadn’t gotten the alternate-reality treatment. I was also (naturally) expecting a bizarre version of season 2’s “Everybody Hates Hugo”, in which Hurley worried about alienating his friends off the Island after winning the lotto, and worried about alienating his fellow castaways when he was tasked with overseeing the food supply.
The Hurley in the original timeline believed himself to be cursed by his lotto win, so I also expected Sideways Hurley to have ridiculously good luck, especially since the character had referred to himself as the luckiest person in the world during the season premiere.
However, the Hurley we encountered in the Sideways world wasn’t all that different from the Hurley we’ve all grown to love over five and a half seasons. He’s lonely, he has low self-esteem and he eats when he’s bummed out. (I suppose he didn’t quite say “dude” yet.) In fact, all the “luckiest man in the world” stuff was mostly out of the way during an episode-opening montage that saw Hurley win a humanitarian award presented by Dr. Pierre Chang. I know it’s cool to see old characters pop up in a new context in the Sideways world, but Chang’s appearance makes no sense. In the 2004 Sideways world, he looked pretty much the same way he looked during the 1970’s Dharma days. I realize this is nitpicky, but I felt like the writers got too cute by half by including him.
Anyway, Hurley’s hilariously harsh and doting mom had set him up on a blind date with no-show Rosalita. Instead, Hurley met former Island crush Libby, who felt very connected to him after seeing him in a TV commercial. Hurley’s parade was slightly rained on when he realized that she was a patient in a mental institution, but Hurley was able to bribe his way into another visit with Libby (after a little prodding from chicken enthusiast Desmond).
Libby explained to him how some of her Island memories had come flooding back to her after seeing that TV commercial. Unfortunately, Hurley didn’t remember any of it, but he agreed to a beach date anyway because he must’ve anticipated that she’d be wearing a top that would show off maximum cleavage. (The beach scene got a huge AWW from me, because it was the date they never got to go on after Libby was shot while looking for a picnic blanket.)
Although he’s the show’s main source of comic relief, I like the Hurley episodes because they really give Jorge Garcia a chance to show what a great actor he is. He and Cynthia Watros had believable sparks and chemistry, which went a long way toward me buying their kiss. Of course, that kiss ended up being the same thing that jolted Hurley’s memory in regards to his past Island life.
That concludes the sweet love story/character study portion of this episode because everything else was bats--- INSANE!
The first jolt came with the unfortunate death of Ilana. (At least I THINK it was unfortunate, since everyone else seemed to get over it pretty quickly.) While visiting Libby’s grave, Hurley got a visit from Michael, the man who shot her. Michael insisted that if Hurley didn’t stop Richard from blowing the plane up, that a lot of people would die. Michael also claimed it was Hurley’s responsibility because a lot of people were listening to him now.
Ilana (and Richard) grew frustrated with Hurley’s objections, which is what led her to slam the dynamite down too hard and join Dr. Arzt in the great pantheon of characters who’ve blown themselves up with dynamite from the Black Rock. Richard’s resolve didn’t change, which led Hurley to (somehow) get to ship before everyone else and blow it up. Hurley tried to bluff and act like he was doing Jacob’s bidding, but Richard, Miles and Ben (who is afraid what might be in store when the Island is done with him) decided to go to Dharmaville to get some grenades.
I’m not saying this was a perfect episode. I didn’t like seeing the Jack Attack group get split up once again, but I’m sure Richard, Ben and Miles have a big move in their back pockets down the road. I also thought the inclusion of Michael was a bit clumsy. I like Harold Perineau and the idea of involving Libby’s murderer was interesting, but his blatant, clunky explanation of what the Whispers in the jungle are (they’re the souls trapped on the Island due to something bad they’ve done) was bothersome. I realize some people need the “mysteries” of this show to be spelled out, but I think having two characters step aside and actually discuss it was AWFUL. (I don’t mind figuring things out for myself.)
Hurley was joined by Jack, a skeptical Sun and a REALLY skeptical Lapidus. I really liked the scene where Jack articulated what most of us suspected. He’s trying to let go of his “fixer” ways and see what happens when he tries to follow. I also thought the argument from Hurley that maybe Jack IS NOT supposed to change the way he is was fascinating. Either way, the episode ended with the group marching right up to Anti-Locke’s camp and former frenemies Jack and (sorta)Locke exchanging loaded, chilling looks.
Things hadn’t been going so well for Camp Anti-Locke until Jack showed up and that creepy smile crossed Terry O’Quinn’s face.
The main thorn in Anti-Locke’s side was an unnervingly calm and unafraid Desmond Hume. When Anti-Locke asked him if he knew who he was, Desmond barely suppressed a smile when he said, “You’re John Locke.” (Am I the only one wondering if there was actually a little truth to Desmond’s statement?)
Locke decided to isolate Desmond by giving him a little history on the Island’s myriad wells and then tossing him in one. I was absolutely horrified when this happened because I had no idea how deep that well was! (Seeing Desmond pop up in next week’s previews assuaged my fear.)
What does it say about this episode that Anti-Locke randomly tossing Desmond into a well was only the second craziest thing that happened?! The top honor, of course, goes to Sideways Desmond (or is it Island Desmond since he mentioned his son Charlie to Sideways Ben) running over SideLocke…and presumably sending him to the hospital to meet up with a certain Sideways spinal surgeon.
The conventional wisdom seems to be that Sideways Desmond ran over Locke to either jog his Island memory then and there, or lead him to Jack so they could jog each other’s memory ala Hurley and Libby (sans the kiss, I hope). My main problem with this is that there’s no way Desmond could know FOR SURE that running over SideLocke wouldn’t kill him. I mean, how does one brutally hit someone with their car just hard enough to jog their memory, but without killing them? The smile on Desmond’s face only adds to the mystery.
Still, I love that I have no idea what the hell was going on and the anything-goes vibe that’s sure to continue through the end of the series.
So what’d you think of this episode? What’s the deal with that stick/spear Locke was carving? Was the little boy Locke and Desmond encountered in the jungle the same one Locke saw in the jungle when he was walking with Sawyer? Finally, why DID Desmond run Locke over?
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