Man of the Year

Buckle up, everybody, because the Lost saga is headed down the backstretch, and it’s going to be a wild and bumpy ride. (You know, kind of like when a car runs over a cripple in a wheelchair.)

Characters are exploding and being thrown down wells. The ghost boy is back agitating Locke Monster again. Hurley is blowing up ancient ships and using deceit to take control (based on advice he’s receiving from Michael’s ghost—who, incidentally, quit yelling at Hurley long enough to explain that he’s stuck on the island because of “what I did” and the whispers are those who, like Michael, “can’t move on”).

“Everybody Loves Hugo” was a whirlwind. And when crap hit the fan (or when pieces of Ilana sprayed our Losties), they needed someone to take control. Richard (who seems a bit frantic, doesn’t he?) wanted to get more dynamite to carry out the original “blow up the plane” plan, but Hurley—sparked by his run-in with Michael’s ghost—had other ideas.

Off the island, Hurley receives the “Man of the Year” award (from the distinguished Dr. Pierre Chang), and on the island, Hurley was the man of the hour. I must say, Hurley continues to surprise me. Remember how freaked out he was when Arzt blew up in front of him? Well, when Ilana ka-blooey-ed herself, he hardly missed a beat before he was going through her things. (Did he pocket her bag containing Jacob’s ashes? Methinks he did…)

Any chance Ilana is an amateur illusionist and this is her disappearing act? I'm betting not.

Speaking of Ilana getting blowed up, I think Ben said exactly what many of us were thinking.

Ben: Kind of makes you think, doesn’t it?
Jack: What’s that?
Ben: Ilana…hand-picked by Jacob, trained to come and protect you candidates…no sooner does she tell you who you are, and she blows up. The island was done with her. Makes me wonder what’s going to happen when it’s done with us.

I feel like the island is already done with Ben, but the writers are keeping him around because he’s too well-liked. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong, but at this point, he’s more of a sidekick with an occasional smart-alecky comment than a major player.

As for Jack, I don’t think the island is done with him. At all. More on him later. Meanwhile…

Sideways World
I’m not going to give Hurley as much time as he deserves. As sweet as his reconnection (and his belated first date) with Libby was, he’s playing second fiddle to Desmond Hume in Sideways World right now.

Desmond Hume has a plan. First, he just so happens to run into Hurley in Mr. Cluck’s. Coincidence? Of course not.

By the time the episode ended, it became obvious that Desmond is working from the Flight 815 manifest—I think. I mean, he clearly singled out Hurley, and then moved on to Locke, right?

But why did he help Hurley “feel it”…and then run over Locke with his car? He’s not working just from the flight manifest; that’s for sure. Because Desmond doesn’t seem like the guy who could run over a cripple with his car (Ben Linus, maybe, but not Desmond). Desmond wouldn’t do it without a really good reason.

I can think of only two really good reasons:

1) He is retaining knowledge from island world and he thinks Locke Monster is Locke…so he thinks he’s taking care of a problem, somehow?

2) He needs Locke to “feel it,” and in order to do that, Locke needs to have a near-death experience (much like Charlie on the plane).

Actually, I can think of one more reason, but I’m saving it for later….

Desmond in the Well
On the island, Desmond goes for a walk with Locke Monster. Locke Monster says, “Do you know who I am?” Desmond’s response: “Course I do. You’re John Locke.”

Does Desmond really believe this, or is he playing dumb? I doubt he’d know that it’s the Smoke Monster (who would assume that, after all?), and we don’t know if he even knew that John Locke died (right?), so he very well could believe it’s Locke. But considering Desmond and John knew each other, their conversation was very strange. Locke was telling Desmond all about the well and who built it…which the real John Locke wouldn’t have had any way of knowing, yet Desmond didn’t question it.

And eventually, they had this exchange:

Locke: Why aren’t you afraid? You’re out in the jungle, with me. Not a person on earth knows you’re here. Why aren’t you afraid?
Desmond: What’s the point of being afraid?

If Desmond really thought Locke Monster was John Locke, then he would have realized that John Locke wouldn’t have asked that question. Because why would Desmond be afraid of being alone with John Locke? No, I think Desmond knew he wasn’t really Locke. And Locke Monster knew that Desmond knew… Furthermore, I think Locke Monster was angry that Desmond wasn’t afraid of him.

And that’s when Desmond learned “the point of being afraid.” Because people who are afraid are wary, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll realize they’re about to get shoved into a “very old” well. And so, down Desmond went.

Before I go on, it’s worth noting that this well is not the same well we’ve seen on the island before. The well John Locke descended in the island’s past is no longer around. The Orchid Station was built over it (and, subsequently, over the frozen donkey wheel that was beneath the original well).

So this is a new island landmark. Whether there’s anything noteworthy down this well, I have no idea (although apparently that spot made compass needles spin years ago, so if I had to guess, I’d say that maybe there’s a pocket of electromagnetism down there…and maybe, just maybe, that’s one of the areas marked on Jin’s Dharma map?).

And while it’s completely irrelevant, this reminded me of my favorite episode of the cartoon Dennis the Menace. You know what I’m talking about, right? It’s the one when Dennis goes down a well in the bucket (a great message for kids, right?) and finds that there are all kinds of tunnels (and people) in the well below. He paddles around in the bucket until eventually, the water rises and he is carried out of the well. What does this have to do with Lost? Oh, I don’t know, absolutely nothing. But I enjoyed the memory and I hoped that maybe, just maybe, one of you remembers that episode as well. No? Okay, moving on…

Hurley, the Reluctant Hero
When Michael’s ghost first appeared to Hurley, he encouraged Hurley to abort the “blow up the plane” plan, saying this:

Michael: …because a lot of people are going to die, and it’s going to be your fault.
Hurley: What?
Michael: Because people are listening to you now.

The old Hurley would have shied away from this kind of responsibility, but Hurley stepped up and took charge. Not only did he blow up the Black Rock (which was crazy), but when Richard wanted to fetch explosives from the Dharma Barracks, Hurley spoke up again—pretending to see Jacob. And so his friends (Jack, Sun, and Frank Lapidus) chose to follow him…right into Locke’s camp.

Yeah, Jacob's right there...

This prompted Sun to write, “Did we make a mistake?”
Frank’s response: “Probably.”

Nevertheless, they followed Hurley, even when he admitted that he didn’t know what he was doing, that he’d made up the whole “Hey look, Jacob’s talking to me” thing.

But how much should we trust Hurley’s talks with the deceased? Before Miles wandered off with Richard and Ben (to retrieve the weapons stored in the Dharma Barracks), he had this conversation with Hurley:

Miles: That happen a lot? Dead people yelling at you?
Hurley: It happens enough.
Miles: And you just listen to what they say?
Hurley: Dead people are more reliable than alive people.

For the first time, this made me question the reliability of these dead people. Maybe Hurley’s right. But maybe not. Maybe blowing up the Black Rock wasn’t in their best interest. And maybe they really should blow up the plane.

At times, Hurley’s ghost friends have been really helpful. Jacob. Richard’s wife, Isabella. But can we trust all the dead people who talk to Hurley? I don’t know.

More on the reunion at Locke Monster’s camp later…

Oh, that smug boy standing in the woods over there? No, just ignore him…
When Locke Monster was escorting Desmond to the well, they both saw the mysterious boy standing in the woods. Only this time, he smiled a smug little smile.

When Desmond asked about him, Locke Monster told him to ignore the boy. Twice.

But Locke Monster looked frustrated, didn’t he?

This is definitely relevant; the writers aren’t just throwing a mysterious boy into the plot for nothing (a mysterious boy who unnerves the otherwise unflappable Locke Monster, no less). But what does it mean?

Here’s my guess:

When the boy first appeared to Locke Monster (and when Locke Monster chased him through the woods), the boy said, “You can’t kill him.” This boy has appeared three times. In all three occasions, Locke Monster was in the jungle with one other person: first Richard, then Sawyer, and now Desmond (all men whom Locke Monster probably would have liked to kill). I think the boy’s appearance was supposed to remind Locke, once again, that he “can’t kill him.”

And that makes sense. Otherwise, why would something capable of morphing into a deadly smoke monster merely push Desmond into the well? If he could kill him, why even walk to the well? Why not maul him and leave him in the jungle? Or maul him and then toss him down the well to hide his body? No, for whatever reason, I think the Locke Monster can’t kill Desmond.

Which means…dun dun dun…Desmond is still alive. Maybe floating like Dennis the Menace among the underground well-people…(Okay, I’ll stop. I promise.)

Anyway, I think Locke Monster was basically hiding Desmond from Widmore. He realized that Desmond is important to Widmore’s plan (as Sayid said, “They kept him under armed guard.”). And to better understand Widmore’s plan, Locke Monster asked Desmond how long he pushed the button in the hatch (in other words: “How long were you exposed to electromagnetism?”). And when Desmond revealed that Widmore zapped him with electromagnetism, Locke Monster asked, “How do you know it was electromagnetism?” Desmond’s priceless response: “Experience.”

So now, Locke Monster seems to know Widmore’s plan…and he’s stolen (and hidden) Widmore’s secret weapon. Advantage: Locke Monster.

Jack and Locke Meet Again
When Hurley led the way into Locke Monster’s camp, Locke received them amiably (or with feigned amiability, more likely)—except for Jack.

Locke said nothing to Sun or Frank, but when he saw Jack, he said, “Hello, Jack.” Which, I just realized, looks harmless when it’s written down. But his face didn’t look harmless. And Jack’s face looked…frightened.

The writers were sending a message here. Even though it was a brief exchange, I’ve been racking my brain over it ever since the episode ended. I can think of three possible explanations:

1 ) Locke Monster has retained certain memories from Locke’s life (this we already know to be true), and so he remembers Jack being his adversary, an opposing force…and he remembers Jack’s harsh words to him in the hospital…or maybe he even remembers the words Jack spoke when he was putting his father’s shoes on Locke’s corpse in the butcher shop in LA.

2 ) Maybe the Smoke Monster (Jacob’s Nemesis, or whatever his name really is) is remembering past experiences with Jack—assuming he’s the one who appeared to Jack as his father.

3 ) Maybe Locke Monster realizes that something’s changed in Jack. The old Jack wouldn’t have waited in the jungle while Hurley (of all people) led the way. And so maybe there was a little surprise (or was it anger?) in Locke Monster’s greeting because he sees that Jack is different.

Those are possible explanations for the Locke Monster’s motives, but I have a different theory about the writers’ motives. Keep reading…

Jack and Locke Will Meet Again…Again (aka My Newest Theory)
Desmond ran Locke over for a reason. I’ve already speculated that Desmond’s plan might have been to make Locke “feel it.” But maybe, he wanted to mangle Locke enough to send him to a certain spinal surgeon at St. Sebastian’s hospital…

That’s right, I think the writers are setting up a Locke/Jack meeting in Sideways World. And because these two men (the Man of Faith and the Man of Science) were such strong oppositional forces on the island, their reunion (in a more meaningful setting than the brief exchange they had at the airport) will help them both “feel it.”

Want further proof that the writers are setting something up? How about this line, spoken to Hurley:

Jack: Ever since Juliet died—ever since I got her killed—all I wanted was to fix it. But I can’t. There’s no way to fix it. You don’t know how hard it is for me to sit back and let other people make decisions. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe I’m supposed to let go.

Jack seems to be at peace with that decision. He’s drawn this conclusion…and after five and a half seasons of observing the Lost writers’ penchant for fostering ambiguity and uncertainty, we can be sure that they would never have a character say anything so definitive unless they’re about to change something.

I think that something is going to happen at St. Sebastian’s. By the way, Jin should be making his way there with a bleeding Sun any minute now…

And so many other Sideways connections are possible. Ben was leaning over Locke’s body, and he could very well choose to ride with him to the hospital. Desmond could follow to observe (like he observed Hurley’s date with Libby—like a stalker), or Desmond could be arrested…by Sawyer and Miles, perhaps. And if he’s arrested, he just might meet up with Kate at the station.

And one last, slightly-related thought: feeling “it” is going to be meaningless, unless the Sideways characters can somehow connect with “it.” Knowing that “it” is real will be useless unless they can somehow alter “it” or reconnect with “it.” Will that happen next week? Probably not, but mark my words, it’s coming.

“See you in another life, brutha…”

Snippets

What an abrupt and unceremonious way to kill off Ilana…but I suppose it was the best way to do it. If her body hadn’t blown up, they would have had to have another beach burial ceremony, and even though I liked Ilana, I didn’t like her enough to waste precious Lost time on that.

While we were watching the episode, my wife said, “Why don’t they just have Richard and Jack carry the dynamite, since we know they can’t blow it up?” I liked that. She’s a smart cookie. (Mmmm, cookies…)

Of course, now that Sun finally joined up with the Losties in Locke Monster’s camp, Jin is hanging out over on Hydra Island with Widmore’s guys. Figures.

Nice to see Pierre Chang, Michael Dawson, and, of course, Libby, making appearances this week.

When Kate had a line this week, I was like, “Holy crap, I forgot her character existed!” Seriously.

Questions

1 ) So Charlie feels it. Desmond feels it. Libby’s been feeling it, and now Hurley’s got the vibe, too…but who else? (My money’s on Jack.)

2 ) What’s going to come of the expedition to the Dharma Barracks? Eventually there has to be a Ben/Widmore showdown, right?

3 ) Did you notice that Sawyer’s been increasingly disgruntled with Locke Monster in the last few episodes? How long before he decides he’s had enough? Originally Sawyer was Locke Monster’s reconnaissance man…but now that Locke Monster’s been to see Widmore himself (and now that Locke Monster has Sayid), maybe Sawyer is just feeling left out because he realizes he’s not important?

4 ) Anyone else baffled/intrigued by this:

Sawyer: Is that gonna be a spear?
Locke: I’m not sure what it’s going to be yet, James. When the time is right, it’ll tell me.
Sawyer: You talk to wood now?

5 ) What was that book among Ilana’s possessions?

6 ) Now that Desmond’s been thrown into a well, does anyone want to run with a “Desmond is Joseph” theory? Think he’ll dabble in dream interpretation? Eventually, his “brothas” will come to him for help? Has he worn a colorful coat at any point?

7 ) Is Desmond co-existing in the two realities? We saw him walking around on the island, and we saw him very busy in Sideways world. Obviously, since they’re different realities, there’s no reason to assume there’s any congruence to the timelines (the fact that we’re seeing the events in the same episode doesn’t mean they’re happening simultaneously). So Desmond could still be cognizant in one world while he sleeps in the other…but is it possible that he’s awake simultaneously in both worlds? Is that why he seemed so docile on the island? Because part of his consciousness is at work elsewhere?