Reacting To The Latest Episode Of Lost: "Everybody Loves Hugo"

We got a monumental episode last night, packed with explosions, romance, and plenty of "WTF?" moments! "Everybody Loves Hugo" might have been designated a Hurley-centric episode, and we certainly did see him reach a new level, but I also think last week's star, Desmond wasn't quite ready to give up the spotlight. (What an episode-stealer!) Meanwhile, in the sideways, Hurley's a billionaire fast-food entrepreneur who just can't seem to find love...until he meets a cute mental patient. The light-hearted nature of Hugo's sideways romance could be described as the Adam Sandler movie that was never quite greenlit. It was a stark contrast to the dissension that was quickly occurring among his group of Losties on the Island.

It's time to break down the events of last night's Lost!

1) It's official: The Losties from the beach have now become "Team Hugo." We finally saw Hurley step up to the plate and become a real player on the Lost field. While he may still completely suck at lying, it's clear that he's firmly set his foot down on finding a plan and sticking to it. While it's still completely obvious that he doesn't have answers, his confidence seems to be strong enough that even Jack has taken a backseat and let Hurley take the wheel. Hurley's not just blindly taking orders from the dead Losties, he's made a clear decision that he's going to trust their judgment over the live ones. -- That's a huge step. Meanwhile, Richard has gone off with Ben and Miles to form "The All-New Others." It's kind of like The Beatles, where all we have left are Paul and Ringo. Sure, if they wanted to reform, they could play the whole catalog with some session players and sons of the original members, but it'll never be the same. (Would that make Jacob John Lennon or Brian Epstein?)

2) On a related topic, we've been treated to even more parallel play goodness as one of the most significant moments from season 4, the "big split," has seemingly replayed right before our eyes. Sure, the main Losties may not be headed to the location of a radio tower to get more bars on some fancy satellite phone, or bunkering themselves down in the DHARMA barracks to stay away from "The Rambo Guys," but the premise is basically the same: The Losties on the beach have segmented into two distinct groups with conflicting agendas. One group is heading towards their means of escape (in this case, a negotiation with Smokey over the Ajira 316 plane), while the other group heads back to the DHARMA barracks (in this case, to grab ammo to destroy that same plane). Yet, at the same time, the whole "faith vs. science" debate seems to have been settled. In this case, "faith," as far as the Island goes, has clearly won. Yet, they're still fighting amongst themselves. (Is that some kind of message?)

3) It's been a while since we've seen a sudden and unceremonious, anticlimactic death on Lost. We hardly knew ya, Ilana! Just as random and inexplicable a moment as Ilana's Arzt-like demise, the sight of Desmond going all GTA on the wheelchair-bound sideways Locke was a head-scratcher. And kind of funny in an extremely morbid way. (Okay, it's not funny.) While Desmond, in both worlds, is clearly a man on a mission, it's difficult to determine exactly what he knows. Knocking the ever-living crap out of Locke with his car may have been rooted in one of two things: One, is that the part of Desmond that should have been scared in his Fredo Corleone-like moment alone with Smokey at the well may have surfaced in his sideways counterpart and triggered when he saw Locke in the parking lot. The other, is that sideways Desmond may be aware of some connection or weakness that Smokey has to the sideways Locke. Giving him a good bump might trigger more of the real Locke resurfacing in Smokey, just as it did with the first appearance of the Mysterious Kid. 

4) "It rubs the lotion on its skin, Mr. Hume!" Now, as long we can avoid scenes of Terry O'Quinn dancing around naked with his junk tucked between his thighs, I'd say we're moving along quite nicely. So, why did Smokey decide to chuck Desmond down a well? If Smokey's mindset is consistent, then to him, people are either helpful to his getting off the Island or better off dead. Smokey was genuinely curious about Desmond and with Widmore's plans to use him. However, the reappearance of the Mysterious Kid, with Desmond being the second person also able to see him (Sawyer was the first) may have forced Smokey to take some action. I'm beginning to think that the Mysterious Kid represents a truth that Smokey is not willing to face. The fact that Desmond saw him, above all else, may have ended up sealing his fate as a well-dweller. It doesn't appear to be a deep well, and Desmond seemed to plunge into it head-first and survived. (At least, that's what the post-episode preview implies). If it's just a holding cell, then it's not a very good one. In fact, I'd say Makoto Nagano could have gotten himself out of that in a jiffy.

5) Entertainment Weekly recently broke the story that Ben would soon be involved in an "unlikely romance." Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here, so work with me. Ben's speech about Ilana being used by the Island and then blown-up when it was finished with her, seemed to echo some of his own remaining bitter sentiments about how the Island treated him. Now, we've seen Ben express sad emotions and regret over his late mother, his actions that led to the death of Alex, and for his murdering the real Locke. However, those were emotions still rooted in one feeling sorry for oneself. His lament over Ilana might have been the first time that we truly saw Ben express genuine empathy for someone else's tragic fate. He might have saw a potential kindred spirit in her, and I have a feeling that given the poetic nature of the sideways world, that his doppelganger, "Dr. Linus" may be hooking-up with the angry, ass-kicking, and hot woman who in another world, said that she'd "have him."