Lower Decks

Hurley-centric episodes are supposed to be fun.  For the most part, Hurley is on the show for comic relief, and that’s why it’s a pretty big treat whenever he gets to do anything meaningful.  Because the title is correct – everyone does love Hugo.  But in what is almost certainly the last Hurley-centric episode of the series, comic relief is on the backburner.  There is a lot of emotion and story in this episode, and Hurley finally gets a top spot on the main stage.

I’ll start my review with the death of Ilana, and then I’m going to move on.  Why?  Because that’s basically what the show did.  It felt like Ilana got less respect than Nikki and Paolo, and that’s saying a lot because those characters were universally despised.

Because Ilana never got her own episode, with her brief flashback (shown twice) only being shown in others’ episodes.  And her death didn’t even come at the end of an act, and heck, it didn’t even come right before a commercial break.

She blew up, and the story continued.  The only eulogy she got was a few sarcastic remarks from Ben, who still hasn’t found his place in the new group.  You have to wonder if he’s reconsidering the Monster’s offer at the moment.

See, I’ve already moved on.  But to give Ilana her due, I’ll say that I never minded her character.  I’m still intrigued by Ilana’s people, who seem to follow Jacob without actually being on the Island.  I’d like to know more about this group, but with Ilana dead, all of them are most likely dead.  I guess there’s still a chance of a flashback, a sighting in the flash-sideways universe, or an appearance to Hurley.  But, for the most part, their story is basically closed.

But Ilana’s death was just one of three pretty big WTF moments in the episode, and it wasn’t something I was expecting from a Hurley episode.  But after years of tagging along, Hurley is given a chance to lead.  And he gets the respect of Jack, which goes a long way to affirming his new role on the Island.

I’ve heard a lot of people claiming that Hurley will end up being the new Jacob, and it seems to be going that way.  Jack seems to be the logical choice (his name is even similar), but Hurley is definitely the dark horse.  For most of the series, he’s straddled the line between believing in the power of the Island and not believing.  And while a lot of bad things have happened to him, Hurley is one of the better people on the Island.

Then there’s flash-sideways Hurley, who a lot of people claim acts very Jacob-like.  He did help Locke get a job almost immediately, and he helped Desmond find his luggage.  There’s a thought that Hurley is visiting the other survivors (like Jacob did), but this episode doesn’t really support that.  Because, for the most part, Hurley spends the majority of his time completely in the dark.

I’ve been so impressed by this season, but one of the best things they’ve done is use guest characters correctly.  Whether it be Daniel or Charlotte or Charlie, I just think they’ve done a great job bringing these characters back in the right way.  Because while it’s definitely cool to see Michael and Libby come back, having them come back in the right way makes things so much cooler.

Because I’d forgotten that Hurley never got to deal with Michael about the death of Libby.  Michael escaped into the jungle before Libby’s body was found, and Hurley never made it to the freighter upon Michael’s return to the Island.  So, even though it happened four seasons ago, it’s still something that was never resolved.  And I thought it was so great that they were able to get all those feelings back, from the shock of the double murder to the joy of seeing Libby and Hurley together again.

And it seems like the one thread above all in the flash-sideways universe is love – it’s the love between Charlie and Claire that opened Charlie’s eyes.  Desmond’s love for Penny and Daniels’ love for Charlotte opened their eyes, and Hurley’s love for Libby did the same for him.  Kate and Jack, who had their own love affair, also recognized each other – meaning that something as strong as love is the only thing powerful enough to bridge the gap between the universes.

It was definitely nice to see Libby again, and I liked that she and Hurley were able to get together again.  But I guess the whole point of the other universe is “what if?” and that’s a great one to explore.  We also get to see more of Libby in the mental institution, getting us towards the answer to one of the bigger questions that were left unanswered.

Then, there’s sideways-Desmond, who picks up right where he left off.  He’s able to visit Hurley in the middle of the episode, doing for Hurley what Charlie had done for him.  It leads to Hurley’s awakening, and I’m really glad that the writers touched on this.  Because I thought that was a really cool little idea they were going with.

But then there was the ending to the episode, where Desmond tracks down Locke.  You see Desmond waiting outside the school (after a small scene where Ben basically accuses him of being a child molester), and you just assume that Desmond has found his next target.

But then he speeds up and hits Locke with his car, leaving John seriously injured.  In fact, if you look at it, Locke looks almost exactly the way he did at the beginning of his first centric episode (“Walkabout”).  And, you should know by now, that’s not a coincidence.

Why did Desmond do it?  I have a few theories, and I’ll go over them quickly before we move to the events on the Island this week.

My first thought is that Desmond was able to see the Monster in Locke and took action.  I’m guessing he saw flashes of Locke on the Island (as the Monster), and he knew he had to get rid of this person for the good of the world.  He even could’ve seen the Monster throw him down the well, and he was doing it to get even.

The other idea is that Desmond has been “claimed” or maybe even taken over by the Monster.  We know that the Island is at the bottom of the ocean, and that could mean that the “wine bottle” has been broken.  If that’s the case, the Monster could be released on the world and anything could be possible.  Desmond could’ve tried to kill Locke so that the Monster could take over again.

The other idea is that Desmond was trying to heal Locke – that, somehow, the hit-and-run would do what the Island did and heal Locke’s spine.  The only reason I say that is that it’s so similar to the opening shot of “Walkabout” – which signified Locke’s healing.

I guess we’ll find out, but it definitely makes Desmond seem more mysterious.

On the Island, as I’ve already discussed, Hurley takes steps to take command of Jacob’s group.  In a lot of ways, it makes sense because Hurley is Jacob’s new version of Richard – a go-between for him and the other survivors on the Island.

Hurley struggles with this at first, particularly because it’s not something he’s used to doing, and people don’t really expect it from him.  But I think he’s suited for the role, and I’m glad that Jack, Sun, and Lapidus went with him.

I was also really glad that Hurley finally blew up the Black Rock.  It was becoming a bit of a “deus ex machina” because they’ve gone there for dynamite so many times.  Arzt and Ilana both died because of it, and it’s the way that Richard chose to kill himself.  I leaned over to my friend during the show and said they need to stop doing that before everyone dies.  Hurley finally makes sure that’s no longer an issue.

But it also splits the group in two, as Ben and Miles go with Richard to find other explosives to blow up the Ajira plane.  Hurley decides to lead the rest to the LockeMonster to talk things over.

And that’s a huge victory for the Monster, who now has almost every candidate on the Island.  The only person he’s missing, now, is Jin, and I’m sure that’s what next week’s episode will deal with.  As Hurley’s group arrives at the LockeMonster’s camp, he gives a wicked little smile because his plan is working.

He’s probably also smiling because he thinks he’s taken care of his biggest challenger.  Sayid brings back a captured Desmond, and the LockeMonster is intrigued by the idea that Desmond has been shot up with electromagnetism seems to worry him.  I’m not sure if the Monster already knows Widmore’s plan, but he quickly takes care of him by throwing Desmond down a well.

I thought the scene with Desmond and the Monster at the well was a strong one, and I continue to be very impressed by Terry O’Quinn’s acting this season.  If he doesn’t get Emmy consideration, I’d be very surprised and pretty upset because I think he deserves it.

So where does all this leave us with only four episodes to go before the finale?  The Monster has almost everyone to go, and with the only remaining person in the care of Charles Widmore…you have to think that the confrontation between those forces is coming up pretty soon.

Widmore, meanwhile, has lost his secret weapon, but he’s still heavily armed and defended with his sonic pylons.  And Richard has Ben and Miles with him as they travel to the Dharma Barracks to continue their quest to blow up the plane.

It seems like it’s all going to go down pretty soon on Hydra Island, as the pieces continue to fall into place.  We’ll see soon enough.