Well.

I didn’t take many notes as the show aired — compared to last week’s “Happily Ever After,” this was a relatively uncomplicated, straightforward episode in which characters move, the plot moves, and no new mysteries or questions crop up. In that, it was highly satisfying. There were still a few things I could’ve done without — the explanation for the whispers is one of them — but I’ll get to that in a sec.

Hurley has been the most lovable character throughout Lost’s run for a number of reasons. He’s the kid who always gets picked on, the kid who never gets chosen for big adventure, the kid who gets beaten down time after time but still believes that people should be treated with respect. Plus, he’s a sci fi nerd. He is The Underdog, and everybody loves The Underdog. It is profoundly satisfying to watch Sideways Hurley because he’s living the Underdog Makes Good narrative. He’s preternaturally lucky and supremely successful, and he’s also still essentially Hurley, believing that everyone deserves compassion and respect. Hurley the Humanitarian. Look what happens when a boatload of money falls into the right hands.

There’s a theory floating around the Lostverse that describes the Sideways Universe as a world in which all of the characters get what they most wanted in the Real Universe, though it comes at a price. I’m having a hard time applying it to Hurley. Actually, I’m having a hard time applying it to most of the characters, based on what we’ve seen of their Sideways existences. It’s easy with Locke — he gets Helen, though he’s still in a wheelchair. (Possibly he gets Helen AND his father’s acceptance.) Desmond gets Widmore’s approval, but not Penny. Sun and Jin get to be together, but Sun gets shot (endangering their unborn child). Sayid gets to be with the woman he loves, but not really. No idea how this theory applies to Kate, Claire, Sawyer, and Jack, and with Hurley . . . all I can think is that the lottery money isn’t cursed, but then it never was. He was never in a mental institution in the Sideways world, so maybe his most urgent desire was to not be paranoid and delusional. Anyway. This is mostly a sidenote that got out of hand. Back to the episode.

Libby! About damn time. Hurley placing a fresh flower on Libby’s grave tugged at my heartstrings; seeing her again after all these years was immensely satisfying. Libby’s ability to remember the Real Universe, and Hurley’s flashes of it during their first kiss (again with the heartstring tugging), means that there’s at least two more ways to break through the Sideways Universe, aside from having a near-death experience. Granted, Libby’s mental state and her ability to see the Real Universe is kind of a chicken-egg situation, and I’m not sure which came first. However, she was in Santa Rosa in the Real World as well, and I can’t help but think back to Season 2′s “Dave,” which ends on that shot of Libby in the Santa Rosa rec room, staring intently and rather madly at Hurley.

Do you think Libby knows what’s going on here? That’s my question. I like the idea that she does. It’s reminds me of the way all the Glory-fied crazy people in Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Season 4 know what Dawn really is.

It was equally satisfying, as it has been all season, to watch Island Hurley come into his own. He’s had the occasional Moment before, but he’s carrying himself now with such quiet purpose and strength that he’s almost a different person from even the Hurley in “The Lighthouse.” And yet, he’s still essentially Hurley. He can’t keep the truth about not seeing Jacob from Jack. And that conversation, where Jack says that he’s pretty much OK now with following someone else, that was a nice moment. In my notes, I have it as “Jack learns an Important Lesson. Finally!”

I wasn’t expecting to see Michael again, but I did like how he appeared just after Hurley chides Libby for being the one dead person he hasn’t talked to, as though the island is taking the piss. “We’re not going to give you Libby, but here’s her killer. Psych!”

What I didn’t like? The explanation for the whispers. The idea that the Island is purgatory for souls who can’t move on is so unsatisfying for reasons I can’t fully articulate but should be obvious enough that I don’t need to. And maybe that’s not really what it is, purgatory. Maybe “moving on” means something other than “to Heaven.” What I’m hung up on is why Michael’s even there. I thought he’d fulfilled his duty to the island or whatever at the end of Season 4, on the freighter. Just before all that C4 blows up, Christian Shepherd appears to him and says, “You can go now.” Was it another “Psych! Just kidding. We’re going to need you to do this one other thing, but then I promise you can go” situation? Man, the Island is an asshole.

But I did like the knockout rolled-out ending. All of our original castaways, save Jin, are together. Finally! The look between Jack and Smokey was deliciously drawn out and intense. I wonder whether Jack will point out to everyone else there that Sayid is not really Sayid anymore. I don’t think that Kate or Sawyer have cottoned to this yet. (Speaking of Sawyer, I’m a little disgruntled that he hasn’t been doing much of anything other than confronting Smokey with things that Smokey has done. “So you went for a walk, huh?” Enough of that.)

That Smokey was going to toss Desmond down the well was telegraphed from the minute we saw the well, but did Desmond know that was going to happen? I’m thinking he did, because I’m still working with the idea that the latest EMP he experienced gave him the ability to see the entire picture of what was and what needs to be. Because he’s still so very ZEN about all the crap going on.

And if I’m not mistaken that’s the donkey wheel well, right? Although Smokey did mention that there were other wells all over the island and so maybe he tossed Des down a different one. That this happened in tandem with Sideways Des RUNNING OVER LOCKE was nothing short of super fantastic. Locke’s face, as he’s lying on the ground watching the Real Universe flash before his eyes, looked very much like his face after he was pushed out of the window, so that’s interesting even though I’m not sure what it signifies, if anything.

Other observations:

• So long, Ilana. I think you deserved something a little more dignified than going the way of the Arzt, and I hope we still get the backstory on how you became a Jacob disciple (Jacobite? Ha), though I guess that’s not likely, what with 5 episodes left.
• Small moment, but one I loved: Ben following Richard.
• Also loved Ben confronting Des, on the suspicion that Des is a pedophile stalking his next victim. LOVED that Des says he has a child named Charlie — subtle indication that he’s fully conscious of both his existences.
• Finally, the mysterious island boy! We’re agreed that he’s the same boy that Smokey saw earlier in the season, the one who warns, “You can’t kill them,” only older, right? Are we still agreed on the premise that this is Jacob? So now we’ve seen kid Jacob and pre-teen Jacob, yes?

Jacob’s a phoenix.

I’m only half-joking.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For
2. Thoughts on Lost – “Lighthouse”
3. Thoughts on Lost – “The Substitute”

I say the first is wrong, the second is a matter of opinion, and the third I wholeheartedly agree with. I don’t think it’s going to be possible for me to say this season is good or bad until it’s over. Individual episodes so far have been decent, “The Substitute” was excellent, this week’s was better than “What Kate Does” but not as good as the premiere or “The Substitute.” In terms of story I think it’s fine. Did it answer anything? Not concretely. Am I bothered by this? No. I don’t think any of us should be watching this show with a checklist — I mean, I have a checklist, but if I’m watching each episode WAITING for something I think they should address, then I’m not paying attention to what they’re actually DOING.

There. I’m done with the whole “they’re not answering anything” bit, at least for a few weeks. But I definitely agree that the show works better when the group is together — if not physically, then at least within the parameters of a single episode. I miss Ben and Sun and Frank already, even though we saw them last week. I am eager for more of Ilana and her mission. I can’t wait for the timelines to reconcile.

Other things I want: Richard’s story, Desmond’s return (not necessarily to the island), the explanation for what/how/why Christian is.

OK. This episode.

You know, for a Jack ep I quite liked it, and I think that’s because it follows the course laid out last season, where Jack is not really in charge of anything. Here he’s following Hurley through the jungle (just as Sawyer follows Smokey) without knowing why, and when he tries to assert himself in bringing Kate along with them, both Kate and Hurley say no — not part of either’s agenda.

And I liked Sideways Jack as well — also not all that in control, but dealing with it. Doesn’t remember having his appendix out. In the original timeline, it was Juliet who took it out (Season 4, “Something Nice Back Home”). In the sideways timeline it apparently happened when Jack was a kid. his inability to recall this major event, in addition to Claire being named in Christian’s will — which I think would’ve been the first time Sideways Jack hears her name — points to the two timelines drawing closer together.

Sideways Jack has a son named David (who’s the mother? Don’t care. Could be Sarah, could be some random woman we don’t know, hell, it could be Juliet. David’s mom doesn’t seem all that important to the story at this point, so I’m not going to worry about it) who has just as tangled a relationship to Jack as Jack had to his dad, and as Walt had with Michael. Because really — they only see each other once a month? Horrible custody settlement, but maybe that’s because, you know, Jack didn’t have his shit together during the divorce proceedings (his mother’s “good for you” after he refuses a drink was telling). And the other parallel between Jack/Michael and David/Walt was, of course, Dogen telling Jack that David has a gift. It also hearkens back to what a number of people have told Locke over the course of his life.

Connections: David’s reading Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, which Jack had read to Aaron; the sign at David’s audition for the Williams Conservatory said “Welcome all Candidates.” (Ha.)

Dogen: he and Jack have a nice moment at the Temple, echoed in the Sideways world, but it brings up the question of why/how Dogen is off island. Additionally, something I didn’t think of at the time but someone else raised via Twitter, how is Ben off the island in the Sideways world? Two possibilities that I can think of: 1) again, these anomalies (they should’ve gone down with the island — provided, of course, that the island DID blow up and what we saw at the bottom of the ocean was real and not another fake) point to the two timelines drawing closer to reconciliation; 2) if we follow the trajectory of the original timeline, then if the plane never crashes then Ben never gets shot and never gets taken to the Temple . . . and now I’m in Back to the Future mode where it’s better just not to think about this too much.

I’ll get to Hurley/the lighthouse in a second. Want to talk about Claire first. Claire makes me really uncomfortable now, as she’s supposed to, but still — that fake baby? CREEPY. Her face when she tells Jin that Smokey is her friend? So creepy. She doesn’t seem to recognize that Aaron would be three years old now, which is interesting. She also has rewritten history it seems, implying that her friends just left her on the island, when what did happen is that she left Aaron to follow Christian into the jungle — AND she told Locke later that it would be better if he didn’t tell anyone that he saw her. That she distinguishes between “my father” and “my friend” is intriguing and confusing. That she axed the Other was predictable, but I did like how it showed Jin that this is not the Claire he knew, and so he lies to her in order to bring her to people he thinks will be able to help her. Of course Smokey’s along for the ride now, and this is the bad thing that Jacob tells Hurley is coming.

OK. The one thing I did not like about this episode was the shoddy writing given to Hurley. He’s always been the audience stand-in, and the pop culture nerd with the Star Wars references and whatnot, but last night it seemed that all Hurley really did was string along a bunch of Hurleyisms, and that’s not fair, especially when it seems as though Hurley is poised to be the next Island Guy. (Jackie raised a good point last night about the numbers: that their assignation to the other Losties explains why Hurley is drawn to them. As far as I’m concerned, this is the only explanation for the numbers that I need.)

Though I did like his line at the cave, asking whether THEY are Adam and Eve. It reminded me of very early in Season 1, when he’s convinced that the monster is a dinosaur. Both of these explanations are things the television audience had thought as well, and I think the Adam and Eve line is just an acknowledgement of that.

And the Lighthouse. I am sure Jeff Jensen is going to have something to say about Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, which if memory serves has a lot to do with simply watching people, but it’s been a very long time since I last read the book (I should reread. It’s damn good). At the lighthouse we get the List again, and I saw more names this time: Dawson, Linus, Rousseau, and Austen, listed at 51, and not crossed off. This screencap, when clicked to embiggen, shows Radzinsky crossed off at 106 and I think Faraday crossed off at 101. (OK, I just like looking for the names.) And at 108, the degree to which Jacob told Hurley the lighthouse should be set, is someone named Wallace, but the name is crossed off. (My first thought: “Marcellus?”)

Lighthouse vs. cave: light vs. dark. Got it.

I’m not sure Jacob knew that Jack was going to smash the mirrors. And I’m also not sure that anyone is coming to the island now, or was ever going to, because the two points of the trip were 1) to get Hurley and Jack away from the temple, and 2) to get Jack to see why he’s important, and give him something to think about as he stares into the ocean. Jacob’s shrug that whoever it is will find another way to the island indicates that he’s not worried, and he might not be worried because he just made it all up in order for Hurley and Jack’s trip to have some sort of meaning for them.

But if someone is coming to the island, then my money’s on Desmond. Wishful thinking perhaps, but if 108 is still a significant number even if the name attached to it on the compass (?) isn’t, then he’s the one most closely associated with it, having pushed that button every 108 seconds for three years.

What were your thoughts?

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For
2. Thoughts on Lost – What Kate Does
3. Thoughts on Lost – Everybody Loves Hugo