Tonight’s episode derives its name from the season two episode “Everybody Hates Hugo.” Like this season’s “What Kate Does,” (which has a similar naming choice) the episode shows how different the flash-sideways is from the on-Island timeline. However, unlike “What Kate Does,” “Everybody Loves Hugo” was much, much better than its titular counterpart. In fact, like “Happily Ever After,” before it, this episode was one of the best yet — I’d place it in the top twenty of the series, definitely.
But let’s get to what we’re all thinking about, first: Ilana’s demise. The first member of season six’s main cast to bite the bullet, Ilana died Arzt-style: after bragging about her overqualification to be handling the dynamite, she promptly used the dynamite to blow herself up. You could see it coming from a mile away, but that didn’t make it any less satisfying — or fun — to watch. For us at home, at least. Hurley didn’t get it so good — he had to once again get rained on by chunks of human meat.
But Ilana’s death definitely served a purpose. Perhaps not the one Richard had in mind, but it definitely did. It basically validated the redemption-then-death storylines of the entire series; the Island kills off whoever it doesn’t need. While this could be seen as the flipside of the “Island isn’t done with you yet” coin, it also means that every character left standing will have some role to play before they’re killed. Because, let’s face it: Ilana won’t be the last. And they’ll all probably be a little less funny.
The Black Rock also got the wrong end of the boomstick, thanks to Hurley, who destroyed the last remaining reservoir of dynamite in order to keep Richard from using it to blow up the Ajira airplane. It was sad to see one of the most familiar set pieces of the series destroyed, but it was also surprisingly vindicating, as if the writers were telling us, This is it, guys. Really, this is it.
Of course, with all the death and destruction, we also got quite a few answers. Michael Dawson finally returned after dying in the freighter explosion in “There’s No Place Like Home,” and his appearance to Hurley was more satisfying than all of his appearances before that. There were no cries of “Waaaaalt!” Instead, he kindly explained to Hurley (and us) what the whispers were — the souls on the Island who couldn’t move on after death, because of something bad that they had done while there. Michael’s murders of Ana Lucia and Libby were his ball and chain, and he apologized to Hurley for killing Libby. “I’m really sorry,” he said. The apology was the right amount of melodramatic to be believable; after all, there was no way for Michael to put into words the harm he had done, or the pain he had caused. That’s probably the last we’ll ever see of him, and it was a great send-off for the character.
Speaking of Libby, she was back in a big way this week. She popped up in the flash-sideways timeline, and she actually did more good than Desmond did in helping Hurley’s Island memories bleed with his sideways ones. She wasn’t on the plane in the sideways timeline, but she’d been experiencing those bleeding memories after seeing an image of Hurley on the television. Though she was in the mental institution, she eventually got through to Hurley (with a bit of help from Desmond, who told him to pursue Libby). A kiss from her helped bring Hurley’s memories over the universal gap.
Back on the Island, Sayid took the Man in Black to meet Desmond, who had been tied to a tree. Desmond, still in his chilled-out state of mind, seemingly impressed the Man in Black with his zen-ness, and explained why Widmore had brought him there. The Man in Black then took him to a well in the Island, which he said the welldiggers made because it was the spot where their compasses started to spin. This, of course, is explainable because there are huge amounts of electromagnetic energy under these wells. After all, that’s why the frozen donkey wheel is down there — it somehow triggers the electromagnetism to move the Island.
But then came the night’s biggest twist: as Desmond and Man in Black looked down into the pit that was the well, Man in Black asked Desmond why he showed no fear. Desmond, not realizing that the hippies from DHARMA and the Man in Black probably didn’t get along, responded with the rhetorical, “What’s the point in fear, brotha?” Man in Black, perhaps angered that he didn’t have the same effect on Desmond that he had on everybody else, promptly shoved Desmond down the well, headfirst. The fact that we didn’t get confirmation that Desmond was dead of course means that he’ll be back, alive, on the Island. If Desmond plays his cards right, he might end up with only a broken leg, like Locke did when he fell down a well.
The Man in Black then returned to his camp, informing Sayid that Desmond was no longer anyone to worry about. He was then greeted by Hurley, Jack, and the rest of the former beach camp members (except Richard, Ben, and Miles, who ventured off to the DHARMA barracks for more explosives). There was some enigmatic staredowns going on between Jack and the Man in Black. As the music built to a head, I found myself begging for the episode not to end there — it would have been a horrible cliffhanger, like “Recon”‘s was. Thankfully, the episode didn’t end here; we got this little addendum.
So even though Island Des was probably totally cool with being pushed down a well, Sideways Des was not in the least bit cool with it. He got the last flash-sideways of the episode, and he spent the early part of it getting the staredown from Ben Linus, who thought he was probably a predator. After all, Desmond was just sitting in the school parking lot, watching the kids. Desmond quickly made up a lie that he was looking to enroll his son at that school, which Ben obviously didn’t believe. However, upon seeing a wheelchair bound John Locke making his way across the parking lot, Desmond decided to suddenly leave. He did so, even though Locke was in the way. Locke and the wheelchair both faced the brunt of Desmond’s car, and Locke ended up lying in the road, alive but very badly damaged. Ben rushed to his aid, staring in fury after Desmond, who was speeding away.
Now, we all know why Desmond did this. It’s part of the bleed-over that’s happening. Desmond, consciously or not, was harboring some ill will toward Locke for pushing him down the well, especially since his Island self had no idea that the Man in Black wasn’t actually Locke. That’s simple Algebraic connections right there. But what if we looked a little bit beyond that? Could this have further implications in the Losties universe?
We know that the Man in Black’s main goal is to make his way off the Island. Jacob’s used the cork-in-the-bottle theory to explain why he can’t — the Man in Black’s influence will turn the world into hell. And, since we know that the Island (or the cork) is no longer an issue in the sideways timeline, does that mean that the Man in Black has escaped? Of course it does. But I think his method of escaping might not exactly be physical, like it’s planned to be in the Island timeline. What do I mean? Let me explain further in a short little rant theory.
In the sideways timeline, we’re seeing memories bleed over more and more from the Island timeline. While so far we’ve been viewing that as a good thing — after all, why wouldn’t it be? — I’m starting to think that these Island memory bleeds might actually be the Man in Black’s method of escape. After all, it was him that pushed Desmond into the well, and it’s presumably that push that led Desmond to run over Locke in the sideways timeline. So, by extension, the Man in Black’s influence has already “escaped” the Island, and has begun spreading in the real world. After all, Desmond’s hit-and-run is going to have consequences, and probably none of them will be positive. So is this Man in Black’s method of escape — through the flash-sideways timeline? Is Desmond unwittingly helping the Man in Black in his mission to the other side? And — perhaps most chillingly — did the Man in Black know that this would happen when he pushed Desmond down the well? Did he plan for this?
It’s an interesting theory that I’ll continue to flesh out and develop as the final episodes of the season start to unfold. I’d love to hear your feedback on it. In the meantime, I’ll give you my feedback on this episode: a solid A.
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