"Issues With Reality" - 6x12: Everybody Loves Hugo (Recap)

Okay, before I charge right into the episode in bullet-point form (because I reeeeeally need to go to bed), I have an announcement to make. I'm finally making it official:

LOST Finale Party

Sunday, May 23

Time TBD

"The Apple Station" (Dharma Teacher Headquarters, Monroe, CT)

Details to follow, probably in an Evite.

Mark your calendar, and consider yourself invited!

On with the show...

I'm going to just summarize the episode, "things I noticed"-style, but will post theories and explanations this weekend or early next week, so please check back before Tuesday night to read that second post. I have a few ideas that I want to get into that I won't get into tonight.

• Pierre Chang introduced Hurley at his Man Of the Year Award ceremony, which apparently was at the same museum (the Golden State something-or-other?) that he and Charlotte work at. Hurley donated money, as he has done in many, many cases according the the introductory video, to open the Hugo Reyes Paleantology Museum.
• Did Hurley really mention a "Human Fund" benefit? Because that's awesome! I wonder if it's sponsored by Vandelay Industries.
• His blind date was supposed to be Rosalita. If anyone knows any reference to that name, let me know.
• When Hurley was at Libby's grave, it never occured to me that Libby never appeared to him after she was killed. Does this mean that she was allowed to move on from the Island, unlike Michael?
• After Hurley hears the whispers, Michael appears to him to tell him not to blow up the plane, or else people will die. He also notes the "people are listening to you now."
• The restaurant he ends up meeting Libby at is Spanish Johnny's. Anyone know if that's a real place?
• It was sooooo great to see Libby again! The interaction between her and Hurley had me smiling the whole time - it's that chance with a lost love that never comes around, except that they didn't even know it until the kiss. In this scene, Libby knows him from the Alt timeline, and describes it as being "soulmates." We know it better as being each others' "constants."
• So Ilana blows up. I honestly was talking to my TV, saying that she'd better be careful with the dynamite, and she went the way of Artz, in mid-sentence.
• The plan was to blow up the cockpit and instruments of the Ajira plane with four (a number!) sticks of dynamite from the Black Rock. Hurley is against it, and then is for it, for reasons we will see later. Ilana says that they need to listen to Richard because Jacob told Richard what to do, that she's been training her whole life to protect them (the candidates), and with the plane gone, "that thing" won't be able to leave the Island.
• Locke is carving a long, straight stick when Kate and Sawyer are harrassing him about why he isn't moving or doing anything. I expect to see that stick later in some way. He says he's waiting for all of the candidates to get together, because that's the only way they can leave the Island, since it's how they got there. Sounds familiar...
• Newest LOSTBlog fan Danielle reminded me today about the bag Hurley picked up. It seemed to come from Sawyer's stash on the beach, but I'm not sure. He picks it up, looks in it, and seems to have some understanding of what's in there. So what's in the bag? Nikki and Paolo's diamonds? But Miles has those. Jacob's ashes, maybe?
• Richard wants to get more dynamite from the Black Rock, and Hurley does a 180 and agrees that it's a good idea, but again, we find out why later.
• "Gimme a bucket. Family size." In Mr. Clucks, Desmond meets up with a depressed Hurley and tells him to go with his gut about wanting to find out what Libby was trying to tell him. We know that Desmond is now definitely a puppetmaster, trying to reveal the other timeline to those on Oceanic 815. Well, a select few, I assume.
• On the way to the Black Rock, Ben points out that if Ilana was handpicked to protect the candidates, what happens when the Island is done with all of them?
• As Richard is about to enter the Black Rock for more dynamite, Hurley blows it up. Richard is not pleased. Hurley says he's protecting them. (It hurt a little to see it destroyed - that's been such a big part of the mythology of the show since Season 1.)
• Miles and Hurley have a conversation about the people that come and "yell at" Hurley after they die. "Dead people are more reliable than alive people," Hurley says.
• There is an art print - or was it a photo? - of an island in the Santa Rosa doctor's office when Hurley tries to get his permission to see Libby again. A $100k donation to the rec room does the trick. The doctor says that she has "issues with reality."
• In the lounge/common area of Santa Rosa, there is a chalk drawing of an island on the chalkboard. There are also butterfly decorations that we've seen in Santa Rosa in past seasons on the walls.
• Libby got her memories of Hurley on the Island from seeing his commercial - "memories of my life, only...another life." She remembers the plane crash, "liking" Hurley (giggle giggle!), and that they both were in Santa Rosa, too. Hurley asks her if she wants to leave - "like, on a date?" - and they do.
• The mysterious boy, who is now a teenager and is wearing a dark brown vest, appears to the Monster - but Desmond also sees him. The Monster angrily tells Des to ignore him, and the boy smiles and runs off into the jungle.
• Richard, Ben and Miles leave the flaming Black Rock to get more dynamite from the Dharma barracks, with a warning to not get in their way. Everyone else decides to stay with Hurley, who lies about seeing Jacob, and about how Jacob told them that they need to talk to Locke. Richard calls his bluff by telling him to ask Jacob what the Island is, and that Jacob "never tells us what to do."
• Hurley asks Jack, "How do you break the ice with the Smoke Monster?" He admits that he lied about seeing Jacob; he just wanted everyone to listen to him. Jack tells him that "since Juliet died, all I wanted was to fix it, but I can't ever fix it. You have no idea how hard it is to sit back and listen to what other people tell me I should do. but I think maybe that's the point - maybe I'm supposed to let go." A VERY telling quote.
• Hurley has no idea where to go to talk to Locke, and it's whispers to the rescue! He goes into the jungle alone and sees Michael again, who points out where Locke's camp is. More interesting, though, is the reveal of what the whispers are. After six years of trying to figure it all out, Hurley and Michael explain:
• You're stuck on the Island, aren't you?
• Michael nods.
• And there are others out here like you? That's what the whispers are?
• Yeah. We're the ones that can't move on.
• Hurley asks Michael if there's anything he can do to help him. "Don't get yourself killed," he says. He also tells him to tell Libby that he's very sorry if he ever sees her.
• The beach scene was very sweet. It's the picnic they never got to have. Hurley brought six cheeses, because, you know, everybody likes cheese.  They begin talking about how being there feels "off" to Libby. They both talk about liking each other, and then they kiss. And then, of course, the memories of the other timeline come rushing to Hurley. Desmond has been watching them from his car, and when he sees this, he drives off. Probably to do something nice and positive, like frolic with baby kittens on top of a rainbow. Right?
• The Monster brings Desmond to the well, which, if it's the same well, leads to the frozen donkey wheel. They talk about how old the well is (very old), and the Monster explains how it had to be dug by hand ("God knows how long it took them..."), but they weren't looking for water; they were looking for what made their compass needles spin. "A long time ago, in places like the one we're standing at right now, made compass needles spin. And people holding the compasses needed to know why, so they dug." When Des asks if they found what they were looking for, the Monster says they didn't. He says that he's showing Desmond the well so he understands that Charles Widmore isn't looking for answers - he's only interested in power and he brought Des back so he could help Charles find what he's looking for. "After all, this isn't the only well," he adds. I'm not sure I get that reference, but that's something I want to get to in a later post.
• After the well conversation, the Monster notices that Des isn't afraid and asks him why. Des says, "What's the point in being afraid?" The Monster gives him a contemptuous look, then smiles...then throws Desmond down the well.
• The Monster returns to the camp, telling Sayid that they don't have to worry about Desmond anymore. Then Hurley shows up. "Um........hey," he says. He basically tries to establish a truce between them. He doesn't want anyone hurt. The Monster takes out a knife and gives it to Hurley, saying "you have my word." Then Miles, Lapidus, Sun, and finally Jack emerge from the jungle. Sun is looking for Jin. The Monster singles Jack out, saying hello to him and only him. He seemed very focused on Jack. We know there's a history between Jack and John, and though this isn't really John, it seems as though the Monster has access to John's memories, so probably knows about all of the conflicts they had. I'm wondering if he's going to try to manipulate Jack based on this knowledge.
• And in the most insane final scene in a long time, Des is in his car at Locke's and Ben's school. Ben notices this mysterious man parked for a long time and watching the kids and asks him why he's there. Des says he's looking for a school for Charlie, and then basically brushes Ben off. Then, he starts his car, punches the accelerator, and with a split-second smile, slams into Locke, who is in his wheelchair. Locke rolls over the hood, roof, and trunk of the car and lands on the pavement, convulsing but conscious. We see a close-up of his face. It seems to be the same camera shot as when he was pushed out the window by his father, and maybe even in Season 1's "Walkabout," which might have begun with an eye shot that pulled back to a shot close to the one at the end of tonight's episode.

So, like I said before, I'm saving the theories for the next few days, when I have some time to sit down, think, and explain everything.

Until then, 
Namaste & Good Luck,

~Matt