Lost - "Everybody Hates Hugo"

Episode Title: Everybody Hates Hugo

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: Is this a pun on the “Everybody Loves Raymond” TV show? Perhaps a shot at the UPN One-Week Superstar “Everybody Hates Chris”? Nah, I think it’s pop-culture free this time, and it should neatly tie the current events on the Island with the flashback. Everyone is going to be hating on our boy Hugo.

Why you ask? In present time, on the Island, Hugo has recently stumbled across a large food stock hidden inside a secret Hatch. Chances are, Locke, Jack, and Co. aren’t going to be keen on bringing all the rest of the Survivors into the Hatch until they more fully understand what is going on. This means Hurley is going to have to keep the food secret. How long can he last? Since he’s a big fat guy, one would imagine he’ll somehow let the secret out, causing everyone to hate him, and force him to lead them to the Hatch.

Likewise, in the past, I expect to see a continuation of the bad luck that continually befalls Hurley after his lottery winnings, making him a sort of social pariah that everyone hates. I would like to see what led Hurley to be in the mental institution in the first place, but I don’t think we’ll be so lucky this episode. It’ll probably be a further exploration of Hurley’s life post-lottery winnings.

Everyone will hate Hugo. Except us – who will continue to love him since he’s fat and used all his remaining batteries listening to music instead of powering some sort of communication device that could have possibly helped everyone... just like I would have done.

PS – look for some serious parallelism between Piggy in the Lord of the Flies and Hurley on Lost… both are fat, accused of eating all the food, and become scapegoats for anything bad that happens on the Island.

TV Guide Description: Disturbing memories from Hurley's past cause him to struggle with a task he's assigned inside the hatch. Meanwhile Sawyer, Michael and Jin discover the identities of their captors, and Claire uncovers a shocking piece of information about the fate of the raft.

TV Guide Breakdown: The task Hurley is assigned in the Hatch has to be entering the Numbers. This seems like a very bad idea to me. Unlike Jack, who very uncharacteristically caved and pressed “Execute” last week, I could easily see Hurley being unable to complete the task due to the flashbacks he’ll have about the terrible things in his life that have accompanied the Numbers.

I’m actually hoping this happens, just from a storytelling point of view – what would happen if they let that timer go off? Would it set Locke off the deep end because his life just lost all purpose? Will it activate some self destruct sequence for this portion of the Island?

Sawyer, Michael, and Jin should discover that their captors are actually the Tailers from the plane. It should be interesting to see what has caused them to have such fear of Sawyer, Mikey, and Jin. If three people stumbled upon our Survivors, I think they would cautiously approach them and try talking to them to discern who they are and what they want. In the Tailers case, they rushed them and bludgeoned them with bats. What could cause this?

The Others. Not the friendly, bushy beard, boat driving Others that took Walt – I’m thinking there are Savage Others out there. The result of some experiment gone wrong, the intentional result of some experiment, or former castaways who ended up on the Island many years ago and have become savages living in the harsh environment.

Lastly, we have Claire discovering a piece of the Raft that will cause the rest of the Survivors to assume they’ve all perished. What will she find? A piece of the boat, perhaps, or the letters in the bottle they all gave to Sawyer? Since it seems that the current is pulling everything around towards the Island, it really could be any part of the Raft.

The last Hurley episode was one of the top three of last season, so I expect this one to also wow us. There’s also this feeling I get that Hurley is pretty key to everything going on – he’s either somehow connected to everyone on the Island, or he’s the reason that the plane crashed there – something… so we should get some interesting clues in his flashbacks. Here’s hoping!


Previously on Lost…

Michael, Jin, and Sawyer are taken captive by the mysterious strangers that accosted them as they washed ashore on the Island, beaten quickly and tossed into a caged hole in the ground. Later, the captors throw down Ana-Lucia, someone we recognize from the tail of the plane. After discovering the Rafters were also on Flight 815 and plan on breaking out, she knocks out Sawyer and we find she’s in cahoots with the rest of the captors.

The computer in the Hatch accidentally gets shot during the struggle with Desmond. After attempting to fix it unsuccessfully, Desmond abandons ship and goes running away through the jungle. Locke and Jack watch an “Orientation” video that Desmond has inside the Hatch which explains that the Dharma Initiative is founded by the Hanso Foundation – the Hatch is one of 6 testing facilities – but something went wrong, and now they must continually enter the Numbers or it will bring forth some unexplained disaster. Kate gets Sayid to fix the computer just in time, and Locke enters the Numbers – then talks Jack into pressing “Execute”.

Phew! I told you a lot happened this episode! It also opens a whole new world (don’t you dare close your eyes) of questions and thoughts about what is fundamentally going on with the Island. Let’s start with some minor things first, and work our way to the headier things…



Helen. So it turns out that Locke had a “Helen” in his past – a real life girlfriend, not just a phone sex operator obsession (remember his original flashback episode, “Walkabout”, where he was obsessed with a Helen on the phone?) However, due to the trauma caused by his pure-evil father, he can’t let go of his obsession with him, and is therefore unable to fully love Helen. It’s a bit unclear at the end if he ends up with her or not – but something definitely happened to her (either she left him or died) which caused him to begin his “love” of phone-sex Helen.

Locke. Doesn’t it seem odd that flashback Locke is so logical and reason-based, whereas Island Locke is so willing to believe and faith-based? I guess that’s what happens when you suddenly gain your ability to walk again. Locke’s flashbacks have all shown his desire to have some sort of purpose to his life, which he now has on the Island. It makes so much sense that he’s so willing to believe that pushing the button will save the world – it’s his destiny.

Groups. With every passing episode, I end up with more and more types of people on the Island. Currently, I’m thinking we have:

• Survivors. The remaining group of our original 47 Fuselage Survivors.
  Tailers. Ana-Lucia and Co – those from the tail of the plane who survived the crash… and the Others
• Scientists. The Dharma Initiative Scientists who are still alive. They might be older and more grizzled (::coughcough::ThepeopleontheboatwhostoleWalt::coughcough::), but they’re still logical and working towards some experiment, be it good or bad.
• Savages. Either former or current test subjects of the Scientists – turned super strong and super evil by their conditions on the Island. I would throw Ethan into this mix, perhaps the “Others” who got to CFL’s crew, and probably the “Others” that have tormented the Tailers up to this point.
• Randoms. People who ended up on the Island truly by accident, not by a master plan of the Dharma Initiative. True, the Survivors and Tailers might fall into this category, but I’m thinking more about Desmond, CFL, and maybe some others we haven’t met yet.

Okay, time for the good stuff – how excited am I to have some mythology to the Island? It’s no longer some “random place” with no history – there was an original purpose, a full cast of characters that may or may not still be there, and mysterious events which brought some crazy scientific experiments to a halt. (I know, I’m a mega-nerd – it’s cool though, I have a hot girlfriend, so in your face) Although we learned a lot based on the “Orientation” video, it also brought forth a lot more questions… such as:

Michigan. Once again, Michigan proves to be the root of all evil, serving as the starting point for the Dharma Initiative in addition to being the bane of all OSU football fans.

New Characters. We were introduced to so many new potential characters, let’s make sure you’ve got them all straight:

• Alfred Hanso. The financial backer behind both the Hanso Foundation and the Dharma Initiative – a recluse, who we only see from afar inside a building in Norway. My money is that he’s on this Island, which serves as the ultimate in seclusion from society.

• Gerald Degroot. Co-Creator of the Dharma Initiative. Bushy beard.
• Karen Degroot. Co-Creator of the Dharma Initiative. Long blond hair. I would pretty much bet everything I own that these two are the skeletons that Jack and Kate found in the caves.

• Kelvin. Former Hatch Computer Operator. Allegedly dead, but no body has been seen – how did he die? Old age? The Virus? Or is he really still alive and out there?
• Marvin Candle. The Narrator in the Orientation video. Of everyone introduced, I think there is the least chance that he would show up on the Island… but did you notice how he never moved his one arm? Weird.

Incident. What was “The Incident” that happened? Did it just end ruin the experiment at Station 3 (Our Hatch)? Or did it somehow wreck all six stations (my bet)? I think after looking at everything that has gone on with the Island, it seems to be in somewhat disarray. If any of the experiments were still running as planned, I have to think we would have seen some proof of them. Rather, I think we’re looking at a bit of a “Jurassic Park” scenario where the experiments all blew apart (not literally) and we’re now on a wild Island full of the results of the crazy experiments.

Right now, the only documented “unique trait” of the Island is its electro-magnetic attributes – which explains the drawing of boats and current towards the Island, and possibly Locke’s ability to walk (doubters, Dr. Dean Boline would like to prove you wrong: http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/magnet.html), but I don’t think it could in any way bring about an “Incident” of such proportion to wreck the Dharma Initiative.

Numbers. This brings us back to chicken / egg question of the series – did the Numbers create the Island or did the Island create the Numbers? The Numbers are used on the computer in the Hatch to “prevent the end of the world”, which would explain why they would be broadcast from a tower (which CFL claims she originally heard and drew her to the Island) – if by some chance someone came upon the Island, they could surmise this would be the code used… but then why are the Numbers also engraved on the outside of the Hatch, given that it was nearly impossible to break into the Hatch – it’s not likely someone would ever enter that way… and what about the vials of antidote that Desmond was shooting himself with – those had the Numbers on them too… these Numbers are at the core of everything going on… but why? I just can’t wrap my head around it.

Skinheads. The Orientation video also references BF Skinner, as being a “model” for the Dharma Initiative. Who was this Skinner fellow? No, not an inept principal in Springfield – but rather a scientist whose most famous experiment was putting rats in a box and giving them food when they pushed a button. Eventually, he would stop giving them food, but the rats would continue to push with the expectation that food would come.

In case all the blatant symbolism is lost on you, let me beat you over the head with it. THE PEOPLE IN THE HATCH ARE THE RATS. PUSHING THE BUTTON DOESN’T GIVE FOOD, BUT SAVES THE WORLD – ALLOWING THE EXPERIMENT TO GO ON INFINITELY, UNLIKE FOOD AS REWARD WOULD DUE TO STARVING.



Website. Did you hunt around the Hanso Foundation website? The most intriguing part seems to be the “Active Projects” section… especially when you consider what they could mean to the weird things that have happened on the Island.

• The Hanso Life-Extension Project – Life Extension… living longer than you should, being frozen in time. Probably the end goal of Hanso himself, as he seems the type that would be afraid of death… how about the Nigerian character we’re supposed to find this season? He could be the successful result of an LE (Vanilla Sky footnoted). Could the Degroots be an “unsuccessful first test” that accidentally accelerated their life? What about CFL? Remember how she seemed surprised and said “Has it been that long?” when Sayid told her she was there for 16 years? Something is afoot with time on this Island, and this could explain it!

• The Hanso Foundation Electromagnetic Research Initiative – The Hatch was studying it. Seem to be responsible for drawing things to the Island and possibly Locke walking? We never saw Hanso’s lower torso – what if he was also paralyzed and was using this to help gain his ability to walk as well – is that what drew him to put Dharma on this Island in the first place?

• The Hanso Quest for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence – I almost want to say this is a red herring due to people thinking aliens were behind everything going on with the Island in the first season – remember, the Comic Book with the Polar Bears in it? The whole storyline there was about aliens. I’ve got nothing with this though.

• The Hanso Mathematical Forecasting Initiative – Hi, how about THE NUMBERS. Again, what this means, I don’t know – but it could prove to be the most critical of all the Active Projects.
• The Hanso Cryogenics Development Imperative – Cryogenics go hand in hand with LE – but are used to keep dead people in an active state until technology advances enough to bring them back to life – could this be Jack’s Dad, that he saw walking in the forest during the first season?
• The Hanso Juxtapositional Eugenics Development Institute – This one contained lots of big words, so I had to look them up.

Eugenics is a social philosophy which advocates the improvement of human hereditary traits through social intervention. It’s like Selective Breeding. What if Walt / Aaron / Alex somehow fit the mold, and that’s why they were stolen away (on 55th and 3rd)? If Ethan was somehow “bred” on the island, it would explain the superhuman strength he seemed to possess!

Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing two things close together or side by side. This is often done in order to contrast the two, to show unlikeness or differences, to note the opposite qualities of the two, etc. Could this be the light and dark (Locke vs. Walt), or related to the twins that were on the Others boat that stole Walt? If you think about it, we could be looking at someone trying to clone a super-human race… but why?

If you read on the site, Hanso dealt with weapons and arms, gaining his wealth in distributing them to countries during the Second World War – what would be a better weapon than an army of Super Soliders?

• The Hanso Accelerated Remote Viewing Training Facility – Lastly, we have “remote viewing” – this seems to SCREAM Walt’s name, given his ability to “foresee” things that are going to happen, and use “his mind’s eye” to make things he want come true. This could be why he is so valuable to the Others, he’s an example of what they’re trying to create.

Pretty cool, huh?

(Sully - here's the picture you're looking for...)