Initial Reaction to "Everybody Loves Hugo"

This episode was pretty awesome. I always enjoy Hurley-centric episodes and this one was no exception. On the surface, Hurley appears to be the source of the show's comedy, and merely that, but there is some deep-seeded seriousness to his story. He is the source which brought us to the numbers, one of the story's largest mythological mysteries. Speaking of which; we still don't know the answer to what the numbers really mean. Sure, Hurley is funny and he says "dude" a lot, but he's also a very serious character whose story tugs at your heart-strings. He sees dead people and relays messages from Jacob. He is haunted by these things, but tries to make the best of the situation. He can make you laugh one minute and cry the next. That says a lot about the depth of his character. This season; Hurley has become a leader. Everybody loves Hugo? You're damn straight we do.

From Lostpedia

Here are some of my thoughts, questions, and theories on "Everybody Loves Hugo" (Some of which were written while viewing the episode.):

Questions:

• Where's Hurley's dad, David Reyes, in the flash sideways?
• What is Michael a manifestation of? Is he really a ghost?
• What are Michael's motives? Is he working for MIB?
• Why the hell won't dead-Libby visit Hurley?
• Does Libby remember the island? Does she know that she died?
• Will Hurley remember the island? Will he remember that Libby died?
• What is MIB carving?
• How does MIB know that the candidates will come to him?
• Why does everyone have to leave the island together?
• How does MIB know who Desmond is?
• What does MIB want with Desmond? Does he know about Desmond's powers?
• Does Sayid have attributes of the Smoke Monster? Did he influence Desmond's decision to follow him because Desmond allowed him to speak?
• What will Desmond do after he shows everyone on the manifest their lives from the other timeline?
• Why would MIB think Desmond would know who he really is?
• Does Desmond know that he really isn't John Locke?
• Where's Leonard? Did he get out of Santa Rosa?
• Who is the child that is following MIB? Is it the same child that he saw before? What is his significance?
• Why does Hurley want to talk to Locke/MIB?
• What is the island?
• Why do Ben and Miles go with Richard? Are they going to die?
• Will we see the real John Locke in island-time again? Will Hurley see him?
• Why is MIB so angry that Desmond isn't afraid?
• Why does he throw Desmond down the well?
• Why should they worry about Desmond?
• Why isn't Sun looking for Jin when they meet MIB's camp?
• Why did Desmond run John Locke over with his car?
• Will Jack operate on John Locke in the flash sideways?
• Will everyone end up at the hospital?

From Lostpedia

Notes:

• Nice! Dr. Pierre Chang. What is this, a sitcom about the goings on of everyone that works at, or is involved with the museum? 
• It seems like everything is revolving around this museum and the hospital.
• Mr. Cluck's went to The Pyramids? Okay.
• The dinner/award ceremony is honoring the Hugo Reyes Paleontology Wing at The Golden State Natural History Museum.
• According to Geronimo Jack's Beard, the baby photo is really Jorge Garcia and the one with the dog is really his dog, Nunu.
• That dinosaur award is pretty awesome.
• Carmen Reyes is hilarious.
• Where's Cheech? Did he still leave Hugo and Carmen? He didn't come back for Hugo's money? 
• The Human Fund! Nice! A Seinfeld joke. I love it when shows throw in Seinfeld jokes.
• I have a hard time believing that Hugo can't get a date. He's rich, important, funny, he gives to charity, and everyone loves him! 
• It's nice that Hurley puts fresh flowers at Libby's grave.
• "A lot of crazy stuff's been happening. I kind of wish that I could talk to you about ti in person. A lot of people come to talk to me after they've, you know, gone. It'd be nice if you did too." Hurley
• "Well, you're the expert." Hurley
• Yeah, right, Ilana. You're the expert. 
• "Who's grave is this?" Ilana "Her name was Libby. She was in the tail section of the plane. We were gonna have our first date. It was gonna be like... a picnic, but then she was murdered." Hurley "I'm sorry." Ilana "Yeah, me too." Hurley
• I feel bad for Hurley. You might want to be a little more sympathetic there, Ilana.
• Hurley hears the whispers and then Michael appears. Come on, guys, with the behind the back shot as to now reveal who it is. Who didn't know that was Michael?
• "I'm here to stop you form getting everyone killed." Michael
• It's nice to see Michael again. I always hated how he died. Now, just for more Walt.
• Hurley goes to a restaurant called Spanish Johnny's. Which reminds me... Where's Johnny? What happened to him and Starla?
• Homemade tortilla chips? That sounds good.
• Who would stand up Hugo?
• "Wow. Uh.. I wasn't expecting someone like you. You know, someone so.. pretty." Hurley
• Crazy indicator in LOST=bad hair?
• "You don't look like a Rosalita." Hurley
• "You don't remember me, do you?" Libby
• Dr. Brooks is the same doctor that treated Hurley when he was in Santa Rosa in Dave.
• It's a good thing that they put the name of Santa Rosa on the side of that van. Otherwise, Hugo wouldn't know where to go to find Libby.
• "You have to trust me. I've been training my whole life for this." Ilana "To blow stuff up?" Hurley "To protect you." Ilana
• WHOA. Ilana totally got Arzted. Wow. I REALLY did not see that coming. Now who are we going to get answers from?
• Uh, Ilana.. Apparently you've been training your whole life to blow yourself up. Maybe you should take it easy on throwing the water bottles in a bag filled with dynamite next time?
• I love how it's raining pieces of Ilana everywhere.
• Why isn't anyone considering that the damn huge ass plane is at the END of a very short runway, on a sandy beach, on a small island? How is it even possible to first off, turn the damn plane around, and then have enough room to take off? Seriously, even Lapidus can't do that, and he's like the Sully Sullenberger of this show, let alone a freaking Smoke Monster. I wouldn't worry about the damn plane.
• "You talk to wood now?" Sawyer
• "There's a difference between doing nothing and waiting." MIB
• So, MIB is waiting for the other candidates to come to him. How does he know that they will?
• "You were only able to come back to this island because you all did it together. If we're gonna get on that plane and leave, it has to happen the same way. We're waiting for your friends to get here, Kate. Hugo, Sun, Jack. That's the only way we're ever getting of this God-forsaken rock." MIB
• I love how Desmond is just content being tied to a tree.
• Why the hell is Desmond tied up? Where's he going to go? Hey, Sayid. I'm pretty sure that he went with you willingly. No need to tie people to a tree. But also, reminds me of when Ana Lucia tied Sayid to a tree.
• At first, I didn't realize what was in the bag that Hurley took. But, upon second viewing of this episode, I realized that he was looking through Ilana's things, and found the bag of Jacob's ashes, which makes me wonder if they are somehow going to come into play int he future. Perhaps, they will protect Hurley in some way from MIB.
• "Maybe she died to show us to stay the hell away from dynamite." Jack
• I"m with you on this one, Jack.
• I love how Hurley's in charge now. I'm with you, dude.
• Hurley drowns his sorrows in chicken.
• Somehow, I don't see Desmond eating at Mr. Cluck's.
• "That is a lot of chicken." Desmond "I eat when I'm depressed." Hurley "Ah, so what's her name?" Desmond
• "Well, all women are a little big crazy, brotha." Desmond "No. This one actually lives in the loony bin." Hurley
• "Tell me something. Did you believe her when she said she knew you?" Desmond "Yeah, kinda." Hurley "You know, I say go with your gut. You know, maybe you should try to find out where she thinks she knew you from, before you give up on her." Desmond
• Desmond was order #42 at Mr. Cluck's. Of course.
• "I have nowhere to run to, brotha." Desmond "Well, if that's not the best argument against captivity that I've ever heard, then I don't know what is." MIB
• "He threw me into a wood shack, and blasted me with a massive amount of electromagnetism." Desmond "If you don't mind my asking, Desmond, how can you be sure what it was that he blasted you with?" MIB "Experience." Desmond
• "Do you know who I am?" MIB "Of course. You're John Locke." Desmond
• "Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?" Ben "What's that?" Jack "Ilana. There she was, handpicked by Jacob, trained to come and protect you candidates. No sooner does she tell you who you are, then she blows up. The island was done with her. Makes me wonder what's going to happen when it's done with us." Ben
• WHOA. ANOTHER EXPLOSION. I definitely didn't see that one coming either. Two explosions in one episode makes it even awesomer.
• Hurley blowed up the Black Rock. Is he the new John Locke? Is he going on a blow-everything-up-on-the-island tour? Too bad there's no dynamite left.
• By the way... How in the world did Hurley disappear and get ahead of everyone without anyone noticing? Oh, that's right. He's spry. I forgot.
• I can't believe they blew up the Black Rock. That kinda makes me sad. 
• Also, the pillar from the mast of the Black Rock falling was pretty damn awesome. 
• Hurley is taking mutha-fuckin' charge, bitches.
• "A warning might've been nice there, Hugo." Miles "I did say run." Hurley
• "Why'd you do that?" Miles "Michael told me to." Hurley "Who?" Miles "Michael. He's one of the people who come back and yell at me after they die. He told me I had to stop everyone from blowing up the plane. So, no dynamite, no more blowing up." Hurley "That happen a lot? Dead people yelling at you?" Miles "It happens enough." Hurley "And you just listen to whatever they say?" Miles "Dead people are more reliable than alive people." Hurley
• There's a picture of an island in Mr. Brook's office at Santa Rosa.
• "Clearly she's well enough for like.. a Fajita field trip." Hurley
• "She has issues with reality." Dr. Brooks
• They play A LOT of Connect Four at Santa Rosa. Also, the guy playing Connect Four is the same guy that was there when Charlie visited Hurley at Santa Rosa in The Beginning of the End, I think.
• There was another picture of an island on the chalk board in the rec room.
• Background redshirt crazy people are hilarious.
• "A few days ago, I was watching TV and one of your commercials came on, and that moment that I saw you, it was like I was hit over the head. All these memories came washing back, of my life, only it was another life." Libby "What kind of memories?" Hugo "There was a plane crash, and I was on an island." Libby "And I was there?" Hugo "I think so. We knew eachother. We liked eachother. And then, when I got here, it was almost like I'd been here before. And for some reason, Hugo, I have a memory of you being here too." Libby
• "It takes a lot of guts to go up to a total stranger and tell them you know them from some bizarro, alternate universe." Hugo
• Where the hell is Leonard? I've been dying to see that dude again since Numbers.
• "Remind me, Desmond. How long were you down in that hatch, pushing that button?" MIB "Three years." Desmond "And here you are, back for more. If I didn't know better, I'd say this island has it in for you." MIB "Do you know better?" Desmond "Excuse me?" MIB "There's nothing special about me, brotha. This island has it in for all of us." Desmond "Yes, it does." MIB
• The child that is following MIB looks different to me than the one he saw before, but it could be the same boy, only older now, and with darker hair. But why? Also, Desmond saw him too.
• "Who's that?" Desmond "Just ignore him." MIB
• MIB seems to get angry when he sees this child. The boy smiles at him. The two of them seem to have a repour. This could possibly point to the child being Jacob.
• "Ask him what the island is. A while back, Jacob told me what the island was. If he's really standing here right next to me, then just ask him." Richard
• YEAH, JAKE. WHAT IS THE ISLAND?
• Good job lying there, Hurley. Who didn't know that he wasn't talking to Jacob? Although, it'd be a nice time for Jake to actually show up. Where's the dude been?
• So, the island actually is something.
• How convenient. Miles and Ben, who are non-candidates, go with Richard. All of the candidates leave together and go with Hurley. Somehow, Miles, Ben and Richard just seem like they're going off to die to me. It's the death march vs. the candidates.
• When is Sun going to be useful and start speaking English again? Seriously, this is just getting silly.
• "How do you break the ice with the Smoke Monster?" Hurley
• No shit, you didn't see Jacob, Hurley. 
• Nice job bringing up Juliet's death there, Jack. Way to ruin the mood.
• "You have no idea how hard it is for me to sit back and listen to other people tell me what I should do, but I think maybe that's the point. Maybe I'm supposed to let go." Jack
• Yeah, I know how hard it is for you to stop trying to be in charge and screw everything up, Jack.
• "Hurley, you asked me to trust you. This is me trusting you." Jack
• So... that's what the whispers are? Thanks, Michael!
• I kind of would have liked it if they never clearly explained the whispers. The explanation seems a little lame to me. Also, I don't even trust what Michael was saying. It just seemed too obvious. Like out of nowhere, "Oh, hey. I know what the whispers are. There you go." But, it's cool. I'm rolling with the punches.
• "You're stuck on the island, aren't you?" Hurley "Because of what I did." Michael "And there are others out here, like you, aren't there? That's what the whispers are?" Hurley "Yeah. We're the ones who can't move on." Michael
• Then how does that explain things like when Cindy disappeared in The Other 48 Days? Why did the whispers happen then and why did she disappear? The whole thing still doesn't make sense to me.
• I'd like to think that the real Michael would at least mention Walt. This is why I don't trust ghost-Michael. It also still angers me that Michael's character can't at least have a little bit of closure on that.
• And another thing, I seem to remember Christian Shephard telling Michael, before the freighter blew up, in There's No Place Like Home, "You can go now, Michael." What's up with that?
• Hugo and Libby finally have their picnic date on the beach. How sweet. Also, it would have been hilarious if Libby was carrying blankets.
• "It's just, being here with you feels so familiar. Like a date we never had." Libby
• Hugo remembers Libby and the island. He sees the island and their kiss on the cliff.
• "Whoa. Dude. I think I'm remembering stuff." Hugo
• Desmond is watching Libby and Hugo's date creepily, yet he looks pretty cool with those sunglasses.
• Okay, come on now, guys. Who didn't know that MIB would throw Desmond down the well? Note to self: Don't peer over wells while talking to someone who could kill you.
• "The people who dug this well did it completely by hand. God knows how long it took them." MIB "That seems like a lot of work just to get some water." Desmond "Well, they weren't looking for water. They were looking for answers. A long time ago, places like the one you're standing at right now, made compass needles spin. And the people holding the compasses needed to know why, so they dug." MIB
• I find it rather interesting that MIB keeps mentioning God. It also tickles me that he mentioned a compass.
• MIB seems to get pretty angry that Desmond isn't afraid.
• "We don't have to worry about him anymore." MIB
• The candidates arrive at MIB's camp.
• "Son of a bitch." Sawyer
• Hugo handles MIB. Dude in charge. Also, Jack is about to cry again. What else is new.
• That's some creepy reunion music.
• You'd think that as soon as Sun arrived at the camp, she'd be frantically looking for Jin, but she just lays back. Seriously, Sun? You've been doing the "My husband!" thing all freaking season.
• "Hello, Jack." MIB
• It's probably not the greatest idea to seem like a pedophile when you're trying to be discreet, Desmond.
• Is it a wonderful school really, Mr. Linus?
• Uhhh... What the hell, Desmond?
• There are two ways which to interpret Desmond's running over of a wheel-chair-bound John Locke. Considering that Desmond is going around like a flash-sideways Jacob, connecting with people and pushing them toward the island, it is entirely possibly that he ran over John Locke in order to show him the other side. It is also possible, though, considering that Desmond thinks the real John Locke threw him down that well, that he is getting some payback in the flash sideways. It could see it being either, or a little bit of both.
• Terry O'Quinn does the best I've-been-hit-by-a-car or thrown-out-a-damn-window faces.
• Also, I totally thought that Desmond, when stopping the car, was going to back up and run over poor John Locke again. Man, that would have been brutal.
• That was a really shocking ending.
  

As I said before, for the most part, Hurley has been seen as the comic relief. It's nice to see him as a character to further the plot and a leader. I'm starting to think that Hurley is going to end up being very important towards the end. His story is very important to the mythology of the island and he is, perhaps, the show's most beloved character. I'm really looking forward to seeing where Hurley ends up when all is said and done.