SPOILER ALERT – Lost Season 6 “Everybody Loves Hugo”

Old (Ongoing) Predictions and Mea Culpas


Well, it seems “Everybody Loves Hugo,” this week’s episode of Lost, teaches us not to jump to conclusions. Firstly, it seems I was wrong to jump to the conclusion that I was correct in my prediction that Hurley will be the new Jacob based on the preview for this episode. I might still be right, and this episode seems to be leading towards that, however, it did not confirm my prediction as I expected it to. So, mea culpa, my dear blog readers. As for the other lesson in not jumping to conclusions, I’ll get to that soon enough.

Part of my theory might be very flawed. I whole-heartedly believe that I am going to be shown to be correct in that Hurley will be the new Jacob; however, I think I might be wrong regarding the other half of my theory. I don’t think it’s likely that the new reality/flash-sideways is the result of Hurley’s Jacobian take-over. If the new reality resulted from the detonation of the hydrogen bomb and represents the resetting of everything that would or would not have happened if the Swan were never built, then there is a good chance that Jacob would not have died. Ben would not have grown up to kill Jacob, obviously, since we know that he did live on the island as a young ‘un but left as a young ‘un as well in the new reality. Therefore, assuming that the new reality did indeed result from the bomb, then Jacob is probably still alive in the new reality, rendering a replacement (by Hurley or anyone else) unnecessary. Jacob’s last living words of “They’re coming” suggests that the bomb detonation would salvage Jacob and/or the island, so it’s reasonable to assume that such a detonation could mean Jacob’s survival in the new reality. Of course, it’s possible that it was Jacob’s destiny to die, or that Man in Black found another way to have Jacob murdered, in which case it could potentially be possible for Hurley or someone else to be the new Jacob in the new reality. I believe this possibility might be reliant on the bomb not being the cause of the new reality. Clearly, it is very unlikely that Hurley is the new Jacob in the new reality, but I stand by my prediction that he will become the new Jacob in the reality we are familiar with.

Considering the implausibility of the new-reality half of my prediction, I think I just wanted Hurley to be the cause of all the nice things happening in the new reality. If my whole theory could be true, it would have given us a nice sense of closure; it would have meant that the reality we are familiar with and the new reality would come together. Fortunately, since some of the new reality people are having memories of the reality we are familiar with, perhaps the merging of realities could be happening after all.

New Predictions and Theories

Who is that kid in the jungle? Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster seems to fear him, and, in “The Substitute,” the little boy seems to feel that Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black has broken some rule. I’m guessing that the rule that was broken was the loophole by which Man in Black had Jacob murdered. Perhaps the little boy in the jungle is G-d, or a divine force superior to both Man in Black and Jacob. Perhaps this highest and most powerful being takes the form of a child because who but a child possesses more innocence and less Evil? Alternatively, perhaps the little boy is Jacob reincarnated; I don’t think he appeared (to us anyway) until after Jacob’s death, and I don’t think we ever saw the little boy and Jacob (or his ghost) together. However, I think my first theory is probably more likely.

I have a new theory to go along with my other theories. I correctly predicted (assuming that Jacob wasn’t lying to Richard) that the island is where Evil is detained and kept from roaming throughout the world. Since Evil lives on the island, and since in this episode, we learned that Michael and other dead people are stuck on the island and can’t “move on” because of bad things they’ve done (such as killing Libby), I can’t help but wonder if the island is some form of Hell after all. I previously argued that if the island turns out to be Hell, then Lost will be a tremendously unsettling show, but perhaps it is not the traditional concept of Hell, but rather a place on Earth where Evil itself along with the souls of dead people who have committed evil acts in their lives are held captive, and kept from moving on. Live people can live in this place too, because I refuse to believe that all our characters are dead. If the island is Hell, then Jacob, or whoever takes his place, is the guardian of Hell, and, if I’m not mistaken (and I definitely could be) the guardian of Hell is Satan. Therefore, if my theory is correct, then Jacob and whoever takes is place is the Devil. However, I am still leaning toward my previous theory that Jacob and his predecessor is G-d or a divine entity similar to G-d. Interestingly, Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black/Evil Incarnate refers to G-d colloquially; he said, “G-d knows” at least once. I don’t remember Jacob ever referring to G-d, or the Devil for that matter. (Note: Just because I don’t remember doesn’t mean it didn’t happen; my memory is very much imperfect.) Of course, as Richard said, Jacob doesn’t tell people what to do (although Jacob has told Hurley what to do on at least two occasions), and I don’t believe he tells them what to believe either, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t define anyone as G-d or the Devil. Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black, however, likes to tell people what they want to hear to manipulate them, so his references to G-d and the Devil mean nothing, it would seem.

This Week’s Episode

It was nice to see Hurley’s story in the new reality/flash-sideways. It was comforting and happy-making to see him finally have his date with his Destiny, his love, Libby. By the way, Hurley and Libby can be added to the list o’ people in the new reality who have memories of the reality we are familiar with. I heart Hurley. It was also nice to see him in the reality we are familiar with gaining confidence as the leader he is destined to be in the form of the new Jacob (I say, stubbornly holding onto my as-yet-unconfirmed theory). It’s also nice to see the role reversal of Jack trusting Hurley.

If you’re wondering about Hugo Reyes’ name meaning, other than his last name meaning “kings,” Hugo means heart, mind, or spirit. Clearly, this fits perfectly with Hurley; he has a connection with spirits in that people come to him after they die, and, despite thinking he was/is crazy, he is of sound mind, and he has a huge heart.

Desmond in the new reality seems to have taken the job of helping his fellow Oceanic 815-ers fulfill their Destiny. It’s cute that Desmond and Destiny both start with Des, as if they were trying to give us this clue from the beginning. He helped Hurley and Libby find each other, and then…well, and then what he did is what I was referring to above about jumping to conclusions.

In the new reality, Desmond might have killed Real New Reality John Locke. He probably did this because he probably had a memory from the reality we are familiar with where what he believed was Real John Locke threw him (Desmond) down a deep well and probably killed the latter (I say “probably” because he might not be dead, particularly if the Island isn’t through with him, since it probably still needs him). However, Desmond is wrong – that was not the evil act of Real John Locke – Real John Locke would never do such a terrible thing. Obviously (to us), it was Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster, but Desmond Hume didn’t know that. Ah, remember I mentioned in a previous blog posting that Hume, the philosopher for whom Desmond was named, believed human knowledge is restricted to what we perceive – just like Philosopher John Locke. It seems Desmond Hume’s Destiny turned out to be Hume-like –he didn’t know that the John Locke who threw him down a well wasn’t what he perceived, and so he sought vengeance on the wrong Locke. Desmond Hume acted on his perceptual knowledge, for he didn’t know the evil that lurked beyond his perception.

I think we can all agree that Ben was destined to protect the children. He clearly serves that role in the new reality, watching out for Alex and his student’s in “Dr. Linus,” and noticing and questioning Creepy Desmond in this episode. He showed his proclivity for protecting the young ’uns in the reality we are familiar with as well, when he took Alex as his own daughter rather than killing her and her mother as he was instructed to. It’s nice to see him fulfilling such a nice destiny in the new reality.