It’s possible that those words changed everything. Well, those words and the rest of the episode. Before I continue, just a brief reminder that this recap/thought session on Thursday’s LOST episode may be spoilerific if you haven’t seen it yet. For the faint of heart, be not afraid to turn back now.
One of the things that struck me about that statement from Hurley was that he was referring to the island wanting them to come back. So far the Others and Locke are the only ones to refer the island (or perhaps Island) as an entity or in terms outside the show, a character. And I think that’s one of the things that’s becoming more clear as the series continues. It’s possible that all these weird occurrences like polar bears, a smoke monster, characters like Jacob and Mikhail (who seems impossible to kill) aren’t unconnected, randomly weird events that happen to occur on this island that no one can find. Instead, it seems completely possible and even likely the Island itself is an character, an entity that controls all these things. Perhaps Jacob himself is the physical manifestation of the Island. Maybe Mikhail is his prophet. But I digress.
The appearance of Charlie (who was dead but “still here”) was one of the events that in connection with Hurley’s quote pushed me further towards the idea of the island being a character. It also seems to imply, as Hurley alludes to, that the Island is able to affect events in “our world” or outside the island itself, at least to people who have been there. It’s willing to do whatever it takes to get them back. Charlie’s appearance and the illusion of water in the interrogation room seem to be a way of the Island communicating with Hurley.
And of course as any good LOST episode does, especially a season premiere, those aren’t the only questions left for us to chew on until next week and so forth. There are still questions left over from last season that will I’m sure take the entire season and more to answer like why those who left need to get back. Who are the people on the boat really? And who are the remaining three of the “Oceanic 6”? Finally, now that another character has been revealed who returned from the island, I can’t help but really, really hope that it wasn’t Hurley in the casket at the end of Season 3. Thankfully, the Island made a good casting move and decided it didn’t want to let Dominic Monaghan leave the show yet. Bless you Island! Bless you!
The Answer is 42 