Another week, another Lost recap as this “super-sized” season continues to march on. For those that aren’t aware, Numbers was to be the season finale. So if it seems that the writers have things wrapped up by the end of this episode, there’s probably a good reason.
Reaching into the mailbag, which seems to revolve around one thing:
In case you haven’t seen it yet (Not sure what time zone you’re in)
Did you see Hurley on tv? Secretary Hang’s daughter was watching something on tv and it sure looked like Hurley was in some sort of commercial or something.
I’m sure you saw it but just in case . . .
I definitely did see it, but thanks for pointing it out anyway, it’s good to know that my readers are as observant as me.
John,
Just wanted to see if you saw Hurley on TV during the first encounter Jin had with the Ambassador at his house. If you have TIVO go back to that scene and watch closely when Jin first walks in to the house, the little girl is watching TV and Hurley makes a brief appearance waiving to the camera. Hurley appears again when the Ambassador gives Jin the dog as a gift, this time he was in a car and it looked like he was waiving again. They are very brief scenes, I had to go back a few times to see if it was really him. Hopefully this means a Hurley episode is forthcoming. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Regarding this e-mail, I’d like to believe that Hurley was actually putting a hand up to block the camera, as if there was some reason to block his face from view. But waving, blocking the camera. Whatever.
On with the recap!
Previously, on Lost: Boone and Locke have one priority–digging up the mysterious hatch. Sayid is caught in the Frenchwoman’s trap, who arrived on this island when the ship she was sailing in ran aground. Sayid grabs some maps and runs off to escape from the Frenchwoman.
And now it’s off to The Beach, as Hurley and Jin are having some communication problems, but Michael is able to translate–or at least he thinks that he can translate for Jin. The Good Doctor arrives to check on the process with the New Michael’s Ark, and Michael makes it clear that people are standing guard 24/7, so no one gets near this boat, whether or not they have an intention to burn it. Michael then changes to the subject of what will happen when the raft goes out into the ocean–the odds of finding a boat just floating around in the ocean are slim, so it would be nice to have a device that would send out a signal to any ship nearby. Dr. Jack will ask Sayid about that, but even if he was able to fandangle something up, there would be no possible power source–this is a call back to the end of the last episode, when Hurley’s batteries died in the CD player. Hurley then remembers Sayid saying something about the French woman having batteries. This piques everyone’s interest…
…but Sayid bursts the bubble with an “absolutely not” somewhere else on The Beach. Dr. Jack tells Sayid that he doesn’t have to go himself, but Sayid just doesn’t think that the woman would give up something required for her survival to a complete stranger. The Good Doctor insists that he know the location of the French woman, but Sayid explains that he was unconscious when he was brought in and disoriented on his way out, so Sayid wouldn’t be able to know where the location is. Hurley wonders if this is a case of Sayid not knowing or not wanting anyone else to know. Dr. Jack brings up the maps and how they seemed to be pointing to something: Jack suggests that it could be pointing to the French woman. Sayid snaps and then says that he’s not even sure what the maps are saying, since they mostly seem to be song lyrics and equations. But Sayid finally gives in and gives Dr. Jack a map, pointing to her locastion in the “Dark Territory”–or so the French woman calls it. Hurley rifles through the pages as Jack and Sayid argue, and Hurley then arrives on a page filled with the same sequence of numbers copied over and over again. This catches his eye, and we zoom in on it…
…and flashback to Hurley’s mom’s house, as Hurley is eating fried chicken from his place of employment and watching TV as his mother arrives to scold him about staying at home on a Saturday night at his mother’s house instead of going out and finding a nice woman. Hurley sarcastically blows his mother off, his eyes remaining fixated on the TV screen. Hurley’s mother at least suggests that he start eating better since he’s gaining weight…again. But the lotto drawing is what Hurley cares about, and as the woman drawing the numbers announces the last number, Hurley takes a look at his ticket. Now, not only do all six numbers on the ticket match the drawing…but they’re the same numbers that are on the sheet of paper written by the French woman. But in the flashback, Hurley doesn’t know this…so he just goes ahead and faints on the coffee table in front of him, falling off-screen and likely shattering the table into a bajillion pieces. That coffee table is most certainly…
LOST.
And now, a word from our sponsors… Strong opening with a creepy connection to the outside world and the island world. Hurley-centric episode? Bring it on.
We return to Sayid sleeping, but not for long, as Hurley is right there. Sayid is eventually awoken by the jolly man, as Hurley just wanted to know some things about the French woman’s papers, specifically regarding the repeated sequence of numbers. Sayid assumed they might have been coordinates of some kind, but otherwise he doesn’t know what they mean. Hurley changes the subject to how Sayid found the French woman, and Sayid explains that the wire he followed was a wire that led into a trap that knocked him unconscious. Hurley is not too concerned about that, merely with the fact that her place must be close by if the wire was there. Hurley then dismisses himself and apologizes for the timing of the conversation. Walking away from Sayid, Hurley pulls a map out from whichever roll of fat it might be hiding in…
…and we flashback to a press conference after Hurley has won the big bucks. Hurley introduces his family, starting with his mother and moving onto his overexcited brother and his grandfather, Tito. Hurley explains that the first thing he will do with the money is give his grandpa Tito the vacation he’s always deserved, since he’s been put through a lot from Hurley, as has been his entire family. Hurley doesn’t really go into detail, nor have the time as grandpa Tito slowly collapses to the ground behind Hurley. Tito seems to definitely be dead.
And now we move back to The Cave with Charlie and Hurley. Charlie’s greeting startles Hurley, as Hurley immediately claims that he’s not doing anything, but Charlie was just saying hello. Charlie then gets a look at the water bottles that Hurley is loading up and asks if he’s going someplace. “Who, me? No…well, yeah.” Hurley explains that he’s going to find some new fishing spots, just going for a walk. Charlie wants to tag along, but Hurley could really use some alone time. Charlie seems to find that weird, but as Hurley walks away, all the water falls out of his backpack…a lot of bottles. Hurley explains that he gets dehydrated easily, and Charlie is just plain weirded out.
Over to The Beach as Claire is playing with some flowers. Here comes Obi-Locke Kenobi, who needs an extra pair of hands for a job. Claire is nine months pregnant of course, but Locke only requires someone to hold a saw to help build something that Locke has created. Claire eventually agrees to it, and they walk off together, as Locke doesn’t give Claire an immediate answer to the question regarding exactly what Locke is building.
Back to The Cave with Sayid and Jack as Sayid wants to know the whereabouts of the map. Jack tells Sayid that he doesn’t have the map, but Sayid continues to ramble on about Hurley doing Jack’s dirty work, but the Good Doctor is even more clueless, even after Sayid explains Hurley’s whole nighttime thing. Jack asks Charlie about Hurley’s whereabouts, and Charlie explains that Hurley left about two hours ago, and acting like a loon. Sayid knows that this means he’s going after her, and so something must be done.
Cut to The Beach as Sayid explains to Shannon that they can catch up to Hurley by nightfall, but Sayid is curious as to Shannon being concerned. She just is, but Sayid assures her that she’ll be fine as Jack rounds up the troops to head out…
…as the man they’re chasing is making tracks along the sand, determined to find the Frenchwoman as booming rap music plays, but Hurley has no CD player, of course, so this is just a segue into a flashback…
…as Hurley’s mother tells Hurley to turn down the music in his new SUV. Hurley explains to her that she’ll like this surprise, so she should chipper up. And especially after all Hurley’s mother has been through, from Tito dying, to the Father residing over the funeral dying and Diego moving back in after Lisa left him…Hurley then mentions the possibility that winning the lottery was more of a curse than a blessing. Hurley’s mother gives his son a nice ol’ slug in the arm, explaining that the family doesn’t believe in curses. They’re almost to the surprise now, so Hurley tells her to put a blindfold on. They arrive at the spot, which is actually a brand new house, and Hurley leads his mother out of the car, but she is stumbling out of the car and ends up stepping on the curb wrong and breaking her ankle. His mother curses and then notices the smell of smoke, as Hurley notices the fire burning in one of the rooms of the house. Hurley goes to call 911–“Tell them I broke my ankle!”–but there’s no need to call for help, because help has already arrived. Well, not really. Because the supposed help points a gun at Hurley and reads him his rights as he’s pinned against the car, the new house burning in flames as Hurley asks his mother again if she believes in curses yet.
And now, a word from our sponsors… The thing about this storyline is that it’s actually a comedy storyline, but the reasoning behind the curse is likely much more cynical and morbid than this storyline is panning out right now. However, everything is staying mighty interesting, as the French woman might end up being the person who knows about the curse, or at least knows something about the numbers. I want to see that trap catch Hurley, by the way. That’ll be sweet, folks.
We return to The Beach as Hurley arrives at the wire, which is a little thinner than I remember. Hurley calls out, “Yo! French chick!”, but since he won’t get a response, he starts following the wire…
…as we flashback to Big City as a man tells Hurley he should be happy: All of his stocks are up, and he is now the majority shareholder for a box company. I doubt that’s just a coincidence. This means that Hurley is a majority shareholder for the company that Locke worked for. “Everybody needs boxes.” However, as far as the sneaker factory in Canada goes…that burned down in a fire, even though Hurley didn’t know he had it at all. Eight or so people died, but the good news is that the factory was overinsured, and the settlement from the LAPD over his false arrest would give him enough money to double his net worth. Hurley’s money manager just doesn’t see how the LAPD mistook him for a drug dealer. “Bad luck.” The money manager explains that he is not the first lottery winner to believe that his winnings have brought nothing but trouble, and it’s all in Hugo’s head. As an accountant (I’m so dumb for using money manager), the guy doesn’t believe in jinxes, he believes in numbers. The accountant asks Hugo where he came up with the numbers, but Hurley just says that they came to him…and then it hits him–the numbers are cursed. The accountant rides Hurley again about that whole cursing thing, saying there’s no such thing as a cu–but he doesn’t get to finish, as one of the accountant’s colleagues falls past his window, screaming.
Going back to Michael’s Ark II, as Sawyer sits and reads, but is unable to read because of Michael’s frantic banging on the Ark. Sawyer yells at Michael to maybe tone it down a bit in the only way Sawyer can convey his anger. Michael apologizes for building a raft to save the people on this island, and then Walt asks why Sawyer isn’t helping. Sawyer claims that he is helping–he’s watching out for arsonists. But Michael thinks that he could help out a little more, since he has a ticket to ride on the raft. And then a bundle of bamboo falls apart and Jin and Michael start arguing about whose fault that is. Sawyer just walks off, as Sun watches the two argue in the distance. Sun is with Kate, telling Kate that Jin will never speak to her again. Kate just thinks Jin needs time, but Sun humiliated Jin. Sun then asks Kate if Jin is going to leave with the others when the raft sails, but Kate doesn’t know.
In the jungle, Hurley is still chugging along the wire, as he comes along a boar hanging upside down, very dead and very skinned. Hurley keeps moving, and then hears something click, looking down at a small mud puddle in the ground. Hurley is about to move, but Sayid suddenly appears and advises Hurley not to. Charlie and the Good Doctor have tagged along, as Sayid explains that Hurley is on a pressure trigger, and if he should move off the trigger, a bundle of very sharp spears will be released and will likely chop Hurley to bits. Sayid says they need to find something to replace his weight (I’d like to mention that this is also a plot device used in the Indiana Jones series, and Sawyer’s nickname for Walt is Short Round, the name of a character in The Temple of Doom), and Charlie wonders how in the hell they’re going to replace Hurley’s weight. Hurley takes offense to that, but Dr. Jack tells Hurley to calm down and Hurley wants to know if he can drop the wire. No one answers him, so Hurley just does it. Nothing happens, so Hurley thinks that he can now avoid the trap. “I’m spry.” All three of them tell Hurley not to do it, but he’s able to get off the trap, duck the spear wrecking ball, and get around it. Dr. Jack asks Hurley what he’s doing out here, and Hurley explains that he came to get a battery. Dr. Jack wants to know, seriously, but Hurley asks if they want to come along. Sayid just wants to take the lead.
We go into a flashback where Hurley demands to see someone named Leonard. The receptionist can’t do anything, since Hugo doesn’t know his last name, but Hurley continues to insist and insist, but something catches his eye–a man trying to replace a light bulb in a chandelier. He rises to the top of the ladder and leans over to put that bulb in, but Hurley stops rambling long enough to yell at the man to leave the light bulb for another time. The man backs off, and Hurley continues to explain that Leonard has been here forever and wonders how the receptionist can’t let him see him. Suddenly, a doctor arrives behind Hurley, and asks him what he’s doing there. The sign behind Hurley makes it very clear that this is a psychiatric ward. We move forward to the doctor’s surprise that Hurley would want to see Leonard, since he didn’t know they were really close. Leonard is playing connect four as Hurley watches from a distance. Hurley then approaches Leonard and asks Leonard if he remembers him. Hugo was just in the neighborhood, and…well, he came to ask about the numbers. What do they mean? And it turns out that Leonard is repeating the sequence of numbers over and over again, and that’s all he’s saying.
And now, a word from our sponsors… That’s pretty sinister, folks. I told you there was something more to this than just a few comedy spots here and there. I’m digging this episode so far.
Still at The Ward, as Hurley asks Leonard about the numbers and explains how he thinks he’s been cursed by them ever since he used them for the lottery. That gets Leonard to stop, and he asks Hurley if he used those numbers in the lottery. Hugo confirms this, and Leonard can’t believe that he did that, since he just opened the box. Hugo is confused as Leonard begins to ramble, telling Hugo that he should get as far away from those numbers as he can. The orderly is trying to drag Leonard away, but Hugo needs some answers. How did he get those numbers? Leonard got them from San Toome(?), from San’s place of work in Caligula(?)…but where is that? “In Australia!” That was one confusing flashback, I didn’t hear a damn word they said.
Back in The Jungle, as Sayid finds where the wire stops. Charlie has found something else, though, and invites everyone else to come look. It’s a big canyon, with a bridge in-between. Sayid’s never seen this before, but Dr. Jack doesn’t think the French woman could’ve built it by herself. No, but the team could have. Hurley takes some initative and crosses the bridge as everyone else holds their breath, expecting Hurley not to make it as the bridge is extremely rickety and…Hurley’s Hurley. But he makes it with flying colors, and that convinces Charlie to do it, since if he can make it, it must be strong enough for a simple runt like Charlie. Well, kinda, but the bridge collapses within steps of Charlie making it and he has to make tracks to make it to the other side in time. The bridge is gone, so Jack tells Charlie and Hurley to wait there as they find a way around. Hurley wants to move on, since there’s a path RIGHT there, but Charlie thinks they should listen to Jack, calling Hurley a bloody lunatic in the process…
…that triggers a flashback to The Middle of Nowhere, as Hurley knocks on the door of the only house there. Hurley asks if this is Sam Toome’s house, and it is, but Hurley is speaking to his wife. Hurley would like to talk to him, but she’d like that too. Sam’s been dead for four years. Cut to them having tea, as Hurley talks about Leonard–turns out Sam and Leonard served together in the Navy. She asks about Leonard, but Hurley lies and says that he’s just retired. Hurley explains about Sam and the numbers, and the wife then picks up the story about the numbers…Sam and Leonard had a job monitoring longwave transmissions out of the Pacific. Sam hated the job, since there was nothing to do but listen to static. Until, 16 years ago, there was something in the static. A voice repeating those numbers over and over again. Couple of days later, at a local fair, Sam used the numbers to guess how many beans were in a certain jar. They won the prize for guessing it exactly on the bean, and on the way home from the fair, a pickup truck blew a tire and hit them head on. She lost her leg, but Sam didn’t have a scratch. Instead of considering himself lucky, he kept a record of all the bad things that happened to people other than him. That’s why Sam moved out to the middle of nowhere, to make it stop. So how did Sam make it stop. “He put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.” Hugo than explains that he used the numbers to win the lottery. And now Hugo thinks he’s cursed. But Sam’s wife says that Hugo is just looking for a non-existent excuse by blaming the numbers.
Back to The Jungle, as Claire is helping out Locke, asking about what he’s building. A trap to catch animals, right? Locke doesn’t answer, except asking for Claire to pass the glue…made out of animal fat. Claire suggests that Locke has a home improvement show, but Locke doesn’t think that would be a wise idea. Claire thanks Locke for giving her something to do, since she’s tired of trying to remember what happened to her out there. Locke wants to know how that’s coming, but Claire can only get bits and pieces, nothing that makes any real sense. Locke thinks that he can help, since he’s good at putting bits and pieces together. Locke gives Claire a smile, and Claire smiles back with a shy look. Kinda weird scene.
Deeper in The Jungle, Sayid finds a certain area familiar, and is pretty sure that they’re close to the French woman’s lair. Dr. Jack, isn’t so sure, however, as he walks forward and hits a trip wire that sets off a massive explosion. Charlie and Hurley both hear it, as they wonder what that was. Hurley almost rolls his eyes at the idea of the curse striking again…
And now, a word from our sponsors… Okay, so the curse doesn’t exist. But that’s just baloney. It’s so much baloney that I’m not even going to bother spelling bologna right. A curse doesn’t just up and not exist after seeing the things that we’ve seen in the first 30 minutes of this episode.
Back at the big crater that has replaced what was the French woman’s lair, as Sayid explains that there’s nothing there. It makes sense, Sayid realizes, since she must have known that someday Sayid would come back with others, so she abandoned it, booby-trapped it, and moved on. Dr. Jack asks the logical question: Moved on where?
Elsewhere, Hurley is calling out for Jack and Sayid, as Hurley and Charlie are moving towards the sound of the blast, he thinks. Charlie is angry, however, because Hurley is not saying anything about why they’re really in the jungle, besides the whole batteries thing. Hurley tells Charlie he doesn’t know anything about him, but Charlie says that is because Hurley won’t open up. And now Jack and Sayid might have been blown to bits, all because Hurley is acting like some nutter. Hurley stops and turns around, being firm and telling Charlie that he is NOT crazy. Hurley has his reasons, but Charlie wants to know them. Hurley is about to explain his story, but a gunshot explodes behind Charlie, stopping Hurley in mid-sentence. Hurley wonders if someone is shooting at them, and sure enough, a second gunshot confirms this, and Hurley and Charlie run off in opposite directions. But Hurley trips and falls, and gets right back up to get a gun pointed in his face. It’s Rousseau, as Hurley explains that he was on the plane in so many words. He’s come to ask about the numbers, but the French woman doesn’t know what the numbers mean. Hurley can’t believe that, going on a rant about how no one knows anything about the monster or why no one has come to look for the survivors, but now, he wants some answers. Rousseau lowers her weapon, and then explains that along with her team, they heard the transmission on the ship and changed course to investigate it. After being shipwrecked on the island, they continued to investigate, but it weeks before they found the radio tower. There is a radio tower on the island, up by the black rock. Some continued to search for the numbers while they waited for the rescue, but then the sickness came. When Rousseau’s team was gone, she went to the radio tower and changed the distress signal. Hurley asks again about the power of the numbers, but Rousseau doesn’t know what he means. “The numbers are cursed.” She realizes that the numbers brought both Hurley and herself to the island. Since then, she’s lost everything and everyone she’s cared about, and so she does believe Hurley when she says the numbers are cursed. Hurley is so happy that someone finally believes him. So happy that he embraces Rousseau.
Elsewhere in the jungle, Dr. Jack says that it’s time to go look for Charlie and Hurley again, but Jack is upset that they’ll be leaving empty-handed. Sayid looks at a picture of his lost love from Iraq, when Charlie bursts through the foilage and explains about the whole shooting thing. Sayid says that he’s going to go look for Hurley, and Jack says that they’ll all go, but Hurley comes up from behind all three of them, and hands a battery over to Dr. Jack. He then turns to Sayid, telling him that “She says ‘hey.'” Dr. Jack can’t believe that Hurley made it, and they all follow Hurley’s lead.
And now, a word from our sponsors… Home stretch time, and this has just been a really awesome episode so far. I’m loving it. It’s not mind-blowing like the other centric episodes, but everything just clicks.
Back at The Beach, the party of four comes back, as Sayid passes the battery off to Michael.
In The Jungle, Claire and Locke are still working together as Locke asks Claire if she has a name for the baby. Claire hasn’t really been thinking about that much, since she was going to give it up for adoption, but it doesn’t matter now. Claire then explains that it’s her birthday today. Locke wonders why she hasn’t told anyone, but Claire explains that since she’s pregnant, single, and on an island in the middle of nowhere, it really doesn’t matter that it’s her birthday today. Locke can agree to that, and he thinks that it’s good luck that the baby and Claire will have close birthdays. Claire wonders if Locke really believes in luck, and Locke just says that he believes in a lot of things. Locke is finished with his job, but Claire still doesn’t know what it is. Locke turns it over, and it turns out to be a cradle. Locke wishes Claire happy birthday, and Claire thanks him.
At The Beach, Hurley is drying his shirt as Charlie sits down next to him. Charlie wants the end of the story that Hurley was about to tell, and Hurley just cuts to the most interesting part: He believes the crash to be his fault. Charlie can’t believe that Hurley would be so daft, but Hurley explains that lots of bad things happened when he was around. Charlie doesn’t believe in bad luck, and Hurley wants to finish, but Charlie continues to talk about everyone having baggage. For example: Charlie was snorting heroin when the plane crashed. He was such a junkie, he couldn’t take a plane ride without having a fix. Charlie wonders if that was Hurley’s fault as well? Charlie wonders if Hurley has any secrets of his own to reciprocate, so Hurley decides to come up with one: “Back home, I’m worth 156 million dollars.” Charlie doesn’t believe him, and is angry that Hurley would joke around when Charlie is baring his soul.
And now we go to The Hatch, and the hatch alone. We zoom in, closer, and closer…
…and there are the numbers, imprinted on the side of the hatch.
END SHOW!
Gathering the number analysis from TVtome.com:
The numbers are 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42.
815 = The flight number of the plane that crashed.
4+8+15+16+23+42=108 Hurley’s net worth=156 million
156-108=48, the original number of survivors.
16: The transmission was picked up sixteen years ago, and the lottery that Hugo won hadn’t been won in sixteen weeks.
Passage 8:16 in the Bible: “I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborton, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman”
Too many numbers, too little time. For an episode that was to be the season finale, I’m kinda glad it isn’t now. More answers! Less suspense. Except for the fact, of course, that Lost is now gone until the first week of April. Oh well, you can’t expect them to just churn out episodes on a whim.
For more stuff on Lost, make sure to go to this site:
