I’ve been watching, intrigued by, Lost since it began. But I still haven’t scratched the surface because I don’t watch with the kind of ferocious eye that a lot of people seem to have. Lostpedia has been collecting every little hint, clue, and bit of trivia and I’m fascinated by what these viewers have found — if it is all intentional, the creators of Lost have really been working hard! I miss the vast majority of the stuff that these more dedicated, hard-core viewers find.
In this week’s episode, we find out a bit more about Hurley and his stay in a mental hospital; but what I find most interesting is the way that all the characters are becoming connected. It turns out that this same hospital has been home to not only Hurley, but Leonard (the guy who he learned the numbers from), Libby (Hurley’s new love and a passenger on the plane), and Locke’s mother. This has led to speculation that the entire show is really some kind of group hallucination by the residents of the Santa Rosa Mental Institute. Frankly, I am leaning more toward the idea that the show itself is some kind of group hallucination by its creators and writers.
A new twist has revealed itself: at first, the island was giving people back things they had lost: Hurley’s sanity, Locke’s legs, Michael’s son, Jin & Sun’s love, Rose’s husband, Sawyer’s humanity… and now, it seems to be taking it all away again. Hurley slips back into a breakdown, Locke can’t walk again, Michael’s son is taken away, Sawyer hardens into a bastard…
People love puzzles, and this series is cleverly created with puzzles inside of puzzles. The solution to one just creates more, in an exponential cascade of weirdness that is compelling and addictive.
