'Lost' - "The Beginning of the End"

Finally, after last night's convoluted subtitled repeat of "The Looking Glass" episode and the recap show "Past, Present, and Future" -- it's the new episode! And graphic artist Zoetawny made me a new logo for the show!

The present day mainland Hurley story--

Jack is watching television when he sees a car chase being covered ala O.J.Simpson. It's a '70s model Camaro and, surely enough, it's Hurley being chased by cops and helicopters. When the cops capture him, they know who he is and think someone he saw in a convenience store spooked him. After all, he's one of the Oceanic 6! (Only 6?)

The cops question him -- one cop knew someone on the plane. Oh, Ana Lucia. She had been the cop's partner. Hurley denies ever knowing her. What's up with that?

Hurley watches himself on the tape but then turns to a fishtank. He hallucinates someone swimming towards him and breaking in. It's back to the nuthouse for him.

Back in the hospital, Hugo has a visitor. Why, it's Major Daniels from The Wire! Er, an attorney for Oceanic Airlines on this show. He offers Hurley an upgrade in hospitals. Hurley turns him down. He reminds Hurley he's not fine and in a mental institution. He had no ID and then asks Hurley if "they" were still alive. Hallucination?

Charlie? Charlie's visiting Hurley in the hospital? Yikes! It was Charlie in the store! Charlie tells him that he's both dead and here, slaps him to prove he's real. Charlie tells him that he knew he'd die when he went on his mission down in the Looking Glass. He wants Hurley to do something. "They need you. You know they need you." He vanishes.

A clean-cut Jack arrives to visit. He's supposedly back to surgery. Jack tells Hurley the reporters are leaving him alone, but he still gets asked for autographs. He tells Hurley he's thinking of growing a beard.

Hurley thinks that Jack is checking to see if he's nuts or was "going to tell." Hmmm ... Jack goes to leave. Hurley tells him he's sorry he went with Locke, should have stayed with him. "I think it wants us to come back, it's going to do everything it can..."

"We're never going back!" says Jack. "Never say never, dude," Hurley replies.

Meanwhile, on the island

They're happy to be in preparation to be rescued. Jack tells Kate that if Locke comes back, he'll kill him (for trying to stop them from leaving and attacking Naomi). Sun and Claire are talking babies. Apparently they don't realize that Charlie died in the Looking Glass. Hmmm...

Ben wants Rousseau to take Alex and stash her. She tells him that Alex isn't his daughter.

Hurley tells Bernard about his winnings, then it's off to do a cannonball.

Yikes! Desmond comes ashore to stop them from contacting Naomi's ship only to find out that they already did. And Hurley finds out Charlie is dead.

Jack is talking to the "rescuers" but getting interference. They want to redo the radio settings and ask him to put Naomi on. Instead of telling them she's dead (by Locke), Jack tells them she's getting firewood. Then he heads to Ben at a tree and asks "where is she?" Naomi, that is. She;s not dead after all.

Sawyer, Jin, Hurley, Sayid, Desmond don't want to tell Jack the boat wasn't sent by Penny and raise suspicions. Uh-oh.

Jack, Rousseau, and Ben go off to look for Naomi. Kate thinks she headed west across the island. Kate seems reluctant.

The Know About Charlie and Naomi Crew arm themselves. Hurley looks determined. The crew is walking in the dark. Now Hurley's alone and my TV is digitally pixeling out on me. Whispers. An uh-oh, a commercial.

The blood trail of Naomi ends. Ben is snarky. Ben tells Jack that Kate took the phone when she hugged him and probably followed the right trail to Naomi, too. Sure enough, she's following the trail. The phone rings, so she answers it. She tells the guy on the other end that she's looking for Naomi ... who drops out of a tree and demands the phone from Kate with a knife to her neck.

Naomi talks to George (the guy on the phone), tells him she's hurt, had an accident. "Tell my sister I love her." Dies.

Hurley got separated from the rest of the crew and comes across Jacob's shack. He looks in the window. A face looks out at him! He runs! And there's the homestead place of Mikhail, the door opens. He thinks it's a hallucination and falls over. It's Locke.

Locke asks how Hurley got separated from the group and why he was shouting for help. Locke questions Hurley about the "Not Penny's boat" message on Charlie's hand. Locke wants to to get Jack to believe them so Charlie didn't die for nothing. Hurley meets back up with his crew and Locke comes along.

Sayid wants to know why Locke destroyed the submarine before he accepts his help. Aw, it's reunion time. Everyone but Charlie, that is. Hurley goes to Claire. Cries, tells her that Charlie's dead. They both cry. Locke, Desmond, and Sayid look pensive.

Jack punches Locke to the ground, then tries to shoot him, the gun isn't loaded.

Sawyer and Sayid yank Jack off oh him. Locke defends his actions saying everything he's done has been in their best interest. Kate arrives, gives the phone to Jack, and tells them that Naomi is dead and covered for them. Locke tries to convince them to come with him so they can live. More crying for Charlie. Hurley tells them the last thing Charlie did was warn them that the rescuers in the boat aren't who they said they were.

He tells Jack he won't listen to him, he'll listen to his friend Charlie. "Anyone else?" Locke.

They all start to go with Locke. Ben asks Jack's permission to go with John Locke. "he's all yours," Jack tells him. Rose refuses to go with Locke. Kate confronts Sawyer about going. He tells her he's survivng. The rain starts.

The groups seem to be about half and half, those awaiting a bad rescue and those hiding.

Kate and Jack awaiting rescue in a storm by the fuselage. A helicopter! A parachutist! The music heightens! It's someone I feel I should know ... "Are you Jack?"

And that's it. Who the heck was that guy who parachuted in? Dang. They have too big of a gap between bizarre seasons. I wonder how there are only six in the Oceanic Six, yet Hurley's there and he wasn't with the group awaiting rescue. There were more than six in the group with Jack.

I'd imagine the big secret they're so concerned about would be the rest of the people left behind on the island.