Yeah, remember, he said to the reporters that he had put his family through a lot in the past few years.

I'm still on the fence as to whether that's literally what he was referring to. That could always mean something else down the line. There were tons of other clues, though. The doctor recognizing him and acting all, "Hugo...nice to see you...are you, uh, crazy again?" And then he didn't know Lenny's last name. And it was obvious he got the numbers from Lenny. And he was really touchy about people calling him crazy. It walked the line between subtle and anvilicious. Obviously more on the subtle side, if people still thought it was a debatable idea.

He might not have been a full on psych patient, but more of there for counseling for some problem or other. Perhaps spending some time helping with the more radical departures from sanity helped center him and helped his own recovery.

I disagree based on the doctor's behavior. That was the reaction of a doctor seeing a former mental patient, not a former employee.

It's up.

And Cleo thinks he was a volunteer, not a patient. So maybe it's not as clear as I thought it was.

Glad Cleo has things up so quickly - first TIVO didn't record properly ( no biscut!) then When Hurly was talking to Lenny - there was a child abduction alert. Which in theory is good - except people watching tv aren't outside looking at cars. and since it was TIVO - even less likely.

But I just love the tie ins. I see some archs forming

1 - why are we here

2/3 how do we deal with why we are here

4 time to leave

best line

Maybe it's a pissed-off giraffe

So I'm guessing they've left behind the "rational explanation" thing they were touting earlier in the season.

I loved that Hurley was the audience stand-in when demanding some answers from Rousseau! I think that was a complete shout-out to all those who have been complaining over the past few weeks that all the show does is raise more questions without giving us any resolution.

Hurley is the Voice of the People! Man, I loved this. Everything was entertaining (though I felt sorry for Naveen Andrews who was still stuck with being ridiculously obstructive about finding the French woman.)

Anyone notice Sawyer, the somewhat surprising raft escapee, is also sick?

Charlie was annoying in his last scene. Poor communication skills, yo. I'm thinking maybe he picked up on how touchy Hurley was about being called loony and was fishing for an insanity reveal.

Yeah I pretty much hated Charlie throughout this whole episode.

re: Locke and the box company - he said he was living in/from Tustin in his ep.

re: sounds during the spooky hatch closeup of doom - I heard what sounded like monkeys screeching. But I think it was supposed to be people-ish sounds.

It is WAY too early for me to be awake. But this episode kicked all kinds of ass. Here's hoping the perennially bitter TWoP forumites agree. Fury: 3, Lost-hatas: 0

ETA I am confused about the timing - Sam's widow said they heard the #'s 16 years ago? But French Chick (heeee) said she changed the recording AND Sayid said her msg has been broadcasting for 16 years. So either Sam & Lenny heard it right before it got changed, or I wasn't paying as close attention as I thought.

Charlie was annoying in his last scene. Poor communication skills, yo.

Back to the it's all about Charlie 'tude. He didn't care about Hurley's secret other than for being in the know. He just wanted to use him as a sounding board to spill his own stuff.

Hurley was a patient. His mother said something like he was starting to gain weight again like he had been larger before. Perhaps at a life threatening point to put his family through quite an ordeal.

I am confused about the timing - Sam's widow said they heard the #'s 16 years ago? But French Chick (heeee) said she changed the recording AND Sayid said her msg has been broadcasting for 16 years. So either Sam & Lenny heard it right before it got changed, or I wasn't paying as close attention as I thought.

I think you have it right. The original broadcast of the numbers was probably picked up by both Rousseau's ship, and Sam and Lenny's listening post the same night.