Initial Thoughts on The Beginning of the End

My mind can only handle so much--especially after an episode like that. DEFINITELY worth the wait...

Anyway, just a few thoughts to wrestle with before I (attempt to) go to sleep. I promise a more in depth analysis after I've had the chance to a) sleep, b) do my own pondering and/or c) throw in the towel, admit that I'm completely and utterly confused, and do some research to see what other people have to say about 4.01. Dive in...

Hurley has some serious guilt issues going on, that much is clear.  So much so that he's started to go a bit bonkers, seeing a manifestation of his guilt take human form. Well... sorta. Not exactly HUMAN form, more like GHOST form. Hurley has been having visions of Charlie, dearly departed, and uttering cryptic advice from beyond the grave. How Hurley got to this point, i.e. this flashforward, has yet to be determined, since in Island Time, Hurley has aligned himself with Locke's group to honor Charlie's sacrifice. 

Prior to that point, (sorry to be jumping all over the map here, everyone, but just bear with me... I have a point in here somewhere, I promise!) Hurley was seen on the island poking around in a familiar creepy cabin surronded by white ash. That's right, Hurley stumbled upon Jacob's lair in the jungle, and even more surprising, got a good looky loo at him while he was at it... you know, right before someone else got all up in his face, spooked the ever living crap out of him and he turned and ran in the other direction, only to end up... right there at the cabin again. Oh LOST, what you do to me....

Anyway, so getting back to my point, up until this point, only two other people have seen Jacob -- Ben and Locke. Both men are convinced of the island's powers, and both have a "special" quality about them that even allows them to see Jacob in the first place. It would now appear that Hurley has something "special" about him, as well. Now, Hurley's guilt is so palpable, and in his flash forward, there are a number of people trying to get information that he is unwilling to give up out of him, that it leads me to believe that Hurley --perhaps not unlike Ben, who willingly participated in the "purging" of his own people -- has something to do with the other group of survivors not also being rescued. Perhaps Hurley himself sacrificed some of his own people to ensure rescue from the island? Well, until I'm proven worng (which, in true LOST fashion will probably be next week), that's my story.

A few other points of order: What's going on with Kate? Why is she deceiving Jack, stealing the phone from him, and running off into the jungle? Also, Naomi's dying words were to "tell [her] sister that [she] love[s] her." -- Who is this sister? I'm more than willing to bet that it will end up being someone we've seen before. Maybe Nadia? -- Remember, the last time we saw Sayid's girl, she was in the UK, getting saved from a mugger by Charlie. This had to have been before she was in the US, since the information Sayid received about her had her located in L.A., hence Sayid's purpose in being on flight 815 in the first place. 

I'm fading fast here, but want your thoughts on two things: Who is in the cabin with Jacob (or is it, in fact, Jacob himself?) and who are the other 3 survivors to get off the island with Hurley, Jack, and Kate and make up what Hurley calls "The Oceanic Six?"

More to come tomorrow...