GNAWING ANSWERS

Throughout Season 6, I kept a running list of gnawing questions from the show that I would have like answered and explained by the writers. Since the End is upon us, it is time to review those 20 QUESTIONS:

1. After being released by the Others at the ferry landing, why did not Hurley tell his comrades that Michael had left the island with Walt by boat?
No Answer (but part of the series non-communication issues between characters that have driven many viewers into madness.)

2. Why was Hurley let go by the Others?
The answer was probably to tell the survivors not to come after the captives, but why was Hurley taken in the first place is not clear.

3. Why do people on the island call Hurley "Hurley" when his name is Hugo?
No answer.
Update: another poster referenced the pilot episode. In it, the first reference to "Hurley" Hugo introducing himself to Sayid. Later, when Jack is attending the marshal with Hugo. Hugo gets sick from the blood and Jack thinks he is about to hurl. Jack calls him "Hurley" but we never see Hugo actually introducing himself to Jack. We still do not know why Hugo is called Hurley or why he wants to call himself Hurley on the island when he is Hugo in the flashbacks.

4. If WHH, when did it first happen?
It is debatable if the time lines will ever make sense.

5. Are flashbacks really flashbacks of real events?
Unknown, depends on the Big Premise of the show, which has not been clearly revealed to date.

6. Why were the Numbers required to be used to reset the Hatch timer when one could use a simple reset key?
This is another technical head scratcher, especially since the explanation of the Numbers were merely designations for the Candidates.

7. Why did Patchey seemingly "die" numerous times on the island but to return to reign havoc on the 815ers?
No clear answer. One could speculate that island people cannot commit "suicide" or the island itself controls life and death decisions.

8. How could the Island "stop" Michael from committing suicide in NY?
Unknown.

9. Is there a connection between having special powers if you arrive on the island in a suit and tie?
Apparently not, the key is if you are dead (Christian and Locke) then the smoke monster can use your possessions and fabricate a ghost.

10. Did Claire die when the Barrack house she was in exploded during the raid?
Open to speculation, but she did turn into a Flocke zombie afterward.
11. What was Ben's deal with Kate during their beach luncheon after she was captured? Unknown, but there is a weird loop in the sideways world that touches upon that: Desmond offering Kate a black cocktail dress after her escape from the prison wagon.

12. Who were the Other Others (the children) who were terrorizing the Tailies?
No clear answer. One of the blond jungle kids was young ghost Jacob, and another may have been ghost MIB. But there were other children lurking in the jungle and at the temple.

13. Why did Smokey scan Juliet then leave her alone?
No clear answer why the monster scanned people (to recreate visions of lost loved ones to manipulate behavior, or gather information.) Locke was scanned and saw the Light, then the second time Smokey tried to kill him.

14. Why did Horace repeat himself like a skipping record when talking to Locke at the cabin? The consensus was that was Locke's dream "skipping," but when do dreams skip?

15. Why did Ben use water to summon Smokey?
Ben claimed he used it to summon the monster, but in reality "it was summoning me." There was no explanation of how the water trap called or released Smokey into the camp.

16. Why does the Island heal some (Rose, Locke) but allow others to die?
Unknown and inconsistent.

17. What are the Rules that Ben and Widmore mentioned in their meeting?
If one takes Jacob and MIB's words, the guardian makes up the rules, so there really are No Rules.

18. "They're Coming!" What group of people (invaders?) are coming to the island in S6?
The plurality of the statement infers it was Widmore's people, but they were no threat to Jacob, Smokey or the castaways. It was probably a red herring panic cry to build tension or drama.

19. Why does Alpert never age?
The answer was that Jacob gave him immortal life to be his advisor on the island. For 140 years it worked, until the Smoke Monster Capt. Frank'd him in "What They Died For."

20. Why is it so difficult to locate the island?
Unknown. We still have no concrete explanation of what the island is, where the island is located, how the island operates, when it was created or why it exists. If the island is itself a main character in the show, it is the key to understanding the Big Premise.

So of the 20 questions posed,
4 were answered (20%)
6 were partially answered (30%)
10 were not answered (50%)

I think most viewers would agree that those percentages reflect the over all answers to everyone's questions and mysteries associated with the show. Whether having more than half of viewer questions remain unanswered could lead to some disappointment.