Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Libby or Elizabeth? You Decide...


After watching "Meet Kevin Johnson" yet again, I am not convinced that Libby's appearance in Michael's hospital room took place during his flashback after he tried to kill himself. It's a stretch, but plausible...

In Season 1, we witnessed Michael getting hit by a car, and he was in the hospital for an undisclosed amount of time. Back then, Libby was alive and well. Before she became a clinical psychologist, she took one year of medical school (she also tended to the wounded after the Tail Section crashed). I'm not exactly sure about the year, but she very well could have been working at the hospital where Michael was during that time.

The producers intermingled flashbacks with flash forwards during the previous episode (Jin and Sun, respectively), so who's to say that they didn't interject a true flashback again? We know that Michael has been in the hospital twice due to injuries sustained by a car, and it can't be coincidence that Libby has medical training. Why else mention it during her brief stint on the island?

Obviously, when Libby shows up on the freighter as Michael is about to set off Ben's bomb, that was an apparition (or a Smoke Monster manifestation, etc.).

I have always enjoyed her character on Lost, because let's face it - we have no idea is she was truly mentally ill or merely had a twin sister.

To me, the most pivotal Libby scene in Lost history took place in Season 2, moments after she convinced Hurley not to dive into the ocean after his imaginary friend Dave. The look on her face after he asks her if she thinks he's capable of change is priceless (see photo below). Her expression goes from real affection to absolute misery in a millisecond, and I believe it was very telling.

Here are the many faces of Libby and/or Elizabeth, in reverse order:


Freighter Ghost Libby


Living or Ghost hospital aide Libby?


Island Libby


Widowed Elizabeth, giving deceased husband's sailboat to Desmond



Mental patient Libby

So you tell me...was Libby cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs or did she have an evil twin? Was she working for Widmore (providing the boat for Desmond to participate in his race around the world)? Why was she married three times, and was it related to her mental illness? Was it coincidence that her last husband was named David (i.e. Hurley's friend Dave), he sailed and he died after getting 'sick' like Rousseau's crew?

Post those theories below!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting! I missed the part about Libby's husband getting sick, possibly like the crew! And never thought about the possibility of twins...

I think the appearance when Michael was in the hospital was definitely an apparition. We've seen already (Hurley) that apparitions can appear in the outside world too.

Anonymous said...

I like it. I have to think about this a bit. Questions arise in the way they presented it because it felt very dreamlike and that Michael didn't change at all... at least I don't think he did, but considering so many things were different in the hospital when Libby was there (like the guy), it makes some sense.