Well, didn’t see this explanation of The Numbers coming. Not that I know one bit what the hell is going on with this show, what with a damned shape-shifting sentient smoke monster being the primary antagonist of this last season. (Check out Movieline’s clever comparison of the final seasons of Buffy and Lost.)

My thinking is this “candidate” numbering business was probably not the intended meaning to The Numbers going back to the outset. There may have not been a strict meaning, beyond simply serving as a device to hook viewer curiosity with their continued improbable recurrences. If this was the original intended meaning withing the full arc of the story, I’m looking forward to see how they explain the numbers being stamped on the hatch door or how exactly the lottery numbers were manifested with the numbers.

The good news is Hurley/Hugo is shaping up to be a big player in this final season. The affable rotund Latino lummox always been my dark horse candidate to be The One.