I’m going solo for this week’s discussion, but don’t worry, Jalocke will be back soon. This week we’ll be exploring one of the more lighthearted mysteries of the island – The Numbers. Drop the cut to read on.

  4 8 15 16 23 42. Hurley’s numbers have provided a lifetime of easter eggs for the true lost fan. Many viewers eagerly scan the screen for appearances, catching times on alarm clocks are plane ticket numbers, jotting them down on the growing list of places the numbers appear. I must admit, I’m one of those people. When LOST goes on hiatus, what better way to waste away the long, empty summer hours than by re-watching old episodes and picking out these fun nods to the fans?

 But the numbers have made many more important appearances than simple times on alarm clocks. And Hurley’s season one episode, “Numbers,” seemed to bring up again that ever present theme of science vs fate. While Hurley seems determined that the numbers are cursed (in his mind, they caused his grandfather to have a heart attack, his house to burn down, a meteorite to hit Mr. Clucks, etc), Sam Toomey’s wife reminds him, “You make your own luck, Mr. Reyes.” It seems Hurley is completely alone in his opinions. His mother sees nothing wrong with winning massive amounts of money, and coupled with the fact that he’s spent some time in a mental institution, anyone he confides in on the island thinks he’s crazy. But is he?

 One of the scenes that stands out most to me concerning the numbers, is Hurley’s visit to Lenny in the mental institution. He wants answers for the numbers; he wants to know about this supposed curse. Lenny says nothing, makes no replies until Hurley lets slip that he’s actually used the numbers. For the first time, Lenny looks up, seems to realize what’s going on around him. And then, he offers a warning: “You, you used those numbers to win the lottery? Aw, you shouldn’t have done that! You’ve opened the box!” At first glance, the box he references seems to be Pandora’s Box. The story is fairly well known. According to the myth, Pandora opens a box and releases all the evils of mankind into the word;  all that is left when she closes it, is Hope. This reference seems to strike again later in season 1, just before they open the hatch. When Hurley questions Locke on what he thinks is inside, Locke responds with a single word: “Hope.” What is most interesting about this reply is that we see the numbers inscribed on the top of the hatch. Here again, are the numbers in connection with Pandora’s Box.

 So, does that mean the numbers are really cursed? Not necessarily. Everything concerning the numbers, the fact that they are in the hatch and a part of Hurley’s past, could be as much coincidence as anything else on the island. Again, that theme is an open ended question for the viewers, thus far with no right or wrong answer.

As for those easter egg appearances I mentioned earlier, the members of stationzer0, most prominently the hawk eyed AVREY97 and Mr. Smith, have been compiling a list of their own. Most of these are from seasons 1 and 2, but I’m sure that when the DVDs come out, season 3 sightings will make their way onto the list in large numbers.

4
- the number of years Locke had his "condition"
- tailies made it to the beach
-number of guns in the case
-number of shots fired in live together, die alone
- 4 people on the raft
- leonard plays connect 4 in the mentalhospital
- Then number of people michael had to bring to the others
-henry tells sayid he arrived on the island 4 months ago
- when the alarm sounds, you have 4 minutes to enter the code
- number of times boone says "teresa falls up the stairs, teresa falls down the stairs
- number of spades on boone's shirt
- four planes on the mobile on the crib
- 40 years the bean scam was run that sam toomey used the numbers on
-sam toomey dead for 4 years when hurley went to find him
- 04/08/00--date of system-wide failure of Dharmatel Intranet
- number of falling stick people in the mural in the swan hatch
-Roussou had 4 scratches on her arm from Claire.
-Ana-Lucia went to the Department shrink for 4 months after she was shot
-in 'Collision', when the shrink gives Ana-Lucia her badge back, the badge number is 4651
-In 'One of Them', Henry says he had been on the island for 4 months
-Sayid told Kelvin that the helicopter pilot was buried 4 kilometers from where they were.
-The syringe that Juliette administered to her sister had 4cc of medicine in it.
-The security level on Juliette's id card was A-4
- Suzanne had 4 children in "I Do"
-Juliet injected Rachel with 4cl of the drug labeled "TEST SAMPLE A4993-E3".
- Juliet works at ‘Research Lab A-4’
- The time on Big Ben before Desmond and Penny got their picture taken was 4:00

8
- number of months claire was pregnant when they crashed
-shannon's age when her dad remarried
-number of years michael was seperated from walt
-48 survivors
-flight 815
-Kate's safety deposit box- 815
-the deck that hurley collapsed was built for eight
- sawyer was eight when his father left
- number of days claire was missing when taken by Ethan
-The Other 48 Days
-Locke's mother asked him where the footballs were in the toy store. Regulation were in row 8
- there was an 8 on the back of the bunny Ben "killed"
-Sawyers number on his prison jumpsuit was 840
-Jack operated on Ben in room OP-08
- Jacks pendant was shaped like an 8 in "stranger"
- Juliet’s mark had 8 points
- Tricia Tanaka worked for Action 8 News
- 815 is Widmore's office number

15
- the flight left at 11:15
- in lockdown, anthony cooper's safe deposite box was 1516
- when Desmond is on the excersise bike the counter goes from 15 to 16
- 08/15/01--another system-wide failure
- Shannons father was pronounced dead at 8:15am.
-Boone was o n the plane to Australia to see Shannon for 15 hours.
-When Jack was trying to get into the gun locker to stop Sayid, Locke had changed the combination. The first number was 15
- The apartment number for Jae was 1516.
- The cart where they took the picture of Desmond and Penny had the number 15 on the side
- Sawyer’s Playpen magazine had ‘15th Annual Girls of Fiji Pictorial’ written on it
- Sun was supposed to go outside the airport at 11:15


16
- Rousseau has been on the island for 16 years
- her distress call has been playing for sixteen years
- Alex is sixteen
- Number of years since sam toomey intersepted the transmission of the numbers
-The Lottery Hurley won hadn't been won in 16 weeks.


23
- the reward for turning Kate in was 23 thousand dollars
-jack's seat number
- jack says "46 people need to drink a half gallon of water a day" - that's 23 gallons
- the original number of survived tailies
- the number of people on the deck that hurley collapsed
-flight left from gate 23
-The 23rd Psalm
-Sayid tells Henry that he was 23 when the U.S. invaded in '91.
-karl was in room 23
- Mikahil’s birthday was 11/12. 11+12=23


42
- anna lucia's seat number
- written on the mural in the swan
- Locke’s chess game would actually have ended in checkmate on move 42
- Sayid finds a binder with 90M1654-21644 written on it in "enter 77". 9+0+1+6+5+4+2+1+6+4+4=42

108
-The milage on Claires car was 108
- number of minutes before having to enter the code in the Swan
- - Desmond saw a clock reading 1:08 in "Flashes"

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42
- Hurley's lottery ticket
- at airport the sports team's jersey numbers
-needed to enter code in swan hatch
-engraved on outside of hatch
-in thr transmission
-on police cars in Anna lucia's flashback
- on vaccine vials
- all show up on Hurley's dashboard while driving to the airport

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