Summary
This article contains spoilers for Lost and covers mental health issues.Lost’s unanswered season 2 mystery concerning Elizabeth “Libby” Smith (Cynthia Watros) frustrates me more than anything else in the series. Libby was introduced in season 2 as one of the tail-sectionsurvivors of Oceanic Flight 815. When she joined the main group of survivors from season 1, she quickly acclimated and started to become romantically involved with Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia), along with helping him work through some of his personal struggles.
Despite her importance in season 2,Lostcut her story short after she was shockingly killed by Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau). While I understand the narrative decisions behind her death, I am frustrated that major aspects of her story were not followed up on, especially given the specific setup in season 2. This is more frustrating than any of the mysteries about the island, most of which were answered byLost’s series finaleor its epilogue, “The New Man in Charge.”
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Lost’s Unresolved Story About Libby Smith’s Past Still Frustrates Me
A Season 2 Episode Provided Setup That Never Paid Off
The final shot of season 2, episode 18, “Dave,” revealed that Libby was a patient at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute when Hurley was there. This explained why Hurley thought she seemed familiar as he got to know her on the island. What the series never explained was why Libby was a patient there in the first place, or how this vital piece of her backstory connected to other established details about her past.
Season 2’s finale, “Live Together, Die Alone,” featured a flashback in which Libby met Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) in a coffee shop. Even though Desmond was a stranger to her, after talking to him, she gave him $42,000 and her deceased husband’s sailboat, theElizabeth, so Desmond could participate in a sailing race around the world. Libby did this as she had no use for the sailboat and wanted Desmond to“win the race for love,”and while she was naturally grieving, she otherwise appeared to be doing well.
Cynthia Watros played Libby Smith in 25 episodes ofLostbetween 2005 and 2010.
The only other details known about her past include that she went to medical school for a year before dropping out, which is how she knew how to fix the leg of a fellow tail-section survivor, Donald, after the crash. It was also established that she was a trained clinical psychologist, as she used these skills to help Hurley and Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) on the island. It was unknown why she went to Sydney, Australia or why she was heading to Los Angeles.
It frustrates me thatLostnever took the time to connect all of these details, nor did it follow through on the promise of the intriguing cliffhanger at the end of the “Dave” episode. Providing a rewarding payoff for cliffhangers, connecting small details, and exploring the backstories of prominent survivors, even if it took multiple seasons to culminate, were amongLost’s greatest strengths. Failing to do so with Libby is a glaring blemish that stands out even more when rewatching the series, particularly in the “Dave” episode and in the series finale.
Why Lost Never Answered The Questions About Libby’s Past
Logistical And Narrative Challenges Prevented The Questions From Being Answered
Even afterLibby’s sad death inLostseason 2, showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse intended to explore more of her backstory. Lindelof shared in aDigital Spyinterviewthat with certain actors choosing not to return to the series, they couldn’t continue telling stories with those characters, regardless of the showrunners’ plans. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is an example that Lindelof references, as the actor chose to exit the series, leading to Mr. Eko’s death in season 3, and having the rest of his story arc given to other characters.
While her tragic fate continued to hang over Michael and Hurley, she wasn’t a part of many other characters' stories moving forward, making an episode focused on her past feel less necessary.
Without Watros returning to the series as planned, they couldn’t tell the rest of Libby’s story. She later returned for a brief cameo in season 4 and for two episodes in the final season, but these appearances weren’t really about her and were instead about Michael wrestling with the guilt and trauma he felt over killing her, and Hurley finding his true self again in the flash sideways. While her tragic fate continued to hang over Michael and Hurley, she wasn’t a part of many other characters' stories moving forward, making an episode focused on her past feel less necessary.
Lindelof also revealed some of what he and Cuse had planned, sharing that Libby’s grief over her husband’s death caused her to spiral in the aftermath of her run-in with Desmond, making it ultimately necessary for her to become a patient at the psychiatric hospital. This makes sense to me, even if it lacks connections to other established details, but I can understand from a logistical perspective why this story was never told.
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Why Lost’s Libby Mystery Is More Frustrating To Me Than Any Of The Island Mysteries
Libby’s Unexplored Past Weakens Lost’s Otherwise Perfect Ending
Not only were most of the island mysteries answered by the end ofLost, but the series finale made it clear that the show was never about the mysteries as much as it was about the characters. It was about the journeys that these flawed characters went on and how their time on the island helped them become better versions of themselves as they formed a found family. Libby was among the members of this found family who moved on together in the church at the end of the series.
Christian Shephard
John Terry
Compared to Hurley, Claire, and everyone else gathered in the church, I know the least about Libby, primarily because the mystery of her past was never answered or properly explored. It felt like she was there solely because of her romantic attachment to Hurley, and that her presence had nothing to do with her individual journey or because she was truly a part ofLost’s core found family. I’m happy Hurley moved on in the afterlife with the woman he loved, but the show didn’t earn Libby’s inclusion there in the way that it earned the other characters.
Island mysteries like why there were polar bears on the island were explicitly answered in “The New Man in Charge” epilogue, and the answer had been clear since season 3 introduced polar bear cages that once belonged to the Dharma Initiative. As intriguing as polar bears on a tropical island was,Lostwas never about polar bears, and this mystery didn’t require emotional or in-depth exploration. The same can’t be said for Libby, whose mysterious past deserved to be shown with the same level of detail and emotional weight as other significant characters received.
Lost
Cast
Lost is a mystery drama series created for TV that follows a group of survivors of a plane crash and tells its story between the past, present, and future via flashbacks. When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes and lands on a mysterious island in the pacific ocean, the castaways discover their new temporary home may have a mind of its own, as strange supernatural events keep them locked to the island. From an unknown black smoke creature to dangerous islanders, the passengers must work together to survive the island’s seemingly deadly intentions.
