“But what about my friends?” In between all of the revelations about the hatch–I mean, hatches–and the return of Desmond, the guy the island survivors found in the hatch, it was still that line–spoken by roly-poly Hurley–that moved me the most as I watched the season finale of “Lost.”As Michael betrayed his friends by contributing to their capture by the evil, mysterious people known as “the Others” in exchange for his son, Walt, only Hurley was released by the Others with an order to return to camp and warn the rest of the castaways not to rescue their friends.

With so much being made of Jack and Locke as rivals for leadership over the motley assortment of survivors, the writers of “Lost” cleverly introduced a new savior figure into the plot–and he weighs about 300 pounds, loves ranch dressing. and was once in a psychiatric facility. Yes, it is now up to the insecure, down-on-his-luck–even if he did win the lottery back home–Hurley to figure out how to save Locke, Jack, Sawyer, and Kate from torture and possibly even death.. Though we won’t known for sure until next season, with this new twist to the “Lost” saga, I believe fans of the show can look forward to seeing Hurley join the likes of such great characters as Frodo Baggins from “Lord of The Rings” as he fulfills his hero’s quest and evolves from an innocent fool to warrior and defender.