Lost co-creator “confirms” bizarre Hugo "Hurley" Reyes golf tournament fan theory. Though it went off the air ten years ago, ABC’s Lost continues to fascinate and confound fans, while still generating loads of speculation and theorizing about the true meaning of its many mysteries.
The biggest mystery about the show, the nature of its so-called “flash sideways” storylines, was of course already solved by the creators themselves when they confirmed the characters’ alternate lives were in fact lived in purgatory. Obviously, in many ways the show was constructed precisely to inspire a lot of theorizing and fan engagement, but the danger is always that things ultimately won’t resolve themselves entirely to everyone’s satisfaction, their imaginations having long since left the reality of the show behind. Indeed the final episodes of Lost left some with a sense of disappointment, but nonetheless ten years on the show continues to exert an influence on pop culture while keeping fans’ brains churning with ideas about the characters’ lives away from the actual action of the show.
One such interesting fan theory in fact was addressed directly by series co-creator Damon Lindelof and showrunner Carlton Cuse during their New York Comic Con Q&A moderated by Josh Horowitz. Via video, a fan chimed in with their theory that Hurley, as protector of the island, hosts a yearly golf tournament. Rather than dismiss the strange bit of headcanon, Lindelof went all in on the idea, “confirming” the theory. He said:
I just want to say, officially cause I think you and I are in a position to do this, we can verify her theory that in fact Hugo is having a yearly invitational that’s called the Dharma Open, and it’s invitation only and that is a thing that is in fact accurate. So I think we can say it’s true.
Cuse then also went along with the joke, chiming in that Hugo’s tournament actually starts with round 4 and goes backward to round 1, a fun little reference to the show’s endless playing around with time. Of course, Hurley did prove himself to be a golf fan on the show when, in season 1, he tried to lift his fellow plane crash survivors’ spirits by turning a hillside into a golf course. In Lost season 6, Hurley took on the role of protecting the island with Ben Linus as his number two, and soon began hosting his golf tournament (as this development is now canon by official decree of Lindelof).
Of course this particular “fan theory” falls into the humorous and goofy department, and Lindelof “confirming” it is just more lighthearted fun. That said, the fact that fans continue to obsess over the show to this level, coming up with completely wild theories they love enough to share with the people who actually wrote the show, just proves how popular Lost remains among devotees of genre television. Talk naturally continues of Lost receiving a revival, given the popularity of such resurrection efforts in the increasingly crowded streaming and TV market, but it’s hard to even imagine what such a revival would look like (though fans no doubt have their ideas). Perhaps the new show could elaborate on the nature of Hurley’s Dharma Open tournament, while going deeper into the many other unsolved mysteries left over from the show.
Source: New York Comic Con