Lost Preview: Will Hurley Sink the Oceanic 6's Return Trip?

Jan 20, 2009 04:07 AM ET by Matt Mitovich

When ABC's Lost kicks off its much-anticipated fifth season this Wednesday at 9 pm/ET (with a two-hour premiere), a body count almost immediately adds up. Who's leaving the trail of goons in their wake? Oh, it's just bad-ass Sayid and his new sidekick ... Hurley?! Jorge Garcia gave us a typically cryptic look at the new adventures of the Oceanic 6. Plus: Who from the island does the big guy miss most?

TVGuide.com: As an actor, how has the Season 5 storyline been different for you?
Jorge Garcia: The story has been different and a little weird, and I'm just "following along in my book," so to say. But there is a confidence having done Hurley for now five seasons. There's a lot more instinct in the sense that I kind of know how Hurley goes now, how he would react to new situations.

TVGuide.com: Are you finding him to be a more active character this season?
Garcia: There's definitely some stuff that picks up. And there are certain things Hurley does this season where I'm still trying to figure out how he gets to this point. That's what I'm most curious about. They like to skip around in the storytelling, you know.

TVGuide.com: So even though we've arrived at this certain point in the future, it's not necessarily continuous storytelling.
Garcia: Right. They're not afraid to skip ahead even more if they want to, and then fill in that blank at a later date.

TVGuide.com: Hurley and Sayid have kind of a "buddy act" going on at the start of the season, don't they?
Garcia: Yeah, that's how it starts. The season picks up right where the last one ended, when Sayid springs him from [the] Santa Rosa [mental hospital]. Then they go off together.

TVGuide.com: Are you having fun doing these different types of scenes with Naveen [Andrews]?
Garcia: It's cool, because we hadn't worked too much together or in such a large chunk like we did this time.

TVGuide.com: Does Hurley do anything for the first time this season?
Garcia: Hmmmm... . There are some firsts on the wardrobe front. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Are you in a James Bond-like suit or something?
Garcia: Um, I can't say exactly what the outfit choices are. But in the first two or three episodes, it felt like a parade of costumes — which is obviously not something I'm used to. And I wasn't happy with all of the outfits, I have to say. [Laughs] You'll see why.

TVGuide.com: Do you think Hurley misses Sawyer?
Garcia: Totally. Especially when the team kind of split up and a group of us set up camp in the Others' village, there was a lot of bonding between Hurley and Sawyer. And I think Hurley was definitely moved when Sawyer jumped out of the helicopter.

TVGuide.com: All eyes were kind of on Hurley...
Garcia: Yeah. [Sawyer's sacrifice] had an effect on him.

TVGuide.com: How quickly does the Oceanic 6 make it back to the island?
Garcia: That's a big focus of this season, the struggle to get back. How quick it happens depends on how they tell the story.

TVGuide.com: It's obviously not a matter of them simply reuniting and flying somewhere.
Garcia: It's a bit more complicated, yeah. There's talk of us all getting there at the same time, and then there's talk of us getting there incrementally. Some of us go on this route, some go another route...

TVGuide.com: Ben says you all have to go back, and we always imagined at the same time. But that's easier said than done, you're saying.
Garcia: There is stuff to figure out because things start getting more complicated off-island. At the moment when they're trying to gather people to go back, as you'd expect, "complications ensue."

TVGuide.com: Is the plan still to run all 17 episodes straight through, with no big breaks?
Garcia: Yeah. Last season, they might have skipped a week before the finale and had a clip show day, so they might do that. But for the most part, it should run straight through.