I agree that to have the entire series be a figment of Hurley's imagination would be beneath the writers and insulting to the viewers. That scenario has already been used in television...waking up as if from a dream and finding the entire series never really happened.
I think Desmond and his girlfriend, and most importantly, her father, are the key. Her father either owns Dharma or is heavily involved in it. The guys in the frozen wastelands who were listening for an electromagnetic anomaly have to come into play. They, themselves, may not appear again, but they alerted Penelope, Desmond's girlfriend, and that means something. With all her money, she'll do whatever she can to find Desmond. So, we shall see.
Juliet is a liar. When Kate asks her how they wound up handcuffed together in the jungle, Juliet responds, “Ben likes mind games.” When the monster came as Kate and Juliet were fighting, Juliet acted as if she'd never seen the thing before, and claims twice that she doesn’t know anything about it. A little later, she produces a key to unlock the handcuffs and turn off the fence telling Kate, “we don’t know what it is, but we know it doesn’t like our fences.”
So Juliet lies like a rug, and Ben has set the whole exodus thing up to manipulate someone into doing something that he wants. That’s exactly what he said to Juliet when Pablo overheard them while he was in the bathroom of the other hatch. Ben and Juliet were watching the TV screens. Juliet asked Ben how he was going to get Jack to do the surgery. Ben said, the same way I get anyone to do what I want…I find out what is dearest to them and I use it to manipulate them. I’m not exactly sure of the how’s and why’s and what’s of this particular manipulation, but Ben is behind it.
I don’t have a good answer as to why the beach party folks aren’t using the compound, other than fear of the others coming back.
I really enjoy this series, in spite of its chronic mystery, which can be a drag after a while. To keep people interested, you’ve got to supply some answers to the gazillion questions posed. In the meantime, I’m enjoying what I don’t understand in the world of not knowing what’s going on.
Reading is freedom.
The mind soars, no earthly cares,
no limitations.
A Maggers Haiku, 2005
Years ago my mother used to say to me... "In this world, Elwood, you can be oh so smart or oh so pleasant."
Well, for years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant.
You may quote me.
Elwood P. Dowd