I'd agree that Hurley and Ben had awesome adventures on the Island. And they maybe changed the rules? Hm...

I did notice the callback to the opening scene of the pilot episode, and had to explain that to my Lost-watching buddy, who came in during season three and never watched the previous stuff. (Yeah, that's weird unusual.) I thought it was great. And aw, Vincent who was just passing by in the pilot episode during that moment got to stay with Jack. Dogs = gratuitous emotional pull, but I loved it.

doggy doggy doggy!