Libby Smith

Libby is a member of the Tailsection. She appears to be a competent helper and willing follower of Ana Lucia. She is first seen in Season 2. She is shot at the end of that season by Michael.

Elizabeth "Libby"
Actor	Cynthia Watros
First Island Appearance	Adrift
Last Island Appearance	?
Age	1967
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Status	Deceased
Profession	Claimed to be a Clinical Psychologist
In Australia...	Unknown
On the flight...	Unknown
Family Members...	noinclude>-</noinclude>

Before the crash

• Appears to have been a patient in Santa Rosa Mental Institute the same time as Hurley, but had a darker hair color than on the island.
• In "Live Together, Die Alone" flashback, met Desmond by offering him four dollars to purchase a cup of coffee (2000).
• Offered her recently deceased husband's boat to Desmond. She claimed this was what the husband would have wanted (2000).
• Told Desmond the boat she offered him was named "Elizabeth", after herself, revealing her name. (Desmond had been calling her "Miss" until this point.) (2000) ("Libby" is short for Elizabeth).
• Told Desmond her husband's name was David, and that he died a month prior to her meeting with Desmond. (2000)
• Overheard Mr. Eko at the Oceanic Airlines counter speaking to Charlotte Malkin prior to boarding the flight, and asked them (or Charlotte?) if everything was alright (2004).
• Claims that Hurley stomped down on her foot in his rush to get onto the plane, and was surprised he didn't remember her. (2004)
  • This is a dubious claim, since she was in the tail section and he was in the midsection.
• Was in the tail section of the airplane (2004).

On the island

• Performed triage on Tailies after the crash
• Lived with the Tailies in the Arrow station
• Lied to Sawyer about how bad his wound is to motivate him to keep going
• Seemed to babble a lot, but this may be the result of stress or the clever use of her psychological training
• Claimed to be a Clinical Psychologist (she told this to Sawyer and Ana-Lucia)
• Claimed to have dropped out of medical school after one year
• Claimed to have been injured while racing "a cute Ski patrol guy" in Stowe, VT
• Flirted with Hurley in The Swan bunker's laundry room.(Perhaps in an effort to distract him from thinking about why she looks familiar to him from his time spent at Santa Rosa Mental Institute).
• Helped Claire to regain her memories of the Medical Station through what looked like hypnotic regression.
• Helped Hurley to rid himself of his eating habit, only to see a parachute full of food appear on the island.
• Stopped Hurley from jumping off a cliff.
• Kissed Hurley.
• Went on a picnic with Hurley, ended up going in circles.
• Went to retrieve blankets from The Swan and was shot twice in the stomach by Michael.
  • Michael calls this a mistake but seems to agree when Hurley asks if he would have killed her anyway (since she had witnessed Michael kill Ana-Lucia).
• After being shot, fell into shock and suffered massive bleeding.
• Jack injects heroin into her from Sawyer's stash as a pain relief after it became clear she would not survive.
• Last word before dying was "Michael".
• Ironically, she died mere days before she could see the Elizabeth again.
  • Her funeral was interrupted by the boat's appearance.
• Before The Others attack Hurley, Kate, Sawyer, Jack and Michael in Live Together, Die Alone her name (Elizabeth) is heard whispered. A similar whispered sound is heard before the kidnap of Cindy.

Theories

General

• Her full name is Elizabeth Widmore, Elizabeth Hanso or Elizabeth DeGroot.
• She's interested in Hurley because she knows he's rich.
  • This is unlikely since we now know she is at least rich enough to own a boat
• May be a compulsive/knowing liar.

Mental Patient

• The girl in the institution isn't Libby; it's her darker-haired "Bad Twin".
• Became obsessed with Hurley at the hospital and been following him ever since.
• She's the mysterious figure watching Hurley in the doorway to the sports hall in the Dave episode.
• She suffers from a dissociative disorder, this being the reason for her stay in the Mental Hospital.
• She might just have learned enough psychology as a patient to pass herself off as a psychologist.
• She was "healed" when reaching the island in the same way as Locke and Rose, only it was her mind instead of her body.
• Libby was in the mental institution, as a result of depression following her husband's death (and meeting Desmond), and took a liking to Hurley because she thought he was talking to her husband "Dave" in the afterlife.

Clinical Psychologist

• Libby is not a clinical psychologist. No C.P. would call what was happening to Hurley (on the cliff after Dave jumps) a "panic attack." A panic attack doesn't mean standing around looking nervous; panic attack symptons include hyperventilating, chest pain, sweating, and overall serious anxiety.

Connection with Hurley

• When Hurley says he recognizes her, she tells him he stepped on her foot in his rush to get on the plane. But Hurley was the very last person on the plane, and we see all his movements from when he first enters the airport until when he finally arrives at the boarding gate. Is Libby making up this occurance in order to distract Hurley from thinking of where he really knows Libby from?
  • This is probably the case as Hurley was a mid-section passenger and as he was the last on the plane, it would be very unlikely that he stepped on the foot of a passenger who was supposedly sat for the entire flight at the back of the plane.
  • However, as she has blonde hair (or at least a blonde wig) in Desmond's flashback in the coffee shop maybe it is not a disguise meant for Hurley's benefit.

Member of Hanso Foundation

• She is a member of the Hanso Foundation. She was in the mental hospital because of horrible experiences in the Hanso Foundation. The Hanso Foundation changed her name to keep their secrecy.
• Libby may be Hanso Foundation Board Member Liddy Wales.
• Libby is a Dharma Recruiter who may have helped to get Hurley and Mr Eko onto flight 815 and Desmond on to the island.
  • In the "secret footage" viewable at http://www.whatislost.com/ Libby tells Sayid "deep down, she's a good person" about Ana-Lucia.
  • Libby may have been sent by the Hanso Foundation to observe the Others as well as the survivors of the crash.

Hired Operative

• Libby is a private detective or other kind of freelance operative who does jobs for people. She was paid to set Desmond up with the sailboat and track his movements. She was also paid to follow up on other leads to the location of the island. This might have involved a vague lead on the numbers, which in turn led her to Leonard and an undercover job in the asylum. The use of the numbers by Hurley led her to tail his own investigation of the numbers, which led to Australia. Her client is Penelope Widmore.
  • This theory does hold some weight as Libby is supposedly a clinical psychologist. With much experience. It could have been possible for Libby to fake insanity in order to infiltrate the asylum and observe Leonard.

Connection with Desmond

• Libby offered "David's" boat, Elizabeth, to Desmond, intentionally sending him to the island.

Husband Dave

• Libby's husband Dave might be the same Dave that was Hurley's imaginary friend from the episode conveniently named Dave.

Monster Theories

• Libby might be The Monster/Black Smoke, supporting the statement of the producers that the black smoke appeared all throughout the second season but was not recognized. It has the ability to change forms, such as the giant parrot, and made Desmond, Hurley and Eko go to the island.
  • The writers only said we saw the monster in Season 2 but didn't know it, they never said we saw it throughout Season 2.
  • Extremely unlikely theory. Libby was on the other side of the island throughout the encounter with the monster.

Unanswered Questions

• Last Name?
• Basically, her whole backstory is a mystery since she did not have any flashbacks of her own. Everything regarding it is basically an unanswered question apart from when she crops up in other people's flashbacks.
• It may just be me, but why does she look different in every picture of her on this site?

Notes/Spoilers

• Highlight to reveal spoiler: Producers have said that although the character Libby is dead on the island, the actress who plays her is not done filming and will be seen again on LOST. This was later confirmed to be that her past will indeed be explored by more flashbacks from other characters.

Gallery

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Libby as a patient at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute.

Elizabeth at the coffeehouse with Desmond in Live Together, Die Alone.