- For a list of other meanings of "Elizabeth" see the disambiguation page Elizabeth.
Elizabeth, more commonly known as Libby, was one of the tail-section survivors of Flight 815. She claimed to be a clinical psychologist before the crash. She developed a romantic interest in Hurley on the Island, which was reciprocated over the course of the second season. Michael shot and killed her out of shock, as she walked in on him fatally shooting Ana Lucia. ("Two for the Road") She later died of her wounds before she could tell anyone. ("?")
A competent and caring woman, she seemed reserved about her own life, giving out little information when asked, or avoiding answering altogether. Since the only flashback that she played a major role in took place on the Island, little is known about her back-story. ("The Other 48 Days") Adding to the mystery is the fact that her surname has yet to be revealed. She also is featured in flashbacks of other main characters under mysterious circumstances.
Before the Island
Background
Very little, if anything, is known about Libby's life prior to boarding Flight 815 and arriving on the Island, as no flashback was specifically dedicated to her character, Most of what we know about her is from the snippets of information that she revealed through conversations with the other characters; all of which are presumed to be true.
According to Libby, she initially trained as a medical student, but dropped out in her first year. She eventually trained to become a clinical psychologist instead. ("The Other 48 Days")
Libby spoke to Ana Lucia about breaking her leg while skiing in Vermont. She said, "I was on this run, going pretty fast; I was racing this cute ski patrol guy. I went off this mogul, lost my edge, and, bam! Snapped my left leg." ("The Other 48 Days")
Libby had mentioned she has had been married at least once; her husband was named David. David named his boat the "Elizabeth", after her, which she inherited after his death. He apparently died of an unknown illness, leaving Libby a widow. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
"The Elizabeth"
Libby offers her boat to Desmond. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
Around the time of 2001, Libby accidentally bumped into Desmond Hume, who was with very little UK pounds and no US dollars, placing an order at an American coffee shop. She offered to pay for his cup of coffee, which he complied with. The two sat down together to talk amongst themselves, Desmond thanked Libby for her act of generosity. After reading the brochure that Desmond was carrying with him, Libby realised that he was participating in a sailing race. Desmond expressed his confidence to her. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
Libby in Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. ("Dave")
When she questioned him about why he needed £42,000, he told her about his plans to sail around the world for his love, Penelope, but his lack of a boat. She informed him of the sailboat that her late husband David had bought for a trip through the Mediterranean, but that he had died just a month ago before he could set sail. Desmond declined her offer on the boat, however Libby insisted he should take it, because she believed that her late husband would have wanted Desmond to have it. Libby gave him the sailboat, which David had christened the Elizabeth, after Libby. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute
Some time after she ran into Desmond, Libby, who now has dark hair, was admitted to the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. In the short time she was shown, Libby was given her pill by the nurse. After taking the pill, she continued to stare into space. Possibly in the direction of Hurley. He didn't realise who she was when they met on the Island, but Hurley indicated that he recognized her from somewhere, most likely from their time together at Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. It is not yet known what caused her to be institutionalized or the circumstances around her release. Though it could be possible that she was placed there because of her husband's death. ("Dave")
Australia/Flight 815
Libby interupts the arguement between Eko and Charlotte. ("?")
It is still not known why Libby was in Australia, and why she was on Oceanic Flight 815. However, just before she boarded on to Oceanic Flight 815, Libby intervened briefly during a conversation that was escalating into a heated argument between Eko and Charlotte Malkin in the Sydney Airport. She asked them if everything was all right, although they remained silent she was assured that things were okay. After this, it is presumed that Libby left them so that she could board Oceanic Flight 815. ("?")
On The Island
Libby tends to the wounded Tailies immediately after the tail section crashes. ("The Other 48 Days") (promotional still)
The tail-section of Oceanic Flight 815 crashed just off the coast of the Island. Libby dragged herself out the water and used her limited medical skills to tend to the injured, quickly emerging as their resident medic. Mr. Eko brought badly injured a man to her by the name of Donald, who had, amongst oher injuries, broken his leg in the initial crash. As she tended to him, Libby and Ana Lucia discussed their professions and Libby told her of the time when she broke her leg skiing in Vermont. Eventually, Donald passed away as Libby was unable to save him, making him the fourth casualty the tail-section survivors. Libby tearfully told Hurley that she buried a lot of people who died as a result of the crash, specifically referencing Donald's death. ("The Other 48 Days") ("Dave")
Libby, Cindy and Bernard bury the dead Tailies. ("The Other 48 Days")
On the first night after the crash, Libby was present when three tail-section survivors were kidnapped by the Others. Following this, Ana Lucia emerged as the leader of the Tailies, and she grew emotionally close to Libby, often looking to her for advice. After that first attack, Libby comforted Mr. Eko, trying to ease his guilt over killing two of the Others who had tried to kidnap him. A few nights later, a second attack and kidnapping took place, in which many of the Tailies, including the children, Zack and Emma, were also taken. After this event, the group, under the command of Ana Lucia, moved further inland. Due to this attack, Libby told Ana Lucia of her belief that one of the members of their group hadn't actually been on the plane. She was one of the people who encouraged Ana to throw the Nathan into the tiger pit after it was suspected he was the Other. ("The Other 48 Days")
After Nathan's mysterious disappearance, the group became very wary of staying exposed. They moved cautiously across the Island, eventually discovering the Arrow station. Inside, they discover a chest, in which Libby found a glass eye. Later, Ana and Goodwin left the station in an attempt to get a signal on the radio found inside the Arrow. When Ana arrived back without Goodwin, Libby enquired of his whereabouts. And she told the group that it was Goodwin who was the spy for The Others. ("The Other 48 Days")
Season 2 (Day 44-65)
Libby was with Cindy when she saw Jin wash up on the shore. They recovered his unconscious body from the ocean and took him to Ana Lucia and Eko, who assumed that he was an Other. After also discovering Michael and Sawyer, the Tailies put all of them into the tiger pit. Ana Lucia, posing as another captive, entered the pit and ascertained they were also survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. ("The Other 48 Days") ("Orientation")
Libby recovers the unconscious Jin from the ocean. ("The Other 48 Days") ("Orientation")
Michael and Libby, trek across the Island. ("Everybody Hates Hugo") (promotional still)
Libby told Michael that the tail-section survivors had numbered 23 initially; however, when they arrived at the Arrow station, Michael realized that there were only five of the Tailies left (Ana Lucia, Eko, Libby, Cindy and Bernard). ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
After the Tailies decided to go to the middle section survivors' camp, Ana ordered Michael and Libby to gather some fruit. While searching for fruit with Michael, Libby joked that Ana Lucia had trust issues. When Michael suggested that they go further into the jugle to look for more fruit, Libby immediately stopped him, saying, "That's where they" come from. She then returned to the station without Michael, and warned the group that he had run away in search of Walt. ("...And Found")
When Sawyer's bullet wound from the Others' raft attack became deadly, Libby used her knowledge of psychology to persuade him it wasn't as bad as he thought, similar to what she had done with Donald. Unlike Ana Lucia, she was willing to help construct a stretcher to transport Sawyer in the hopes of keeping him alive. When they were lifting this stretcher up a steep cliff, Cindy disappeared without a sound. Libby expressed great fear when they heard the Whispers right before Ana Lucia shot Shannon, as the two groups of survivors paths' collided. ("Abandoned")
Libby's loyalty to her leader was tested after Ana accidentally shot and killed Shannon. Libby protested that dealing with a vengeful Sayid wasn't the right option, as Sawyer's life hung in the balance. It wasn't until Ana put her at gunpoint, that she complied and tied up Sayid, disgusted and feeling betrayed by her fellow survivor. Libby, along with Bernard, then decided to leave Ana Lucia alone with Sayid, not agreeing with her actions. She was then united with the middle section survivors. ("Collision")
Libby attended Shannon's funeral along with most of the survivors. ("What Kate Did")
After integrating herself with the middle section survivors, Libby took a liking to Hurley, who had helped her to build her own shelter at the beach camp. ("The 23rd Psalm") In the Swan station, Hurley revealed his attraction to Libby during a discussion with Charlie about whether he had a chance with her. ("The Hunting Party")
Hurley's crush on Libby was addressed further when he asked Sawyer about the tail end survivors, in particular Libby. Sawyer perceptively asked if Hurley liked her, but Hurley denied this and left, clearly embarrassed. Libby began to bond with Hurley and engaged in playful flirting while they were building shelter and doing the laundry together. During this time, Hurley commented that Libby looked familiar; she seemed somewhat evasive when she replied with a story about how he stood on her foot after boarding the plane. This was a lie that she has constructed for unknown reasons, most likely because she was trying to conceal their time together at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute ("Fire + Water")
Libby helps Claire to recover the memories of her time with the Others at The Staff. ("Maternity Leave")
After Claire had been having flashes of the week in which she was abducted by the Others, she decided to go to Libby and ask for her help. Claire and Kate informed Libby abotu Ethan and the circumstances of her abduction. Libby used her skills as a psychologist to help Claire regain her repressed memories through a form of meditation. The two sat meditating for some time until Claire suddenly began to scream loudly, having visions of Ethan and the Staff station. Libby tried to calm Claire down, but she was unsuccessful. Kate ran to Claire's aid, thinking that Libby had tried to hurt her. Claire asked Libby to help her uncover more memories, which Libby refused, due to the extreme reaction Claire had previously. This led Claire on her journey with Kate and Rousseau to the Staff. ("Maternity Leave")
Libby told Jack that a sea urchin had stung her on the hand. When she asked for his help, he told her she should use some Neosporin. She replied that the going rate was too high as Sawyer had horded all the medicines and was making people pay for them in favors. Jack challenged Sawyer to a poker game in order to win supplies back from him. Along with Hurley and Kate, Libby amusedly watched the card game showdown between Jack and Sawyer from a distance. ("Lockdown")
Libby and Hurley started to do regular exercise together across the beach. While exercising one day, Hurley confessed to her about having an eating disorder. He showed Libby his private stash of food in the jungle. Despite his hesitation, and with encouragement from Libby, Hurley agreed and they destroyed the stash. Shortly after, they learned of the mysterious food drop from Sun and Jin. At the drop site, arguments started over the food and Libby suggested that everyone should only take what they needed. She saw Hurley run from the drop site into the jungle. Later, when she questioned him on what happened, but he was evasive with her, and said that he didn't "want to talk about it". ("Dave")
Later that day, Libby heard of Sawyer and Hurley's fight and went to his tent to see if everything was ok. She found him packing his bag and he told her he was leaving for the caves. They had a minor argument where she tried to talk him out of it, but he left the beach camp nonetheless. Libby eventually followed Hurley all the way to a cliff top, where she approached him as he was dangerously close to the edge. When she confronted him, he believed that he was imagining the current moment and everything that had happened since the crash of Flight 815. Furthermore, he believed she was a figment of his imagination. Libby was deeply saddened by this, so she used a real life experiences of her own to counter him. She tearfully claimed to have buried a lot of people, including numerous tail-section survivors and told him that she was insulted by what he had said. Hurley began to realize that he wasn't talking any sense, and she explained that everything she felt for him was real. They then had their first kiss, and headed back to the camp on a high. ("Dave")
The last time that Hurley sees Libby in a healthy state. ("Two for the Road")
Libby was present at Bernard's speech about making an S.O.S. symbol in the sand, but she lost faith in what he had to say when Rose undermined his idea. ("S.O.S.")
Libby approached Ana Lucia about the cut she had on her forehead. Ana tried to lie and say that she had cut herself by accident while shaving, though Libby didn't fully believe her. Ana confessed that the prisoner in the Hatch had attacked her. Libby, knowing of Ana Lucia's aggressive and violent nature, warned her not to do anything stupid. ("Two for the Road")
Hurley decided to take Libby for a nice picnic (to the same location that Sayid had taken Shannon the night before she died) on their first official date. However, he ended up leading her around in circles, due to him getting lost. Libby eventually proposed that they stay on a secluded part of their own beach, and that she would go and get the blankets from the Swan. Upon entering the Swan, she witnessed Michael (whom she didn't know had returned from his time with the Others) murdering Ana Lucia. She exclaimed his name in shock, and alarmed by Libby's sudden appearance, Michael shot her twice in the abdomen, through the blankets she had collected for her date with Hurley. ("Two for the Road")
Jack, Kate, Eko, Locke, and Sawyer returned to the Swan after being lied to by Michael. He told them that the imprisoned Other had shot and killed Ana Lucia and Libby, and shot him in the arm. It was discovered that Libby was alive and in deep shock, saved momentarily by the force of the bullets being stopped by the blankets. Jack battled to save her life, with Hurley at her side as he apologized for forgetting the blankets. When it became clear that she wasn't going to make it, Jack gave her morphine to numb the pain. She eventually succumbed to her injuries and died uttering "Michael" to warn the survivors who shot her, but this was misinterpreted as asking if Michael had survived. ("?")
Post-Death
She was buried in the graveyard along with Ana Lucia, but their funeral was interrupted by the return of Desmond on the Elizabeth. ("Three Minutes")
When Michael later confessed the murders to Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley, he pleaded that killing Libby was an accident. Hurley pointed out that had Michael even had time to contemplate his action, he still would have killed Libby to protect his secret. Later that day, Michael left the Island with Walt. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
Libby warns Michael not to push the button. ("Meet Kevin Johnson") (promotional still)
However, sometime after leaving the Island, Michael did something that put a stop to his and Walt's relationship, because he told Walt of his terrible crime. In New York City, Tom suggests that he told his son can't bear to look at him because he 'knows he is a murderer.' Michael neither denies or accepts this. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
Shortly after her death, Hurley visited Libby's grave to confess his fears and troubles, and he laid a dead flower down for her. ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")
Libby appearing as a nurse in Michael's vision. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
Off the Island, Michael still felt guilt for Ana Lucia and Libby's deaths, and after an attempt at suicide, Michael ended up in the hospital. While regaining consciousness, Michael had a vision of Libby, dressed as a nurse and bringing him extra blankets. The vision was holding the blankets against her stomach, notably similar as to how Libby had been when she was shot. She explained how he ended up there, and when Michael recognized her voice, he panicked and started to scream. Libby vanished and Michael woke up, and he realized that it was all just a dream. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
Libby appeared once again when Michael was on the freighter, which he boarded to atone for his sins on the Island. Just as he was about to set off a bomb supplied by the Others, he began to hear the same music that was playing during his first suicide attempt. When the music faded, the Whispers were heard and Libby appeared very briefly and told Michael not to push the button, before disappearing once again. Despite Libby's warning, Michael pushed the "Execute" button anyways, but it did not destroy the Kahana, instead presenting him with a note saying 'Not Yet'. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
When Michael later received a phone call from Ben tasking him to compile a list of people aboard the freighter who were 'innocent.' Michael tried to counter Ben by asking if Ana Lucia and Libby were innocent, to which Ben replied, "You killed them, Michael. No one asked you to" ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
According to the official story of the Oceanic Six, Libby was one of the three people who survived the initial crash but died later, along with Boone and Charlie. According to Jack, she did not survive long after the initial crash. It should be noted that her last name wasn't revealed during the conference, as none of the Oceanic Six knew it. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")
Trivia
- Libby is the only member of the main cast who was never given her own centric episode with more than one flashback. She is also the only main Flight-815er whose motives for going to Australia and boarding the flight have yet to be disclosed.
- Libby's episode count so far is 19. Libby died on her 17th appearance.
- Libby has never met Boone, Walt, Juliet, Ben, Daniel, Charlotte and Miles, as far as we know. However, she has met the rest of the fuselage-survivors and Desmond in LA prior to the crash.
- Libby was the fourth main character to be killed.
- Libby was the seventeenth character to ever have a flashback.
- The last few moments of the episode "Dave" showed a flashback that was seen from Libby's POV; this is Libby's only flashback. The episode was shared with Hurley, and it lasted only for about 30 seconds.
- Libby was at least ten years Hurley's senior.
- The flight manifest from the German 108minuten.de website stated Libby's full name as "Elizabeth Franklin". However, that manifest is an expanded and partially corrected version of the manifest from the Lost: The Untold website, and since both versions of the manifest contain numerous details that contradict information stated on the show itself, they may not be considered canonical.
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
|---|
|
- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Libby Smith/Theories
- What is her last name?
- Why was she in Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute?
- Does she recognise Hurley from before they crashed on the Island?
- Who were her husbands?
- What happened to each of her marriages that ended with them all being (presumably)unsuccessful?
- Why did she decide to drop out of Med. School?
- Why was she in Australia and why was she on board Flight 815?
- None of the Oceanic 6 apart from Hurley knew Libby well, or even her last name. Is there some reason she was chosen as one of the other three survivors in their account of the crash?
| |||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
