I am – Hercules!!

“Hurley’s just a nickname I have. Why? I’m not tellin’.”

“Back home? I’m known as something of a warrior myself.”

“I am very good. I took 17th in a tournament once.”

“Lost” returns from its month-long hiatus on Jan. 5 (the first episode of 2005 leads into the fourth-season premiere of “Alias”), and there’s loads of intriguing elements to which we can look forward. Claire and her abductor will remain hidden, Jin’s wife will vanish, the giant monster will return in three episodes, we’ll learn a shocking truth about Shannon and Boone’s past, and Drew Goddard is scripting the next Sawyer-centric ‘sode.

How things appear to shake out now, flashback-wise:

1.1/2 Flight’s End
1.3 Kate
1.4 Locke
1.5 Jack
1.6 Jim & Sun
1.7 Charlie
1.8 Sawyer
1.9 Sayid
1.10 Claire
1.11 Jack II
1.12 Kate II
1.13 Boone & Shannon
1.14 Michael & Walt
1.15 Charlie II
1.16 Sawyer II?
1.17 ?
1.18 Hurley

That’s right. Hurley will be the last of the regulars to get a flashback episode. And he doesn’t get it until Jack, Kate, Charlie and likely Sawyer have had two. Series co-creator Damon Lindelof visited the Fuselage fansite Tuesday night and promised we’d get “a SHOCKER of a flashback” for young Hugo Reyes.

So what could be so shocking about Hurley? Some theories:

* COP. Were it not for the sluggish investigative abilities he’s demonstrated, one could see Hurley in Australia on the trail of a drug kingpin.
* WALL STREET LAWYER. In a suit and a ponytail, his savant-like legal savvy has saved the tobacco industry billions.
* MICROSOFT MILLIONAIRE. He’s been writing code for Bill Gates since he was a teen, and has accumulated many Microsoft stock options.
* TRUST FUND BABY. Don’t let his hair fool you. When he's not jetting to Australia for dogshows, he’s an undefeated polo champion.
* CLERGYMAN. Outreach minister in Venice, Calif.
* SABOTEUR. We saw Hurley on the plane behind Jack in the pilot. What if he sabotaged the plane, aware somehow that he would survive its crash?
* PORN STAR. Producers seeking tha more svelt Ron Jeremy had him hard at work, porking for pay.
* JOCKEY. He’s let himself go a little following a career-ending back injury, but it turns out he’s still the winningest rider alive.

Looking for bumper stickers, plush toys and girls’ underwear covered with cartoon double-amputees? Visit The Herc Store!