Seeing Charlie again tonight made me think of when Hurley saw Charley at his asylum. A few things stood out to me about that old scene

1) Hurley was not the only one who could see him. A different patient is the one who points out that a man is staring at Hurley.

(note: these are not spoilers, they are transcripts from 'The Beginning of the End')


[In flash-forward, Hurley is sat outside within the mental institution grounds. He draws an Eskimo and an igloo. A patient approaches Hurley]
PATIENT: I'd watch out if I were you.
HURLEY: What you talking about, dude?
PATIENT: There's a guy over there, staring at you.
HURLEY: What guy?
[The patient points]
PATIENT: That guy.
[Hurley looks over and looks scared. Charlie is standing by a car]


2) Charlie also says to hurley 'I am dead. But I'm also here'' and he also tells him repeatedly ''They need you'' before he disappears.


[Charlie takes off his sunglasses and stares Hugo in the eyes]
CHARLIE: I am dead. But I'm also here.
HURLEY: Ok, prove it.
[Charlie slaps Hurley]
HURLEY: All right, ok.
[They sit down together]
HURLEY: Did you know you were going to die when you swam out there?
[Charlie nods]
HURLEY: [choked up] Then why didn't you tell me?
CHARLIE: Because you would have tried to stop me. And since I was gonna do it anyway I thought I would spare you all the drama. And now you have to do something. But you're hiding from it. That's the real reason you ran when you saw me in the store. You knew I was here to tell you.
HURLEY: I'm not listening to this. No cause you're not here.
[Hurley covers his ears and squints his face]
CHARLIE: I am here, you're being a baby.
HURLEY: I'm gonna close my eyes and count to five, and when I open them you'll be gone.
CHARLIE: I am here.
HURLEY: One!
CHARLIE: Don't do this.
HURLEY: Two!
CHARLIE: They need you.
HURLEY: Three!
CHARLIE: They need you, Hugo.
HURLEY: Four!
CHARLIE: You know they need you.
HURLEY: Five!
[Hurley opens his eyes, and Charlie is gone]


Now I dont know how exactly this would tie in to the alt timeline but this scene always bugged me because it was the only time someone else saw a dead friend of Charlies, and the comment of ''I am dead, but I'm also here'' seems a little more relevant now that we know Charlie is alive in another timeline. It is very strange that he disappeared though. Also, I wonder if there is anything more to ''They need you'' other than just convincing him that the people they left need him.


Thoughts?

Charlie's appearance in that episode fits in perfectly well with the other conversations Hurley has had with the dead in more recent events. The dead are dead yet also talking to him; they appear and disappear seemingly at will. "They need you" was sort of a theme for the Oceanic 6, so I suppose it's not entirely clear to us if that was really Charlie or if it was the MIB (remember, Christian has appeared off-island to Jack, so I guess the MIB can do that), seeing as their return fit the MIB's plan well. The only strange thing was that the other man could see Charlie, which either suggests it really was the MIB or that guy can see dead people too.

Of course, it's entirely possible that Hurley can't talk to dead people at all, it's just Jacob projecting images again.