The Smoke Monster was the Man in Black who inhabited the island and was changed in to that form thousands of years before the present day events . He could then inhabit dead people . I don ' t know what special water you ' re referring to . The island moved due to natural phenomenaelectromagnetism and could be manipulated on the island via the ' wheel ' in the Orchid station . The numbers represented themes of fate and coincidence that filled the show but were ultimately used to represent the candidates who could replace Edit Jacob as protector of the island . Hurley was 8 . All of this , at least for me , was just a reason for an immensely satisfying and great character drama could play out . Lost was always just about those people . Not the mythology .