(S03E10) I am a bit torn about this episode. "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" was entertaining, to be sure, but nothing new was learned from a viewer's standpoint. To a degree, a largely expository episode to catch the beach survivors up on recent events was a necessary evil. No significant ground was covered, but all of the characters are now in a position to take action. Hopefully the slow-moving events in this episode are building up to some serious resolution.
To start, I cannot forgive the writers for letting the "Daddy issues" theme spill over into the Hurley flashbacks. With a curse and an obesity problem to deal with, Hurley has enough on his plate. The episode began with a young, svelte Hurley carrying some tools out to an old car in the driveway. The song "Shambala" by Three Dog Night was playing in the background, but more on that later. The car was in total disrepair, but Papa Reyes, played by Cheech Marin, told young Hurley to try starting the car on hope alone. It failed to start, but Cheech gave the following advice anyway: "Make your own luck." That tender moment was followed by Papa Reyes' quick exit, as he was leaving to "go to Vegas for work." I guess he had already tried the "going out for cigarettes" excuse. As if being abandoned by his father wasn't enough, Cheech laid the groundwork for Hurley's eating disorder by giving him a candy bar to soften the blow.
Back on the island, a supersized Hurley was recounting his abduction and release by the Others at Libby's gravesite. Crying, Hurley told Libby that he was scared, but he was never scared when Libby was with him. I am grateful that the writers let Hurley's grief stay relatively fresh, unlike the "Shannon who?" stance they have currently taken with Sayid. After paying his respects to Libby, Hurley wandered up to Charlie and learned of Desmond's premonition. Hurley began blaming his jinx-like abilities when Vincent the Dog wandered up, with the creepiest chew toy imaginable. In his mouth, Vincent was holding a decayed human arm holding a set of keys and a rabbit's foot key chain. This has to be every dog owner's nightmare. Hurley was somehow able to keep up with Vincent as he ran back into the forest to the arm's source: an old, tipped-over car covered in brush.
Hurley's flashback continued in front of Mr. Cluck's, where Asian reporter Tricia Tanaka (this has to be a shout-out to Family Guy's Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa) was filming a story about Hurley buying the chicken shack. The puff piece was going well until Hurley started ranting about his lottery-related bad luck. Sadly, it turns out that Johnny ran off with Starla some time after Hurley won the lottery. A frustrated Tricia took her cameraman to film inside the restaurant, which was quickly destroyed by a falling meteor (or an asteroid; Hurley wasn't sure).
The "reunion that everyone was waiting for" was, as usual, overhyped. After a brief conversation in the jungle, in which Kate removed a dart from Sawyer's foot (that had better be important later, because the scene was pointless), the couple broke up and returned to the beach. They immediately went back to their old tricks; Kate defiantly stomped off into the jungle alone, and Sawyer became territorial about his stolen goods.
The remaining back story for Hurley filled in the period between Hurley winning his millions and his trip to Australia to learn about the numbers. Hurley came home from Mr. Cluck's to find his estranged father, who had apparently been "working in Vegas" for seventeen years. Not to take Cheech's side, but one long weekend in Vegas can feel like seventeen years. Noticing Mr. Reyes' impeccable timing, Hugo was positive that his father was there for the solid gold Jesus centerpieces and Bennigan's-trained servants. In fact, Mrs. Reyes had called him to provide some fatherly guidance (and husbandly--gulp--affection). It was also revealed that Hurley had kept the car from his childhood during his father's absence.
The island's mystery car was apparently another DHARMA vehicle, as the corpse of a uniformed Roger "Workman" was found inside (along with plans for a dirt road and DHARMA beer). After enlisting Jin and Sawyer's help, the men got the car flipped up on its wheels. Hurley began pouring all of his hope into getting the car to run, and used his mission to get Charlie out of his impending-death funk. In an act that was surely envied by tons of viewers, Hurley also got to slap Charlie across the face (mirroring his mother's slap in the flashback).
Speaking of the flashback, Hurley's back story took a hilarious turn with a visit to a psychic. Mr. Reyes convinced a psychic to "lift" Hurley's curse, a con that Hurley thankfully got wise to. His father finally redeemed himself by admitting that he was there for Hurley's money and suggesting that he give away his winnings. Hugo unfortunately never got to find out if his father made good on his promise to stick around, because he left for Australia anyway.
The "fun" island storyline ended with Hurley and Charlie confronting death in the form of a steep hill in an attempt to get the car started. The plan actually worked, and "Shambala" began playing from what looked like an 8-track. Hurley got some hope back into his life, Charlie escaped death for another week, and Sawyer began to regret dumping Kate.
And what of the last few minutes everyone was supposedly going to be talking about? Kate sought the help of Danielle Rousseau for her rescue mission, and used Alex's existence as a bargaining chip. Simply earth-shattering.
As I wrote before, this episode probably had to happen in order to bring all the pieces of the story together. While it lacked the dramatic punch of "Not in Portland" and "Flashes Before Your Eyes," this episode did contain a few kernels of interest:
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Three Dog Night's "Shambala" is rooted in Asian spiritualism. Shambala is a mythical kingdom in Tibetan Buddhist writings. The song's lyrics refer to good fortune, psychological cleansing, and a spiritual journey. Does any of that sound familiar?
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Tricia Tanaka stated that Randy (Hurley's old boss) had the last name Nation(s). Randy's surname has been listed elsewhere as Burgess. Any reason for the change?
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In addition to loving Star Wars, Sawyer is also a fan of Little House (on the Prairie).
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Hurley measures the passage of time using the Rocky franchise as a reference point.
See you next week for what will hopefully be a more action-packed episode!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
3-01-2007 @ 2:06AM
RedStarRevolution said...
I liked this episode. Not loved, like Flashes Before Your Eyes, but it did what it was supposed to do, while at the same time being easily the funniest Lost episode to date, which is something I think this show needed. Not much, but a little injection was fine with me.
This was supposed to be a light-hearted episode, so I have no beef with that, and it pulled everything together nicely and sent it forward for what seems like Act 2 of this season.
Just as a final note, the preview for next week made the episode look ridiculously good, I know ABC previews are notorious for over-hyping everything, but it seems as if they find a new station, and discover Patchy, who seems to have some connection with Sayid. Now that's some juicy, tasty, meaty Lost goodness right there...
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3-01-2007 @ 2:09AM
Smiley said...
Stop reviewing Lost. You obviously hate the show. Just stop watching. Stop reviewing. Leave it the hell alone.
Lost, since the very first episode, has been about the characters and what brought them to the island; not what is happening on the island. The flashbacks are the story. I get it. The real fans of the show get it. Everyone with a brain gets it. But, for some reason, you don't get it.
Tons of stuff is revealed in every episode. But most of it is suttle. You have to actually pay attention to the story to understand what is going on. It also helps if you have at least a high schooler's understanding of literature.
Maybe you'd understand the show better if you got your GED.
So you either get Lost or get lost. Pick one. Don't let me catch you posting this whiny b.s. again.
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3-01-2007 @ 2:16AM
Bill said...
It helps to never watch the promos for the episodes. If I was expecting the last few minutes to blow my mind, it would've failed miserably, since Mira Furlan was listed in the credits. And they overhype everything anyway.
But that said, I don't see the problem with an episode being entertaining on it's own. I liked it a lot. Plenty of laughs, and we're set up for some potentially good action next week.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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3-01-2007 @ 2:17AM
David said...
Kind of a boring episode, but at least Kate and Sawyer weren't annoying and there was no Jack!
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3-01-2007 @ 2:20AM
Stephen said...
as usual episode easter eggs and next episode US and CA trailers are on Dharma Secrets.
www.dharmasecrets.com/forum
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3-01-2007 @ 2:21AM
Losties said...
as usual episode easter eggs and next episode US and CA trailers are on Dharma Secrets.
http://www.dharmasecrets.com/forum
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3-01-2007 @ 2:24AM
Allen said...
I have to agree with Smiley. This show is very difficult and trying. It's a challenge. Not every single episode is going to be Brillian Television. Some of the time it's just a show.
You don't seem to like the show very much. Hand it off to someone else. We are already watching the show so we don't need a full recap if its going to be followed by griping.
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3-01-2007 @ 2:31AM
BigTed said...
I liked the stuff with Hurley in this episode... Jorge Garcia may be the best actor on "Lost," or at least the most fun to watch. It was nice to see him get assertive for a change, especially since he managed to cheer everyone else up. The rest of the episode was "eh"... not much happened, but it wasn't as annoying as some of them, either.
A few notes:
Rousseau was obviously shocked to learn she had a living daughter on the island, but were we supposed to be surprised that Alex is Rousseau's daughter, too? I thought that had been established a long time ago. (Or was that just viewer speculation until now?)
"Shambala" came out in 1973. That must have been an oldies station young Hurley was listening to, or else he's a lot older than we think he is.
I bet the dart in Sawyer's foot will turn out to have been poisoned -- or, if they're being creative, it was laced with some kind of hallucinogenic drug. (Or maybe he'll just end up with a foot infection, but that would really be boring.)
The idea of an old VW bus that can only start when it's moving seemed awfully familiar.... I guess one of the writers is a big fan of "Little Miss Sunshine."
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3-03-2007 @ 3:09AM
Carly said...
I greatly enjoyed this episode. Hurley has hope. The theme of hope was wonderful. As explained in a blog I like a lot, this episode was all about the turning point for Lost. From despair to hope. It is in Condender's Lost Spoilers Blog. Hurley needed hope, as do Charlie, Sawyer, Kate and Rodrigo. In an allegory of personal repair, Hurley repairs the car, Charlie rides shotgun and Hurley regains hope and self respect, while Charlie takes control of his life, cheating death.
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3-01-2007 @ 2:32AM
meeno01 said...
I liked this episode, and i thought it gave great insight on how the rest of the season is going to develop. Moreover, I think it has become trendy to hate Lost, like Smiley said, the show is about what got the characters to the island. Those people were lost way before they crashed, and this Hurley episode makes that point even more clear.
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3-01-2007 @ 3:02AM
Samuel McConnell said...
First off, what standards have to be met now to become a good episonde? No great revelation now means that the show is going nowhere. A random unexpected even apparently means that the producers have no idea whats going on. Chracter development means that the writers are dodging questions.
SERIOUSLY!!!! LOST is a show about a group of people struggling to survive, and the thing that made the first season so special was how in depth we got to see the community, in both the most serious and the most banal of actions.
Here we saw the community again, with Sawyer and his stash and all. Also, Charlie is only a bad character because he never recieved proper development after his addiction. Well. . . now he has.
The flashback was honestly one of the best ever. . . humour, drama, a great guest start. . . not to mention that great fraud gypsy.
Oh, and I'm going to say something that will cause everyone to hate me: I like Nikki and Paulo. We know there are other survivors, and we know that they are less active then the main characters. Paulo especially has shown kinda a lazy streak, he's laid back, unworried, a normal person on an abnormal island. I think that kinda person would exist in the Lostverse, and reccuring characters help build up the community.
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3-01-2007 @ 3:27AM
Curt said...
And enough with the Hurley is fat jokes. We get it. Who cares? And if you say he should've lost weight by now, so help me god...
Good ep. I think this + next week will set up the rest of the season nicely. It has become popular to hate Lost, and I think that's the media and bloggers like the ones here on TVSquad's fault. It seems when a show has a down turn, even for a bit, everyone jumps on it for not being what they think should be. Yes, ABC overhypes it in it's promos. But I don't watch a show for its promos. I watch it for characters, plot and entertainment.
So quit reviewing based on promos, and enjoy the show for what it is. Because it hasn't gone down in quality; people just expect too much.
Expectation corrupts all.
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3-01-2007 @ 3:36AM
Jeff N. said...
I loved tonight's show. I don't care what any bloggers say. It was just darn good TV.
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3-01-2007 @ 3:40AM
Paul Hillsdon said...
Frankly, it seems like much of your problem with the episode stems from the over-blown previews (which I never saw), and the fact that it didn't address any island mystery.
IMO, it was the greatest episode since the show's return. I didn't care for Juliet's, Desmond's was merely interesting, and Jack's was almost flat out boring. I got so sick of the pouty Jack, defiant Kate, and closeted Sawyer (you know what I mean) week after week.
This was classic Lost at it's best. Not only was it a Hurley episode (which are always great and fun, even though this is slightly less so than previous ones), it also addressed so many different things back on this island: Charlie's death, those two new Losties, Jin and Sun's relationship, Sawyer and Kate's relationship, etc. Sawyer even finally had some good new jokes. You could also really see how they are tying deeper "people themeing" into the show rather than endless mystery, with the example here being hope. The episode seemed to be a turning point in the show concerning the lack of hope. That whole theme played very well and I thought it was quite touching. I also enjoyed how they didn't end the episode with the pan from group to group this time, but wrapped it up with the predictable Danielle meetup.
I'd just like to mention that I'm not against mystery. I believe the season premieres and finales of the first two seasons were definitely the best of the whole show, but something has been lacking this year round. Sure, they mention new things in this whole Other's point of view season, but it's just soooo strung out that people don't really care anymore. And they also throw way too many new things in there. Maybe that says a little why I found the past three episodes lacking, while this one most satisfying.
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3-01-2007 @ 4:17AM
Dan said...
I think the name change is a reference to Gregg Nations the shows script co-ordinator. Over at The Fuselage he is one of the crew who will take out time to answer almost every question put to him. He's an all round great guy so I guess this is a shout out to him.
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3-01-2007 @ 12:05PM
matthew m. barnes said...
um, Smiley... you're a moron.
where did you get the idea that the show isn't about what's happening on the island? the show is partly about what brought these people to where they are... but if it wasn't about what's happening on the island, then why do they have a plot there at all? it would just be a bunch of flashbacks about people who were living on a beach after a plane crash while nothing particularly interesting happened to them. that was a pretty stupid thing to say.
the show is most definitely about what's going on on the island. when the producers do interviews and talk about the show, they mostly talk about what's going on on the island or what's going to happen on the island. when they talk about having a master plan for the show and where it will end up... they talk about how things will end on the island. the flashbacks are there to give us insight into the characters and to give us clue about WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE ISLAND. why? because that's what the show's about.
also, if you're going to insult someone's educational level in one sentence, you probably should learn to spell an elementary level word like "subtle" in the sentence before it.
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3-01-2007 @ 4:55AM
DREW said...
Well said Smiley!
Yes this was a lighthearted episode but it was great. Good story and character development.
Definetly looking forward to next week!
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3-01-2007 @ 7:38AM
kel said...
This episode is more important than most of you are thinking. All this time with Desmond we've been told that fate is inevitable, yet in this episode we get an indication that you can make your own fate (luck). Maybe that conflict is this season's "Science vs Faith," pitting Desmond vs Hurley for Charlie.
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3-01-2007 @ 7:45AM
jack said...
I agree with #13 (Paul Hillsdon). This was probably my favorite episode this season, because the backstory flowed so naturally and didn't lead to a huge overhyped reveal (like Jack's tattoo...). The acting was top-notch, and it was nice to just laugh and not study the screen for clues that won't be explained for a season and a half anyway ;-). It's like Hurley building the golf course. The viewers, like the losties, need to lighten up from time to time. This was a great point in the season to do it.
Also, I believe the point of the dart was to act as a reminder of the hatch implosion. Remember, at this point (their slow walk back to camp) Sawyer and Kate don't yet know about the hatch. The dart was from the dartboard seen earlier when the hatch was intact. Sawyer's question "How did this get here?" just points out that they haven't learned about the hatch yet, and how all its contents were spread across the island. It's not a precursor to Sawyer being poisoned. It's a subtle way of saying something without explaining it again. We see Kate explaining about the "zoo" but we never see Locke explain where the hatch is or what happened to it. With the dart, we don't need to see that happen. We can assume they heard the story of the hatch (along with Eko's death).
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3-01-2007 @ 8:02AM
Dan said...
"It's never too late for a fresh start."
Loved this episode. And how perfect is it to feature Cheech as Hurley's father, since he's the comic relief of the show? Also loved Sawyer teaching the Asian guy (can't remember his name) the only three things you need to be able to say to a woman in English. "No, those pants don't make you look fat."
Funny stuff.
PS--yay, Smiley!
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