Sunday, February 25, 2007

Lost - "Tricia Tanaka is Dead"

Episode Title: Tricia Tanaka is Dead


Brian's Deeper Meaning Guess: Remember last week, how I said that some episode titles send me down paths researching old books or movies where I find very intriguing connections to the show (thus, “deeper meanings”), but other titles end up being simple references to lines from the episode (thus, not really that deep)? Well, this week is definitely falling into the second category.

Researching the name yielded no real results, and the phrase doesn’t seem to be a takeoff of any other famous quotes – so we’re left to take it at face value. However, my search wasn’t totally useless – since it actually led me to who Tricia Tanaka is:

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From ABC’s website, I found Sung Hi Lee listed as a guest star for this episode, where she plays the character of “Tricia Tanaka”. So we know who she is… but who is she?

Well, that’s a good question. Since this episode is a Hurley-centric one, I would expect her to be a character from Hurley’s past. I would also wager that her death is the result of Hurley’s “bad luck” that came with his playing the Numbers in the lottery – that puts this episode post-“Numbers”, but pre-“Dave”, somewhere around the “Everybody Hates Hugo” flashback. We know about a few of the tragedies that surrounded Hugo from prior episodes – the deck collapse, Mr. Cluck’s being hit by a meteorite, and his box factory burning down – so it’s likely that Tricia dies during one of these incidents.

As for the underlying theme of the title, it looks to be another episode of Hugo self-loathing, probably blaming himself and the “curse of the Numbers” for Tricia’s death. It’s a theme we’ve seen before and know quite well. One has to wonder if the curse still exists, post-Hatch implosion – since destroying the Hatch symbolically ended the power the Numbers had over the Island. If you think about it, the Numbers have been noticeable absent from most of the episodes in the third season, even when there have been blatantly obvious places that they could have popped up in both flashbacks and Island life.

It’s likely that the flashback deals with Hurley either trying to convince people that the curse exists (pointing to Tricia Tanaka’s death as proof) or Hurley facing ostracism after the curse claims yet another victim (Tricia Tanaka). Either way, I’m a little afraid of a “been there, done that” feel for the flashbacks in this episode. I feel like I really know the Hurley character, his motivations, and his history – so I’m not sure what this episode could add besides just strengthening our understanding of the character by providing more examples of the things that we already know.

Ironically, I think the only thing we don’t know about Hurley is why he’s called Hurley. So maybe we can hope for that little nugget of information to pop-up in this episode.


Episode Description: Hurley's discovery of an old, wrecked car on the island leads him on a mission of hope not only for himself, but for a fellow survivor in need of some faith. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer reunite with their fellow castaways, but Kate is still torn about leaving Jack behind with "The Others."


Episode Breakdown: Finally a bit of a longer episode description! Before we get to the sentence-by-sentence breakdown, let’s revisit the Lost Moments from this episode.


Lost Moments. I think this is the last week of Lost Moments, which means the next few episodes should be much more full of surprises. For this week, we can once again look to the Moments to help piece together the episode.


Lost Moment 10Vincent appears with a decaying arm holding a key. Hurley chases after him to retrieve the key.

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This Moment seems to set the stage for the episode, as Vincent’s appearance clearly sets the stage for Hurley’s discovery of the “old, wrecked car”. As I mentioned when this Moment originally aired, Vincent’s reappearance confirms the very puzzling inconsistency from the Season 2 DVDs, where we saw Vincent inexplicitly joining Michael and Walt on their boat when they left the Island in a special feature, something that was not included in the episode itself.

Now that we know that Vincent still remains on the Island, one is left to wonder who is taking care of him these days. With Walt and Shannon both gone, I hope someone is making sure Vincent is getting the food, water, and squeak toys he needs. Once again, it’s clear that Vincent has explored more of the Island than any of our Survivors (confirming that a Vincent flashback remains the coolest potential flashback possible) – this time stumbling upon the VW Van.

For all of those fans of the “Vincent is God / the Monster” theory (Sully, this means you), here’s more evidence. Who wants to bet that this Van somehow symbolically represents a troubled time from Hurley’s past, and his finding it helps him to “overcome” the pain it has caused him (much like Jack’s dad, Kate’s horse, and Eko’s plane). Once again, it seems as though the Island is bringing items and objects from a character’s past onto the Island as a way for them to overcome their demons. Here, Vincent is being used by the Island to bring Hurley to the item – since our Survivors, Hurley in particular, haven’t stumbled upon it on their own.

Aside from the logistic questions about how a Van ends up in the middle of the jungle (although, as we’ve already got a plane and a pirate ship – so this gives us the only missing method of transportation), the question becomes – who is the body inside the Van? Someone from Hurley’s past who died because of his bad luck… Tricia Tanaka, perhaps?


Lost Moment 11Sawyer teaches Jin the only three phrases you ever need to say to a woman, as the two enjoy Dharma Beer inside an old Volkswagen Van.

This one puzzles me, because clearly the first Lost Moment seems to indicate that Hurley is the one who will find the Van – so how do Sawyer and Jin end up there, sans-Hurley? We have to assume that the Dharma Beer was found inside the Van – is this fan the last remnant of the 1970’s hippie-version of the Others, who drank beer, listened to the Dead, and smoked pot in hopes of discovering a way to crack Valenzetti’s Equation? If there’s Dharma Beer in there, wouldn’t it have gone terribly bad about 30 years ago due to sitting out in a steamy jungle? It’s a cute scene with Sawyer, sure – but a lot about this scene doesn’t make sense to me.

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Lost Moment 9Hurley slaps Charlie and tells him to “snap out of it”, saying he has a plan that can help them both – it’s dangerous, but if they don’t die, they win.

On the other hand, this scene makes total sense, and ties back in with the first sentence of the episode description. I’m not sure exactly what Hurley needs to do in order to “overcome” whatever the Van represents, but he’s looking for Charlie to help him – and in the process, help get Charlie out of the funk he’s likely been in ever since Desmond predicted his demise. The only question is what they could possibly do that would be considered dangerous. Bury the body? Fix the Van? Bury the Van? Anything I can think of that involves the Van seems pretty danger-free to me.

That covers the Hurley storyline and the first sentence of the episode description. In other news, Kate and Sawyer return to camp (sans Crazy Carl) and I hope that they are immediately drilled with questions about the Others after they finish their hug-a-thon. If everyone greets them and then goes on with their day-to-day life without trying to understand the Others, their motives, and what it means for their potential escape off the Island, I will be seriously upset (and it will be yet another example of the Lost writers not giving dramatic events the aftermath they deserve).

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Lastly, Kate continues to worry about Jack, and likely begins to recruit a team (read: Locke and Sayid) to rescue him. The problem is – none of them have any sort of boat (since the Others recovered Desmond’s sailboat in “The Glass Ballerina”), so I don’t see how they could get very far in their efforts. Since we’ve already done the “build a boat” storyline in Season One, I can’t see that happening again. Instead, I’m expecting the Rescue Party to set out to find another boat – perhaps back to Pala Ferry? – and eventually rescue Jack… which is where the action should pick back up in terms of storyline.

The writers are also doing a great job in keeping the Kate-Jack relationship full of drama, in true Ross-Rachel style. Think about it. Kate hooking up with Sawyer seemed to indicate the end of Jack and Kate, but now she knows that Sawyer was more of a one-night stand and her true love is with Jack... but little did she know that Jack is currently falling for Juliet. We all know that TV Rule #1 is keep the characters the audience wants to see together apart for as long as possible, and Lost is doing a great job of it.


Okay, since last week I over-hyped the episode a bit (well, technically ABC over-hyped the episode and I fell right into their trap), I’m going to under-hype this week and wrap this post up. Since this is a Hurley episode dealing with a Mystery Machine in the jungle, I’m expecting a light-hearted episode featuring the tearful reunion of Sawyer and Kate with the rest of the Survivors and the buddy hijinx of Hurley and Charlie. I’m not expecting any progress with the Desmond storyline, or any scenes involving Jack and the Others. My gut is telling me this is going to be a throwaway episode – but that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable.

I’m just not going in expecting any huge answers or heavy plot development, and I recommend you do the same.


Programming Note – Once again, the real world is getting in the way of my blogging. I’m going to be in Montana this week for work, so an “Instant Reactions” post isn’t likely to happen. Heck, I'm hoping I can watch the episode at all. I’ll try and get my full analysis of the episode up this weekend, but until then you guys might be on your own. Behave yourselves and don't burn the Blog down!

54 comments:

Rebecca said...

How dare you go away.

xoxo have a safe trip

Anonymous said...

Brian,

If you find yourself in Bozeman, you can come to our house to watch LOST.

Thanks for the updates.

Dave Estupinan said...

i agree Brian, better be safe than sorry - not get hyped up and then be disappointed...

Have a good one and look forward to your post.

Anonymous said...

***Careful potential spoiler, but I just can't help it I've got Crazy Lost Theory Diarrhea or something***




"The Blog! The Blog! The Blog is on Fire!..." or "Not in Montana."

The latter has more of a Lost theme. (sigh - I'm such a geek, but it gets worse as I ponder spewing tangents of a theory that Brian has actually just been "recruited" by Mittelos.)

Seriously though stop reading! Charlie's gonna be all like "Boohoo! Des said I'm gonna die and since Braveheart we know the Scottish never lie...wish I had some heroin. Boohoohoo" and Hurley (a name most likely extending from his high school days of drinking copious amounts of alcohol and quite simply not being able to keep it down) is gonna be all like "SNAP OUT OF IT! Dude! no way! it's totally my fault; since I used the numbers (blahblahblah) ... anyone close to me receives seriously bad luck, you're gonna die dude..."

(Hurley looks away in regret)

(Pause for effect)

Ok! Really Stop Reading. Ready? Set? Go!

"...Duuude. But wait! If I can save you, the curse is broken, you live! we both win!". Crazy Adventure. Exit stage left.

Now according to previous debates on Lost formula, add in a Hurley centric flashback episode (al-la the late Tricia Tanaka), a crazy adventure with a guy the universe is going to "course correct" and poof, presto, BAMMMM! Hurley's resolved! Hurley's Dead! There I said it! Heck we might even be setup for a "two for one".

(Now a scene from Jim Carrey in Liar Liar "Jordan fakes..he steps back..He Shoots!.... AND THAT'S THE GAME".

I swear this just came to me from reading your analysis Brian. Even though this is in no way intended to be a spolier I understand if it gets pulled. oh boy! is it getting hot in here... hopefully I'm not being too pretentious.

As for last episode being lack luster (ok concensus wins; it kinda licked...ok it really licked) perhaps now, they (the producers) are just setting us up to be blown away by this weeks episode. But now that I've ruin it...

Safe Trip Brian!


sniffsniff anyone else smell something burning?

Brian said...

hobbes, buddy - note to self: Drunk posts always come back to haunt you in the morning.

I'd put the odds of Hurley and / or Charlie dying in this episode at roughly 1%.

...and with that, I'm off.

Stef said...

Brian, what about the other special guest star on this episode?I'm excited to see Cheech as Hurley's dad!

Anonymous said...

Hey dude, "Dave" was set before both "Numbers" and "Everybody Hates Hugo". He was in the mental hospital before he won the lottery.

Anonymous said...

Remember, in Numbers, Hurley went back to the mental hospital to drill Leonard on what the numbers mean.

Anonymous said...

Brian, you said: "The problem is – none of them have any sort of boat (since the Others recovered Desmond’s sailboat in “The Glass Ballerina”), so I don’t see how they could get very far in their efforts."

You're forgetting the canoe with which Kate and Sawyer came back to the main island. I think they left it where they camped, and returned to the camp on foot. Plus, Carl told Kate that they lived on the main island. If they chooose not to go to Alcatraz, they can still go visit them at Othersville.

Anonymous said...

...how a Van ends up in the middle of the jungle (although, as we’ve already got a plane and a pirate ship – so this gives us the only missing method of transportation),

No.. I'm still wating on a Locomotive and a space ship...

Anonymous said...

I agree with Feline,
I expect to see Kate looking for the others and Jack on the main island. I seem to remember he saying something to Sawyer about letting Carl go and that he could have told them how to get to the others "home"

Anonymous said...

This was a blog post on DDK's MySpace page. Just to give you a little more from the horse's mouth!


Friday, February 23, 2007

FINALLY

Well after a very long break, I wanted to tell you all that Jin will be back in the next episode of LOST. It's a Hurley flashback called "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead." There are some cool guest stars in this one, especially the actor who plays Hurley's dad. (Hint: "Dave? Dave's not here.") I always like Jorge's episodes and this one was one of my favorites to shoot. Hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think. Cheers!

Anonymous said...

ASLO, if you REALLY are going to Montana, and find yourself near Butte...look us up! We will have a space for you on our VIEWING SEAT OF LOST!

eamil me at my blog Heather's Brain and we will get you in!

Truth be told, I agree that the "rescue" will lead us into jungle NOT out to sea! If anything they have got to see if those "backyards" are real!

Till next time!

Anonymous said...

agreed that Sawyer and Kate still have the canoe, assuming crazy Carl didn't take it. also, agreed that this adventure will take them to 'othersville'; not to alcatraz.

Anonymous said...

ooooh man! My aching head! Sorry B. I was up a little too late. Chowing down on one too many CLT's. lol

Anonymous said...

In your transporation break down you forgot hot air ballon, boats, and horse(s).

No train, submarine, or rocketship though- too bad. Maybe later they will find them. ;)

Anonymous said...

Be careful in Montana, I hear that's where we last saw Sylar...

Anonymous said...

I am not sure this is spoiler information, it does not talk about the plot or anything of upcoming shows but it is about "guest star" listing which is available to public view....SO READ ON OR NOT IT IS UP TO YOU!







In next week's episode, ENTER 77 to air March 7th, we should see Miss Klugh, and Dr Marvin Candle! WOW! among others but those two were HUGE to me! Finally, we will see Miss Klugh and Danielle Rousseau again! and someone else, MIKHAIL BAKUNIN...aka Mr Patchy!

The following week PAR AVION (French for BY PLANE) is a CLARIE centric ep, but will show Jack's DAD! others included in the list, Mr Patchy, Danielle, Tom, and several others that mean nothing to me at the moment.

Although I am certain tomorrow's episode will be a good show, it will not have any effect on the overall plot of the story, I am certain though the next two shows will be like the first two in 2007!

Rock on Lost!

PS, Ya - Skylar was in Bozeman, MT...they really shot it there too! AND it is only about 85 minutes from my house! YIKES!

Anonymous said...

:agreed that Sawyer and Kate still have the canoe, assuming crazy Carl didn't take it. also, agreed that this adventure will take them to 'othersville'; not to alcatraz."

Assuming they're going to Othersville (as it will henceforth be known, because it's cathy as hell) then what would Carl want with the canoe? Surely he'd be heading to Othersville too?

Anonymous said...

"'...how a Van ends up in the middle of the jungle (although, as we’ve already got a plane and a pirate ship – so this gives us the only missing method of transportation),'

No.. I'm still wating on a Locomotive and a space ship..."

I'm still waiting on a Delorean.

Anonymous said...

I'm still waiting on the USS Enterprise to show up near the Black Rock.

Anonymous said...

senor f.....maybe Carl would want the canoe to rescue Alex. How would he know if she left Alkatraz or not?

Anonymous said...

Sorry to say, but Lost is being relegated to the Tivo from now on and I'll have to wait until Saturday to view it. I just can't justify staying up late (yes, 11:00 is late for me) to watch a show that is becoming more frustrating than exciting. It's completely understandable why it is losing viewers.
I'll still check out the blog, though. ;-)

Anonymous said...

srry, a little late for this comment, but is it just me or does Isabel look exactly like the ring shop lady in desmond's flashback, only with different hair? That was my first impression, but i've been unable to find a picture of "ring shop lady".

Anonymous said...

...adding to my post above, i've found two pictures that can help my case.

ISABEL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c-_lNoFHPY

at 1 minute 48 seconds (1:48)

"RING STORE LADY"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BurM-SWHkfk&mode=related&search=

at 4 minutes 5 seconds (4:05)

By shrinking and resizing, you can get both images right next to each other, and unless my eyes are shot, these two women could be one in the same.

Anonymous said...

tkap -- we know the actresses who played them are different, and while they don't look entirely dissimilar, I'm pretty sure they are not supposed to be the same person on the show either.

Anonymous said...

They look like they could be mother and daughter, but they don't look anywhere near identical. Also, there's about a 20-25 year age difference.

Seventoes said...

why did i never make the Alex-CFL connection before?? gahhh!

Anonymous said...

This episode was nothing more than a decent setup episode....and its good sayid finally decided to ask whats going on, etc...

Anonymous said...

Even though this episode didn't contain a lot of excitement and didn't answer very important questions it was better than last weeks for a couple reasons:

-It wasn't overhyped like last weeks episode.
-It set up the next couple episodes pretty well...at least enough to get me reasonably excited.
-And Hurley flashbacks and scenes with Sawyer and Hurley bickering are entertaining enough that I'm okay with a set up episode every now and then.

It's the hyped up supposed action episodes where things are supposed to be accomplished that the LOST writers sometimes struggle with.

Anonymous said...

Come on! admit it;) for a moment there you thought I might be right. But alas wrong again. All in all an ABC After School Special episode. Good call Brian.

Anonymous said...

Firstly, tkap.....the 'ring women' is a well known actress (named previously here) and is not the same actress as Isabel.

Secondly, despite prior post saying ABC didn't hype this episode, I still say that promos for LOST have NO integrity and are inconsistent with the vibe Cuse and Lindeloff have overall.

Stef said...

I agree with the anon 3 posts ago - I really liked this episode. Even though it didn't do much to move plot forward (other than Kate and CFL! Hooray!), it had such a great story that helped showcase some favorite characters.

I thought the tone of the whole episode was really reminiscent of season 1, in a really good way. They were folks stranded on an island, trying to make the best of their situation. That's the LOST I first fell in love with! :-)

Anonymous said...

I agree with Stef, this episode took me back to season one and made me remember what is really great about the show - the characters. Hurley really gets you emotionally involved in what's going on. You can't explain it - the writing and the actor just mesh perfectly for this guy.

It also might have revealed a bit about this whole fate vs. freewill battle than we're willing to admit.

Finally Sawyer's "touche" was one of the funniest moments on the show. Ever.

Greg said...

Brian, and all --
A fun episode if not particularly revealing. In case you did not catch it, the song played when Hurley starts the van (and in his flashback) is Shambala, by Three Dog Night. From Wikipedia:

The song is about the mythical kingdom of Shambala, said to be hidden somewhere within or beyond the peaks of the Himalayas and mentioned in various ancient texts including the Kalachakra Tantra and ancient texts of Tibetan Buddhism.[6]

Shambala is also a theme in Sufism and it is through this tradition that the notion of Shambala became the song discussed. Songwriter Daniel Moore became a Sufi in 1970.[1]

The lyrics refer to a situation where kindness and cooperation are universal, joy and good fortune abound, and psychological burdens are lifted:

Wash away my troubles, wash away my pain
With the rain in Shambala
Wash away my sorrow, wash away my shame
With the rain in Shambala [...]
Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind
On the road to Shambala
Everyone is lucky, everyone is so kind
On the road to Shambala [...]
How does your light shine, in the halls of Shambala?

While the lyrics include the refrain "in the halls of Shambala", much of the song actually refers to "the road to Shambala", perhaps alluding to the idea of Shambala not as a physical place but as a metaphor for the spiritual path one might follow.[6]

Anonymous said...

Interesting point Greg. Especially when you consider that Sawyer found map for a road or plans for one. Will it come into play? In typical Lost fashion probably not.


Also about Sawyer letting Karl go. Do you think it was so that Kate wouldn't have the means to simply take off again looking for Jack and getting into serious danger. aaawwhh He oves her. He really loves her.

Previews for next week looks like Locke at Patchy's blue house stumbles upon a way to make contact off the island.

JacobUSA said...

And no one thought that Lost potentially jumped the shark last night? The performances felt inconsistent and self-conscious.
I am surprised that everyone seems to be liking this episode. I felt really cheated content wise and the overall tone of the show felt completely off. There was some huge clunkers of dialog too... We are 4 episodes in to the new part of the season and we really haven't learned anything huge... I am definitely not a hater, but the inconsistency of the writing in the last 10 episodes if why I believe that viewership is falling. Maybe they should end it this season, so as to not die a slow painfull death and be cancelled before they get off the island...
Huge fan of the show, but very disappointed in this season overall.

Anonymous said...

The whole starting the car thing makes no sense.
Not to mention those wheels are flat, making it hard to push, and anyone who has a lawn mower knows that Gas that sits gets 'stale', and either needs to be replaced, or have a stablizer added(I usually just add some fresh gas).
I know this show asks you to suspend reality, I can buy the others, whipsers in the woods, smoke monsters and polar bears.. they're all much more possible than this car starting and riding on rusted rims.who knows about oil in the engine or fluid in the transmission. Sheez...

Anonymous said...

Deeper Meaning? The title of the episode, "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" appears to have little significance. The character, Tricia Tanaka is the journelist who interviewed Hurley. I guess the implications of titling the episode after this small character has to do with death surrounding Hurley and perhaps the implications it may have for Charlie. However, it would seem that by virtue of Hurley and Charlie jump starting the van, and not getting killed, perhaps Hurley's luck has in fact changed. Also, the presence of the found road map yielded no significance to the characters. More striking was how there was no apparent curiousity from the Lostees to pepper Kate and Sawyer with a countless questions regarding their experience and existence being help captive in The Others' camp.

Anonymous said...

I think all in all the episode was satisfying with what it was trying to do, establish a way for the big rescue to come into play, get back to knowing which character is which, and having some fun on the island. Add in a little of freewill vs. predetermined destiny, a mysterious map that may or may not come back to being signifcant, and dharma beer and it is all good to me. I was thinking about how awful the beer would taste, but maybe with the possibility of that crazy warped time on the island beer stays fresher longer and maybe the VW wasn't in as bad shape as what could be expected. But those are really insignifcant ideas that probably shouldn't be thought about too extensively. Also, I didn't like that pretty much the only thing learned about Hurley was that his father probably didn't win any Dad of the Year awards. Other than that I think the episode did everything that it was trying to do.

Anonymous said...

Brian's often talked about Lost being about redemption. Definitions of redemption range from "delivering from sin" to "the act of purchasing back something previously sold." Hurley's beliefs about being cursed ruled his life. He sold his life to his beliefs. Was this episode, then, not about Hurley being "delivered" from that? What I took from this episode was that his life will be lived drastically different from now on. What did he purchase back? By taking a chance and going down that hill, he purchased his freedom...he was liberated from the beliefs that ruled his life and from now on his life will be ruled by a different belief system, one that is freeing.

Just my thoughts.

4kids4me

Anonymous said...

I just re-watched portions of last night's episode and I'd like to add to my comments.

A few things that we heard last night were:

1) Hurley's dad saying we need to make our own luck as well as we need to have hope.

2) Hurley saying to Charlie that they need to do something dangerous and it could take their lives, but if it didn't, they'd "win."

3) Sawyer telling Hurley that there's no hope on the island.

4) Hurley saying again and again that, "we make our own luck" as he's driving down the hill.

So maybe the theme was hope/luck (though I still like my redemption theory). On the island there hasn't been much hope for the survivors. I can think of Clare's baby respresenting hope, and not many other "big" things. Too, Hurley's life has been hopeless...and I think tonight proved that he could still have hope in his life, that you create it, it's not dictated to you like circumstances are (hope despite the circumstances).

I don't know...can anyone build on what I've said in my past couple of posts, or am I completely delusional?

4kids4me

Anonymous said...

For those of you that dislike episodes where nothing is accomplished:

If you have the self control I would recommend waiting for the entire season to come out on DVD to watch. I didn't start watching Lost until this summer I sat down and had finished the first two seasons of Lost within about a week and a half...it was great I wouldn't feel pissed about a down episode because it was almost always immediately followed by an exciting one. This is the first season that I've watched live on TV one episode a week and I have to admit I liked it much better just plowing through a season in a week rather than having it being drawn out the entire year. At the very least I'm considering just turnin on the DVR for the rest of the season and just watchin all the episodes at once sometime in June.

Anonymous said...

IMO- this episode was essential to the core of the show and the spirit of the 'LOSTies'. They were slowly being picked off by others or dying as a result of 'the island'. This glimmer of hope represented happiness that hasn't existed in the last 60 so days of their lives (spare a few moments). Without hope, people lose the will to fight/survive. I thought it was good to see Jin and Hurley smile, and Sawyer to feel somewhat normal again, (and for Charlie to stop being such an uptight tool). Maybe it didn't reveal anything, and maybe it was a 'soft' episode, but we need reminders like these to better 'root' for the charactors. Otherwise the show is too much action w/o enough personality. Again- as mentioned above- this show deals with redemption a lot, and you can't process redemptiom without knowing the charactors. Maybe Kate's redemption is sexier/more compelling than Hurley's, but its not more important.

PHG said...

I am a big fan of the episode. We need the "fluff" episodes to set up other epsiodes. This one was a good fluffer. Yeah, the car storyline was kinda cheesy and unbelieveable (yes, the tires would be flat and the gas bad...unless it hasn't been there too long. Extreme aging on Roger Workman?????? Maybe we have something there.) But, it was something different and they wrapped it up in an hour. They didn't just leave the van story line out there. They found it, did something, and it was resolved. Done and done. Kinda refreshing. But here is why I liked it.

1. Locke and Sayid grilling Kate, asking her relevent question after relevent question. Finally!!!!! Just as we predicted.

2. Someone finally connecting the dots on something! We all knew Alex is/can be CFL's daughter. But in typical Lost fashion, I thought they would just brush it aside. Well Kate saw the connection AND ACTUALLY TOLD SOMEONE AND DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT. It wasn't like the normal scenario: someone realizes something and then tells no one. I enjoyed.

ALSO,
Whoever made the post about the DVDs, you are correct. That is how I watched season 1. FANtastic way to watch it. Extremely satisfying. Plus I didn't feel as jobbed about the cliffhanger, because I only invested a week watching it and not 9 months. Plus I had season 2 ready to go on the dvr.

Unknown said...

"OOH, BEER! Hey look, a map of the island. Huh."

Anonymous said...

regarding last weeks ep

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1172641440286130.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

Hermano said...

Has anyone ever mentioned (I'm sure they probably have) all the "Daddy Problems" the main characters seem to have? Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sun, Locke, Penny/Desmond-ish (potential father-in-law), Alex (calling Ben her father), Shannon/Boone(? I can't remember, but I assume they hated their parents with that stereotypical rich kid fervor). No idea what it might mean, but it's odd.

Anonymous said...

So...if Hurley now is no longer "cursed", does that mean that he has "found his peace"? And if so...is HE the next LOST member to be found, and killed off? Food for thought. Mmmmmm, food.

Anonymous said...

I am very interested to see what comes of that map that Sawyer found. I know he kept it. He's a pack rat. He said something about a dirt road around the island? Am I right? I've only watched the episode once, and I watch it with people.....So I tend to miss things. That map could play a huge part in navigating the island....especially if there are landmarks on the map.

Roz said...

No one watches Family Guy? This is clearly a riff off Asian Reporter Tricia Takanawa. :D :D

Anonymous said...

Totally agreed to the idea of poetic license as it relates to not allowing matters like old beer being stale or a van that typically would never start or move get in the way of story telling here. All in all, I think the writters do a decent job of remaining plausible, given the unresolved mysteries and overall mythology of The island.

Anonymous said...

Oh, we do talk ourselves in circles here, don't we. Good ep / Bad ep, van ride fun fluff/ van ride dumb...

I'm anxiously awaiting the episode assessment of our fearless leader.

You go Bri!!!!

Of course, I say these things with a wink and a smile because I'm one of you!!! : -)

Anonymous said...

cmon Buddy!!