Episode 10 - Tricia Tanaka is Dead
2 January 2009
Review
Present: Hurley finds a Dharma van and is determined to get it started. Charlie, Sawyer and Jin help him out. Kate rushes off to find Rousseau in order to track Jack down.
Flashback: Hurley’s father leaves him when he is young. He returns once he hears about the lottery win. Hurley is sceptical of his father’s return but his mother welcomes him home. Both his parents try to convince Hurley that he has not been cursed.
The Good: Hurley is a loveable and fun character. It’s easy to sympathise with him because he never attacks, insults or causes problems for others. He and Sawyer bring the comedy out of this story with ease and seeing Hurley get a little hope in the bleak situation he is in is a nice moment. Lost can’t be intense and life threatening all the time and so the occasional departure from that is welcome.
The flashbacks explore Hurley’s relationship with his parents in a gentle and amusing way. Cheech Marin is an entertaining choice as Hurley’s Dad and his mother plays the comedy well too. Their scenes together fill in a few practical blanks about Hurley’s back-story in an adequate way.
There is some good detail work done in this episode too. It’s good to see Jin learning English, it’s a practical step he would take in real life. Seeing Hurley mourning Libby is a really nice touch. Not only to add sympathy to his story but to remind you of an important story and emphasise that events in the story have consequences. Finally Hurley tells us that Johnny ran off with Starla (see 204) which is a nice bit of continuity for dedicated fans to follow.
The Bad: It’s been a difficult season for Lost so far. The mini-arc was not a great success and they have had plenty of other problems too. Last episode felt like filler and sadly this does too. Like Jack’s flashback, Hurley’s doesn’t seem to tell us anything we needed to know. There’s nothing wrong with the flashback but by the end of the episode it feels like nothing new has been added to Hurley’s story. Again the writers ignore the current state of the curse. It’s obvious in flashback that it was real and yet on the island there have been no freak accidents around Hurley. Yet this is not addressed, has the curse gone? Does it not work on the island? The fact that it so obviously exists also destroys any attempt at Hurley’s stories being a battle between fate and free will. We know that the curse is real so those questions are pretty irrelevant.
The scene where Hurley and Charlie roll down the hill is badly filmed. It looks like they are a few metres from the rocks well before they actually turn away. Normally I would ignore a slight production error but the shot was played from enough angles as to look ridiculous. It’s also worth asking why Hurley didn’t just steer away from the rocks regardless of whether the car started or not. There was nothing wrong with the steering wheel so why drive into rocks?
As for the rest of the episode, well it is the same litany of complaints which I have voiced throughout the show’s existence. The lack of interest in the Dharma bus is annoying. Once more (sigh) I ask you, if you were desperate to find your way off a strange island, would you really take no interest in viable technology lying around? No you wouldn’t, you would rush to see if it had anything you could use to get off the island. It makes no sense for the survivors to be so disinterested. Similarly why don’t we see more grilling of Sawyer and Kate going on? Shouldn’t everyone be desperate to know how strong the Others are, whether they have technology which they could use to escape or just who the hell they are? And indeed why don’t Kate and Sawyer ask what happened to the hatch? To say these things happened off screen is not enough, a reference to those conversations being had is all that was needed. And finally Kate not telling Locke and Sayid where she was going is ridiculous. It continues the silly tradition of characters not wanting to go on treks in large groups. But seriously how would Kate have rescued Jack with just Rousseau for company?
Speaking of Kate, I don’t understand her interaction with Sawyer. What exactly does she want him to apologise for? He realised that she loves Jack more than him and pointed it out. And what does she mean by start over again? As friends? As lovers? She seems unreasonable considering he is the one who admitted he loved her and is clearly feeling rejected.
The Unknown: Why were the Dharma Initiative building a dirt road? What was in the van and was it significant? How did Roger die?
Best Moment: There really is a lot of decent comedy to enjoy here. Hurley and Sawyer insulting each other, Jin’s attempts to understand and speak English, Hurley’s Dad doing anything. I personally enjoyed the tarot card scene because it built nicely on Claire’s back-story (110) before you realise it’s a setup. But I will go with the popular choice which is obviously Mrs Reyes covering the Jesus statue’s ears in order to tell Hurley that his Dad will be staying with her because “I have needs.”
The Bottom Line: Lost is not on a role right now with two filler episodes. Let’s hope that Rousseau’s return will lead to more substantial plots soon. For what it is, the Hurley story is enjoyable.
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