Hurley loses his mind
2.18. - Dave
Hurley-Centric
Why are the cute ones always so crazy?
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a Hurley episode, and it’s been longer still since we first found out he was in a mental institution. A lot of Hurley information was finally revealed in this episode, along with some new bits egarding “Henry” and the hatch. But first, review!
Ever since the Sayid-Shannon relationship didn’t work out and the Charlie-Claire “thing” went on ice, the island has been devoid of romantic involvement, sans the already married couples like Sun and Jin. This episode began and ended with Hurley and Libby growing closer while Hurley struggled with his mental illness. They began the day together by exercising on the beach to help Hurley’s weight problem, but he revealed to Libby that it wasn’t his metabolism keeping him hefty; instead, it’s his stash of food in the jungle that included ranch and chips. Libby convinces Hurley that he can change his ways so he starts dumping the food everywhere (why wouldn’t he just give it away???) only to have the discovery of the supply drop rain on his new-diet parade. Typical Hurley luck. No wonder he thinks he’s crazy.
The Camp comes flying through the jungle to find the supply drop which they quickly pick apart. Several questions were addressed during this scene: Where did it come from? Did anyone see a plane last night? Did the drop coincide with the lockdown of the hatch? Should we divvy up the food, or should everyone just take what they need? Again, it was satisfying to see the Camp ask the questions but the only answer we got was that each individual would just take what they needed. (Sidenote: There was a note on the blacklight diagram from last week’s episode that referenced the supply drop as happening every 6-8 months. If that is the case, we may not find out any more about the drop for some time seeing as how we’re only into the third month in island time!)
At this point we are introduced to Dave, Hurley’s “friend” from the mental institution. It becomes apparent rather quickly that Dave is nothing more than a figment of his imagination, but he is more dangerous than that. I’m no psych major, but it seems that Hurley probably has a split personality and “Dave” is the half of him that is impulsive and uncontrollable. It also seems that Dave is all the things Hurley wished he was: slim, fit, confident, not hairy. And before Hurley can be any or all of those things, he has to get rid of Dave. It’s unclear how long Dave was around, but we do find out how Hurley came to be in the institution. Apparently a few months before he was committed by his mother he caused an accident, where, a porch collapsed when he walked onto it. (Did anyone else laugh out loud when that was revealed? I thought it was hilarious.) The doctor told him it wasn’t his fault because there was 23 people on the porch which was only built for 8 (note the numbers), but of course, Hurley assumed responsibility and became withdrawn and self-punishing afterwards. It was only after he confronted Dave during a break-out attempt that he was able to get rid of him and eventually be released from the hospital.
So what was Dave doing on the island? He was probably triggered from Hurley’s anxiety about his feelings for Libby, his food stash, and the supply drop. You also can’t discount the fact that the numbers have had the greatest effect on Hurley and their inexplicable nature would probably drive anyone nuts (see Leonard, who always seems to be playing Connect Four). But his purpose for showing up this time was more sinister. First, he tried to convince Hurley that everything since the mental institution - his release, winning the lottery, the plane crash - was all in his head and none of it had happened. For a minute, I started to wonder if it was true. But then he lead Hurley to a cliff and encouraged him to “wake up” by jumping into the ocean. Libby appeared and talked him out of it, convincing him that he wasn’t crazy, that the island was real, and that she cared for him. And then she kissed the big man. Hurley - 1 Sawyer - 0
The ending was fantastic this week. Ever since Hurley told Libby “I think I know you from somewhere” I’ve read rumors and speculation on the internet as to what that could mean. My own theory was that he was wrong and she was actually an Other. But actually, the last shot of the episode was of Libby, as a mental patient, watching Hurley from across the room while they were both in the institution. Creepy. Very creepy. How did she end up on the same plane as him? Has she been following him around since they both got out? This connection opens up a new can of worms. Up to this point, all the character connections have been through third persons, but I think this is the first instance where one character from the island actually saw and knew who the other was. I really hope we see a Libby backstory next season now. Also, my Libby-is-an-Other theory appears to be blown out of the water, but never doubt the good folks of Lost. If there is a “grand design” to drawing people to the island, they could still make her a part of the plan. I know, I know….I’m stretching because I was wrong. I’ll stop now.
Notes and Thoughts
Hurley fought Sawyer tonight and did a pretty good job of banging him up. Sawyer’s taunting and nicknames were
bound to get under somebody’s skin, and Hurley had taken the most abuse. Hurley - 2 Sawyer - 0
Occasionally, the episode director will include a shot of a picture or a painting of a tropical island to inject a bit of irony into a scene. It was pretty blatant tonight, but in case you missed it, the first time Hurley talked to the
Doctor, it was hanging above the couch he was sitting on.
Locke’s prognosis is a hairline fracture at best and he’ll be on crutches for a few weeks, which could very well mean all of next season if they stick to the current pace. As far as I can tell, they’re somewhere around Day 70 of being on the island. Also, Locke refused to sit in his old wheelchair. I think we all get the significance of him wanting to be free of the chair.
The hatch bits were really great. Sayid caught “Henry” in another lie. HG told him that the real HG was dead when he found him in the balloon basket. But Sayid had found a note on the real HG, written on a $20 bill, saying he was going to find a beach to start a signal fire. Then Sayid tried to shoot him in the face, but Ana-Lucia interfered. HG does need to live for another episode or three for a couple of reasons, one of which was previewed in next week’s episode in which Jack goes to “the line in the sand” to propose a trade. Sayid is trigger-happy. Send that man to war.
When Locke got up to talk to HG, he asked Ana-Lucia where Jack was. She told him that Jack was at the beach telling the Camp about “Henry.” Again, information-sharing is big and it needs to be done more, if for no other reason than to reduce my personal frustration.
Though we can’t believe a word HG says, he did reveal some information that you can’t ignore. First, he said that the “man with the beard” who has to be Zeke, is a nobody. He referred to another guy as being the Man, and somebody asked “is that your leader?” I hope we get to meet this leader sometime soon, though for some reason I doubt it.
HG also denied getting captured and being subjected to the torture and the beatings on purpose. I’m not convinced. If they do trade him back, he’s going to have a lot of information about the chemistry and psyche of the group. This probably isn’t a good thing. They need to “deal” with him. And by that I mean, kill him and grill him.
“God doesn’t even know about this island” - huh?
Finally, HG told Locke that he never entered the code, never pushed the button when Locke was trapped in last week’s episode. He described the hieroglyphics that popped up when the timer ran out, which explains the purpose of the near-miss in the episode last month. He told Locke that the timer just reset itself, but there was also something he said about a “hum” like a magnet was being activated. Something is up with this magnet. I don’t think HG is messing with Locke’s head. I don’t think he pushed the button and I think this was a clue about the magnet which in turn will be a clue about how the plane was brought down out of the sky.
Outrageous Claims
What is Kate’s purpose these days? Ever since we found out what Kate did in the episode “What Kate Did” she’s sort of just been floating around as a sidekick to various people. She plays heavily into the Jack-Sawyer rivalry, but lately that seems to be the extent of it. After Shannon got the axe earlier this season, I read that one of the producers said something to the effect of, “Once we’ve exhausted a character’s backstory, we have to make a decision about how to proceed with that character.” I’m not saying that Kate is going to be killed off anytime soon, but it seems as though her backstory is definitely exhausted. And the reality is, at some point, everyone’s backstory will be exhausted, probably by next season or Season 4, and the producers will have to deal with that. But while Kate is definitely still the female lead, if they can’t make her more interesting or give her a better storyline (what about a rivalry with Ana-Lucia?) I foresee a surprise demise in her future.
Is Mr. Eko building a church/temple? If it’s not a raft, I can’t see it being anything else. With Charlie helping now and both characters being tied to spirituality, that’s my hunch. If he finishes it by season’s end (which he probably will) we might see some church-goers before long. Maybe Hurley will end up marrying Libby there.
I was ready to give this episode Three out of Five stars up until the last 5 minutes. I thought the ending was great and the hatch bits, though short, were also great. So I’ll make it Four out of Five.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
wow, another spoiler-as-title in my feed reader. *unsubscribe*
April 6th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Cry me a fucking river. The show was on last night, and if you saw the preview after last week’s episode, you know a hell of a lot more than this title could ever give away. We’ve known since early last season that Hurley was in a mental institution.
April 6th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
Good Article as always Westopher.
P.S. Hey Kevin, suck my hairy balls you little bitch.
Last time I checked the episode was over 24 hours old.
I guess you Tivo’d it because you were sooooo busy last night dousching your vagina.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:14 am
I came here from 9rules’s random articles. The entry’s title wasn’t didn’t immediately connect for me but I followed the link wondering if it’d be an entry concerning Lost (hey, there have to be other Hurleys around, it’s a cool nickname..!
)
Either way, after reading the opening sentence I quickly realised I probably hadn’t seen the episode yet and having a look at the date the entry was submitted I stopped reading until I could watch the episode and then I came back.
I agree about the wastage of food; as I was wondering how the series will counter-balance that (“renewable” food sources being essentially wild pigs, fish, mangoes and other fruit on the island only), a “food drop” is found. Hah.
I must say I suspected that Libby was a nurse/psychiatrist at the mental hospital given the profession she claimed to have to Anna Lucia. The fact that it she’s actually a mental patient herself as is revealed at the end of this episode was a surprise. Hurley really does have terrible luck, poor, er, dude.
Nevermind about Hurley’s lack of luck for a minute though, how about Locke’s? The more of his back-story I see, the more I think he truly has some of the most rotten luck. I keep wondering when next his father will make an appearance as well, seeing how all these characters (and animals, in Kate’s case) from everyone’s past keep popping up and down on the island. Real and imagined. How much of it is real and how much of it is psychosis is hard to tell sometimes from character to character.
I also think Mr. Eko is building a church. I can’t quite recall which episode, but it was either in his back-story or an episode of two afterwards where I think a reference is made (though rather vague) that he wishes to build a church.
Anyway, thanks for some more food for thought. I usually avoid most Lost discussions for fear of having episodes I haven’t seen yet be inadvertently spoiled for me.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:35 am
sn, that’s precisely why we generally make the part that appears on the first page very short and lacking any real info… to give people a chance to turn back.
As to that being a church… I *swear* I saw on ABC’s discussion boards, or maybe somewhere else on their official Lost site that it is a church… they just casually let it slip as if it weren’t a secret at all. However, I maybe wrong, and it might have been somewhere else, but it was certainly stated as fact and I’m about 80% sure it was somewhere on ABC’s site.
April 7th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Here’s something I caught… After Libby kisses Hurley and says something like, “And that is real.” He asks her to kiss him again, “just to be sure.” She gets ready to lean in, then the camara cuts quickly to a farther shot of them staring at each other on the cliff.
Did they kiss a second time? If not, it may be a subtle clue. Wes?? Alas, my friend taped it and I returned it to her before rewinding and looking at it again.
April 7th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
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April 8th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
POON,
I didn’t tape the episode unfortunately, so I couldn’t say if they kissed a second time or not.
Here’s a quick, unrelated thing that I read in someone else’s review though: Right before Dave jumped/fell off the cliff, he told Hurley “See you in another life.” This is exactly what Desmond told Jack at the stadium at the end of their first meeting. Are the writers just messing with the people who actually pick up on that stuff? Probably. But, when you couple it with the metaphysical stuff that Henry was saying:
“God doesn’t know how long we’ve been here, John. He can’t see this Island any better than the rest of the world can.”
You begin to wonder if those lines take on a different context.
Finally, from the stuff I’ve read on other sites, there seems to be a growing body of evidence that suggests the Dharma Initiative is a well-orchestrated international organization who may or may not have agents in the field “recruiting” people to be brought to the island for whatever elaborate “thing” is going on. Think of the psychic in Claire’s backstory, or, possibly, Libby in Hurley’s story. Again, it’s a stretch, but I’m not the only one who thinks that theory has legs.
April 13th, 2006 at 8:05 am
“P.S. Hey Kevin, suck my hairy balls you little bitch.
Last time I checked the episode was over 24 hours old.
I guess you Tivo’d it because you were sooooo busy last night dousching your vagina.”
Calm down, for fucks sake you dumb ass.
But, Kevin, I really can’t see how ‘Hurley loses his mind’ gives anything away. Sure, it may reveal the episode is about Hurley, but what else?
April 13th, 2006 at 8:46 am
I just found this site, and it rocks! I’ve subscribed to it now through RSS and look forward to reading it each week. Great job!