Tricia Tanaka Is Dead
Original
Airdate: February 28, 2007
Writer:
Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Director:
Eric Laneuville
This is an episode Lost needed badly. Throughout this season, and the ill-managed
three month break, the “haters” have been complaining endlessly about how
“Lost” is, to use a non-clever word, “lost”.
Too many unanswered questions, too much about the Others,
not enough from the main cast, etc. It
seemed to leave that behind when it came back with two solid episodes. However, “Stranger in a
Perhaps one of this episode’s strengths is that
it takes a step back from the complicated mythology. While some have the unrealistic expectation
that each episode will offer a mind blowing twist/advancement to the plot, they
need to realize that “Lost” is a human drama surrounded in the mystery. This episode doesn’t have any major
revelations, but it proves that a “Lost” episode doesn’t need that to be
satisfying because it was invested in its human drama.
It certainly helps that this is a Hurley-centric
episode. He’s been fan favorite since
the beginning and it’s easy to see why. “Numbers”
was one of the many highlights of the first season, with its darkly comic storyline
and the introduction of the now iconic numbers.
The following episodes, “Everybody Hates Hugo” and “Dave” were
increasingly dark, focusing on his problems with overeating and his mental
illness. His hard times have made him more endearing
and complex than if they just kept him as light-hearted comic relief. They do a great job of reminding us of that
in the heartfelt scene at the graveyard.
In addition to losing Libby (we must remember than on the island it has
barely been two weeks since she died), he and the rest of the Fuselagers are reeling from the abduction of Jack, Kate and
Sawyer and Eko’s death.
Hurley has believed for a long time that he’s
cursed, that using the numbers to win the lottery caused it. Many have wondered just what it is about
those six numbers that can do that. But
as his mental health problems took a major role in his character, the idea that
Hurley is simply cherry picking bad incidents in his life, which just happen to
be catastrophic, to support his idea that he’s cursed must be considered.
Like many characters, Hurley has some daddy
issues. David left Hurley and his mom
for some unknown reason, returning only after Hurley won the lottery. Regardless of the fact that he abandoned his
family, David isn’t that bad a guy compared to the other dads. However, how threatening can a character
played by Cheech Marin be? David’s big error was leaving Hurley without solidifying
the idea that he can make his own luck. It’s
worth noting that his dad’s name is the same as his imaginary friend “Dave”,
who we met last season. There are some
similarities between them, like when David gives young Hurley the candy bar
when his mom forbids it. Perhaps Hurley
created “Dave” as a way to deal with his father leaving.
Vincent (whom Walt left behind) has been
suspected of being something more than just a dog. He seemed to lead
So we are introduced to the Dharma van and its
driver, Roger “WorkMan”. A van in the jungle is enough to cause
speculation, but considering the Dharma logo and the Dharma equipment (beer) in
the van, it isn’t hard to believe that Dharma used vehicles to transport things
throughout the island. Considering how
decomposed Roger is, he likely died some time ago. Now his death could’ve been a number of
different things, ranging from a van accident that no one was aware of to
something “incident” related.
The scenes of the van crew were a blast to
watch. Their real life friendship translates
really well into the show. It also had
much needed comic relief, like Roger’s falling head, Sawyer hitting his beer against
Roger’s skull and Hurley’s poor nickname skills (“Red…neck…man”). This season has been lacking the levity of
previous seasons and this bit made up for it.
“Flashes Before Your
Eyes” explored the idea that no matter what any of the castaways do, fate will
intervene to do what it finds fit in the end.
In “Tricia”, we see that the individual has the ability to “look death
in the face and say ‘whatever, man’”, as Hurley eloquently put it. Perhaps this motif of the series will
culminate in some balance between fate and free will, where some things are
beyond our control, but we are not completely at the mercy of forces more
powerful than we are.
Like Hurley says, they needed some hope. This season has been the darkest so far, with
many of our heroes in bad situations that keep getting worse. Those working on the van, besides Jin, could
use some hope in particular. Following
Desmond’s prophecy of Charlie’s impending death, it’s not surprising that
Charlie would mope around the camp after that.
Sawyer’s been stewing in the fact that his relationship with Kate isn’t
what he wants.
The conclusion where Hurley gets the old Dharma
van working is an utter delight. One
would be hard pressed not to crack a smile or even cheer as the boys jump
around the van yelling in triumph while “Shambala”
blasts on the 8-track. The segue to a similar piece by Michael Giacchino
was a nice touch to close the episode before the epilogue resumed the major
island story.
Kate recruiting Rousseau on a rescue mission
makes sense for her, but why she’s leaving Locke & Sayid
out is a little puzzling. Yes, they
don’t know what it was like stuck on the Hydra island,
but Locke and Sayid both have personal stakes tied
into The Others. Sayid
has wanted some payback since early in season two, when some cast members
didn’t think of The Others as a major threat.
There is a follow up to what Locke saw on Eko’s stick.
Following on his idea to absolve himself for allowing the trio to be
captured, he gathers that the scripture quote referred to him bringing the
group back home. Kate & Sawyer
returning eased that, but Jack there is still work to be done.
Sayid, considered to be the
middle man between the science and faith debate, is obviously skeptical about
how following the compass at a bearing of 305 will lead them to Jack. His brief comments in the epilogue hint at a
larger unease between his partnering with Locke.
This episode seemed to be made for anyone
unhappy with the previous episodes this season.
It gives us a status update on each main character on the beach. There are no “Others” in sight. It focused on a fan favorite character and
gave him a major victory, leaving many viewers with smiles on their face.
Overall
Score: 9/10