3.10 - Tricia Tanaka Is Dead

Title’s significance: Hurley speaks these words – “Tricia Tanaka is dead” – after the incident at Mr. Cluck’s.

Recap: In Hurley’s flashback, we meet his father who took off when he was a boy but returned after Hurley won the lottery. Hurley buys a Mr. Cluck’s, which is destroyed by a meteorite before Papa Reyes returns. Daddy takes Hurley to a psychic, whom he’s paid to convince Hurley there is no curse; Dad promises he’ll still be at home when Hurley returns. On the island, Hurley blames himself for Charlie’s impending death as Vincent emerges from the jungle with a severed decaying arm; Hurley chases after him and follows him to a derelict Dharma van, which he plans to get running again. Sawyer and Kate make their way back to the beach camp, but Sawyer’s just irked that someone took all his scotch and porno, and Kate fills in the beach camp about what The Others have in terms of boats and vows to go get Jack. Hurley, Jin, and Sawyer try to get the van running again and succeed when Charlie helps them push it downhill. Followed by Locke and Sayid, Kate finds Rousseau in the jungle and asks for her help.

Thoughts: Combined with “Stranger in a Strange Land,” this episode marks the time when LOST jumped the Dharma shark. Sure, I love Hurley episodes as much as the next guy, and Nikki’s obligatory twelve seconds on camera dressed like a skanky version of Shannon are always entertaining, but this is LOST – I’m looking for something more. Having said that, this episode is downright hysterical, with the car plot as the pinnacle of ridiculous comedy. I do, however, like how the writers ended up making Roger Workman one of the most important parts of the show’s mythology with one simple flashback.

Favorite moment: Sawyer teaches Jin English, but all he teaches him are the “only three things a woman needs to hear” – “I’m sorry,” “You were right,” and “Those pants don’t make you look fat” – before Hurley gets his verbal revenge on Sawyer with the immortal “Shut up, red... neck... man.” (“Touché.”) Seriously, the episode is worth it just for this moment.

Characters introduced (in order):

• DAVID REYES, Hurley’s dad (Cheech Marin!)
• TRICIA TANAKA, titular dead anchorwoman

What we learned:

• Hurley’s dad left home when he was little but returned when he won the lottery.
• There’s an abandoned Dharma van in the jungle.
• Hurley bought Mr. Cluck’s with his lottery winnings, but it was later struck by a meteorite.
• Johnny ran off with Starla.
• Sawyer lived in a trailer when he was a kid.
• “Roger was on a beer run.”
• Hurley hired butlers from Bennigan’s.
• Locke is using the message from Eko’s stick as a bearing to find Othersville.

Questions:

• Where did the Dharma van come from?
• Who’s “Roger Work Man”?
• Where’d the dart in the jungle come from?
• Why didn’t the Dharma people get to finish their dirt road?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Hurley’s dad tells him that he can make his own luck, which throws the whole “curse” thing into question.
• Kate tells Sawyer that “anticipation” is the worst part. Those of us who are dying for Season Six can definitely empathize.
• Hurley and Sawyer come into conflict about whether hope exists on the island. Does it?