Something of a filler, but this one makes its own luck
8.0
"Great"
Hurley appears to be the cheerful, feel good guy on the island, but as we now know, they are the tears of a clown.. As we find in the teaser, he's scared, and he's always been scared since he came to this island. Of course, this is due to the burden he bears. When he talks with Charlie, and he tells Hurley about Desmond's dire prediction, he doesn't try to comfort his friend, but says "This is my fault, and 'Death finds me.'
When I first heard this, I thought, "That's kind of egocentric.' Then I remembered his history. He was institutionalized after a balcony he stepped on collapsed and two people died. After he won the lotto, his Grandpa Tito died, we see Tricia Tanaka get crushed by a meteor in the flashback, and someone kills himself at his accountants. He's been involved in a plane crash where 250 people died on impact, and a couple of dozen have died in the last two months, including maybe the first woman who ever loved him. (That's not counting the Others that have died.) Small wonder he thinks he's cursed.
But hope springs eternal in Hugo's breast, and when he finds a dead man in the rotting hunk of a car, he takes it as a sign of optimism.. Naturally, his friends can't see it that way, and he can't get any help for his little project--- except Jin, who volunteers by accident (Still Hurley's had a pretty good relationship with hi, so maybe there's more to it)
The back-story isn't quite as strong as some of Hurley's other flashback, but it does reveal a couple of interesting elements. For one thing, we meet Hurley's father, who skipped out on his mother and him when he was twelve (and thin!). Their relationship probably wasn't that strong to begin with, but the one thing they did together was try to rebuild an old Camaro. And even though Hurley says that he doesn't want his father around, he has despite the millions held on to that wreck of a car.
Hurley's not a dummy, and knows his father has come back for the money. It doesn't help matters that his father tries to run a con on him to get rid of his 'curse'. Sadly, Mr. Reyes is nowhere near the level of Anthony Cooper or the Others. Bt unlike almost every other parent on this island, Mr. Reyes really does love his son, and when in the final flashback, he tells Hugo that he'll be waiting for him when he gets back from Sydney, he keeps his word, and even follows through on his own kind of hope.
Meanwhile. Hurley s working on rebuilding a van that seems to have been part of the Dharma Initiative, complete with a workman (who unfortunately pops his skull off) and has more quite a lot of beer in the back. (We will find out by the end of the season that this vehicle is linked to a very surprising source.) Jin and Sawyer (we'll get back to him in a minute) help him get the car upright, but even when the engine doesn't work, Hurley somehow keeps hope alive, and manages to persuade Charlie (who also thinks that destiny has it in for him) to get into a vehicle with no brakes, and push it down a hill into a pile of rocks. It would seem an act of suicide to do so, but somehow Hurley tries to h goes through with it--- and it works. . This is the beginning of Hurley's feeling that maybe he isn't cursed. The feeling will hold for a while, and he'll even think he has it beaten, but the island giveth and the island taketh. So that's for later.
Kate and Sawyer en finally make it back to the beach, and their reactions are completely different. Sawyer immediately goes to his tent and starts looking for his stuff (and man does he get irked when he learns that Desmond has drunk his whiskey) He goes to see Hurley to complain --- and Hurley's reaction is one of joy--- which is odd considering Sawyer's saved most of his insulting nicknames for him (and delivers three in this episode alone). But there is definitely a level of trust building there, and their relationship will begin to evolve in to the next two seasons. Jin also seems happy to see Sawyer too (I guess being abducted by the others does a lot to erase your bad boy status.) When the episode ends, Sawyer goes to his tents, and puts his stuff down, as if to say he's home.
Kate, on the other hand, no sooner arrives before she turns around, and says that she's going after Jack. It is hard to know whether she's doing this out of love o guilt, but she seems unable to hold still. Sayid and Locke both say they want to help her, but as we will soon find out, each has very different reasons for wanting to aid her.. Not convinced their help will be enough, Kate goes to the one person who might be able to help her --- Rousseau, and tells her that her daughter is alive, and in their position. Rousseau will give some help, but she will be very ethereal when it comes to dealing with the Others. (We won't learn that she has a very good reason not to until Season 5.)
While not as strong as some of the other episodes we've seen this season, this a decent episode with a darker wit then some of the other episodes. (Especially notable is when Mrs. Reyes tells Hugo that 'a woman has needs', looks at her husband, and Hugo's immediate reaction. The comedy, however, still has a share of pain. There's still death and betrayal going on , after all, and there is the possibility, after Hurley's further adventures while on the island, that the gods are making sport of the Lostaway we care the most about.
My Score: 8.1moreless