Apr 1, 2007

"Tricia Tanaka Is Dead" or How to Watch Fluff and Still Enjoy It

The question of free will vs. destiny is still prevalent and was not answered. I don’t think it will ever be answered, as we in the real world have not answered it.

This episode was light in nature. It used some humor and some pathos in its plotline. I knew that humor would be inserted. After all, it was a Hurleycentric episode. Hurley stands for comedy. There was some sadness. We saw that he was missing Libby and he was saddened that she was not there with him. He was definitely moved, scared, and morose about his status on the island, the loss of his friends, the loss of Libby, and Desmond’s predictions for Charlie’s fate. Jorge was really good as a dramatic actor. I shed some tears. I really felt Hurley’s pain. Of course, we tend to forget that for the islanders, time moves slowly. It’s been almost a year since Libby died, but for Hurley, it’s been a few weeks, and those weeks were full of life-threatening incidences to allow him to mourn. He was finally able to do so.

In essence the episode is about Charlie mopping because he was told by Desmond that he will die. Kate and Sawyer join the castaways at the beach. Kate can’t let go of the idea of saving Jack. Sawyer is hurt, because he loves Kate and he is not happy that she still has feelings for Jack. (I hate triangles, but then again, the stories would be boring without them.)

Vincent is back (which, as an animal lover, especially dogs, makes me very happy to have him/her back) and brings back a skeleton’s hand with car keys attached to it. Hurley chases Vincent and finds an old VW bus with a DHARMA logo instead of a VW logo in the front. (Those DHARMA Initiative people must have had a lot of money to have custom-made VW buses.)

Sawyer is angry that his loot has been taken, but Hurley diverts his attention by hugging him. Hurley is genuinely happy to see him back. They find beer (besides a decomposed DHARMA worker named Roger—who wears a DHARMA uniform with a label identifying him to be a work man) inside the bus. Sawyer and Jin consume the beer even though they both agree that it is stale and flat. (I guess you’ll do anything when you are deprived.) Sawyer teaches Jin important English phrases to help him communicate with women: “I’m sorry” and “These pants don’t make you look fat” were among the phrases I can remember offhand.

We met Paulo and Nikki and they were not that obnoxious. We met Cheech Marin as Hurley’s father. His father disappeared from his life 17 years earlier and returned when Hurley became rich. (Nice guy.) We saw Hurley’s chicken fast-food place hit by a meteor and the TV interviewer (Tricia Tanaka) who was inside is killed.

Back on the island, Hurley dares Charlie to go for a joy ride inside the DHARMA bus. Chances are he will be killed or not. Charlie takes the dare. The bus makes it and nobody dies. This is Hurley’s way of acquiring hope, something he lost a few weeks ago.

There were a lot of Sawyerisms, and I had fun watching this episode. Jorge Garcia is a great comedian. However, I would just consider this show a fluffy and filler show. Not that there is anything wrong with that!

Next week’s episode will be Sayidcentric: “Enter 77.” The episode promises to begin unraveling the mystery of the DHARMA Initiative, the Other, and the island.

No comments: