Episode 310 - Tricia Tanaka is Dead

Written by six from the blog The Lost Chronicles on 17 May 2007
Favourite this post

Episode 310
Tricia Tanaka is Dead

I really, really enjoyed this episode. As much as I wait for that heart-stopping, jump out of your chair moments in Lost, it’s really good to just watch an episode and enjoy it so much and not be driven in a shock-induced coma at the end of it.

This is why I watch this show… we never know what to expect. And truthfully speaking, after the intensity of the last few weeks, we needed a light-hearted episode like this.

Although, in all honesty, Hurley’s flashback was about as pointless as Jack’s tattoo flashback last week, but I still liked it. What can I say; I know I am extremely biased against Jack. And speaking about Jack, we had no Jack-time this week, something I always welcome. And Charlie is still alive, something I’m incredibly happy and relieved about. Although judging from the sound of that slap he got from Hurley, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he, too, can suddenly predict the future.

Jin also made a welcome appearance; we haven’t seen him since the second episode. In fact, a rarity - except for Jack, every other main character makes an appearance in this episode – including that little old trouble maker Vincent who is looking healthier and cuter with each passing moment. One can only wonder why Vincent hasn’t been polar bear chow as yet.

So, Hurley has found a car, along with a skeleton of Roger Work Man (heh heh). I really don’t see how having an old beat up car is going to help the Losties, but it did offer some form of hope to Hurley, who is desperate to try and break the curse he believes haunts him. Hurley believes in his curse so much, that he is willing to accept responsibility for Desmond’s prediction that Charlie is going to die.

It’s very difficult to have many thoughts and detailed analysis of the episode, because it was really just a very light-hearted episode with not much going on. The whole Hurley finds a car plot was fun; and so was Jin, Sawyer and Charlie all helping him getting it started. I really liked the interaction between the four of them. Charlie and Hurley are friends, and Sawyer and Jin have a bond because of the raft, but I don’t recall seeing them all just hang-out. Very nice.

I also really loved Sawyer giving Jin English lessons. Sawyer provides Jin with the three most important phrases in the English language (1. I’m sorry. 2. You’re right. 3. Those pants don’t make you look fat). We don’t often see scenes in which the characters are totally carefree and just enjoying the moment.

I think that what this episode did for me was make me realise that it’s so easy to get caught up in the mysteries, the theories and the weirdness of the island, that sometimes it all overwhelms the characters and their (sometimes) likeability. It made me also me stop and realise again why I care for these people and why I care what happens to them.

Although it was not all light-heartedness and fun. Hurley sitting at Libby’s grave and talking to her about his troubles was really moving. And Kate going off to find Danielle to help her find Jack was also something that further advances the plot. And Sawyer finds a map. How useful or important it is, I cannot say… but something tells me to keep that map in the back of my mind.

Apart from that, there’s not much else to say, apart from the fact that it was a great, fun episode.

What we have learnt this week:

• We know that Hurley’s weight gain was possibly to his being abandoned by his dad when he was young. (Have you noticed just how many of our Losties have Daddy issues??)

• We know what set off Hurley’s decision to travel to Australia
• Danielle finally hears that Alex is in all possibility, her daughter

New Mysteries

• Who is Roger Work Man?

• Where did the dart in Sawyer’s boot come from? It’s possible that it came from the hatch, but there doesn’t seem to be any other hatch debris around.

Interesting Trivia

• This episode continues the tradition of characters having poor relationships with their fathers. Hurley joins Jack, Walt, Jin, Sun, Charlie, Sawyer, Locke and Kate.
• The song ("Shambala" by Three Dog Night) playing at the beginning of the episode when young Hurley and his father are attempting to fix the car is the same song that plays after the bus starts on the island.
• Sawyerisms in this episode include Sawyer calling:

o Charlie “Munchkin” (The Munchkins were the little people Dorothy encounters when she first arrives in Oz in the movie The Wizard of Oz) and Jiminy Cricket (a character in Disney’s Pinocchio”
o Hurley “Jumbotron” (A huge wide screen often used at sports events), “International House of Pancakes”, and “Snuffy”
o He also refers to Roger the skeleton to as Skeletor, He-Man’s nemesis.

Interesting Screen Caps

This was such a fun episode, that I have many screen caps to share today :)