4 March 2007 - Sky One, 10.00 pm
WRITERS: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz DIRECTOR: Eric Laneuville
CAST: Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo), Kiele Sanchez (Nikki), Mira Furlan (Rousseau), Cheech Marin (David Reyes), Sung Hi Lee (Tricia Tanaka), Suzanne Krull (Lynn Karnoff), Caden Waidyatilleka (Young Hurley), Billy Ray Gallion (Randy) & Lillian Hurst (Carmen Reyes)
After discovering a wrecked camper van in the jungle, Hurley's attempts to get it started provoke memories of his childhood. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer return to the beach...We return to bread-and-butter storytelling after the glut of mythology stories with Tricia Tanaka Is Dead, a Hurley episode that harks back to the character-based exploits of season 1.
Everyone's favourite overweight bohemian discovers a VW camper van loaded with beer and containining the skeletal remains of a DHARMA driver. The episode focuses on Hurley's attempt to get the van working, helped by Jin, Charlie and Sawyer.
As always, the island-set storyline draws parallels with a flashback tale, this time showing us a young Hurley helping fix a car with his father David (Cheech Marin), who abadnons his family for 17 years, only returning when he hears about Hurley's lottery win.
Hurley episodes are always gimmicky, thanks to the character's luck-obsessed outlook on life with the infamous numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42. Here, we see more instances of bizarre bad luck for Hurley, resulting in the titular death of TV reporter Tricia Tanaka. The message behind the episode is about "making your own luck" and neatly ties with Hurley's desire to instil a sense of hope and comeraderie back into island life.
Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have crafted a simple and effective script that plays to the strengths of the characters. Jorge Garcia is always good fun as Hurley, able to balance comedy and tragedy with surprising deftness. Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) has some humorous scenes with Sawyer, who helps teach him some English phrases, while Dominic Monaghan has a shave and makes Charlie more engaging than he's been in quite some time.
But I was a little concerned with the treatment of Sawyer throughout. Josh Holloway is his usual charismatic self, but the story demands a sudden shift in situation for his character. Having faced nine episodes of hell with the Others, Sawyer arrives back and is instantly embroiled in a frothy comedy adventure... and it's a bit odd. There were also a few moments when his character became a parody of itself, so I hope the writers remember to reign in Sawyer's quirkier nature in future.
There are no great revelations in Tricia Tanaka Is Dead, particularly in the flashbacks. We already know Hurley believes he's been cursed by The Numbers, although the exact circumstances regarding his trip to Australia is now clearer. Cheech Marin is great as his father, bringing a flawed charm to the role that works well. It's also yet another example of "daddy issues" on the show. Are there any characters who didn't have paternal problems before they crashed on the island?
Overall, while hardly an essential episode in the grand scheme of things, it's great to see Lost getting back to its roots and making the characters its focus. The sense of elation in the episode's finale is a great throwback to simpler times, before the series became ensnared in dozens of complex mysteries.
A solid and entertaining instalment of Lost that strengthens the characters and is a welcome shift away from the overly-complex mysteries of recent times.
