Episode 18DaveWell, that’s a first – first time that one person’s flashback has ended from another person’s point of view. Hmm. Interesting!! Actually opens up a whole ‘nother can of worms…..
So, we finally learn why Hurley was in a mental institution. In a session with his doctor (Dr Brookes) we learn that Hurley believes that his weight is the cause of his problems. Hurley was involved in an accident, where he walked out onto an overloaded deck. The deck was built for
8 people, but including Hurley, the total of people on the deck was
23.
The deck crashed and Hurley supposedly landed on two people, killing them. He is wracked with guilt and goes into a catatonic state. When he eventually snaps out of it, his mother institutionalizes him. At the hospital, Hurley befriends a fellow patient – Dave.
But Dave is not a good influence on Hurley. Hurley is supposed to be on a diet, but Dave is always encouraging Hurley to eat… an enabler, if you will. Eventually, Dr Brooks reveals to Hurley that Dave is a figment of his imagination… and Hurley finally makes a break-through when he realizes that this is indeed the truth.
Most flashbacks, while they do offer insight into the characters backgrounds, are quite … dull. I find Hurley’s story so interesting. Mostly because I think that it’s so easy to relate to it. Now, I’ve not been in a mental institution (although I have been told I need professional help on several occasions), but to some degree I know how easy it is to substitute food for guilt.
I like Hurley, and I feel for him. Being overweight in a weight-conscious world is not an easy task. Add to it the guilt he feels…. Its no wonder he cracked under the strain.
Anyway, back in “reality”, Hurley and Libby are exercising. It seems too easy to Libby and she states that exercise is addictive. Yeah right!! Chips and dip are addictive, exercise most certainly isn’t! Hurley confesses that he’s done something bad and leads her to his stash.
His stash of food is much larger that I ever thought. Hurley has actually built some sort of jungle pantry and laid out his goodies neatly. He says that he wishes he could get rid of it. And then, in yet another silly move, instead of giving the food to the potentially starving losties, he destroys it!
He feels liberated after all that wastage… but alas, the food delivery of the previous night has been discovered. Not unexpectedly, everybody starts fighting over the food and Sawyer (of all people) calls for order. Guess he wasn’t getting the biggest share then.
Charlie suggests that Hurley be in charge. Hurley refuses, and Libby tries to be the voice of reason. Suddenly, Hurley spies his friend Dave and he chases him through the jungle. He looses Dave but finds his slipper. Later, he is sitting on the beach with the slipper. He doesn’t wish to talk about it with Libby.
The second time Hurley sees Dave, he gives chase again. Meanwhile, Charlie is helping Eko build some structure (almost willing to bet its going to be a makeshift church) and Hurley is chasing Dave through the jungle and bursts out from the jungle to the clearing where Charlie and Eko are.
Since neither of the two has seen a man in a bathrobe walk by, Hurley goes to see Sawyer about getting some of the medicine he was taking in the hospital. Sawyer pokes fun at Hurley's hallucinations, which causes Hurley to snap and attack Sawyer.
Hee hee. I guess
someone was going to beat Sawyer up at some point! Jin (who was thoroughly enjoying the performance) pulls Hurley off him. Kate and Libby begin to get understandably curious about what provoked Hurley into his violent actions.
Hurley packs up his stuff and a large bottle of peanut butter and heads off to the caves, where he proclaims he will live all on his lonesome. On his way there, his knapsack opens and his bottle of peanut butter breaks. Dave appears again.
Hurley still believes that Dave is fake, but Dave says "things are going to get worse before they get better." He tells Hurley that everything that has happened since the night of the escape attempt has been a fantasy…that everything that has happened…everyone on the island … they are all figments of his imagination.
Hurley starts believing Dave. Dave tells him all he needs to do is wake up, and leads him to a very dangerous looking (although quite picturesque) cliff. Dave says the way out of this catatonic state is to tell his mind it's not real by jumping off the cliff. He then demonstrates by jumping off himself, falling far down into the ocean.
So Hurley is now poised on the edge of the cliff, ready to jump as well. Libby has apparently followed Hurley. She approaches him but he tells her that she is a figment of his imagination. Libby talks Hurley down from the cliff edge.
She tells him “I am real. You're real. The way I feel about you, that's real” and she kisses him. Awww. Sweet!!! They both head back to the beach. At this stage we flashback to the scene where Dr. Brooks plays his little photo trick on Hurley… only this time the camera passes by Hurley and focuses on someone else – Libby – who seems to be a patient too!! She seems pretty out of it, so I think it's too early to confirm whether she remembers Hurley.
Now this is interesting! They’ve now gone beyond inserting little intertwining-lives segments that have no meaning, to something that could prove to be prolific in these two peoples lives. I’m curious to see why Libby was in that hospital, but not as curious to see Hurley’s reaction to that news!
Back at the hatch, Sayid is in full swing. I’m convinced he’s enjoying it. In any case, fake Henry Gale is tied up… like a prisoner we see in those old 18th centaury-based movies. Sayid questions him about the real Henry. Fake Henry says that they just found his there, dead already.
Sayid pulls out a dollar bill and reads a little note that Real Henry wrote to someone. Sayid demands some answers, but Fake Henry isn’t talking. Sayid loses his patience and says he'll count to three, and then shoot Fake Henry if he doesn't answer the question. With the gun aimed at Fake Henry's head, Sayid pulls the trigger when he reaches three. Ana-Lucia deflects Sayid's arm away at the last second.
Locke, who’s holed up in the sleeping area goes crazy, yelling and wanting to know what’s going in. He’s bonded with Fake Henry, has our Locke. Later he tells Ana-Lucia that he wants to talk to Fake Henry alone.
Locke asks if the Others wanted to know the location of the hatch, and that is why he let himself be captured. Henry says that the hatch is a joke. He tells Locke that during the lockdown, he never entered the numbers into the computer and never pushed the button.
He let the timer run down to 0, and saw the red hieroglyphs appear along with a loud "clunking" noise. "And then things got real interesting. There was a loud clunking and a hum like a magnet -- a big magnet. It was really very frightening," he says. A short time later, the number 108 reappeared and the noise stopped. Nothing happened at all. Locke is shocked!!
Personally, I don’t know why Locke is so shocked. By now he ought to have realised that nothing on this island is a given… and furthermore…he accepted Desmond’s task without even questioning it once. There’s blind faith…and then there’s blind faith.
Fake Henry telling Sayid that Zeke is small fry compared to the Dude at the helm is also interesting. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise either. In Claire’s flashback, we see Zeke questioning Ethan…telling him that “He” won’t be happy. So who is “He” and why is he so powerful? Fake Henry seems terrified.
The magnetic clang sound that Fake Henry hears… I wonder if that was not a way to get the food delivered. Please don’t ask me to explain, I can’t. It’s just a theory that’s taken root in my mind. But can we actually trust Fake Henry?? How do we know that this what not his plan all along??