Backstory: I missed the beginning of this because my satellite reception mysteriously disappeared for a few minutes (weirdly, my kids were still blissfully watching Spongebob in the other room--go fig), but apparently Hurley's dad ran off and left him when Hurley was a kid. The Tricia Tanaka of the title proves to be a TV reporter who interviews Hurley about his lottery win. He's bought a Chicken Shack, which is promptly struck by a meteor, killing Tricia Tanaka, who's inside, thus confirming Hurley's curse. Hurley decides he has to go to Australia to break the curse. His mom tells him he's not cursed, and produces his father to prove it--Dad's come back after 17 years. Hurley thinks Dad just wants the lottery money.
Hurley's dad takes him to a Tarot reader to settle his cursed numbers issues. But she's not for real--his dad put her up to it. Hurley continues with his plan to go to Australia. His dad admits to having come back because of the money, but that's not why he's here now. His efforts to bond are unsuccessful, and Hurley heads for Australia.
Front Story: Hurley talk to Libby, at her grave. *Weeps.* He thinks Charlie's going to die because of the curse. Vincent shows up with a corpsey arm with a rabbit's foot on it. Call Dr. Brennan, we've got body parts to identify. Vincent leads Hurley to a wrecked VW bug in the middle of the jungle with a dead body inside it.
Back at the camp, Sun is trying to teach Jin English via total immersion. He doesn't seem too keen on that idea. Hurley returns with news of the car. He wants to fix it up, but doesn't get a lot of support. Hurley volunteers Jin.
Kate and Sawyer continue to trudge back toward camp. Sawyer has far too much Little House on the Prairie knowledge for true manliness. Kate wants an apology, but Sawyer's not into apologizing. I guess that manly trait is meant to balance the Little House thing.
The dead guy has a Dharma Initiative uniform. He also has a lot of beer. Jin and Hurley accidentally decapitate him when they drag him out of the car.
Charlie confronts Desmond about when he's going to die. Desmond isn't very forthcoming. Sawyer breaks in on their conversation, demanding to know where his stuff is. Apparently the other folks have been rifling his belongings in his absence, including his porn. Dude, messing with a guy's porn--that's just wrong. He shows up at he car site and is enthusiastically greeted by Hurley, who offers him beer to help with the car. They're unable to start the car, but Hurley is determined.
Kate updates Sayid and Locke on the situation with the Others. Kate is determined to rescue Jack. She says she's going to get help and traipses off into the jungle.
Hurley goes to fetch Charlie to help with the car, saying he's moping. Sawyer's teaching Jin English phrases that women want to hear. ("I'm sorry," "You were right," and "Those pants don't make you look fat." What happened to, "Yes, Mistress," and "Please don't fasten the handcuffs so tight"?) Hurley plans to jump-start it by pushing it down a hill. Charlie's going to defy death by riding shotgun. It works--the car starts, and they head back to camp. Sawyer, of course, brings the beer.
In the meantime, Kate's off by herself in the jungle. Locke and Sayid emerge--they've followed her. They offer to help. They're fired upon. Rousseau emerges from the jungle. Even after all this time, Mira Furlan still looks weird to me with hair. Kate asks her for her help, and tells her about Alex.
While this episode didn't do much to advance the core plot, I found it very enjoyable. I like these character study episodes that focus on one character, and I particularly like Hurley, so there's a twofer for the win. And even though the episode was Hurley-centric, they managed to pull in all the familiar faces we've been missing while we've been following Kate, Jack and Sawyer's story with the Others. Moving back to the core characters makes it feel more like Lost to me.
Lost on iTunes
(You're lost on iTunes? Try the table of contents thingie...)
