Lost: Episode 4 - Everybody Hates Hugo
Well, I had to work late last night, so we watched the episode on tape late last night. Thus, I had no time to scrounge the boards like I normally do. Here's a starter, though -- a recap from Entertainment Weeekly. It's mostly useless banter, but there are some good tidbits in the last few paragraphs. I'll try to add to this post later as I find more. If you read this blog and watch Lost, please post your thoughts/findings/observations in the Comments! We are a community of tv addicts!
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Food Fight! MEAL TICKET Hurley became the peanut-butter dealer
by Scott Brown
Entertainment Weekly
On ''Lost,'' Hurley has to choose what to do with the provisions in the Hatch; meanwhile, the raft survivors learn the identity of their captors
Greetings, Los Losties. New guy here. Whitney filled in last week, now it's all me. Next week, who knows? Maybe you'll get Stephen King. No, you won't get Stephen King. Imagine EW as the Titanic: King is up on the promenade deck, near the three functioning lifeboats (which he doesn't need, because he's got his own personal pontoon made of woven $1,000,000 bills). You and me? We're down in steerage, son. So pull up a crate, and let's play that perky Irish jig known as ''The Gut-Level, Impromptu Lost React.''
I'll begin with a potentially controversial statement: I dig these Hurley episodes. Perhaps I'm influenced by my co-watcher, Liz, who adored huggy Hugo the first time she laid eyes on him. (Meet Liz, by the way: She'll be our copilot. She's cool — fried us up some excellent catfish filets tonight.) But durnit, I like Hugo Reyes, our chicken-stealing, number-hating Pagliaccio. And not because he's ''the heart of the show.''
Admittedly, Hurley's eps are not the best of the best. His origin story last season was an attempt to shift the show's increasingly somber mode into some sort of Pynchonian slapstick, and it wasn't 100 percent successful. And yes, this latest installment revived one of the least compelling Lost fallbacks, namely, the climactic I'm Okay You're Okay music video.
But Hurley is a great character, and for reasons beyond the obvious. Making the jester the curse bearer is a stroke of genius, as far as I'm concerned — one more way this show reinvents the television ensemble and fends off ordinariness. And as for the goofier flourishes — the wacky mechanics of the supposed ''curse,'' the digs about his persistent girth — Jorge Garcia earns them, baby. He takes a conceptually solid but potentially pat retroactive-continuity twist (i.e., that Hurley held off on collecting his lottery winnings because he wasn't really sure he wanted his life changed) and sells it as a quiet slacker tragedy (with some help from DJ Qualls, as his ride-along pal).
This is also one of those social-contract episodes (Have and Have Not, Distribution of Resources, Sword of Damocles stuff). Hurley is in charge of the Dharma larder, and Jack has charged him with inventorying — and withholding — all the goodies Desmond's been subsisting on between workouts in his Now Totally Disclosed Location. Naturally, some people aren't happy with that, and by ''some people,'' I mean Charlie, and by Charlie, I mean a character we're all getting increasingly impatient with: Baby daddy or no baby daddy, he's sounding more and more like a simple punk. Give me peanut butter! Tell me the truth! Pipe down, Li'l Liam Gallagher. Break out some of that Holy Virgin, why don't you? We all know it's coming.
But back to the social contract. As soon as the food dilemma came up, Liz declared, ''Oh, he should just give everyone a share and let them do what they want with it.'' Sounds like a cozy little bit of communism, right? Wrong!
''Liz,'' I said, ''you realize this makes you a conservative.'' Liz does not consider herself a conservative, and I thought I saw her move her hand threateningly towards her fork. I quickly clarified: We're talking the platonic ideal of a fiscal conservative, not the Tom DeLay reality. We're talking someone who believes in returning a surplus to ''the people,'' to spend as they wish. This gives everyone the opportunity to choose whether to be a pennywise ant or a profligate grasshopper. But this kills the collective's long-term social security — what if times get tough? Agriculture fails? (Sun's plants don't look capable of supporting the whole community just yet.) Boar futures dwindle? The bamboo housing bubble bursts? What then? Whoops! Somebody ate all the Apollo bars, and we're screwed!
Liz sulked a bit and said, ''I just think it'd be nice if everybody got a treat.''
''Well,'' I replied, ''that sounds very liberal.''
To which Liz replied, ''Give me a cookie.''
My point exactly.
Anyway, dense stuff, eh? And it does slow things down a bit. (Just in time, too — with all the Dharma developments, we may actually be in danger of learning too much about the mechanics of this island, which we're now being led to believe is a big psych experiment gone awry) This doesn't mean the barreling mythology train has come to a halt, though we have been cut back to a strict diet of crumbs: We learned that the Supposed Others are the Actual Tail People, breakaways from the back end of Oceanic 815. We learned that Rose's husband, Bernard, is not only alive but ubiquitous character actor Sam Anderson. We had it confirmed that there are multiple Dharma stations on the island (though none so plush as the Swan).
And then there are the Easter eggs. The tail section had 23 survivors (jot that down, numberheads). Rose hums every song she hears — and some she doesn't. Did she get inside Hurley's head to hear Slim Smith's 1973 reggae ditty ''My Conversation''? Do these psychic tendencies explain her conviction that her husband is alive? Speaking of psychic visions: That's Walt's face on the side of the milk carton in Hurley's dream. Now, Hurley doesn't know that Walt is missing; he has no idea what happened to the raft. Does his subconscious know something he doesn't? And what's Sun doing without her wedding ring on? (Of course, she's got it back on in the next cut — kind of a glaring continuity error for a show that prides itself on the details.)
And then there's the matter of Randy. Y'all remember Randy, right? Locke's jackass coworker at the box company? Well, that's Randy running Mr. Cluck. Yup. Same dude, same character name, same actor (Billy Ray Gallion). Liz went back through her homemade VHS — VHS! — tapes of season 1, and she confirms it: same dude, same name, different hair. Now we know Mr. Cluck was hit by a meteorite after Hurley collected his winnings. And we know Hurley came to acquire a box company with said winnings. Connection? Of course there is, dummkopf! It's Lost!
What do you think? How do Hurley's backstories stack up against the others? Did they make the right decision about the food? And did this episode give enough clues?
------------
Here are the upcoming episodes per tvguide.com
Episode 05: ...and Found
Michael sets off into the jungle by himself determined to find Walt, but discovers that he is not alone. Meanwhile, Sawyer and Jin are ordered by their captors to take them to their camp, and Sun frantically searches for her missing wedding ring.
Written by: Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
Directed by: Stephen Williams
Original US Airdate: 19 October 2005
* Sun-centric episode?
Episode 06: Abandoned
Sawyer's wound becomes life-threatening as he, Michael and Jin make their way through the interior of the island with the tail section survivors. Meanwhile, Shannon is once again haunted by visions of Walt, and Charlie becomes jealous of Locke's interest in Claire. Rose: L. Scott Caldwell. Boone: Ian Somerhalder
Written by: Elizabeth Sarnoff
Directed by: Adam Davidson
Original US Airdate: 26 October 2005
*Shannon-centric episode? Note the guest cast listing of Boone!
Episode 2.07: The Other 48 Days
The seventh episode will be devoted to [Ana-Lucia's group] backstory, meaning, we find out precisely what happened to them for the past month and a half they’ve been on the island. And I hear their group has been TORTURED by the others… Some have been. Some are no more. Source: Kristin on E!Online
Episode 2.08 Old Habits
Episode 2.08 will be titled "Old Habits" and will feature Charlie's flashbacks. Source http://www.lost-media.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1270
-----
Food Fight! MEAL TICKET Hurley became the peanut-butter dealer
by Scott Brown
Entertainment Weekly
On ''Lost,'' Hurley has to choose what to do with the provisions in the Hatch; meanwhile, the raft survivors learn the identity of their captors
Greetings, Los Losties. New guy here. Whitney filled in last week, now it's all me. Next week, who knows? Maybe you'll get Stephen King. No, you won't get Stephen King. Imagine EW as the Titanic: King is up on the promenade deck, near the three functioning lifeboats (which he doesn't need, because he's got his own personal pontoon made of woven $1,000,000 bills). You and me? We're down in steerage, son. So pull up a crate, and let's play that perky Irish jig known as ''The Gut-Level, Impromptu Lost React.''
I'll begin with a potentially controversial statement: I dig these Hurley episodes. Perhaps I'm influenced by my co-watcher, Liz, who adored huggy Hugo the first time she laid eyes on him. (Meet Liz, by the way: She'll be our copilot. She's cool — fried us up some excellent catfish filets tonight.) But durnit, I like Hugo Reyes, our chicken-stealing, number-hating Pagliaccio. And not because he's ''the heart of the show.''
Admittedly, Hurley's eps are not the best of the best. His origin story last season was an attempt to shift the show's increasingly somber mode into some sort of Pynchonian slapstick, and it wasn't 100 percent successful. And yes, this latest installment revived one of the least compelling Lost fallbacks, namely, the climactic I'm Okay You're Okay music video.
But Hurley is a great character, and for reasons beyond the obvious. Making the jester the curse bearer is a stroke of genius, as far as I'm concerned — one more way this show reinvents the television ensemble and fends off ordinariness. And as for the goofier flourishes — the wacky mechanics of the supposed ''curse,'' the digs about his persistent girth — Jorge Garcia earns them, baby. He takes a conceptually solid but potentially pat retroactive-continuity twist (i.e., that Hurley held off on collecting his lottery winnings because he wasn't really sure he wanted his life changed) and sells it as a quiet slacker tragedy (with some help from DJ Qualls, as his ride-along pal).
This is also one of those social-contract episodes (Have and Have Not, Distribution of Resources, Sword of Damocles stuff). Hurley is in charge of the Dharma larder, and Jack has charged him with inventorying — and withholding — all the goodies Desmond's been subsisting on between workouts in his Now Totally Disclosed Location. Naturally, some people aren't happy with that, and by ''some people,'' I mean Charlie, and by Charlie, I mean a character we're all getting increasingly impatient with: Baby daddy or no baby daddy, he's sounding more and more like a simple punk. Give me peanut butter! Tell me the truth! Pipe down, Li'l Liam Gallagher. Break out some of that Holy Virgin, why don't you? We all know it's coming.
But back to the social contract. As soon as the food dilemma came up, Liz declared, ''Oh, he should just give everyone a share and let them do what they want with it.'' Sounds like a cozy little bit of communism, right? Wrong!
''Liz,'' I said, ''you realize this makes you a conservative.'' Liz does not consider herself a conservative, and I thought I saw her move her hand threateningly towards her fork. I quickly clarified: We're talking the platonic ideal of a fiscal conservative, not the Tom DeLay reality. We're talking someone who believes in returning a surplus to ''the people,'' to spend as they wish. This gives everyone the opportunity to choose whether to be a pennywise ant or a profligate grasshopper. But this kills the collective's long-term social security — what if times get tough? Agriculture fails? (Sun's plants don't look capable of supporting the whole community just yet.) Boar futures dwindle? The bamboo housing bubble bursts? What then? Whoops! Somebody ate all the Apollo bars, and we're screwed!
Liz sulked a bit and said, ''I just think it'd be nice if everybody got a treat.''
''Well,'' I replied, ''that sounds very liberal.''
To which Liz replied, ''Give me a cookie.''
My point exactly.
Anyway, dense stuff, eh? And it does slow things down a bit. (Just in time, too — with all the Dharma developments, we may actually be in danger of learning too much about the mechanics of this island, which we're now being led to believe is a big psych experiment gone awry) This doesn't mean the barreling mythology train has come to a halt, though we have been cut back to a strict diet of crumbs: We learned that the Supposed Others are the Actual Tail People, breakaways from the back end of Oceanic 815. We learned that Rose's husband, Bernard, is not only alive but ubiquitous character actor Sam Anderson. We had it confirmed that there are multiple Dharma stations on the island (though none so plush as the Swan).
And then there are the Easter eggs. The tail section had 23 survivors (jot that down, numberheads). Rose hums every song she hears — and some she doesn't. Did she get inside Hurley's head to hear Slim Smith's 1973 reggae ditty ''My Conversation''? Do these psychic tendencies explain her conviction that her husband is alive? Speaking of psychic visions: That's Walt's face on the side of the milk carton in Hurley's dream. Now, Hurley doesn't know that Walt is missing; he has no idea what happened to the raft. Does his subconscious know something he doesn't? And what's Sun doing without her wedding ring on? (Of course, she's got it back on in the next cut — kind of a glaring continuity error for a show that prides itself on the details.)
And then there's the matter of Randy. Y'all remember Randy, right? Locke's jackass coworker at the box company? Well, that's Randy running Mr. Cluck. Yup. Same dude, same character name, same actor (Billy Ray Gallion). Liz went back through her homemade VHS — VHS! — tapes of season 1, and she confirms it: same dude, same name, different hair. Now we know Mr. Cluck was hit by a meteorite after Hurley collected his winnings. And we know Hurley came to acquire a box company with said winnings. Connection? Of course there is, dummkopf! It's Lost!
What do you think? How do Hurley's backstories stack up against the others? Did they make the right decision about the food? And did this episode give enough clues?
------------
Here are the upcoming episodes per tvguide.com
Episode 05: ...and Found
Michael sets off into the jungle by himself determined to find Walt, but discovers that he is not alone. Meanwhile, Sawyer and Jin are ordered by their captors to take them to their camp, and Sun frantically searches for her missing wedding ring.
Written by: Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
Directed by: Stephen Williams
Original US Airdate: 19 October 2005
* Sun-centric episode?
Episode 06: Abandoned
Sawyer's wound becomes life-threatening as he, Michael and Jin make their way through the interior of the island with the tail section survivors. Meanwhile, Shannon is once again haunted by visions of Walt, and Charlie becomes jealous of Locke's interest in Claire. Rose: L. Scott Caldwell. Boone: Ian Somerhalder
Written by: Elizabeth Sarnoff
Directed by: Adam Davidson
Original US Airdate: 26 October 2005
*Shannon-centric episode? Note the guest cast listing of Boone!
Episode 2.07: The Other 48 Days
The seventh episode will be devoted to [Ana-Lucia's group] backstory, meaning, we find out precisely what happened to them for the past month and a half they’ve been on the island. And I hear their group has been TORTURED by the others… Some have been. Some are no more. Source: Kristin on E!Online
Episode 2.08 Old Habits
Episode 2.08 will be titled "Old Habits" and will feature Charlie's flashbacks. Source http://www.lost-media.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1270
posted by Slacker at 3:24 AM
2 Comments:
A couple of other tidbits from the Boards...
According to TV Guide, the "blips" in the Orientation film are indeed missing pieces of the movie.
http://www.livejournal.com/community/lost_daily/109566.html
It is interesting to note that Hurley’s bad luck streak does not appear in any of the flashbacks. Apparently it doesn’t start until Hurley acknowledges winning the money.
Starla’s comment that the universe was about to turned upside down because of Hurley seems prophetic.
Hurley’s friend saying “get a straight jacket”. Hurley spent time in a psychiatric ward.
Nobody sneaks up on Locke. He always knows you are there. This has happened more than once.
When Ana Lucia is speaking to the others in the second hatch it sounds like another language. Play it backwards and it says "they are watching."
from one of the boards:
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This could be a little random ....but it's just something I noticed in "Everybody Hates Hugo".....
Does anyone acknowledge the presence of Hurley's buddy at any point besides Hurley himself.....No one besides Hurley does while in the Chicken Place....Starla from the record store doesn't adress him either, or even look at him......The people at the convenience store also seem to react like he's not even there....I mean Hurley quits his job and out comes his friend saying he'd done the same...
Could his "friend" be a figment of his imagination...I mean this guy was recently instatutionalized and clearly has some issues...
The only thing would be that his friend (I forget his name) does drive the van they ride in....but possibly that could be a projected memory for Hurley...who knows?
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