Television Review: Tricia Tanaka Is Dead (Lost, S3X10, 2007)

Tricia Tanaka Is Dead (S03E10)

Airdate: 28 February 2007

Written by: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by: Eric Laneuville

Running Time: 43 minutes

Whenever the audience or the producers felt that Lost went too dark, this could be, or was supposed to be, corrected by an episode focusing on the character of Hurley, the series' most reliable comic relief, whose demeanour always lightened the mood and whose backstory made even the most tragic and shocking events darkly humorous. This approach can be seen in episode Tricia Tanaka Is Dead, an instalment that arrived at a crucial juncture in the show's increasingly troubled third season. By this point, Lost had tested its audience's patience with labyrinthine mythology, frustrating character decisions, and a narrative structure that seemed to be spiralling ever further from coherence. The series needed something to ground it, and Hurley—whose everyman quality and inherent likability had made him a fan favourite from the earliest episodes—provided precisely that anchor.

Hurley was by that point the series' most popular character and, in some way, the glue that kept the show, increasingly going off the rails with its convoluted plot line, together. Despite his seemingly simple role as comic relief, he was a complex character, able to make his story interesting to the audience even when, as in the case of his flashbacks, it didn't tell much more than what viewers had already learned. The tragedy of Hugo Reyes was well-established by this point: his lottery win had brought him not happiness but a series of catastrophes that he interpreted as a curse, and his time on the Island had cost him friends, love, and any sense of security. Yet Hurley's essential goodness remained intact, and his ability to find moments of joy amidst the darkness made him uniquely positioned to deliver episodes that could step back from the abyss without feeling dishonest to the show's tone.

This can be seen in a flashback that gives a little glimpse of Hurley's background. It begins in 1986, when we are introduced to young Hurley (Caden Waidyatilleka), who works with his father David (Cheech Marin), on an old Chevrolet Camaro that apparently won't start without a new carburettor. The scene is imbued with a warmth that the series had often denied its characters in their pre-Island lives. Father and son share an easy rapport, and David promises Hurley a trip to the Grand Canyon—a promise that will, of course, go unkept. Soon afterwards, David, who has promised Hurley this adventure, leaves to "do something in Las Vegas" and doesn't come back. The abandonment is presented without fanfare or melodrama, but its impact on the young Hugo is clear, setting the stage for the emotional void he would spend years trying to fill.

The flashback then goes forward in time, to a period when the now adult Hugo deals with the way the lottery ticket win brought him money, but also burdened him with what he calls a curse. He had used some of that money to buy out Mr. Cluck's chicken restaurant, his former place of employment, and made his former boss Randy Nations into an employee—a reversal of fortunes that speaks to Hugo's fundamental lack of vindictiveness. Local television has sent Tricia Tanaka (Sung Hi-Lee), to do a fluff piece about this local lottery winner turned restaurateur. During the interview, in which Hugo retells all the bad things that have happened to him, she goes into the restaurant to make B-roll footage only to, together with her cameraman, be killed by a meteorite. The moment is audacious in its absurdity, and the series commits fully to the dark comedy of the situation. The death of Tricia Tanaka is so unlikely, so cosmically cruel, that it circles back around to being grimly hilarious—a testament to the show's willingness to embrace its more surreal impulses.

When Hugo returns home after such catastrophe, he sees David, who has returned after seventeen years. His presence, which his mother explains by her "needs" and Hugo interprets as a consequence of his new financial situation, makes him deeply uncomfortable. Yet David tries to reconnect with his son and even convinces him that there is not such a thing as a curse, hiring a psychic to perform a cleansing ritual. Hugo isn't convinced and instead goes on a fateful trip to Australia to find some answers about the curse he believes haunts him. This plotline could have felt manipulative or cheap, a way to inject Daddy Issues into yet another character's backstory, but the performances from both Jorge Garcia and Cheech Marin elevate the material, making David's return feel like a genuine attempt at reconnection rather than simple opportunism.

Back in present day on the beach, Hugo is greeted by a macabre sight of Vincent carrying a human skeleton arm with a car key on it. Hugo tracks Vincent back into the jungle, retrieves the key, and finds a flipped-over Volkswagen van with the remains of a Dharma employee named Roger, colloquially known by fans as "Skeletor." Even more importantly, the van was carrying a large supply of beer, and this is the reason why Charlie, Sawyer, who has returned to the camp, and Jin join Hugo when he suggests that they fix the van, make it start, and enjoy a little joyride. The plan works, and everyone involved has their spirits lifted. This A-plot is remarkably simple in its construction, almost willfully so in the context of a season that had become notorious for its narrative complexity. Four men push a van up a hill, then ride it back down. That's it. And yet, in its simplicity, it becomes one of the most emotionally satisfying sequences the show had delivered in some time.

The least affected by this moment of joy is Sawyer, whose relationship with Kate has apparently soured, her leaving the camp to keep looking for Jack. Sayid and Locke go after her, and all three stumble into Rousseau, and the episode ends when they tell her about a sixteen-year-old girl called Alex among the Others. This B-plot, while necessary for the season's larger arc, feels almost perfunctory, a reminder that the show's mythology continues to grind forward regardless of individual episodes' tones.

Almost everyone tends to agree that "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead" is a significantly better episode than its predecessor—the uninspired "shark-jumping" Stranger in a Strange Land. This episode, written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, has recognised Hurley as the show's strength. The plot of an old van with a beer supply, despite macabre details like skeletons, is suddenly life-affirming, with characters enjoying some old-fashioned male camaraderie and taking great effort only to enjoy a few moments driving in circles—an activity that doesn't make much sense except being, as Hurley says, "fun."

Jorge Garcia makes this episode work with excellent acting, allowing even some slightly more melancholic moments, like Hurley's visit to Libby's grave, to work within the generally positive atmosphere of the episode. His performance has always been one of the show's most undervalued assets, capable of delivering both broad comedy and genuine pathos, often within the same scene.

Even the flashback, which is usually the worst aspect of each episode, works. The death of the unfortunate Tricia Tanaka is depicted as a darkly humorous event, with a shot of the meteorite causing an explosion that producers would later describe as the most expensive and most complicated in the entire series. The episode also benefits from the guest appearance of Cheech Marin, whom producer Carlton Cuse knew from his time on Nash Bridges. He makes the sudden appearance of David, who had never been addressed in the series before, look natural, and he wins the audience's sympathy despite his seventeen-year absence. The show, by pointing at a noticeably skinnier young Hurley, suggests that it was that very absence that made Hurley seek comfort in food, leading to his body weight issues. Yet David, in the end, proves to be the best father figure Hurley can expect in a show largely populated by terrible parents.

The episode also benefits from the presence of Suzanne Krull, a formidable character actress playing a psychic hired by David to convince Hurley that there isn't any curse. Her scenes provide some of the episode's best comedic moments, as she delivers her "readings" with the conviction of someone who clearly doesn't believe a word she's saying.

"Tricia Tanaka Is Dead" is a likeable episode, but it doesn't add much in the grand scheme of things. The cliffhanger at the end brings the audience back to reality and reminds them that the characters are still on the Island with its convoluted and unresolved mysteries. While enjoyable, the episode is, like the report the unfortunate Tanaka tried to make, a fluff piece—albeit a thoroughly charming one that provides a welcome respite from the darkness that had come to characterise the show's third season.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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