Lost: Come on and Take a Free Ride!

This week's LOST seemed like the comic relief episode to me... which leads me to think (and hope!) that some truly edge-of-the-seat developments are just around the corner.

We focus on Hurley this week, seeing him first at about the age of ten. His dad, played by Cheech, is getting ready to split on him and mom. He gives him a speech about having hope and making your own luck and then rides off into the sunset leaving him with lonely mom, a broken down Camaro, and a really big candy bar.

Dad comes back seventeen years later to reconnect with his family who are now big time lottery winners. Hurley has been consoling himself with many of those tasty candy bars over the last seventeen years and dad can't stop himself from mentioning that. Mom is thrilled that Dad is back because, "she has needs." (ewwww.) but Hurley is grossed out, and HURT. He makes it clear dad will be getting none of the money and that he is going to Australia to get the curse the numbers put on him removed. We know how that turned out. I wonder if Dad is still "comforting" mom in that big beautiful house with the Bennigan's butlers.

In the present day island world, Hurley is greeted by Vincent, the Move-The-Plotline-Forward dog, who is clutching a necrotic arm in his mouth. He runs off into the forest hoping Hurley and Charlie will follow. "Sure, follow the dog with the dead, skeletal arm into the creepy forest", says Charlie, "Be my guest." Hurley goes alone.. and finds a VW Van "Dharma-Mobile" turned over on its side. "Roger" the armless "Work-Man" is inside, along with a case of not-at-all-cold, not-at-all-frosty, Dharma Initiative Beers.

Why anybody would want these hot, skunked, shrely flat and god knows how old beers, let alone be willing to WORK for them, I'm not sure. But Charlie, Jin and Sawyer end up agreeing to help Hurley try to bring this dead van back to life. I'm not sure where they are planning to drive it once its running either... but the getting there was all the fun.

Sawyer/Hurley scenes are always funny to me. Yeah, Sawyer throws a lot of fat jabs at Hurley, and I don't like that, but many of Sawyer's best lines seem to come out when Hurley is around. "Lookie there, you found yourself a hippie car." was just one of many.

Following the "Little Miss Sunshine" auto-repair manual, Hurley decides to try to pop the clutch and get the van started by giving it a rolling start down a REAL steep hill. Charlie decides to ride shot-gun which made me certain that this is where Charlie would meet his Desmond-predicted demise. Sawyer and Jin give the van a shove and it careens down the hill toward a really big rock. It jumps to life (powered by gas, battery power, brakes and an electrical and steering system that are god knows how old, damaged, or lacking of fluids.) They miss the rock and toodle around the island to the tune of "Road to Shambala", the same song that was playing when Hurley's dad left in the flashback... and just coincidentally? loaded into a cassette deck in the van. Hmmmmm. Wonder if it's track number 4? or 8?

In other Lostie news, Kate is extremely pissy to Sawyer and after saying a quick HI! to everyone, immediately sets out to go back to Other-Land and rescue Jack. First, she's going to get help. She won't tell anyone who that would be, but Locke and Sayid follow her, and find that it is Rousseau she's after. When she tells Rousseau she thinks she saw her daughter, she looks happy to assist.

So many other shows are taking "rerun breaks" now that Sweeps is over, but LOST is still new each week. I'll keep an eye on the ratings and see if this "take a big break, but then come back with all new episodes" strategy pays off for them.