Lost/Dave

Dave
Season 2, Episode 18
Airdate	April 5, 2006
Production Number	218
Written by	Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by	Jack Bender
← 2x17 Lockdown	2x19 → S.O.S.
Lost — Season Two

Dave is the eighteenth episode of the second season, and the forty-third episode overall.

Libby lends Hurley support when he begins to think the island is having a strange effect on him, and Locke's sense of purpose is shaken when the prisoner provides new information about the hatch.

Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Terry O'Quinn (John), Harold Perrineau, Jr. (Michael), Michelle Rodriguez (Ana-Lucia), Cynthia Watros (Libby)

Guest Starring: Evan Handler (Dave), Bruce Davison (Dr. Brooks), Michael Emerson (Henry Gale)

Co-Starring: Ron Bottitta (Leonard), Grisel Toledo (Nurse)

Plot Overview

The Island

• Out on the beach, Hurley and Libby are power walking. Trying to give Hurley some encouragement, Libby tells him that some people's metabolisms are just a little slower. Hurley tells her it's not his metabolism, rather he's sick. He leads Libby into the jungle and shows her a large hidden stash of DHARMA-branded food, telling her he wished he could just get rid of it. Libby tells him that if he wants to change, then he should change. Hurley smashes open all the food and dumps it onto the jungle floor. He tells Libby that he feels free, but then Jin, Sun, and other castaways appear, running by them into the jungle. Sun tells them that they've found something and leads them to the supply drop. The castaways are arguing over who gets what and Sawyer tries to mediate the chaos, but Charlie suggests that Hurley should take care of the food like he did last time. As Hurley refuses to take responsibility again, he sees a man in a bathrobe standing behind everyone - Dave. Dave runs off into the jungle and Hurley gives chase, but he falls and loses him. However, he finds one of Dave's slippers and takes it back with him to the beach where Libby finds him. She asks Hurley who he was looking for out there, but Hurley hides the slipper from her view and tells her he was looking for no-one. Walking through the jungle alone and carrying Dave's slipper, Hurley finds and begins eating a box of DHARMA fish crackers when Dave appears. He throws a coconut at Hurley, hitting him, and then runs off and disappears. Hurley approaches Sawyer at the beach to see if he has any clonazepam, a drug to help calm a person or for when you're seeing things that aren't there. When Sawyer pokes fun at Hurley for seeing things, Hurley snaps and attacks Sawyer before he's pulled off of Sawyer by an amused Jin. After attacking Sawyer, Hurley packs up and decides to move back to the caves as no one lives there anymore. While heading back to the caves, Dave appears and tells Hurley that he's imagining everything and that he's still at the Santa Rosa hospital. He tells Hurley that everyone on the island are part of his subconscious and that he, Dave, is the part that wants Hurley to wake up. Dave brings Hurley to a cliff and tells Hurley that he has to jump off to wake himself up, then jumps off himself. As Hurley calls after Dave, Libby appears. Convinced that Libby is imaginary, Hurley steps back towards the edge of the cliff and tells her he's not scared and that he knows everything is imaginary. Libby asks him to name the man who broke his leg on the other side of the island and, when Hurley is unable to answer, she tells him it's because it happened to her and it's insulting for him to tell her it wasn't real. She kisses Hurley, telling him that was real too, and the two walk away from the cliff.
• Inside the Swan, Jack is taking a look at Locke's injured leg. His best guess is that there's a small fracture and Locke will have to keep off of it for a couple of weeks. He tells Locke there's a wheelchair back at the camp, but Locke adamantly refuses to use it. Kate tells them there's a pair of crutches back at the beach and leaves to get them.
• Inside the Swan's armory, the fake Henry Gale is strung up as Sayid and Ana-Lucia question him. Changing his originally story, Fake Henry tells them that he was part of a search party and found the real Henry Gale hanging out of the basket with his neck broken and buried him. Pulling a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket, Sayid tells fake Henry that he should have checked the real Henry's wallet and reads to him writing on the bill - the real Henry survived the crash and tried to hike to one of the beaches to start a signal fire. Fake Henry Gale panics and tells them that he wasn't the one who killed the real Henry. Asking Henry about how many of "them" there are, Henry says Sayid has no idea what "he" would do to Henry if he divulged information about "them." Ana-Lucia asks Henry if "he" is the man with the beard - Mr. Friendly - but Henry dismisses him as "nothing." Fed up with Henry, Sayid pulls a gun on him and threatens to kill him if he doesn't answer his questions. Ana-Lucia pushes Sayid and prevents him from shooting Henry, telling Jack to get Sayid out of the armory when he comes to investigate the gunshot. After Jack and Sayid leave, Locke tells Ana-Lucia that he wants five minutes alone with Henry. Locke says something along the lines of "God knows how many of you there are". Henry tells Locke that God can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can. Locke suggests that Henry and his people were looking for the Swan, but Henry tells him the place is a joke. He continues, telling Locke that the timer went all the way down to zero and something that looked like hieroglyphics flipped up in its place, there "was a loud clunking and a hum like a magnet", and then the timer just flipped back to 108 - he never pressed the button.
• By the beach, Eko is sawing wood when Charlie brings him a pallet from the supply drop. He tells Eko he noticed him building something and thought he might be able to use the pallet. Eko asks Charlie to help him, but refuses to tell Charlie what it is he's building, for the time being.

The Flashback

• Flashback: Hurley

Hurley, wearing a bathrobe, is sitting in Dr. Brooks' office at the Santa Rosa hospital. Dr. Brooks asks him about his diet and promises it'll get easier. He asks Hurley about his visit with his mom and Hurley tells him that he's not mad at her since he knows she committed him for a reason – the accident. Dr. Brooks asks him if he wants to talk about it as Hurley has been at the hospital for almost two months, but Hurley doesn't respond. Changing track, Dr. Brooks asks Hurley if he completed his homework assignment, but Hurley tells him that Dave didn't do it and said it was a stupid idea. Dr. Brooks tells Hurley that Dave can be a very negative influence on him and doesn't want Hurley to change. After his visit with the doctor, Hurley heads to a gymnasium where other patients are playing basketball. Dave is there, but no one will give him the ball. He notices that Hurley has arrived and begins talking to him about what kind of Hurley should get to eat.

Later, Hurley is playing Connect Four with Leonard Simms. Continually repeating the numbers over and over, Leonard wins their game. Dave tells Leonard that he's pretty sneaky, using those magic numbers as a psyche-out, but Hurley tells Dave that they're just numbers. Dave tells Hurley that the celery he’s eating is not a snack and talks Hurley into stealing one of Leonard's graham crackers. A nurse hands Hurley his meds, but Dave tells him not to take it since Dr. Brooks doesn't care about Hurley. He tells him that they've got to escape. Dr. Brooks shows up and tells Hurley that he's been taking some pictures for the bulletin board and has everyone except Hurley and Dave. He tells Hurley to scoot closer to Dave and takes a Polaroid picture of them. After Dr. Brooks leaves, Hurley shows Dave that he didn't take the pills.

Back at Dr. Brooks' office, Hurley is reading the list of things he likes about himself. Dr. Brooks points out that he didn't say anything about the way Hurley looks and asks him if he's comfortable with his appearance. Hurley tells him that he can't really do anything about it, but if he wasn't so fat then maybe they never would have died. Dr. Brooks tells Hurley that there were 23 people on the deck that was built to hold 8 and would have collapsed whether or not he went out there. Convinced that he killed them and it was his fault, Hurley won't listen to Dr. Brooks who is trying to tell him it was an accident. Dr. Brooks tells Hurley that he went into a nearly catatonic state. He stopped talking, going out, sleeping, but he never stopped eating because that's how he punishes himself. Hurley tells him that Dave is right in saying he's a quack. However, Dr. Brooks pulls out the Polaroid he took earlier and shows it to Hurley - Dave is not there.

Later, Hurley is in bed sleeping when Dave appears and wakes Hurley up. Hurley tells him that Dr. Brooks showed the picture from the recreation room and he wasn't in it. Dave tells Hurley that Dr. Brooks is playing a trick on him by altering the photograph, and now it's time for them to leave. The two sneak into the recreation room and, after Dave tells Hurley that Hurley stole the keys from Dr. Brooks' office earlier, Hurley unlocks one of the padlocked windows. Dave jumps out and beckons Hurley to join him, but Hurley tells Dave he can't do it and that Dave isn't real. He tells Dave that he only wants him to stay fat and not get better. Hurley says goodbye to Dave and closes the window.

• Flashback: Libby

Back when Dr. Brooks is taking the picture of Hurley and Dave, a woman can be seen looking in Hurley's direction - a disheveled Libby. A nurse approaches her and gives Libby her medication.

Notes

Mysteries

• Why was Libby at the Santa Rosa hospital?
• Did Henry Gale push the button? Or is he lying again?
• What is Eko building?

Answers

• Hurley was a patient at a psych ward because his mother had him committed. He entered a partially catatonic state after believing he was responsible for an accident that killed two people. (2x01 - Man of Science, Man of Faith)
• Hurley may have remembered Libby from the Santa Rosa psych ward. (2x12 - Fire + Water)

The Cursed Numbers

• The deck that collapsed, killing two people, was built to hold only 8 people, but there were 23 people on it.
• Leonard was playing Connect 4 and repeating the numbers.
• While lying to Sayid and Ana-Lucia, Henry Gale said he arrived on the island 4 months ago as part of a search party.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Although he told Locke in Lockdown that he pressed the button, he changed his story and told Locke that he never pushed the button.
• The other castaways have learned about the parachute drop and taken the supplies.

Characters

• Hurley: Is being helped by Libby to get over his addiction to food and lose weight. His imaginary friend returns, trying to talk him into jumping off a cliff. However, he's saved by Libby.
• Libby: Is helping Hurley with his problems. Was at the same Santa Rosa psych ward as Hurley.
• Locke: Has a small fracture in his right leg and has to keep off of it for several weeks.
• Henry Gale: Continues to lie to the castaways. Seems to be more afraid of his own people.
• Eko: Continues to build something and has enlisted the help of Charlie.

Referbacks

• 2x07 - The Other 48 Days: While trying to talk Hurley out of jumping off a cliff, Libby refers to events that happened to her during the first few days on the island.

Trivia

The Show

• Missing in Action: Even though they are credited Michael and Claire do not appear in this episode.
• Island: In the first scene of the flashback, a photo of a tropical island is hanging behind Hurley in Dr. Brooks' office.
• Ranchriffic: This episode marks the fourth appearance of DHARMA Initiative Ranch Composite.

Behind the Scenes

• Awards: For his role as Henry Gale in this episode, Michael Emerson was nominated for an IVy Award for the 2005-06 season for Best Guest Actor or Actress in a Drama Series.
• Location, Location, Location: The Santa Rosa mental institution was filmed at the Laniakea YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) in Honolulu.

Allusions and References

• Fantasy Island: Charlie asks if anyone saw a plane during the night and Sawyer refers to him as "Tattoo." Tattoo was a character played by Hervé Villechaize on the 1970's Fantasy Island. He's most famous for the quote, "The plane! The plane!"

Quotes

• Hurley: Did either of you see a guy run through here? In a bathrobe? With a coconut?

Charlie: No... I saw a polar bear on rollerblades with a mango.