Season 2, Episode 18:
Dave
"Dave isn't your friend Hugo, because Dave doesn't exist."
Written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz.
Directed by Jack Bender.
"It's hard, I know, but I mean — all this? You, me, this island, that peanut butter — none of it's real, man. None of it's happening. It's all in your head, my friend. The second you closed that window your brain popped a gasket. You went back into your little coma thing. And that's where you are right this very second. In your own private Idaho, inside Santa Rosa."
— Dave
As the survivors recover the mysterious food pallet, Hurley becomes haunted by a man he knew at the mental hospital. Meanwhile, Locke tries to get answers out of "Henry."
Tropes in this episode include:
- All Just a Dream: Invoked. On the island, Dave tries to convince Hurley that everything after his release is a dream, and jumping off a cliff will wake him up.
- Arc Number:
- The accident that Hurley thought he caused. The deck was designed to hold 8 people and there were 23 on it, meaning it was overcapacity by 15.
- Invoked by Dave, who points out that the numbers that Leonard repeated over and over again are the same numbers that Hurley won the lottery with, are stamped on the outside of the hatch, and is the code that needs to be entered into the computer every 108 minutes. He uses this to try to convince Hurley that everything happening to him is a dream.
- Arc Words: Dave says, "See you in another life, Hurley!" before diving off a cliff.
- Beware the Nice Ones: After Sawyer mocks him for wondering if he's hallucinating, Hurley starts to beat the crap out of him while repeating all of the weight-related nicknames he's been giving him since they've been on the island.
- Blasphemous Boast: "Henry" claims that not even God knows anything about the Island or the Others.Locke: You and your people have been here for God knows how long, and you got caught in a net...
"Henry": God doesn't know.
Locke: Excuse me?
"Henry": God doesn't know how long we've been here, John. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can. - Call-Back: Libby proves to Hurley that the island is real and not his hallucination by asking him for the name of the man whose broken leg she set on the day of the plane crash. Hurley doesn't know because he wasn't there, but the audience saw it happen in "The Other 48 Days" and know his name was Donald.
- Deadpan Snarker: Even though he's not real and is a toxic influence, Dave does let off a number of sarcastic remarks. When he tells Hurley to take one of Leonard's graham crackers because he won't notice, he says "What's he gonna do? Call you a 23?"
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Sawyer says he has enough food to open a chain of minimarts, and asks Hurley if he thinks Sayid, a man of Middle Eastern descent, needs a job.
- Heroic BSoD: Locke starts to have one when "Henry" convinces him that he never pushed the button, that the timer reset on its own.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: "Henry" tries to convince Sayid that the real Henry Gale was dead when he landed on the island. However, Sayid had already found a note written on a $20 bill in his wallet.
- Irony: While sitting with Leonard as he endlessly repeats the numbers, Hurley scoffs and says "they're just numbers."
- It's All My Fault: The reason why Hurley was in a mental hospital is revealed. He stepped onto a crowded deck, which collapsed and killed two people. He blamed his weight for the accident, even though his doctor assures him that it would have collapsed whether he stepped on it or not.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Sawyer may have established himself as the guy who grabs everything for himself early on, but he does have a point that the survivors are behaving like locusts in trying to claim food.
- Not So Above It All: Though she does tell Jin to break the fight up, even Sun can't help but laugh when Hurley beats the crap out of Sawyer.
- Once More, with Clarity: In the final flashback, we see Hurley having his picture taken by Dr. Brooks, and his arm is indeed around nothing.
- Pass the Popcorn: Jin can't help but smile at watching Sawyer getting his ass kicked by Hurley before Sun tells him to intervene.
- Rewatch Bonus: There are various clues that Dave wasn't real at all, mostly from the fact that no one directly interacts with him besides Hurley. For instance, when the nurse gives Hurley his meds, she doesn't give any to Dave even though he's supposedly sitting next to him. The only exception is Hurley's doctor, but that's because he's playing along to take a picture and prove Dave doesn't exist. Even then, he doesn't react at all to Dave blatantly insulting him to his face.
- Tempting Fate: Hurley and Libby destroy his secret stash of food to help him get over his guilt of hiding it from the other survivors. Then they learn about the pallet. Libby lampshades this.
- Toxic Friend Influence: And a Toxic Imaginary Friend Influence at that. Dave represented Hurley's self-destructive and damaging impulses, such as overeating, that landed him in the hospital. He convinces Hurley not to do his therapy assignments, goads him to take one of Leonard's graham crackers, encourages him not to take his medication, and tries to get him to escape. Hurley's rejection of his offer to escape was later lauded as a breakthrough and helped get him released.
- Wham Shot:
- Dr. Brooks takes a picture of Hurley and Dave together in the rec room. Later, during a therapy session, he shows Hurley the Polaroid, and it only has Hurley sitting by himself, proving that Dave is imaginary.
- In the last flashback, it's revealed that Libby was also a patient at the mental hospital, which is why Hurley thought she looked familiar.
