Hurley

In a comment on a recent post, Dan sang the praises of the LOST character, Locke. In a further comment, I agreed that he is one great character. But upon further reflection, I have to say I really love Hurley. He is used in Lost primarily as comic relief, but he is an interesting dramatic character as well.

He is such a great comedic presence, not because of what he says, but how he says it. Jorge Garcia has a delivery that often makes a simple statement outrageously funny. In one episode, before the crash, people around him suffer a long series of horrible accidents. He thinks he's a jinx. On the island, after listing a series of these incidents, most of which the audience had witnessed, he adds one we’d not heard before: “Then, the chicken joint I worked at was hit by a meteor. Or actually it was a meteorite.” Not that funny? Then why did I laugh out loud? And in some cases he doesn’t have to say a thing to elicit a snicker. While telling his lawyer about the jinx, a man falls screaming past the window behind the lawyer. Neither Hurley nor the lawyer say a word, but the expression on Hurley’s face is priceless. And then there’s the quote that still cracks me up when I think about (warning: sick humor): “Dude, you’ve got a piece of Arzt on you.” (More about Arzt later.)

What a stroke of genius to put Hurley in charge of the food from the hatch. I say that NOT for the reason some might think: that it’s funny to let the fat guy control the food – think Elephant Eats the Profits. Rather, in real life Hurley had just experienced the rejection of his old friends when he won the lottery. Having much and not being able to give people everything they want is painful. The accusing look on Hugo’s buddy’s face, and that on Hugo’s face in response is heartbreaking. Neither one had to say a word. On the island, he was sure everybody would hate him for having to ration the food. He came up with a wonderful solution.

Now about Arzt and Hurley. First I have to say that I have never been startled by a TV show like I was by the incident at the Black Rock. I literally jumped several inches. It was a wonderful bit. But before then, Arzt and Hurley were discussing cliques. I believe Arzt was expressing a true and deep emotion harbored by those who feel they are not part of the “in” crowd. [And on the island, there must be many of those, since the people who seem to make all the decisions, and get all the attention, only comprise about a quarter of the people in the group. The rest are “red-shirted ensigns”. In fact when I saw Arzt, whom we had never seen before as a character, accompanying the group to the Black Rock, I thought “Uh-oh, he’s a goner.” I thought it was confirmed when he went off by himself and the monster showed up. I was surprised when he came back alive. Then….poor old Arzt!] Anyway, I was interested by Hurley’s response to Arzt’s affirmation that Hurley was in the clique. It was a combination of “Who, me???” and “Whatever.” And I believe those are the responses most people in the “in” clique would truly feel.

Once again, Lost works on so many levels.