The Visions in Episode 2x18: Dave and Henry Working in Tandem
Throughout the show, many of the castaways have seen visions on the island. The visions have always served some purpose, such as Jack finding fresh water after following an apparition of his dead father and Eko baptizing Aaron because Charlie envisioned the infant in several dangerous situations. Other visions have taken the form of animals that represent people murdered by castaways, such as the boar and horse seen by Sawyer and Kate. Locke, the character who knows the most about the visions (including how to induce them), claims that they show people unique hallucinations that they need to see to overcome certain issues and realize their priorities. (Where he gained this knowledge remains a mystery, but I suspect that his encounter with the black smoke monster, which he described as seeing the beautiful “heart of the island”, consisted of more than simply staring at it as Eko did.)
In Episode 2x18, Hurley became the latest castaway to see a vision. While Hurley’s vision was of Dave, a former schizophrenic figment of his imagination instead of a real person, it nonetheless served a purpose, just like the visions seen by other characters. Dave wanted Hurley to remember his fear of the numbers.
When Hurley was in the mental institution, his greatest concern was being overweight. He felt that because of his weight problem, he had killed two people when he joined a crowd on a balcony that was already supporting 15 too many people. To punish himself and prevent healing, he created Dave, an imaginary fellow patient who constantly goaded him to steal food. Dave encouraged Hurley to take graham crackers from Lenny’s plate, lasagna from someone’s leftovers in the hall, and escape from the institution to get cheeseburgers and chili fries.
On the island, Dave continued to play off Hurley’s fears, though Hurley’s fears had changed and so did Dave’s methods. Hurley was no longer as concerned about being overweight as he was about the curse that he believed gambling with the numbers brought upon him. He believed that using the numbers caused his mother’s broken ankle and house fire, his Grandmother’s heart attack, and even the crash of Flight 815. Dave never tempted Hurley with food on the island. Far from encouraging him to eat, Dave actually mocked Hurley’s weight problem and even knocked goldfish crackers out of his mouth by throwing a coconut at him.
Instead of food, all of Dave’s conversation on the island related to Hurley’s fear of the numbers. Dave initially appeared because Hurley felt the numbers curse was responsible for the amazing coincidence of discovering the food drop immediately after he destroyed his stash. In their conversations, Dave explained the many improbable ways that Lenny’s numbers had shaped Hurley’s world since leaving the mental institution. He mocked the computer that required the numbers to be entered and claimed that the numbers frequent appearance proved that nothing on the island was real. Dave also claimed the only way to escape the numbers was to kill yourself. (This was the method that Sam Toomey, the Australian man who correctly guessed that a jar held 4,815,162,342 beans, used to escape the numbers curse.) However, Dave’s goal was not for Hurley to commit suicide, but rather to provoke his fear of the numbers.
Dave was not a reoccurrence of the schizophrenic hallucination Hurley had when institutionalized. He was a vision caused by some force on the island in the same way that it caused visions for other characters. Dave acted differently on the island than he did in the institution. Not only did he not encourage Hurley to eat, he mocked him for being overweight by asking how it was possible for him to not lose weight on a deserted island. His mannerisms in the mental institution were very Hurleyesque, but on the island he quoted Hurley’s “Dude” less often and strove to get Hurley into isolated positions rather than “interacting” in groups as he did in the back-story. Before leaping from the cliff, he quoted not Hurley but Desmond by saying, “See you in another life.” Most significantly, his message directly paralleled what Henry Gale told Locke: the numbers and the computer are a joke.
Henry Gale claimed that the timer reset after a brief moment of scary symbols and noises. Just as Dave was manipulating Hurley’s fear of the curse, Henry was manipulating Locke’s fear of not fulfilling his destiny. The underlying crux of both Dave and Henry’s remarks was ‘don’t push the button.’
Dave’s claim that everything is occurring inside Hurley’s head is false. So is Henry’s claim that he didn’t enter the code and push the button. If Henry’s story were true, he could have told it immediately after the blast doors opened to further his goal of integrating among the castaways. (After some initial shock, he would have received their eternal thanks if he revealed that the monotonous chore had no effect.) Instead, he didn’t tell Locke that the button was “a joke” until after his false identity was revealed. Henry Gale and Dave’s stories being told simultaneously to the two characters with the strongest feelings about the numbers indicates that for some reason the Others don’t want the castaways to key in the code anymore. By creating doubt in both Hurley and Locke, they’ve doubly insured that the timer will soon run out.
In Episode 2x18, Hurley became the latest castaway to see a vision. While Hurley’s vision was of Dave, a former schizophrenic figment of his imagination instead of a real person, it nonetheless served a purpose, just like the visions seen by other characters. Dave wanted Hurley to remember his fear of the numbers.
When Hurley was in the mental institution, his greatest concern was being overweight. He felt that because of his weight problem, he had killed two people when he joined a crowd on a balcony that was already supporting 15 too many people. To punish himself and prevent healing, he created Dave, an imaginary fellow patient who constantly goaded him to steal food. Dave encouraged Hurley to take graham crackers from Lenny’s plate, lasagna from someone’s leftovers in the hall, and escape from the institution to get cheeseburgers and chili fries.
On the island, Dave continued to play off Hurley’s fears, though Hurley’s fears had changed and so did Dave’s methods. Hurley was no longer as concerned about being overweight as he was about the curse that he believed gambling with the numbers brought upon him. He believed that using the numbers caused his mother’s broken ankle and house fire, his Grandmother’s heart attack, and even the crash of Flight 815. Dave never tempted Hurley with food on the island. Far from encouraging him to eat, Dave actually mocked Hurley’s weight problem and even knocked goldfish crackers out of his mouth by throwing a coconut at him.
Instead of food, all of Dave’s conversation on the island related to Hurley’s fear of the numbers. Dave initially appeared because Hurley felt the numbers curse was responsible for the amazing coincidence of discovering the food drop immediately after he destroyed his stash. In their conversations, Dave explained the many improbable ways that Lenny’s numbers had shaped Hurley’s world since leaving the mental institution. He mocked the computer that required the numbers to be entered and claimed that the numbers frequent appearance proved that nothing on the island was real. Dave also claimed the only way to escape the numbers was to kill yourself. (This was the method that Sam Toomey, the Australian man who correctly guessed that a jar held 4,815,162,342 beans, used to escape the numbers curse.) However, Dave’s goal was not for Hurley to commit suicide, but rather to provoke his fear of the numbers.
Dave was not a reoccurrence of the schizophrenic hallucination Hurley had when institutionalized. He was a vision caused by some force on the island in the same way that it caused visions for other characters. Dave acted differently on the island than he did in the institution. Not only did he not encourage Hurley to eat, he mocked him for being overweight by asking how it was possible for him to not lose weight on a deserted island. His mannerisms in the mental institution were very Hurleyesque, but on the island he quoted Hurley’s “Dude” less often and strove to get Hurley into isolated positions rather than “interacting” in groups as he did in the back-story. Before leaping from the cliff, he quoted not Hurley but Desmond by saying, “See you in another life.” Most significantly, his message directly paralleled what Henry Gale told Locke: the numbers and the computer are a joke.
Henry Gale claimed that the timer reset after a brief moment of scary symbols and noises. Just as Dave was manipulating Hurley’s fear of the curse, Henry was manipulating Locke’s fear of not fulfilling his destiny. The underlying crux of both Dave and Henry’s remarks was ‘don’t push the button.’
Dave’s claim that everything is occurring inside Hurley’s head is false. So is Henry’s claim that he didn’t enter the code and push the button. If Henry’s story were true, he could have told it immediately after the blast doors opened to further his goal of integrating among the castaways. (After some initial shock, he would have received their eternal thanks if he revealed that the monotonous chore had no effect.) Instead, he didn’t tell Locke that the button was “a joke” until after his false identity was revealed. Henry Gale and Dave’s stories being told simultaneously to the two characters with the strongest feelings about the numbers indicates that for some reason the Others don’t want the castaways to key in the code anymore. By creating doubt in both Hurley and Locke, they’ve doubly insured that the timer will soon run out.
posted by Chris at 9:26 PM
3 Comments:
In last Thursday's post, you said you didn't think Eko was building a church. I wanted to point you to the "recaps" on www.abc.com. The recap for "Dave" includes the following:
Meanwhile, Eko continues building in the jungle and reveals to Charlie that he's constructing a church, enlisting his help.
This could turn out to be false, but whoever is writing these recaps seems to be sticking to the facts he/she has, and avoiding speculation. The recap writer may have accidently given something away.
Right after I finished writing the post I read about that. I try to write this blog as if spoilers don’t exist, but it is frustrating when I see things like that so quickly after I’ve posted a speculation. Oh well. It’s all part of the fun. :-)
Good analysis, but I'd like to share mine.
We face two unknowns:
1) Henry either entered the numbers, or he did not.
2) Henry either wants the numbers to be entered, or not.
Henry would do what he wants. So if he didn't want the numbers to be entered, he wouldn't have entered them. Similarly, he would encourage Locke to do what he wants.
Is it possible that Henry wants the numbers to be entered?
a) Nothing significant has happened to indicate that Henry did not input the numbers (except, perhaps, the airlift of food?).
b) Henry's comments resulted in Locke continuing to enter the numbers. The others are presented as skilled at manipulation and deception, is Henry getting his wish?
What are the other things Henry could have done?
If Henry had said the numbers were a joke to Locke before he was outed, Locke might have believed him and stopped putting in the numbers.
If Henry said the opposite, that the numbers were important, either before or after he was outed, Locke might not trust him after he was outed, and Locke might have stopped entering them.
Henry did the one thing that would ensure the numbers would be entered.
Except... why wasn't Henry simply silent on the numbers? Maybe what Henry wants doesn't have to do with the numbers at all, maybe Henry wants something with Locke...
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