I have to disagree Jord, I dont think this was in anyway a filler episode. For me it absolutely rocked my socks!
I dont really know where to begin with this because ive still got so much to say about Lockdown, so this may be sparradic [lol]..but here goes:
Okay.."Dave"...i actually did guess that he was all in Hurleys head [honest]..it was when the doctor was taking the picture..i cant put my finger on what alerted me to the suspicion that 'Dave' was imaginaery but it was just something about the way that scene was done.. anyway, I thought that this episode was perhaps the most clever Lost episode of all time. Not necessarily for the 'Dave isnt real' aspect [though that was awesome!] but because it brought forward one of the most talked about concepts of Lost..that being the 'subconcious'. This episode made this concept so vividly tangible because many of us often remark on the subconcious elements of Lost and how the characters visions etc are things derived from their pasts or memories etc..and by making Hurley have an imaginary friend in the 'real world' it really brought the issue of the' inner battle/test that rages within all of the Losties', home. It was so clever in the way in which they portrayed that Hurley had conditioned himself into a life of self punishment and torture because he felt responsible for the deaths of those people..it really helps me to further understand why he is the way he is on the island and why he is somewhat of a loner...it's not JUST because of the 'numbers' and his belief in the curse..its also because he genuinly feels guilty for what has happened in his past [Kate, take note..
].
Also by depicting the 'murkier' side of Hurleys subconcious in the form of "Dave" we can further see the '2 sides' aspect of the show..the side where Hurley wanted to stop his pain and kill himself and the side which knew deep down that not all was what it seemed and wanted to live. We also see Hurley make a 'choice' to stand up to "Dave" and refuse his own internal will to harm himself. This tells me that somewhere inside himself Hurley did/does want to die..he is suicidal [much like Sawyer..something they share then..] but ultimately he does want to change. Thats a major element of this episode i think because EHH was all about him fearing and resisting change..and worrying that if he was responsible for the food then people would soon end up hating him for the choice he made....then he had a [long] period of regression, whereby we see him hoarding food for himself, thus showing that despite seeming to change at the end of EHH he hadnt really..he hadnt fully 'let go'. ..However now the island seems to have brought everything to the fore and made him finally face up to his demons once and for all...and ultimately with the help of Libby [therin lies its own tale..] I think he has past his test!
I think that this episode really illustrated that the island is testing each and everyone of them..thats not to say its all a big test because i dont for one second believe that...there definetely more going on..more than just experiemnts and tests. Though i think its pretty clear that Dharma's advanced pyschological testing is still in operation..is this because Hanso foundation took over the reigns or because the island now has a life of its own?
Anyhoo, a legendary episode that totally makes up for Hurleys recent character decline..in fact this episode explains it all..just like Ana Lucia's episode explained it all [imo]..it's amazing how just when you think they are losing the integrity in a character they go and give us an episode like "Dave", to prove that they do know what theyre doing and character declines are very much intentional *theres hope for Locke yet then!! Hurrah!*
