Season 2, Episode 4:
Everybody Hates Hugo
In flashbacks, Hurley quits his job at Mr. Cluck's Chicken after winning the lottery, and is joined by his friend Johnny. Although Johnny promises the two will always be friends, he grows resentful when he learns of Hurley's newfound wealth.
In the jungle, the Tailies release Jin, Sawyer and Michael from the pit. Sawyer clashes with Ana Lucia, who is their leader. They are brought to the Tailies' hideout at an abandoned DHARMA station, and are introduced to the full group: Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, Libby, Cindy and Rose's husband Bernard. Although they started out with 23 survivors, only five remain.
At the Swan, Sayid and Jack investigate the station's magnetic properties. Hurley has been charged with taking inventory of the food supply and distributing it fairly, but is apprehensive about having to make unpopular decisions, especially after Charlie finds out and wants special treatment due to their friendship. He tries to use dynamite to blow up the food supply, but is talked out of it by Rose. He convinces Jack to allow him to just give everyone what they want straight away. At the beach, Claire finds the bottle of messages from the raft washed up. She tells only Shannon and Sun, who decides to keep it a secret, and buries the bottle.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Bad Liar: Hurley was told by Jack to keep the food pantry a secret until they can figure out how to make it last. Unfortunately, Hurley sucks at keeping secrets, and Charlie instantly sees he knows more than he's telling.
- Brand X: Most of the food in the Hatch's pantry is in white Dharma-branded packaging that describes what's inside "Ranch dressing composite", "Cereal", etc. The exception is the Apollo branded candy bars that Hurley recognises.
- Brick Joke: Claire finally gets a jar of peanut butter, which she had been missing ever since the crash.
- The Bus Came Back: Cindy, the flight attendant who gave Jack two bottles of vodka on Oceanic 815, is revealed to have been one of the tail section survivors after having not been seen since "Pilot, Part 2".
- Face on a Milk Carton: In Hurley's dream, he drinks from a milk carton that has Walt's face on it. As part of the Mind Screw, at this point in the season, Hurley has no idea what happened on the raft.
- Fair-Weather Friend: Inverted. Johnny sticks by Hurley when he quits his job at Mr. Cluck's, but becomes resentful of his good fortune when he finds out about his lottery win.
- Immediate Sequel: Hurley's flashbacks take place immediately after he found out he won the lottery and before his string of bad luck. We actually see him crush the coffee table when he faints.
- Jerkass Ball: Charlie grabs this one. First he uses Aaron to force answers out of Hurley who - for once - doesn’t spill them easily. Later after he learns of the Swan hatch from Locke, Charlie demands peanut butter for Claire. Hurley tries to explain why he can’t only for Charlie to snap at him.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Randy is as rude a boss to Hurley as he was to Locke, but he's not wrong when he reprimands Hurley for eating chicken while he's working.
- Kick the Dog: Quite literally. Right after Sawyer gets pulled out of the pit, Ana Lucia notices he’s hiding a rock and gives him a 3-count to drop it. She doesn’t bother getting to 3 before she beats him up, even stomping on his bullet wound. Given what we learn about her 4 episodes later, among other things, it’s no wonder why she had so much hate among the fanbase.
- Loved by All: Rose points this out to Hurley when he's worried about how managing the food supply will affect his popularity with the group.Hurley: Everyone's going to hate me, Rose.Rose: Now that's just plain silly. You're about the only one on this island that everybody loves.
- Message in a Bottle: Claire and Shannon find the wine bottle full of messages that was on Michael's raft, alerting them to the fact that something has gone wrong with the vessel. They bring the bottle to Sun who decides to bury it so the rest of the castaways don't lose hope about being rescued.
- One Degree of Separation: Randy, Locke's jerkass boss from "Walkabout", is revealed to have also been Hurley's boss during his time working at Mr. Cluck's.
- One-Hit Wonder: In-Universe. While in a music store, Hurley and Johnny find Drive Shaft's album in the bargain bin.
- The Reveal: Turns out Rose was right, her husband Bernard is still alive among the Tailies.
- Running Gag: Once again, Jin is asked to pee on something, this time Sawyer's bullet wound.
- Shout-Out: Charlie refers to Jack's core adventure group as "The A-Team", which was quickly latched onto by the fandom.
- Silent Credits: The usual percussive sound that accompanies the title card at the end of the episode is absent, reflecting the gentle ending of Hurley giving away the food and the revelation that Bernard is alive.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Sawyer pulling a bullet out of his shoulder with his bare hands seemed like a Moment of Awesome at the time, but since the wound hasn't been treated properly, it's starting to become infected.
- Jack puts Hurley in charge of taking inventory of the food and figuring out how to make it last. Hurley determines that it can feed one guy for three months, but won't work for a large group. So he decides to just give it all away in a big feast.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Charlie gets Locke to tell him everything about the Hatch, and then Hurley still tries to pretend he doesn't know anything.Hurley: Locke's, uh, lying.Charlie: Was he also lying about the button you have to push every 108 minutes or the island will explode?Hurley: It's not gonna explode.
