Everybody Hates Hugo
Encyclopedia
"Everybody Hates Hugo" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American drama
television series
Lost
, and the show's 29th episode overall. The episode was written by Edward Kitsis
and Adam Horowitz, and directed by Alan Taylor
. It first aired in the United States on October 12, 2005 on ABC
.
In this episode, flashbacks reveal why Hurley is hesitant at his new job of distributing food found in the newly discovered Swan station. Meanwhile, a few castaways become worried that the raft sent by them for rescue may have not gone as far as they hoped. Jack and Sayid explore the hatch, while Sawyer, Jin, and Michael find out that their captors are from the tail section of the plane.
) discovery of his winning lottery numbers. Hurley keeps his win a secret, and quits his job at a fast food
restaurant along with his friend Johnny (DJ Qualls). The pair enjoy themselves by pulling a prank on their former boss, and going to a record store where Hurley asks out his crush, Starla (Marguerite Moreau
). Hurley asks Johnny to promise that they will never change, and Johnny does so. Johnny pulls into a local gas station to buy some beer, but notices news crews talking to the attendant. When the clerk loudly points out Hurley as the buyer of the winning lottery ticket, Johnny's stunned expression clearly reveals that, despite his promise, everything has changed.
, Hurley struggles with the task of food rationing. Charlie Pace
(Dominic Monaghan
) asks Hurley if the bunker contains food, specifically peanut butter for Claire Littleton
(Emilie de Ravin
), but Hurley will not answer him. Hurley decides to enlist Rose Henderson-Nadler (L. Scott Caldwell
) to help him take inventory. At one point, Hurley has a strange dream, in which Jin-Soo Kwon
(Daniel Dae Kim) tells Hurley, in English, that "everything is going to change." Hurley becomes less and less certain of his ability to ration the food in a manner that keeps everyone happy. He attempts to quit, but John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) refuses to permit it. Hurley then prepares to blow up the pantry with dynamite, but Rose intervenes. He explains that the food, new found wealth to the survivors, will change everything and everyone will come to hate him, just as things changed when everyone knew he won the lottery; however Rose talks him out of his plan. Later, Hurley informs Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
) of his decision to give all the food away, arguing that the food stores do not amount to very much when divided among all the survivors. The food is distributed freely and the survivors enjoy an enormous feast. Everyone appreciates Hurley's decision, including Charlie, who gives his benefactor a hug of reconciliation.
James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
), Michael Dawson
(Harold Perrineau) and Jin learn that their captors are survivors from the tail section of Oceanic 815 and are taken to a DHARMA Initiative
station, which they use for sanctuary. A woman named Libby
(Cynthia Watros
) says that there were 23
survivors from the tail section of the plane, although very few remain.
Meanwhile, the bottle of messages from the raft, on which Michael, Sawyer, Jin and Walt Lloyd
were travelling, washes ashore. Claire and Shannon Rutherford
(Maggie Grace
) give it to Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), Jin's wife, and she opts to bury the bottle on the beach. In the hatch, Jack and Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
) inspect the mysterious concrete barricade blocking what appears to be a corridor to another section of the bunker. They discover that the barrier is very thick and that the corridor is also blocked on the foundation level. Later, Jack and Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) share a moment of sexual tension
when she exits the shower wearing only a towel.
"Everybody Hates Hugo" was the first episode of the series directed by Alan Taylor
. Taylor had previously directed episodes of The Sopranos
and Sex and the City
. The episode was written by Edward Kitsis
and Adam Horowitz, the pair had previously written the episode "Born to Run
".
The character of Libby
, played by Cynthia Watros, was introduced in this episode. Originally, Libby had been written to be in her late 40's or early 50's. Jennifer Jason Leigh
was approached to play the part, but it went to Watros instead. When Watros auditioned for the part of Libby, she did not think that she would end up being cast. Once she was, Watros and her twin daughters immediately moved from Los Angeles
to Hawaii
. Bernard
is also introduced in this episode. As Rose is black, the producers thought the audience would expect Rose's husband to also be black, and made Bernard white to surprise the audience. They expected the audience to assume Mr. Eko
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
), the only black man in the tail-section survivors, was Bernard. L. Scott Caldwell
, Rose's portrayer, was unaware of their plans and had been picturing her own husband, a tall black man, when playing the scenes. When she found out Bernard was white she was surprised, but not shocked.
This was the first time in which Raj K. Bose, who played the shop clerk, was credited. Bose had been a background actor on the series, playing a crash survivor and a flight attendant. Bose was originally cast to play the role of Sanjay in the first season episode "Born to Run (Lost)
", but was forced to give up the role after he had to teach a marketing class at the University of Phoenix
. Casting agent Margaret Doversola later asked Bose to audition for the part of the shop clerk and he got the part.
For the flashback scene at the gas station, the crew rented out a 7-11 for a day. When Hurley drove in, the van was actually being pushed instead of driven to eliminate any sound from the vehicle. However, every time the van was pushed it would stall or the timing would be off. Once that problem had been solved, it started to rain, but eventually it stopped and the crew was able to get the shots before ending shooting at midnight. Hurley's dream scene was shot in the Hawaii Film Studio, where the hatch had been constructed. After each take of Hurley eating food in the hatch, the old food would be replaced with newer food. Garcia did not actually eat all the food though, he would sometimes just chew it and then spit it out into a garbage can. The chicken head that Bose had to wear was extremely heavy, causing actor Daniel Dae Kim to have to hold it up while Bose delivered his lines.
system, "Everybody Hates Hugo" was viewed by an average of 21.7 million viewers. The episode achieved a 9.4/22 in the key 18–49 demographic, meaning that 9.4% of all 18–49 years olds watched the episode, along with 8% of all 18–49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. "Everybody Hates Hugo" was the most watched episode of the night for the fourth week in a row, and the second most watched episode of the week. It also performed better than the previous episode in the key 18-49 demographic, and earned its second highest ever rating among teens 12-17.
Film Fodder's Mac Slocum said that he was glad that the show "downshifted this week into a far more reasonable gear". He felt that an upside to the downshifting was the "return to characters", and thought that there was no better representation of character than Hurley. Keith McDuffee of TV Squad wrote that although he heard "that this episode would be mostly filler", he did not "think that's true". He liked the fact that there was more revelations of Hurley's background, and enjoyed the "awesome reveals from the other half of downed Oceanic 815". TelevisionWithoutPity.com graded the episode with a "B".
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, and the show's 29th episode overall. The episode was written by Edward Kitsis
Edward Kitsis
Edward Lawrence Kitsis, also sometimes credited as Eddy Kitsis, is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on the popular American television series, Lost and Once Upon a Time.-Life and career:...
and Adam Horowitz, and directed by Alan Taylor
Alan Taylor (director)
Alan Taylor is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO...
. It first aired in the United States on October 12, 2005 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
In this episode, flashbacks reveal why Hurley is hesitant at his new job of distributing food found in the newly discovered Swan station. Meanwhile, a few castaways become worried that the raft sent by them for rescue may have not gone as far as they hoped. Jack and Sayid explore the hatch, while Sawyer, Jin, and Michael find out that their captors are from the tail section of the plane.
Flashbacks
Following Hugo "Hurley" Reyes's (Jorge GarciaJorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) discovery of his winning lottery numbers. Hurley keeps his win a secret, and quits his job at a fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
restaurant along with his friend Johnny (DJ Qualls). The pair enjoy themselves by pulling a prank on their former boss, and going to a record store where Hurley asks out his crush, Starla (Marguerite Moreau
Marguerite Moreau
Marguerite Moreau is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles on the television series Blossom, her role as Katie in the comedy cult film Wet Hot American Summer, and her role in The Mighty Ducks series of films...
). Hurley asks Johnny to promise that they will never change, and Johnny does so. Johnny pulls into a local gas station to buy some beer, but notices news crews talking to the attendant. When the clerk loudly points out Hurley as the buyer of the winning lottery ticket, Johnny's stunned expression clearly reveals that, despite his promise, everything has changed.
On the Island
In the The Swan stationDHARMA Initiative
The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA , was a fictional research project featured in the television series Lost. It was introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". In 2008, the Dharma Initiative website was launched. Dharma's interests were directly connected with fringe science...
, Hurley struggles with the task of food rationing. Charlie Pace
Charlie Pace
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island...
(Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
) asks Hurley if the bunker contains food, specifically peanut butter for Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
(Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
), but Hurley will not answer him. Hurley decides to enlist Rose Henderson-Nadler (L. Scott Caldwell
L. Scott Caldwell
Laverne Scott Caldwell is an American actress known for her role as Rose on Lost.This Chicago native started her career in 1978 as a member of the famed Negro Ensemble Company, making her Broadway debut two years later in the Tony Award nominated play Home...
) to help him take inventory. At one point, Hurley has a strange dream, in which Jin-Soo Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Daniel Dae Kim.- Prior to the crash :...
(Daniel Dae Kim) tells Hurley, in English, that "everything is going to change." Hurley becomes less and less certain of his ability to ration the food in a manner that keeps everyone happy. He attempts to quit, but John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) refuses to permit it. Hurley then prepares to blow up the pantry with dynamite, but Rose intervenes. He explains that the food, new found wealth to the survivors, will change everything and everyone will come to hate him, just as things changed when everyone knew he won the lottery; however Rose talks him out of his plan. Later, Hurley informs Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
) of his decision to give all the food away, arguing that the food stores do not amount to very much when divided among all the survivors. The food is distributed freely and the survivors enjoy an enormous feast. Everyone appreciates Hurley's decision, including Charlie, who gives his benefactor a hug of reconciliation.
James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
), Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
(Harold Perrineau) and Jin learn that their captors are survivors from the tail section of Oceanic 815 and are taken to a DHARMA Initiative
DHARMA Initiative
The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA , was a fictional research project featured in the television series Lost. It was introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". In 2008, the Dharma Initiative website was launched. Dharma's interests were directly connected with fringe science...
station, which they use for sanctuary. A woman named Libby
Libby (Lost)
Libby is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. She is played by American actress Cynthia Watros...
(Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Michele Watros is an American television actress, who also starred in films and on stage. She is known for her roles as Libby on the ABC TV series Lost, Kellie in The Drew Carey Show, Erin in Titus, and Annie Dutton in Guiding Light...
) says that there were 23
23 (numerology)
The 23 enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23, some modification of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23.-Origins:...
survivors from the tail section of the plane, although very few remain.
Meanwhile, the bottle of messages from the raft, on which Michael, Sawyer, Jin and Walt Lloyd
Walt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
were travelling, washes ashore. Claire and Shannon Rutherford
Shannon Rutherford
Shannon Rutherford is a fictional character played by Maggie Grace on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Shannon is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepsister of fellow crash survivor Boone Carlyle . She is...
(Maggie Grace
Maggie Grace
Margaret Grace Denig , best known as Maggie Grace, is an American actress. Originally from Worthington, Ohio, she dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents' divorce. While struggling financially, she landed her first role as the title character in the...
) give it to Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), Jin's wife, and she opts to bury the bottle on the beach. In the hatch, Jack and Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
) inspect the mysterious concrete barricade blocking what appears to be a corridor to another section of the bunker. They discover that the barrier is very thick and that the corridor is also blocked on the foundation level. Later, Jack and Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) share a moment of sexual tension
Sexual tension
Sexual tension is a social phenomenon that occurs when two people interact and one or both feel sexual desire, but the consummation is postponed or never happens....
when she exits the shower wearing only a towel.
Production
Alan Taylor (director)
Alan Taylor is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO...
. Taylor had previously directed episodes of The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
and Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
. The episode was written by Edward Kitsis
Edward Kitsis
Edward Lawrence Kitsis, also sometimes credited as Eddy Kitsis, is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on the popular American television series, Lost and Once Upon a Time.-Life and career:...
and Adam Horowitz, the pair had previously written the episode "Born to Run
Born to Run (Lost)
"Born to Run" is the 22nd episode of the first season of Lost. It was directed by Tucker Gates, written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and based on a story by Javier Grillo-Marxuach. It first aired on May 11, 2005, on ABC. The character Kate Austen is featured in the episode's flashbacks...
".
The character of Libby
Libby (Lost)
Libby is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. She is played by American actress Cynthia Watros...
, played by Cynthia Watros, was introduced in this episode. Originally, Libby had been written to be in her late 40's or early 50's. Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...
was approached to play the part, but it went to Watros instead. When Watros auditioned for the part of Libby, she did not think that she would end up being cast. Once she was, Watros and her twin daughters immediately moved from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Bernard
Rose and Bernard
Rose Nadler and Bernard Nadler are fictional characters on the American Broadcasting Company television series Lost, played by L. Scott Caldwell and Sam Anderson respectively. Rose and Bernard visit a faith healer on their honeymoon in Australia, in the hope of healing Rose's cancer...
is also introduced in this episode. As Rose is black, the producers thought the audience would expect Rose's husband to also be black, and made Bernard white to surprise the audience. They expected the audience to assume Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko Tunde is a fictional character, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the plane's tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas...
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
), the only black man in the tail-section survivors, was Bernard. L. Scott Caldwell
L. Scott Caldwell
Laverne Scott Caldwell is an American actress known for her role as Rose on Lost.This Chicago native started her career in 1978 as a member of the famed Negro Ensemble Company, making her Broadway debut two years later in the Tony Award nominated play Home...
, Rose's portrayer, was unaware of their plans and had been picturing her own husband, a tall black man, when playing the scenes. When she found out Bernard was white she was surprised, but not shocked.
This was the first time in which Raj K. Bose, who played the shop clerk, was credited. Bose had been a background actor on the series, playing a crash survivor and a flight attendant. Bose was originally cast to play the role of Sanjay in the first season episode "Born to Run (Lost)
Born to Run (Lost)
"Born to Run" is the 22nd episode of the first season of Lost. It was directed by Tucker Gates, written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and based on a story by Javier Grillo-Marxuach. It first aired on May 11, 2005, on ABC. The character Kate Austen is featured in the episode's flashbacks...
", but was forced to give up the role after he had to teach a marketing class at the University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix
The University of Phoenix is a for-profit institution of higher learning. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Group Inc. which is publicly traded , an S&P 500 corporation based in Phoenix, Arizona...
. Casting agent Margaret Doversola later asked Bose to audition for the part of the shop clerk and he got the part.
For the flashback scene at the gas station, the crew rented out a 7-11 for a day. When Hurley drove in, the van was actually being pushed instead of driven to eliminate any sound from the vehicle. However, every time the van was pushed it would stall or the timing would be off. Once that problem had been solved, it started to rain, but eventually it stopped and the crew was able to get the shots before ending shooting at midnight. Hurley's dream scene was shot in the Hawaii Film Studio, where the hatch had been constructed. After each take of Hurley eating food in the hatch, the old food would be replaced with newer food. Garcia did not actually eat all the food though, he would sometimes just chew it and then spit it out into a garbage can. The chicken head that Bose had to wear was extremely heavy, causing actor Daniel Dae Kim to have to hold it up while Bose delivered his lines.
Reception
According to the Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, "Everybody Hates Hugo" was viewed by an average of 21.7 million viewers. The episode achieved a 9.4/22 in the key 18–49 demographic, meaning that 9.4% of all 18–49 years olds watched the episode, along with 8% of all 18–49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. "Everybody Hates Hugo" was the most watched episode of the night for the fourth week in a row, and the second most watched episode of the week. It also performed better than the previous episode in the key 18-49 demographic, and earned its second highest ever rating among teens 12-17.
Film Fodder's Mac Slocum said that he was glad that the show "downshifted this week into a far more reasonable gear". He felt that an upside to the downshifting was the "return to characters", and thought that there was no better representation of character than Hurley. Keith McDuffee of TV Squad wrote that although he heard "that this episode would be mostly filler", he did not "think that's true". He liked the fact that there was more revelations of Hurley's background, and enjoyed the "awesome reveals from the other half of downed Oceanic 815". TelevisionWithoutPity.com graded the episode with a "B".