Watch Ep 310's Secret Clue on Video

Episode 310 - "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead" Secret Clue

Welcome back to the Lost Secret Clue, where we dig deeper to find the clues and secrets you might've missed to fuel your theories! This week's episode, ‘Tricia Tanaka Is Dead’, presented us with an entire vanload full of clues, including as-yet unseen island supplies, a surprising blueprint and a former Dharma employee! If Desmond’s episode a few weeks ago was dealing with the idea of fighting fate, then this episode was squarely centred on luck, or what you make of it – the horseshoe on the ceiling of Hurley’s bedroom the shining example of this, as was the song ‘Shambala’ by Three Dog Night that played when Hurley started the car.

For two and a half seasons we’ve witnessed Hurley bear the weight of his supposed curse, and this week we finally saw him break free of those shackles. Everything we’ve learnt about Hurley points to one glaring fact – the guy is deathly afraid of change. What bigger change could occur in someone’s life than suddenly coming into million dollars? Considering Hurley created an imaginary friend to help him cope with a difficult stage in his life, was it really that surprising to learn that the curse is most likely all in his head? It was interesting to note that Hurley most likely named his hospital “buddy” Dave after his long-absent father...

There were a few key moments in Hurley’s flashback that, rather than being fresh clues, harkened back to other clues we’ve spotted before. Having bought out Mr Cluck’s, Hurley opted to keep Randy in charge – effectively turning the tables on their previous relationship. Mr Cluck’s must have been destroyed a reasonable amount of time before Hurley travelled to Australia, as you’ll recall by the time of the flight, Randy was Locke’s boss at the box company he now owned.

While not being a clue in itself, it was interesting to note that a bribed psychic played a role in Hurley’s journey to the island. Both Claire and Mr Eko were led further down their paths to the island by a psychic purposely misleading them from the truth, as requested by someone else...

You may have also noticed the picture on the dining room wall in Hurley’s mansion – it was strikingly similar to the picture of an island seen in Dr Brook’s office at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. The lobby was shaped like an octagonal, as was the lobby where Michael retrieved Walt from Susan and Brian’s house in Sydney. Are they simply fans of the same imagery, or is foul play at hand?

By far, though, the biggest and most interesting clue we received this episode was in the form of a tipped-over, abandoned Volkswagen T2a, manufactured between 1968 and 1972. Hurley’s guess of how old the beer might actually be was hilarious – if the beer was made before Rocky II (1979), it would be older than he is!

The mere presence and age of the vehicle was mysterious enough, but it was the contents of the van that set our minds on fire. There were a set of rosary beads hanging from the rear-view mirror. The VW logo had been replaced by the Dharma logo, one without a hatch assigned to it, which was odd considering the Dharma beer found inside sported the Swan logo, as did our new friend, Roger Work Man.

Is this the first actual appearance of a member of the Dharma Initiative we’ve seen on the island? It seems strange that no one came for the van, let alone Roger’s body – could this suggest this isn’t the only vehicle Dharma had/have in their possession? The solitary piece of interesting trash inside the can would definitely lend itself to this theory, considering it appears to be a blueprint for creating roads across the island, with one of them leading directly to the Swan. Could these blueprints be linked to what the Others were forcing Kate and Sawyer to build on the Alcatraz island?