When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.
"Dave" is not one of the best 'Lost' episodes. It's not even to me one of the best episodes of Season 2 and somewhat of a let down after the fabulous previous episode "Lockdown", which is a Season 2 and 'Lost' in general gem. It's nowhere near one of the worst though (Season 2's weak point will always be "Fire + Water"), despite the mixed critical reception. Actually consider it a very nicely done episode in its own right and fairly underrated.
It is not the most story and character advancing of episodes, can understand the complaints of it being pointless and filler, with other episodes before and since doing better jobs at having flashbacks that add to the rest of the episode and relevant to them. The flashback on its own is actually very interesting, if not illuminating, but doesn't move things forward and serves as showing a more dramatic side to Hurley than the comic relief he tended to be.
Hurley also shows a selfish trait on occasions, for him that felt out of character and made his character less likeable. Am unsure what my stance is on the ending, it certainly compels one to watch the following episodes but frustrates in its relative abruptness and the final flashback scene is somewhat vague and like a potentially good idea neglected as quick as it was introduced.
On the other hand, the hatch scenes are riveting, the whole mystery surrounding Henry Gale continue to intrigue and have a lot of suspense, Hurley and Libby's chemistry is very sweet but also somewhat sad and Charlie's seeing a polar bear on roller skates with a mango line is one of the show's funniest and most classic and one of Charlie's greatest certainly.
Jorge Garcia and Michael Emerson are especially outstanding of the uniformly strong cast. Cynthia Watros is quite touching, and Terry O'Quinn and Dominic Monaghan are also standouts.
Visually, 'Lost' continues to be stylish, atmospheric and beautiful in "Dave", as always making the most of the island setting. The music is as always chilling and understated, the script is taut yet light and there is some good directing work here too.
In summary, very nicely done while falling short of greatness. 8/10 Bethany Cox