Season 1, Episode 18:

Numbers

In flashbacks, Hurley wins the lottery with the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42. However, after his win he embarks on an unusual streak of bad luck, including the death of his Grandpa Tito and his mother's new house burning down. After a conversation with Leonard, and old friend of his who he spent time with at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute from whom he heard the Numbers in the first place, he comes to the conclusion that they are cursed, and travels to Australia to discover their origin from a man named Sam Toomey. He meets Toomey's widow, Martha, who explains that Toomey killed himself after a similar streak of bad luck when he used the Numbers to win a competition. However, Martha does not believe the Numbers are cursed.

On the Island, Hurley discovers that Danielle Rousseau has written the Numbers on one of her maps, and seeks her out to ask her about it. He is followed by Jack, Sayid and Charlie, who are concerned by his strange behaviour, and agree to accompany him when they see his determination. Hurley finally meets Rousseau, who does not know what the Numbers mean, but agrees with him that they are cursed, as her science team crashed on the Island while searching for the source of a transmission that repeated them over and over. Meanwhile, at the beach, Locke asks Claire to assist him with a wooden object he is building, which turns out to be a crib for her baby. The final shot shows that the Numbers are etched into the side of the Hatch that Locke and Boone discovered.

Tropes in this episode include:

• Acting Unnatural: Hurley's attempts at acting casual about his plan to find Rousseau are so bad that Sayid and Charlie both instantly figure out that he's up to something.
• An Arm and a Leg: Martha Toomey lost her left leg in a traffic collision on their way back from the fair where Sam won a large sum of money using the Numbers.
• Arc Number: This episode introduces the famous Numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42), which frequently recur throughout the rest of the series and are central to Hurley's character arc.
• Agent Scully: Even after describing the string of bad luck that her husband experienced, which included her losing her leg in a car accident while he escaped without a scratch, Martha bluntly tells Hurley that there is no curse with the Numbers.
  Martha: Curse? There's no curse.
  Hurley: But you just told me—
  Martha: You think I'd still have my leg if Sam hadn't have picked the right number of beans?! You think that floods wouldn't have happened?! That homes wouldn't have burned down?! That people wouldn't have died?!
  Hurley: Well, yeah.
  Martha: You make your own luck, Mr. Reyes. Don't blame it on the damn numbers. You're looking for an excuse that doesn't exist.
• As You Know: Carmen reminds Hurley that they are Catholic. In addition, he reminds her of the bad things that have been happening after he won the lottery.
• Ate His Gun: Hurley asks Martha if Sam Toomey ever found a way out of the "curse." She replies that he put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
• Birthday Episode: Claire reveals near the end of the episode that it is her birthday. Locke tells her that her baby's birthday being close to hers is good luck, and gifts her a homemade crib as a present.
• Black Comedy: The sheer absurdity of Hurley's streak of bad luck pushes it into this at times, in particular when his accountant insists that there's no such thing as a curse moments before a man falls out of a window of the building they're in right behind him.
  Hurley: You're going to like this one, Ma. I mean, after everything you've been through? Like grandpa. And then at the funeral, Father Aguillar getting struck by lightning? Man, that was a freak storm. And Diego moving back home after Lisa left him for that... waitress?
• Blatant Lies: When directly asked why he's so interested in Rousseau, Hurley denies being interested and claims to just be making conversation with Sayid... after waking him in the middle of the night and asking him all about Rousseau.
• Boring Yet Practical: Hurley's accountant describes his recent acquisition of a box company to be highly lucrative because "everyone needs boxes."
• Call-Back:
  • The woman calling the winning lottery numbers is the same one Sawyer was about to hook up with when Hibbs interrupted them.
  • Hurley's accountant makes the same remark as Locke made to Boone on the subject of a box company:
    Boone/Hurley: A box company?
    Locke/Accountant: They make boxes.
  • Sayid recovers the picture of Nadia he left at Rousseau's.
• Cassandra Truth: Charlie doesn't believe Hurley when he tells him that he's worth 156 million dollars back home.
  Charlie: I just told you the biggest secret of my life. I thought you'd want to reciprocate.
  Hurley: Okay. Back home I'm worth 156 million dollars.
  Charlie: Fine. Don't tell me.
  Hurley: Dude.
  Charlie: I bare my soul, and all I get is bloody jokes!
• Cool Old Guy: Hurley describes his Grandpa Tito as such. Sadly he never gets a chance to demonstrate it since he dies moments after Hurley announces his plans to use his lottery winnings to give him the retirement he deserves.
  Hurley: This is the greatest guy I know, my, my, my grandpa Tito. He's worked three jobs for — how long has it been, abuelito?
  Tito: 52 years.
  Hurley: 52 years. 70 years old, and the closest thing he's had to a vacation is when they put a pacemaker in him four years ago. So the first thing I'm going to do with the money is, uh, finally give him the rest that he's earned.
• Crazy-Prepared: Rousseau had her original hideout booby-trapped and moved on just in case Sayid ever came back to look for her.
• Dark and Troubled Past: It's revealed that Hurley spent time in a mental institution, although the reason why is not specified.
• Fainting: After realizing that he has won the lottery, Hurley keels over in shock.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Hurley says that his grandfather had a pacemaker put in four years prior. Moments later, said grandfather drops dead from a heart attack.
• Foreshadowing: Sawyer appears to have a nasty headache while reading.
• The Glomp: After Rousseau agrees with him that the Numbers are cursed, Hurley is so relieved and grateful to have someone believe him that he grabs Rousseau in an enormous hug.
• I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Lampshaded by Sayid:
  Sayid: Terretoire fonce; Shannon translated it. It means "dark territory". Does that sound like a place you'd like to visit?
• Instantly Proven Wrong:
  • Not a full five minutes after telling Hurley that there's no such thing as curses, Carmen breaks her ankle getting out of the car, her new house has caught fire, and Hurley is mistakenly arrested by the LAPD as he tries to call the fire department.
    Hurley: No such thing as curses, huh, Ma?
  • Hurley's accountant also insists that there's no such thing as curses. A man is seen plummeting to his death in the window behind him before the accountant has even stopped talking.
• Internal Reveal: Charlie tells Hurley about his drug addiction.
• Ludicrous Precision: Sam Toomey used the Numbers to guess how many beans were in a jar "as big as a pony"; according to Sam's wife Martha, the number (4,815,162,342) was exact "to the bean".
• Madness Mantra: Leonard from Santa Rosa repeats the Numbers to himself over and over all the time. He only breaks from saying them when Hurley says he played the lottery with the Numbers, yelling for Hurley to get away from them however he can and telling him about Sam Toomey.
• Mistaken Identity: As part of his ludicrous streak of bad luck, the LAPD somehow mistakes Hurley for a drug dealer and arrests him.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Hurley gets several of them during his flashbacks: when his grandfather drops during an interview; when his mother breaks her ankle outside of her new house, which they then notice is on fire, and which is quickly followed by the police (who have someone confused Hurley for a drug dealer) arrest him as he's trying to dial 9-1-1.
  • Leonard freaks out when he hears that Hurley played the lottery using the Numbers.
  • When a gunshot interrupts their conversation, Hurley has enough time to ask "is someone shooting at us?" before a second gunshot sends he and Charlie running.
• One Degree of Separation: While meeting with his accountant, Hurley is told he is now the owner of a box company in Tustin. Season 6 would confirm that he indeed owned the company that Locke worked for.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Several characters are freaked out to see Big Fun Hurley be so reckless in his pursuit of the answer behind the mystery of the Numbers.
• Pet the Dog: Rousseau gives Hurley one of her batteries to power a distress signal for the raft.
• Retirony: Hurley tells reporters that he wants to use his lottery winnings to send his grandpa on a cruise and give him a great retirement. Grandpa drops dead while he's saying this.
• Rope Bridge: Hurley is the first to cross the bridge they find on the way to Danielle's. Charlie follows him only for the bridge to collapse beneath him, leaving Sayid and Jack on the other side.
• Shout-Out:
  • Sawyer calls Walt "Short Round."
  • According to the writers, the number 42 was picked as a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Trying to get out a car while blindfolded earns Carmen a broken ankle.
  • Hurley is mistaken for a drug dealer and arrested by the LAPD; it takes no time at all for Hurley to be released, and he quickly sues for wrongful arrest, netting a sizable settlement.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: After Charlie says hello while Hurley is gathering water, Hurley quickly says "I'm not doing anything!".
• Wham Shot: The ending of the episode reveals that the Numbers are etched into the side of the Hatch.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: While Hurley mentions that his brother moved back in with them, Diego is not seen in any other episodes.