Dave (Lost) - Production

Production

ABC was concerned about the content of the episode, arguing that the idea that the story could be all in Hurley's head was offering an explanation for the show as a whole, since a recurring theory among the fandom was that the events of the series were hallucinations. The character of Dave was meant to be a side of Hurley who felt he had no problem, and encourages Hurley to overeat, and is played by Evan Handler in a way director Jack Bender described as "mischievous, impish-like". Showrunner Carlton Cuse revealed his name comes from Hurley's father, David Reyes - who would later appear in the series played by Cheech Marin - because the writers "wanted Hurley to imagine a friend and have that be wrapped up in his unresolved relationship with his dad". The final scene with Libby was so secret that only Jack Bender and his assistant director had it in their scripts, and to prevent Libby from being the only woman in the mental institution, every woman on the set, including Bender's daughter Sophie, was dressed in robes and pajamas to appear as background characters.

Director Bender decided to depict Dave in a way audiences would first believe him to be real, but without the character actually interacting with the physical world, similar to films such as The Sixth Sense and A Beautiful Mind. For the scene in which Dave walks through the jungle with Hurley, red and orange flowers were placed to add some "magic" to the scene, something Bender described as a "'Hurley in Wonderland' feel". The scene in which Hurley attacks Sawyer was intended to be a humorous moment, with Bender suggesting that the tent be knocked over, and Josh Holloway adding Sawyer trying to escape but being pulled back.

The scene in which Dave starts listing to Hurley why the island events are occurring in his mind suffered from continuous interruption, as military exercises on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam led to many takes being ruined by plane noises. Weather problems also plagued production, with loud waves causing Hurley's and Libby's beach scene to be redubbed in post-production, and rain on one day changing the location of the basketball game scene to an indoor court, and also leading to a second day of filming on the cliff. The cliff was digitally redesigned in post-production to appear as if the actors were standing on the edge. Dave's jump was done by making a stunt double jump in front of a bluescreen, with the body hitting the water and resulting splash being rendered through computer graphics. The mental hospital was shot at the Laniakea YWCA in Honolulu, except for Dr. Brooks's office, which was done inside a studio.