Some Like it Hoth

…and your daddy don’t rock and roll

Is anyone surprised that yet another character has daddy-issues? Let me think. I’ll go alphabetical. Ben’s father is/was an alcoholic who blames his son for killing his wife. Hurley’s father only returned to the Reyes family after the lottery win. Jack ratted on his alcoholic father after a botched surgery led to a patient’s death. Sawyer heard his father shoot his mother and himself to death. Jin was embarrassed by his father’s lowly station in life. Locke’s father was a con man who conned his own son out of a kidney. And tried to kill him. Sayid’s father was a hard ass. Walt's father not only signed over his parental rights when Walt was younger, but he also confessed to Walt that he killed Ana Lucia and Libby. We don’t know enough about Daniel or Desmond to know about their fathers, but I’m betting there’s conflict enough for both.


We finally got the back story on Miles, and, oddly enough, not much was a surprise. Miles Straume started out life as Miles Chang, son of Lara and Pierre Chang, probably not born on the island (remember that Ethan’s birth was unexpected), though he spent part of his babyhood there. For reasons not yet clear to us, Lara and Miles left the Dharrma Initiative, moving to an apartment in Encino, California. It is there that Miles first manifests his ability to communicate with the dead. Later, Miles and his mother became estranged, only to reunite when Lara is on her deathbed. Even then, she can’t answer Miles’ anguished questions about his father and his “talent”.

Deciding that his mother was right, and that his father didn’t care about them, Miles turned downright mercenary. He used his skill to make money, as much as he could. Nor was he above lying. Naomi Dorrit called it right, he’d do anything if the price is right. And $1.6 million was clearly a right enough price for a dangerous trip to an island with a serial killer. He’d happily not go on the trip, if he’s paid $3.2 million. But I suspect Bram had it right too: all the money in the world isn’t going to fill that empty hole.

Just like the last time they shared the screen, the Hurley and Miles show was the best part. Hurley quickly figured out that Miles can communicate with the dead, a fact that did not upset Hurley, since he talks to the dead too. And happy, sane Hurley wanted to initiate a reunion (or, I guess, a union in this case) between estranged father and son. Miles is fatalistic about it. He knows his father will die in the purge, but he doesn’t believe anything can be done. Miles keeps his hard exterior to Hurley, but it becomes clear that he’s listening when we see him peeping into his family’s window. Pierre Chang is reading a book (about polar bears) to baby Miles. When he gets a phone call, he leaves, then tells the adult Miles he needs him. Miles is excited, but all Pierre needs is a ride.

I guess the episode was telling us that the empty hole was caused by the absence of his father in his life. In that respect, the episode was a little heavy-handed. But, in the way only Lost can do, it turned meaningful as Hurley explored Miles’ situation, and then tried to correct it. I heart Hurley.

Other thoughts…

Miles’ Surname

Miles was born to Lara and Pierre Chang, but goes by the name Straume. According to Lostpedia, Straume is Lara’s maiden name. I’m curious as to how Miles ended up with that as his surname. Maybe it’ll be explored. Maybe not.

Circle of Trust

Miles is now in the Circle of Trust, since “Jim” was out of touch. This involves driving into Hostile territory to deliver a package (body bag) to Radzinski, who will give Miles a package in return (a body in the body bag). No questions asked. Ever the rebel, Miles asks questions, getting no answers from anyone, except, of course, the dead guy. And what killed the dead guy? A tooth filling bursting through his brain. Dr. Chang needs the body, so off to the Orchid Miles must go. Dr. Chang, apparently, is unaware that there are circles, just like any pointy-headed scientist. Dr. Chang needs to consult with Radzinski. When Miles asks about the body, he responds, “What body?” What is going on in Hostile Territory? The building of the Swan. With the numbers. And something about the Swan makes tooth fillings burst out of people’s brains. Ouch.

I just had to wonder, Sawyer, what were you involved in?

Roger and Kate

Well, I guess the flirting is over. Thank goodness! Kate thought she could help Roger by offering him hope, but Roger was drunk, angry, and suspicious. Roger shared his concern with the new guy, Jack, who thinks that Roger isn’t going to say anything after Jack’s talk with him. Yeah, right Jack. Now Roger thinks you’re in it with Kate.

A Missing Child

Juliet tells Roger that Ben is missing, and the Dharma Initiative…does nothing. No posses running around trying to find the missing child. No…nothing. Just Phil (more on him later).

Naomi Dorrit and Felix

Naomi’s recruitment of Miles involved an audition. Miles did his mojo, and learned that Felix made a delivery to Widmore of papers, photos of empty graves, and an invoice for an old plane. Did you get excited? I did, but I still don’t think that this proves that Widmore planted that plane. Ben could have, and the documents could have been proof of such being delivered to Widmore. However, if that were the case, why kill the messenger?

$1.6 Million

This was the price Miles would earn upon helping Dorrit catch Ben. He doubled that price to either not get on the boat (to Bram) or tell everyone that Ben was dead (in Eggtown). Now we know where that number came from.

Bram

So, I honestly didn’t recognize Bram. If it weren’t for the blogs, I’d have never known that he was with Ilana when she demanded Frank answer, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” I guess that Bram and Ilana know. I’m still curious. However, we can be certain that he’s not working for Widmore. Does that mean he’s working for Ben? Hawking? And what kind of name is Bram, anyway?

The Empire Strikes Back

Hurley, who’s seen this movie over 200 times, decides that he’ll help George Lucas and write the script for the next Star Wars movie for him, with a few improvements. Too bad Hurley couldn’t have written the scripts for the last three movies. But I digress. Hurley compares Miles to Luke Skywalker, pointing out that Luke’s refusal to talk with his own father led to the loss of an arm (or hand – whatever) and the introduction of the Ewoks. "And let’s face it. The Ewoks sucked, dude."

Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs could be seen on the blackboard in the classroom that Jack and Roger cleaned. The internet people have translated some of them to be “Writings of the word of God” and “Egypt”. The Others speak Latin, and the Dharma Initiative (and apparently the original inhabitants of the island) use hieroglyphs. What is it about ancient languages and our island?

Mr. Gray

When Miles gave Mr. Gray his money back, I just assumed he was feeling guilty for swindling the guy. But that was too simple. Miles was feeling guilty for cheating the son.

Phil

I knew Phil would be trouble.

Daniel

So, he’s back. And he looks almost sane. I hope we’ll learn why he left (perhaps for scaring little red-headed girls?). We know he’ll be assigned to work on the Swan – remember the first scene of the season opener? When Pierre Chang tried to make a video, to be interrupted by a crisis around the donkey wheel? And he brushed by Daniel? This scene had to have occurred after the events of this episode, because it opened with Pierre taking care of baby Miles.

Next week is some kind of rehash episode. Maybe it will be good, I don’t know. We’ll see. Then, four more episodes. And the last one is called, The Incident. Woo hoo!

And I have no idea why the pictures are so small this week.