Miles Straume, Season Five

Although we met Miles Straume in Season Four, the Writer's Strike prevented us from learning as much about him as perhaps we would have liked. All we really learned is that Miles is a selfish jerk and that he can communicate with the dead. What a pleasure then, in Season Five, to really meet Miles and learn about his history.

It turns out that Miles, while not born on the Island, spent his first few months with his parents there. Evacuated from the Island with his mother, he was raised in Encino believing his father abandoned them. (As an aside, I'm not sure that Lara's lifelong anger at Pierre makes sense. All women and children were being evacuated. She was not singled out.) As a child, he discovered that he could hear the fleeting thoughts of the dead. Estranged from his mother, he showed up at her death bed looking a lot like Kid Omega in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Miles actually seemed estranged from the whole human race, even after arriving on the Island. Respectful of no one, respected by none, he only wanted what he could get - money. And he didn't mind being a turn-coat - as long as the price was right.

His hiring by Widmore to travel to the Island changed his life forever. Hired for his unique ability to hear the thoughts of the dead, Miles accepted a high price, and wouldn't turn down the job unless he was paid more. Miles was warned, "All the money in the world isn't gonna fill that empty hole inside you." And indeed, before he left for the Island he returned money to a grieving father whom he'd conned.

On the Island, nothing really changed for Miles until Ben turned the wheel and the Island started skipping through time. Before it was over, one of his colleagues was dead, an 815er disappeared in a well, and Miles accepted the fact that they were tripping through time. He then found himself stuck in the 1970s. He adapted.

Miles' relationship with Sawyer underwent a transformation. Prior to their joining the Dharma Initiative, Miles questioned everything Sawyer suggested. But in 1977, Miles followed Sawyer without question.

I've made much about Miles and Hurley as the greatest comic duo on the show so far. One commentator I've read argues that Miles and Hurley became friends in Whatever Happened, Happened, but I'm not so sure I agree. By Some Like It Hoth, Miles still doesn't respect Hurley and resents the latter's interference in Miles' work. Miles realizes he made a mistake when he reveals that "that douchebag", Pierre Chang, was his father. Hurley, who knows all about father issues, tries to help Miles sort through them, and before the hour was up, Miles was observing his own father read a book to his baby self, and perhaps realizing his father wasn't all he had thought.

Daniel's return to the Island brought complications to everyone, especially when Dan revealed to Pierre Chang that Miles was his son. Miles of course, immediately denied it. However, after the gig was up, and Miles teamed with Hurley and Jin to escape the Dharma Initiative, Miles could not deny his paternity when pressed (it didn't help that Hurley was incapable to answering even the most basic of history questions). Miles encourages his father to pay attention to Daniel and evacuate everyone from the Island who doesn't need to be there. Miles then watches as his father argues with his wife, basically running her off the Island.

Finally, in The Incident, we see Miles do something completely selfless, completely focused on someone other than him. His father injured, Miles yells out "Dad" and risks his own life to rescue him.

We have no idea what will be left behind after Juliet made Jughead explode, but hopefully some of Miles' changes will stick around.

The Actor

Ken Leung apparently worked on a film that has not been released yet called "Works of Art." I think you can see a trailer for it on YouTube. Otherwise, he is expected to be seen in Season 6 of Lost.