The Ed Zone

Lost – ‘Some Like it Hoth’ – 5.13

Friday April 17, 2009 | 7 comments (now closed)

Sorry for the late-ish post. My handy dandy screen cap site decided to sleep in again this morning – meaning I had to put this on the backburner. Sure, I had the words crafted, but without the pretty pics, the piece just doesn’t feel whole. I have to keep this site nice and visual for you, my adoring ADD-addled masses.

Assuming you took your meds and paid attention to next week’s teaser, you know that we have another mini-hiatus staring us down. Lost is taking an April Vacation siesta and won’t be back with a new episode until Wednesday April 29th.  And then, over the course of 3 short weeks, we’ll have our race to the finish. That’s right – only 4 more episodes left this season and 2 of them are smashed together on one night – the May 13th Season Finale.

And then I can get started on my Return of the Jedi screenplay.

All right – Let’s get Lost.

1.   This episode led with a playful title – ‘Some Like it Hoth’ – and that’s exactly what I found it to be. A lighter episode that pushed the story forward to where it needs to be for the final act this season while also providing some back story to our resident Ghost Whisperer Miles. I’ve liked this guy since his first appearance and his brand of snark compliments Sawyer’s quips nicely. Three additional years listening to LaFleur’s linguistic flair has served Miles well and I love his exasperation with Hurley. He and I share the same sentiment. Just shut up, Jabba!!!

2.   The episode began with a creepy little scene where young Miles channeled Cole Sear. It’s unclear whether this was the first time his abilities manifested but it certainly seemed to freak him out. I’ve got a theory on where this ability comes from, which in my usual fashion, I’ll tease here and explore below. Let’s just say that having a Mad Scientist in the family may have its benefits.

3.   Moments later, Miles morphed from Ghost Whisperer to The Transporter as he was charged with delivering a package to Radzinsky and in turn, ferrying something mysterious back to Horace. Despite being drafted into the Circle of Trust, Miles made a piss-poor Frank Martin by breaking the first rule. Never open the package. Somewhere this morning, some ambitious studio exec is pitching “It’s The Transporter Meets The Sixth Sense Meets MILF Island”. I just know it. Hell, maybe I should get on that gravy train (as soon as I finish meeting with my Trim investors).

4.   We learn from Miles’ deadside chat that the worker went out in particularly gruesome fashion. What Miles initially thought was a gunshot wound was actually a man’s filling being yanked from his teeth through his brain – an unfortunate side-effect to the island’s electromagnetic properties.

5.   As was tipped earlier in the season, the DHARMA initiative is hard at work building the various stations that dot the island. This poor bastard was working at The Swan and we got that cool little sequence where Hurley spied his fated number being stamped on the outside of the Hatch. I didn’t quite catch what the numbers were from. Was it just a random serial number or was there a hint of meaning to them? With all the attention paid to them – particularly Danielle’s recording that ran for 16 years – there’s obviously more to it than that but it would be kinda’ funny if they end up just a randomly generated serial number. No! Wait!!! What am I saying? I’d be p!ssed if that’s the case. Anyway, I thought it was a nice ironic touch to have these two Teamsters nonchalantly imprinting the Fateful numbers on that hatch and having Hurley bear witness to such a trivial event that has had such long-reaching implications into his troubled life.

6.   Around the halfway mark, we got the revelation that Pierre Chang (who in the various orientation videos has gone by the names Dr. Halliwax, Marvin Candle and Bob Wickman) is Miles’ Dad. That could have been the big Empire reveal if Chang was less Deadbeat Dad and more Evil Incarnate but it was a nice allusion to the seminal flick that lent this ep it’s name. I though it was a nice touch that the reveal was handled through a curve ball. Rather than gutt-punching Miles, he’s known this all along and has been bee-bopping alongside his dear old Dad for three years. We know that Miles was driven to find his Dad, a trait that Widemore exploits alongside his freaky paranormal abilities, so, it lent poignancy that the island’s Eden was more of a Hell to Miles – who finally found what he was looking for but would rather be anywhere else but there.

7.   One thing is for certain, Chang does not appear malevolent. If anything, he’s a gruff workaholic who is apparently laboring hard for the unseen Overseers residing in Ann Arbor, MI.  In fact, he has a genuinely normal existence going on in Othersville that featured in a tender moment when Miles was able to look in on his Dad joyously reading him a book. It makes you think that Chang sent his wife and son away for their safety and with an episode coming down the pike titled ‘The Incident’, I think we can see where this road leads.

8.   That scene also erased any doubts as to whether one person could be in the same place in time as their former self. Originally I suspected that Ben wasn’t sent back to the past because his child self was happily co-conspiring on the island. But, now we know that Miles shared real estate with his toddler self so it’s clear that Ben didn’t travel back simply because the island doesn’t want him there.

9.   I think the other major revelation in Miles’ flashbacks was the mysterious abduction by that group of guys – led by newcomer Bram – who implored him not to travel in Widemore’s circle. Miles demanded they double the $1.6 million Widemore had earmarked for him and when they couldn’t oblige, he was kicked to the curb. Now we know where he got that arbitrary $3.2 million figure that he tossed at Ben last season. The money’s not important though. Who were these meddling goons in that Mystery Machine? I don’t think they are Ben’s men and they offered up that cryptic “What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue line” that Illana threw at Frank last week. What we have here is a 3rd player for the island. Any guess whose behind this operation? Also, Bram was on the island with Ilana last week so that aught to be a tell for sure. We have a 3rd party making a move.

10.   So, now that we know Miles lived on the island as an infant, the question of his abilities rises. Did he contract his Sixth Sense from the island or was it given to him by his Daddy (i.e. experimentation). Knowing that The Others later took an interest in children with abilities (Walt!!!) – did DHARMA experiment on Miles (and others) – a cause later picked up by Ben and his cronies? Early on – one of the DHARMA Orientation videos mentioned their mission was, among other things, to study paranormal behavior. I’m thinking that maybe Dr. Chang played a role in developing Miles.

11.   So, the episode title was sort of a red herring, or at least, it didn’t point to anything of much substance outside of Hurley’s asinine decision to pre-plagiarize Lawrence Kasdan’s masterful script for arguably the most enjoyable sequel of all time – The Empire Strikes Back. I agree with Miles. That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard. But, it did lead to some decent comic relief so I’ll give them that. Also, Hurley says he’s making improvements and then goes on to muse on whether the world would have been subjected to Ewoks if Luke and Darth had just hugged it out at the end of Empire. That does it Jabba. That’s the last straw. Empire sent my pre-pubescent brain out into the blinding white hot summer light completely floored. I had just been leveled by a jaw-dropping cliffhanger (Spoiler Warning: Darth is Luke’s Dad) and it would be another 2 years before I would get my answers. That stuff is coal for the imagination furnace and I wouldn’t trade anything for those sweet, blissful summer movie memories. And yet, Hugo decides that because he has Daddy issues, he’s gonna’ serve up a sunny, happy Episode V. Even if it means erasing Jar Jar from later existence – there’s no meddling with Empire. Stupid idiotic thing to say.

12.   That said, could there be a hidden meaning to Hurley’s foolhardy pursuit and the episode title? As we know from Empire, the Rebels are desperately trying to evacuate Hoth when that movie begins. Is this foreshadowing for our Oceanic Tribe who seriously need to abort this time period as soon as possible – lest they get caught up in the brewing war?

13.   One other Star Wars-related item of note. In Empire, Luke loses his hand and gets a make-shift replacement. In those Orientation Videos (particularly The Orchid one), Chang has a prosthetic. So, at some point, someone pulls a Vader on poor Dr. Candle.

14.   And how is it that in the few moments of screen time granted Freckles, she manages to muck things up? See – I told you I didn’t like Kate and here she couldn’t let Roger booze it up without causing a commotion.

15.   I did like LaFleur’s sucker punch on Phil. Never liked that squirrelly little bastard. With all of this coming undone, like Sawyer said, he’s become the little Dutch Boy chasing leaks only it looks like the dam is ready to burst.

16.   Did y’all notice more Egyptian references in that classroom? See the pic above.

17.   Just in time for Doc Brown (errr, Faraday) to emerge from the sub after a little sabbatical to Ann Arbor. So now we know where he’s been and my guess is that next week, we’ll learn more about where they’re going next. Fasten those flux capacitors.

See you next week for Episode 5.14 – ‘The Variable’.