LOST hoth?

LOST Some Like It Hoth.

I must admit, I wasn't sure what to think about this episode, what the name could potentially imply, it's cheese factor, etc. However, I think it was well named, very witty and apt.

Miles centric was really good. Ken Cheung pulled off the angst of a duel-skunk-hawk and enough piercings in his face to make me almost vomit in my mouth. The Laurel and Hardy/R2D2 and C-3PO/Captain and Tennille relationship between Miles and Hurley worked as a great vehicle to explore Miles' backstory all while spending time in a Robin Egg Blue Dharma Van. Who said it's not a fun ride?

Miles' ability to commune with the dead started at about age five or six. Unlike Hurley's chats with ghosts, Miles gets a feeling, a sense. In the dead world according to Miles, "when some body's dead their brain stops functioning, which means there's no more talking. It's just who they were and whatever they knew before they died." In other words, Miles can interpret who someone is, what they were thinking about or doing before they died. In the case of Naomi, he was able to ascertain how she died. (Hurley's power is so much better. Come on, chess? For the record, I find that scene one of the worst, it scrapes the bottom of the barrel, ya know?)

Did I mention that the dude has serious daddy issues? "That douche is my dad." Great line, only the smarmy ass we've come to know as Miles could pull that off. We're lead to believe that somehow, Miles and his mom got off the island - he had to have been young because he doesn't seem to remember, the story he's fed is that his father kicked them out when he was a baby, he didn't want anything to do with them and that he's been dead for a long time. When Miles wants to commune with his body, he's told that it's "somewhere you can never go." It's actually really cute, again, Hurley, our moral compass pointing out what we should be feeling, reminding Miles that he wouldn't have brought up his father if he wasn't in pain and didn't want to talk about it. All those years of therapy have taught Hurley well, he's able to express his own journey with his father as a means to communicate that things can change, Miles can have a meaningful relationship with his father now, regardless the weird perimeters. He even tries to set up a small world play date. Miles masks his pain in time travel bullshit, what happened, happened: I've gone through all the pain already, he wasn't a part of my life, connecting with him now can't change any of that loss I experienced.

Hurley should have "Master of the Obvious" and "Secret Un-Keeper" on his jumpsuit rather than "Cook". You have to admit, there's nothing more Back to the Future than running into your mother in the cafeteria line. I was waiting for Miles to start wiggling his fingers :)

As I was jotting down notes, I wrote the perfect line - Miles is going off on Hurley about getting into his business, he's striking back at Hurley for making him talk about this huge secret he's been carrying by stealing Hurley's Dharma journal. And what is he writing? The script to Empire Strikes Back. Get it? Strikes back? ha! Seriously, it is kinda stupid, and interesting, that Hurley would think he could write the script and send it to Lucas before he writes his own...with some improvements. Yeah, I've seen Empire like two hundred times, but I don't think I could recreate it in an essay book from memory. Although, it might be alot better.

So does the Empire example hold? Does it have legs? Yeah, except for the fact that Chang loses an arm and not Miles...unless we get a like father like son scene!?
Miles = Luke, Chang = Vader. Instead of putting aside his fear (lightsaber) and talking about their all the sudden apparent relationship, Miles stands outside Chang's home, watching as his father is doting over him as a child, reading to him, laughing, kisses him. Miles is thinking about the promise that he sees between a father and his son, what was his promise in life, he's weeping, thinking about the possibility. Luke over reacts and gets his hand cut off (Chang comes out of the house, "Miles, I need you." Miles eyes are wide open, open to the chance that..."you do?" to find out that he's needed for work, Miles is suddenly composed, surly old self)

Hurley says that they eventually work it out, but at what cost? Another Death Star was destroyed, Boba Fett got eaten by the Sarlacc and we got the Ewoks. It all could have been avoided if they communicated. (And let's face it, the Ewoks suck.) Again, another great example of how Hurley, in his own geeky way, tries to tell Miles that he can find a relationship with his father, granted, the pain of his past can't be salvaged, it will still be collateral damage, but there is a future where he does have a father (we just dropped him off!)

I'm glad that we got to see a softer side of Miles. Granted, that also came with a douche bag who asks for $3.2 mil. Although he's all angsty looking, he's genuinely soft spoken and looking to his mother for answers. If I talked to dead people, I wouldn't wait twenty years until my mother's on her death bed. WTF? Then again, he does turn off the charm when he's told that daddy is dead. He really is in pain knowing that his father didn't want him, that he didn't have the chance to know his father. He makes that evident in telling Mr. Gray that he should have told his son how he felt when he was alive, that his guilt regarding how he treated his son is his pain and it can't go away with a visit from John Edward.

On another note, Kate is still dealing with her new mommy issues. She's trying to find a way to ease Roger's pain, his anxiety over Ben's "kidnapping". Unfortunately, she's thinking with her heart and not her head. Roger doesn't fall for her pep talk, tells her to mind her own business, he knows Kate's up to something, but here comes the Doc to the rescue! Who better to tell a father that he's had one hell of a day and can chalk up his crazy ideas to the fact that he managed to tie one on in the playground (what's up with seeing the swing set all the time now? Gotta be something important.) Sawyer gets this served to him like a nice cup of coffee; just when Sawyer's established his dominance, here comes the Doc to save the day. Too bad Phil showed up with that pesky video tape! Nothing says I love you more than "Get some rope."

Dude, who saw Dan getting off the sub? Seriously, people have been thinking he was the body. How the hell did he get off the island in 1974 and make his way to Ann Arbor? Maybe he, like Sawyer, worked his way in, they realized he was an asset and got shipped off to the main land to work with the other scientists. I was really hoping we'd see the DeGroots, but that's never gonna happen.

I think Hurley should make a bumper sticker: EMG happens. Poor Alvarez bit the big one because he had a cavity. That sucks - maybe more than Ewoks. Again, what's up with the pork references? Ham and cheese sandwiches? And the carpool thing, only Hurley can get away with saying shit like preventing global warming.

What most interests me is Naomi's explanation of recruiting Miles. "I'm leading an expedition to an island and on the island it a man who will be very difficult to find. This island has a number of deceased individuals residing on it. And as this man is the one responsible for them being deceased, we believe they can supply invaluable information as to his whereabouts." I find many things disturbing about this statement. First, she's referring to the deceased as if they exist. There's dead in the ground like the mass Dharma grave or someone like Christian Shepard. Does she know about the Kas running around the island? Second, who is the man she's referring to? We easily assume it is Ben, but what if it's not? Ben said the Purge wasn't his call, we've assumed it was Charles' but what if it really came from Jacob? What about Richard? Yes, Keamy and the goons were gunning for Ben under the employ of Widmore, but is there any chance there was a tertiary protocol? hmmm.

I think the writers threw us a bone - or maybe a stick. Miles identifies Felix, who could have been a messenger delivering info to Widmore. I believe that Felix merely gives us the fact that mass graves were dug up and a plane was purchased. It does not mean that Widmore ordered it. He could be receiving intel on another party. The writers WANT to misdirect us, of that I am certain.

And last but certainly not least, let's talk about what's under the shadow of the statue. We've been told there's a war coming, there are sides and something about God help us. But who's really fighting? Honestly, I can see a lot of sides, but some might really be allies, I don't know if we'll find out in the last two hours we get this year. Naomi and said freighter are on Widmore's side. You've got Ms. Hawking who's helping Benjamin get back, but I don't necessarily think they are allies. Maybe more like the lesser of two evils thing. Who's got Ben's back? By the look of the island circa 2007, I'm wondering if the Others are still hanging out at the Temple or is all hell truly has broken loose. Bram and Ilana, the 316 gang on the beach...could they potentially be Dharma? They're still making drops to the Swan, Hawking is still using the LampPost. It's gonna be one hell of a fight, once we can figure out who's in it.

Of note:
1. All the Egyptian info on the chalkboard, which Jack so swiftly erases!
2. Who the hell is this Porter guy Roger refers to? Could he be related to Walt's adoptive father Brian?
3. How weird is it that your dad is the dude from all those movies? Marvin Candle - was that his stage name?
4. They were weighing Polar Bear poo?
5. Referring to a dead body as a "package" is way too meta for me.
6. Miles' mom was a jazz fan, but Daddy loved his Willie Nelson.
7. I wasn't aware there were circles - the man is smart, but obviously, he passed his social skills to his son.
8. Bram called Miles "my friend". Caesar used this quite a bit...before Ben put a hole in him. Is it part of the secret handshake?
9. If you don't know what lies at the shadow of the statue, then you are not ready to go to the island.
10. Poor Hurley gets to see the minions stamp his numbers on the hatch. How fucked up is that?
11. Phil's gonna have one hell of a headache tomorrow morning.