Episode 5.13 "Some Like it Hoth"

Ok, I don't have a ton of time tonight so I'm going to try to keep this brief. I liked this episode a lot, Miles is a great character and seeing him paired with Hurley was a lot of fun, yet again. Here's what I noticed this episode.

FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT: A small thing, but I thought it was cool that Young Miles followed a white rabbit to get in the dead guy's apartment. Or, at least, the key to the apartment was stashed under a white rabbit.


THE BODY IN THE BODY BAG: I'm assuming the dead guy Miles talked to in the Dharma van to was a Dharma guy who was working on the future site of the Hatch, and he hit a patch of Electomagnetic-ness buried there. I'm assuming it's the hatch because we see it in ditch form later this episode, and because Radzinsky was the supervisor there, and we know he's the Swan hatch's designer.


MILES' MOM & DAD: So we learned that Miles stayed on the island in the 70s because he saw his parents. But why does Miles' mom leave the island? Is it just because she splits with lame Pierre? Is it the constant blaring country music? My wife had the theory that she leaves because older Miles will later get up the nerve to talk to his parents and try to tell them about the upcoming purge and convince them to leave the island. His mom will believe him and go and Miles' Dad will decide to stay because he either doesn't believe Miles or because he somehow thinks he can change the future. I like that theory. We do know at some point Pierre learns about his fate before it happens, according to this video released at ComicCon last year where Daniel Faraday films Pierre making a statement to be shown to people in the future. Check out the link and read the transcript of the video, if you don't know what I'm talking about. Even if you've seen it before, it's pretty interesting after watching this episode.

MILES' LAST NAME: Ok, some people on the internet have been asking why Miles' last name isn't Chang, but that seems obvious to me. His parents split and she reverted back to her maiden name, Straum. MYSTERY SOLVED! I'm magic.


KATE IS DUMB: We already knew it, but geez. She should have just stuck to the motor pool and kept quiet. But instead she blabs to Roger Linus. Then Jack's attempt to "cover" for her is equally inane. "She's my friend! She would never do that!" Good comeback, Jack.


HURLEY IS WRITING THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: ...apparently in order to improve it. I thought this was a nice touch, but any true fan of Star Wars knows that Empire is not something that can be improved upon. I did like Hurley and Miles' conversation about how they can both talk to dead people. I think Hurley is really talking to the smoke monster, however.


NAOMI IS BACK: It was cool to see Naomi again, even if she had on a crazy wig. The most interesting thing about her return was the conversation Miles had with the dead body (Felix) she showed him. Apparently, this dead guy Felix had something to do with the faking of flight 815's wreckage. It's good to know all the bodies used were already dead and buried, I guess. So, someone paid Felix to help them collect dead bodies and to purchase an old airplane. My first thought was that it was Widmore, and then Widmore killed him so that he wouldn't talk. And that could be true. But it's also possible that Ben faked the plane crash so that no one would come looking for the survivors and find the island. Right now I'm leaning towards Ben having faked the plane, mostly because I think Felix looks a lot like the Other that Widmore was seen beating violently in Ben's video from season 4. Click here to read about the video I'm talking about. See what you think. I made a helpful image, below. Same person? I think so.



HURLEY SEES THE NUMBERS STAMPED ONTO THE HATCH: Um, I'm not a big fan of all these Lost "prequel" feeling moments, but I guess it was kinda cool to see the numbers being stamped on the hatch. But... they're just the SERIAL NUMBER? Why would a one-off hatch need a serial number? Were they about to go into production with these things on other magical islands somewhere else? I doubt it. And why would the serial number also happen to be the world-saving numbers that are entered into the hatch's machine later? I hope this is not the last we learn about the numbers. Producer Damon Lindleof has gone on record saying that we may never fully get an explanation of what the numbers mean. In an interview online, he said that if you explain too much of something mystical on a show like Lost, it loses its impact. He cited George Lucas's lame explanation of the Force through "midi-chlorians" as a valid example. I get where he's coming from. Sometimes answers that are too thorough are lame. But I would also like it if the writers came up with GOOD answers. That would also be acceptable.


BRAM SEEMS LIKE A NICE GUY: So, Miles is abducted by Bram, Ilana's buddy from "What lies in the shadow of the statue" fame. This was probably my favorite scene from this episode. It turns out I like Lost better when it raises questions, not when it gives me answers. Weird. Anyway... who are these people? I could still argue they're working for Ben, especially since they tell Miles he's on the wrong side. But, we've never heard this statue talk before from Ben's people and it keeps coming up from these new guys. Maybe they're some kind of third cult or new threat? They're offering Miles answers instead of money, which is also weird. And they're even talking about his purpose, saying that coming with them will help fill the void that's inside of him. Sounds like they're a little more spiritual than Ben. Bram's speech kind of reminded me of Locke. Could they be Others that are loyal to Locke, but he doesn't know it yet? Or are they somehow Richard's people, people who never age because they've seen what lies in the shadow of the statue?

3.2 MILLION DOLLARS: Now we know why Miles asked Ben for 3.2 million dollars back in Season 4's episode Eggtown (which was written by the same author as tonight's episode). He started by asking Bram for that amount this episode because it's double what he's making from Widmore, which is 1.6 million dollars. So I guess he assumes Bram's people work for Ben.


DANIEL'S BACK: Oh man. I'm really glad to see Daniel again, and he's back to his weird-line-delivery self. I'm guessing this means the next episode is going to be Daniel-centric? Awesome.

PREVIEW FOR NEXT EPISODE: First, we learned that next week is going to be a recap/filler episode, apparently focusing on the Oceanic Six. My guess is that they're going to run the Season 4 special feature that was a full length conspiracy theory video supposedly created in the "real world" about the Oceanic 6 and the faking of Flight 815. Which is pretty interesting, actually, if you haven't seen it. But also kind of slow. Next, they showed a preview for episode 5.14, which is going to be called "The Variable" (is that the opposite to a "Constant"?) Here's a rundown of that preview: The announcer says "Sides will be chosen." Juliet and Sawyer look at Kate. They hold hands. Sawyer says "This is our home. Come with us, Freckles." Jin and Hurley walk together through the barracks. They stop as they see Radzinsky and some buddies walking angrily, carrying guns. Sawyer puts up his hands inside his house. Someone's pointing a gun in the background. The announcer says "Some...will run for cover" (in a voice that's a little too tough sounding to go with those words) and then we see Jack and Kate (of course) hiding behind some bushes. Cut to Radzinsky yelling: "There they are". Cut to Daniel holding up his hands. Jack pulls a gun on someone. The announcer says "Some... will stay and fight." (Seriously, who writes the announcer voice over for these things?) Cut to Kate driving a Dharma van that gets its windows shot out. Jack fires his gun. Something explodes. Daniel looks up into the sky and says "Any one of us could die." Is that a hint from ABC, trying to get us to watch? I think so. It is Lost's 100th episode, after all. There are only three more episodes left this year, folks. The season finale will be another 2 hour one, though, which is nice.