After aligning herself with the minority in being disappointed in last week’s episode, Jen said tonight that she loved “Some Like It Hoth.” We both agreed it was hardly a deep, rich exploration of characters and mythology. It was a generous helping of fan fodder, chock full of little epiphanies and truly golden one-liners to keep us grinning throughout. Wrapped in the comfortable and traditional flashback structure, we finally get some of Miles’ backstory. We cross a few items off the “mystery” checklist. We get a glimpse of the coming “war” and the likely collapse of our survivors’ DHARMA ruse. And at the closing thud, Dan Faraday returns, likely with a hell of a story to tell… in two weeks.
First, the fun stuff. The unlikely buddy team of Hurley and Miles was as great as we’d imagined (and as was hinted during the time travel debate a couple of weeks ago). Miles was the straight man, but still wickedly wry. And Hurley was in top form. From stopping global warming to pre-writing “The Empire Strikes Back,” from possibly bringing us the closest to a “fart joke” we’ve ever seen on this show to his gleeful meddling between Dr. Chang and Miles, Jorge Garcia has never been more funny, and perfectly in sync with “LOST” fans. Was it a bit much? A touch of pandering? Jen doesn’t think so… though I can see how a grumpier fan looking for more forward motion might have felt a bit annoyed.
I thought Miles’ journey was well presented, though necessarily compressed. Tortured by his ability as a child, he grew to exploit it. He was also, like just about everyone on “LOST,” simmering with daddy issues. (Jen and I agreed, young punk Miles was wonderfully depicted.) Bram’s pitch in the black van didn’t penetrate his armor, but Hurley’s “Star Wars” metaphor at the DHARMA van did. And the scene where he sees his father reading to him was powerful. Dr. Chang has consistently been depicted as a grouch (and a “douche”), a reputation that even guarded Miles must have been familiar with. So to suddenly see him genuinely happy, perhaps only when he’s with baby Miles, said a lot. When Dr. Candle comes out to tell older Miles that he needs him? When Miles’ voice falters? Yeah, they got me.
Did Dr. Candle throw his wife and son out, or off the island? I’m thinking no. Perhaps she fled with baby Miles. But from what?
As for the reveals? They were doled out with great efficiency. Miles is Dr. Chang’s infant son. It’s possible to see yourself in the past (but physical contact may still be a problem). Miles wanted $3.2 million from Ben as he was trying, for the second time, to double his money from Widmore. Widmore was genuinely investigating the faked plane wreckage… though whoever was behind it is still unclear. And is that mysterious person or group behind trying to talk Miles out of joining Naomi’s expedition? Because that entity is also behind Ilana’s mission in 2007 (linked by the brilliantly-named Bram).
“The Reconstituted DHARMA Initiative” of the futurepresent is as good a theory as any.
It was a fun ride. But the path ahead looks to be a deliciously treacherous one. First of all, Kate is back to form, flapping her gums and toppling the first domino of doubt that’ll likely lead to our survivors’ expulsion from the DHARMA Initiative. And, yes, Daniel Faraday is back, returning from Ann Arbor as a Swan-assigned DHARMA scientist. How and why he ended off island will be almost as interesting to explore as what he’s ultimately up to. We only know he arrived, broken, in Othersville in 1974, and sometime later got inside The Orchid just as the frozen wheel was discovered. Is he trying to change something? We’re told “whatever happened, happened,” but if anyone’s going to break that particular rule, it’s him.
- Favorite Hurley moment? His interaction with Dr. Chang where they discus polar bear feces. Favorite Hurley line? “It all could have been avoided if they just… communicated.” No truer words are there for “LOST” — or for just about any dramatic story.
- I can’t wait for Jack to find his moment, to be “activated” a la Ilana… because his shuffling around is seriously getting on my nerves. The scene where he delivers his intel to Sawyer then quietly walks out left me scratching my head. And his defense of Kate to Roger was pretty weak. What could he have said to chill Roger out? How about, “She had a son, but lost him. She doesn’t ever want to talk about it. She just feels deeply for Ben, and for you.”
- Lots of numbers in this episode, including (finally) the numbers, being stamped into the hatch. There was the $1.6 and $3.2 million, of course, and the 3:16 on the microwave in the opening scene. Mr. Vonner was found dead in apartment four. They also clearly showed Miles’ older, bedridden mother lived in apartment 7… but earlier it seemed as if she came running from an apartment a few doors down from apartment 104.
- Music was prominent in this episode, too. Albert Hammond’s “It Never Rains In Southern California” and Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together.” Plus a reference to Miles Davis. Dr. Chang loves country (hence “Shotgun Willie” in the opening scene of Season 5).
- Locations: The apartment complex and the taco stand are both in Aiea, makai of Pearlridge, next to Pearl Kai Shopping Center.
Please comment below, e-mail us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or call the LostLine at (808) 356-0127 by Friday, April 17.
The attraction for next week says, “An all new Lost Special…the story of the Oceanic Six from a whole new perspective…and two weeks from tonight sides will be chosen…someone will run for cover…some will stay and fight…an explosive 100th episode…in two weeks…and next week an all new Lost special.”
While it is a Lost Special, the reason I am looking forward to it lies in the fact that we, the viewers are going to see the Oceanic Six story from a “different point of view.”
Regardless, it will be interesting to view and we don’t have to be completely without Lost for two weeks!!!
What is in Anarbor???–> Not in Portland *wink*..
Headquarters Dharma Initiative?..
More to come a little later…
Carol, I was thinking the same thing about Faraday being the obe to come up with the Orchid in the fist place? Us Mike’s must think alike, and Carols as well. I think the writers were so worried about explaing and justifying the whole “rules of time travel” that they forgot about the actual story and pacing of the show, at least that’s how I want to think of it. We’ve noticed many continuity errors this season and it worries me. I think the writers strike took a bigger hit than the want to tell us and now the story is playing catch up. That’s why I think the show has been so focused on specific things. Let’s hope the summer is good to the writers. But with theeconomy so in the toilet I’m sure ABC us going to be pretty stingy on shows that don’t promise any new viewers. Let’s how I’m wrong.
Sorry, typing on the iPhone so my typing isn’t 100% acurste
And here we go, my friends.
I am of the school that contends that each detail is deliberate and invested with some meaning. Yes, it is both amusing and utterly conceivable to imagine Hurley’s character deciding to write the sequel to Star Wars. But what is the subtext to this comic relief, especially in light of the abduction scene with Bram? THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. I have no idea who these latest others are, but I felt a palpable fear for our treasured island from this unknown force that never claimed to serve the island, only to be the “winning” side. Now we have some indication of what Miles meant in S4 when he warned Sayid about random –transmissions– from the sat phone. “It can hurt. It can hurt a lot.”
I personally love that Hurley still holds out hope for change. He urges Miles to change his relationship with his father and to try and prevent the fate of the DI. Hurley even wants to prevent the flaws of the Star Wars trilogy. Ewoks. Enough said.
Has anyone else thought that Pierre Chang is to the DI what Richard Alpert is to the others? He’s mysterious and aloof and seems to know a lot more about what’s really going on, but he’s not the one at the center of the decision-making process. The consigliari.
My wife points out that fillings are not, under normal circumstances, susceptible to magnetic attraction. While matter and even light have an electromagnetic component, the real world effects of magnetism are usually limited to iron and a few other metals not found in fillings. Maybe it’s the other non-metallic minerals that have been mined on the island since Magnus Hanso or maybe someone has a better explanation.
@ Carol
The Egyptian material on the chalkboard specifically related to language and the progression of hieroglyphics through the various periods of Egyptian history, ultimately concluding in a phonetic alphabet. I did detect some hints at the god “Thoth” which I researched a bit on Wiki in preparation. The “tripling” listed on the board seems to correlate to the title “great, great, great” or trimesgistus linked to this god. And Thoth was the god of language itself and served as the voice of the will of Ra.
Defend the island.
Hello All
Super episode — Hurley was hilarious and hopeful — loved that he wanted to help prevent global warming thirty years earlier
As someone who also has “daddy issues” I appreciated Miles’ line to the father about letting his child know he loved him when he had the chance
two miles in the same time, hurley writing empire strikes back, the building
of the swan station,and the start of a very drunk roger.
i also thought that hurley was going to give the number to dharma,but now we see they have them already.why are they on the hatch door.
can we now say widmore is behide the fake plane crash.
I’ve had a theory for a while and this episode seems to be foreshadowing it:
Miles will interact with baby Miles. This will be the Incident. The interaction will create a “feedback loop” in time as Miles will be crossing his own timeline. It will have at least 1 of 2 possible effects, perhaps both.
(1) The island’s timeline will contract in response, bringing the past forward and the “future”, or our present, back. Thus all our Losties will be reunited, at least for a while. Then, when the compensating measures of the Swan hatch, or perhaps some other stop-gap measure, goes into effect time will right itself and our Losties will be pulled apart, some being pulled into the island’s past, others to the present or maybe even the future (how cool would that be?!).
(2) This one is, I think, more likely and was foreshadowed in this episode. Baby Miles, due to the interaction with his own future self, gains an awareness of other people’s timelines. This manifests itself as an apparent ability to listen to dead people, but really he’s just aware of their past. I think both his parents know full well this is what happened and why.
I just hope older Miles survives the interaction. I have a funny feeling that he won’t.
Quoting MLE from Colorado “Do you think that the answer to “what Lies in the Shadow of the Statue?†is the same answer as “What did one snowman say to the other?†I wonder.”
I was just about to say the exact same thing about last week’s episode, but didn’t find the time to get on here to do so. Thanks for putting the question up there anyways.
If I remember correctly, the punchline to the snowman joke is “Do you smell carrots?” and the question was meant to be to identify Mr.Friendly’s replacement to the hatch. However this time we’re given a riddle that not even Ben showing a sign that he knows the answer to it.
.
Just wanted to say I really enjoyed this episode. It was great to finally get some backstory on Miles!
I am leaning towards Bram and Ilana being part of a third faction that we have not seen yet. Maybe the hostiles/others are not the Island’s original inhabitants. Maybe the hostiles/others took over the Island a long time ago and Bram and Ilana have come back to take back what is theirs.
Anyways, loved the episode and love the podcast.
PS: Interesting idea for next week’s episode. We said we’d get an interesting point of view of the D.I. Well when it comes to any trajety survivors, aren’t they usually shown on TV on some talk show being interviewed by the host? I think it would be funny to see (let’s say) Hurley on The View or Live with Regis & Kelly
Loved this episode! Like everybody, I loved Miles and Hurley’s exchanges. I *was* waiting for Hurley to say to Miles, “well, will you talk to Charlie or Libby for me?”
I love the idea that it’s Desmond in the big box.
Yes, we’re confirmed that it’s Widmore’s fake plane, etc.
I also think that Brent, Ilanna and Co. are not working for Ben. I’m thinking that some faction of the original DI from the mainland wants to get back at Ben for murdering the island DI.
I had an “uh, oh” moment when Miles was walking towards his parents’ house. I thought, “no, you’re not supposed to see yourself in the past”. His emotional reaction was brilliant, though. I think he’s going to experience some new inner peace.
Gonna watch the streamed epi tomorrow to get more goodies.
Geeked on LOST!
When Locke entered ’77’ at the flame back in season 3, it could have alerted Dharma that they have been taken over by hostiles in addition to blowing up the station. Maybe the guys in the van and Ilana and some others are part of the new Dharma group coming to re-establish thier foothold on the island. Whether it took them the 3 odd years (at least) to gather thier resources to find the island again is anyone’s guess. It seems like they would have been able to get back sooner than that. But in LOST world, anything is possible. Love your podcast, keep it up.
Just a couple of things about another great episode:
– It’s still not clear that Widmore ordered the plane crash faked. What Miles said was that the dead Felix was going to give Widmore various pictures and documents. He didn’t say anything about whether Widmore or Ben committed the act. He could have been bringing evidence against Ben to Widmore; after all, why would Widmore want pictures of the graves and evidence of the plane purchase if he had ordered it done himself? Or, it could have been that Felix was taking the documents to Widmore in order to blackmail him. Basically, while the evidence seems to point to Widmore, we haven’t actually got any new information.
– We know Daniel was captured along with Sawyer et al. and saw young Charlotte in the DI camp. So he must have headed back to the mainland at some point (via submarine, I assume), either in the employ of the DI, or simply as a civilian, who then somehow gets a job with them in the interim. Sawyer convinced Horace to let the group stay around for a while before being deported, which might have given Daniel time to convince the DI of his value as a researcher, so I favor the view that they offered him a job, along with the rest, and he went back to Ann Arbor to work from the main office, so to speak.
– @mike: I am also worried about continuity in this season. The writers seem to be struggling to keep things consistent across the greater storyline. I’m not saying they’ve gone too far; this is still the best TV show ever, etc. etc. But especially when one starts thinking about the timeline, one sees weaknesses that have yet to be patched up. Much has already been made about things like Widmore’s age, his seemingly infinite wealth, and the date of his exile from the Island. I am more concerned with the frequent foreshadowing of the still-unspecified Incident and the more familiar Purge. Those dates have been set (supposedly) in the mid to late ’80s; at present, there is no way the Losties can have anything to do with them without another time jump. But I feel something in the air…maybe it’s just the humidity. Or maybe the writers are teetering on the edge of a major timeline faux pas. Hopefully we’ll know more before end of season.
Hi Ryan and Jen,
I have a quick question; back in season 4 Hurley and Sawyer were playing a game of Risk, in that scene Hurley says “Australia is the key to the whole game.” Do you guys think there was any real meaning in that line? Australia has not been mentioned or really included in the story at all lately.
This has always been stuck in the back of my mind and was just curious what you thought?
Thanks.
Luke, i agree with you about the whole continuity issues. My biggest problem so far has been with the previous episode.
1. Rousseau says before they take Alex from her she sees a “pillar of black smoke” and “whispers”. Which we don’t see or is even implied in this episode. Also, why wouldn’t Rousseau tell Sayid back in season 2 that Ben took her baby all the way back then, instead she just calls him “one of them”.
2. Also, the Widmore and Rousseau time lines are way off. So Rousseau landed on the island 16 years from 2004, which is 1988. She was 7 months pregnant at the time. and her child was taken shortly after Alex’s birth. So that places this event around 1989-1990. Widmore told Locke he’d been looking for the island for 20 years since his exile. That was roughly 2004-2005, which means he was exiled around 1985, which is roughly 3 year before Rousseau arrived on the island.
3. Ben, when he stole Alex, would have probably been around 21-25 years old at the time, given he is assumed to have been 10-12 years old in 1977. Why the heck didn’t they just hire a 20 year old to play Ben? would it have been that costly?
I could go on but this is stuff about last week’s episode and i’ve already vented on the previous blog post. anyway I really liked this episode, classic Lost is back this week. Can’t wait for the next one!
Luke, i also think that what is going to happen is “the incident”. somehow this event will change “when” the losties are in time. The Purge supposedly happens (i think i remember people saying) around the early 1990’s, i think around 1992. So the losties would definitely have to move in time. I don’t think they would just flash to: 10 years later…per say.
One other continuity issue i had with this episode was this:
So Ms. Hawking said there are specific windows to the island that pop up on a regimented interval every so often and is the how the O6’ers get back to the island. Plus they must re-create (as closely as possible) the manner in which they got to the island or else unexpected things may happen (which we learn is the time jump for some).
But…you see the DI people coming and going as they pleased in seasons 3 & 4 and even in this season with Widmore. Before episode “316” we thought that it was as simple as a compass bearing that got you to the island. We learned from Hawking that this is not the case, but it was proven the case in previous seasons, so what’s the deal with that? it doesn’t add up.
Hi everyone…
I really enjoyed this episode. I will agree that there was definitely a heavy dose of audience-pandering, but there was so much smile about and plenty of interesting reveals to discuss, so I am a happy nerd.
I will say that I liked the official introduction of Bram, who I recognized from the first season of “Dexter”. The whole van abudction was an interesting way to go…I am sure we will come to discover that some of the masked accomplices have also arrived on the Island via Ajira 316. I like the theory that they are a nex-gen Dharma group that is coming to take back the Island from the Others…I sort of get the feeling that they are a very underground operation, almost like freedom fighters or revolutionaries. Its a cool twist. While I was a bit irritated with new characters this close to the ending of the show, I dont mind seeing how this arc plays out.
Also — Naomi and her team arrive on the Island in Season 4 with a mission from Widmore to capture Ben so that Widmore could return. I had always sort of viewed the battle for control of the Island as a sandbox struggle between Ben and Widmore, but until now I think Ive been overlooking the third element in the mix – the Dharma loyalists who feel the turf belongs to them. Could these be children of DIers who were shipped off-island to escape the Purge and are returning to take back whats theirs? Would that explain why they know about Miles, who might have a similar story? Its just that now we are seeing a new tactical group arriving on the Island with their codes and their big steel boxes, very similarly to how Naomi and company did before when they were sent by Widmore. I was watching this episode wondering who was behind the Bram and Ilana alliance…because I want to know how is signing those checks. Could this be who put the fake 815 on the bottom of the ocean?
I am also wondering if you guys think this DI revolution thing relates at all to the Lost Experience with Rachel Burke and her desire to go around and expose the Hanso foundation? I know she uncovered some dark facts about the Valenzetti Equation, like you can see on the Sri Lanka video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-eHEYswgK8)…as in, trying to alter the equation by using humans as control subjects in medical testing. Maybe Bram and Ilana are part of a DI group that has found a way to alter the equation and therefore feels they are on “the side that wins”, and they want to return to the Island to continue their work? I dont know…all the running around in black, tossing people into vans…it just felt very Lost Experiencey – thought there might be a connection.
Cant wait to hear your thoughts…
Rebecca
PS – I also agree with Glenn that whatever lies in the shadow of the Statue probably has to do with the Orchid. But my question is what kind of shadow are they talking about? Because if we look at anything from like…Raiders of the Lost Ark to the Mayans, we can find examples of shadows being cast to reveal locations or information, but only on certain days or at certain times, and only when viewed from certain spots. So Im wondering if the shadow is going to lead us to something new? Perhaps another underwater station? Because we remember that the four-toed statue was right on the coast when Jin, Sun and Sayid found it in Season 2. Just a thought!
Hi again…
I know the timeline issue is tripping a lot of people up. But I just want to remind everyone that on-island time and off-island time cant quite work together. When Daniel tests the payload after arriving on the Island, there is a clear difference between when it should have arrived and when it does. When the Island moves at the end of Season 4, Daniel and his fellow zodiac-floaters are “within its radius”, he says…meaning there is a definite line surrounding the Island where its timing and movements begin to affect people. I know this is sort of a cheap green light for the writers to explain away any inconsistancy by saying that the Island is just on a different schedule, but…I think it is 😉
Also…This episode reminded me of Desmonds line that everytime he walked past the concrete wall covering the huge electromagnetic force, “his fillings hurt”….And I thought to myself, “He better be grateful he couldnt get any closer!”
Final thought: In the Orchid video, Dr. Chang/Candle/Wickman freaks out when the second bunny appears and then demands they be separated. I am wondering if the upcoming incident has to do with grown-up Miles being too close to baby Miles?
FYI — The 2-hr season finale is called THE INCIDENT…so we wont be waiting much longer to see what the heck it is 😉
On further review:
I’m no longer sure that Widmore planted the plane on the bottom of the Sundra Trench. It seems more like he was trying to collect evidence that someone else did it. If he did it why would he need photos of the empty graves? I also recall that Tom showed Michael photos of the same thing trying to convince him that Widmore did it. In other words, we still have no idea.
Secondly. Do you remember when Desmond arrived on the island and was dragged into Swan station by Kelvin? Kelvin asked him “What did one snowman say to the other snowman?” Kelvin was Dharma. Ilana and Bram are asking people “What stands in the shadow of the statue?” I think that may be evidence that Dharma still exists. After all, as late as 2004 they were still making food drops for the people that were in the Swan station, i.e. Kelvin (who was actually dead by then.)
Perhaps the future war that Widmore was referring to was a war between the Others and the “new” Dharma folks. First of course, we have to resolve the power struggle among the Others between Ben, Widmore and Locke for leadership.
John Fisher, agree with you that Widmore seemed to be collecting evidence not planting it.
Did anyone else think that there appeared to be a structure that would have been the size of what it took to surround jughead in the swan site? Cement bottom. I think this could strengthen the argument for those of us who think jughead is in the base of the swan.
Overall, I think this was a fun episode but not a great one. Darleton gave us a lot of answers to small things, most of which we had figured out awhile ago while leaving more significant answers for another day. I feel that this is true of most of season 5, lots of little answers that we have been clamoring for are being delivered, lots of fun dialog, fast moving scripts but in the end, I think it will be the finale that defines it all.
So much better than last week’s episode, I’m with Jen on that one. And is it me or does the Hurley/Miles chemistry seem a lot like the old Hurley/Charlie camaraderie? Even to the point where they are debating superpowers. It may have been a Miles episode but Hurley stole the show
John Fisher, I think you should go to the Lost website and ask your timeline question to Darlton for their podcast. You make a lot of sense.
The only thing that could justify the timeline is if Widmore somehow got to the donkey wheel and got off the island that way and went back in time by mistake. Widmore did know where the donkey wheel “drop off” was in the outside world, he had a camera there. How did he know unless he had used it before? If Widmore turned the wheel and got off at a previous time, it would explain the 20 year difference and his sudden wealth. It would be pretty easy to get rich when you know what stock to buy.
re:Dharma – is there a Dharma Costco out there or something? It must be a huge organization if they have their own generic brand! Ha! Have you ever seen a real label besides the candy bars? Why the need to have everything be Dharma labeled?
If this “third faction” is the new Darma, could “what lies in the shadow of the statue” be the mass grave of the old darma? We aren’t POSITIVE as to how tall the statue was or even it relations to the mass grave, so, could it be just a huge revenge thing?
OG : I said the same thing last week. ‘Dead is Dead’ came across as bad fan fiction (to steal Jen’s description). It was easily the worst episode this season for me. It had good information, but I believe it was presented very poorly. I think too many viewers let themselves be blinded by the information and it’s colored their view on the episode’s merits.
Mike : I don’t have a problem with the compass bearing. Maybe that’s always worked until Ben moved the FDW and messed everything up?
When Miles read Felix, I took it to be a simple confirmation that Widmore staged the plane crash. Now I’m not so sure. Interesting.
Is the third faction the DI or Hawking’s people? Couldn’t it be both? We’ve last seen her in a DI station in LA. If the DI is still around, there’s no way they’d tolerate that… unless she’s with them. And we’ve seen Bram try to get Miles to come over to his side and fail. Wouldn’t Bram have likely tried the same thing with others? Did someone agree to join? Faraday seems like a very likely candidate since his “mom” would have to be involved with them as well.
How can anything lie in the shadow of the statue, since the only thing left is a foot?
I was so happy to see that Miles was Pierre’s son, I have been hoping for that ever since we saw the intro of Chang getting ready for his day and feeding his baby the bottle.
After reading about the Comicon video featuring him- a past Chang reaching out to the future and saying he knows about the purge- I think that this is going to end up having some continuity. Daniel is back and I think he’s going to have something to do with telling past Dharma about the future- it definitely sounds like his voice also in the Comicon video. I think this knowledge of the purge will be what pushes Dr. Change to push his family away, making them think he doesn’t love them for their own safety. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6Q7gzUjI8)
After last night I am also convinced that Bram and Ilana are new DI. It is about time. Ever since we saw that food drop way back when, you had to know someone, somewhere, was out there…
I thought this episode was one of the best this season. I thought Miles played the role exceptionally well and enjoyed seeing Faraday and Naomi again. I also like the bond that is forming between Hurley and Miles. The comedic value it lent to the show last night was great. Who knew Miles had a lovable side. I don’t not think anything that Kate said to Roger at the swing set was anything to slam her character about. Just another thing for the Kate haters to pick about. Roger Linus on the other hand is such a paranoid abusive out of control drunk he had to blame /go off on somebody.
Meanwhile I just wanted to mention that in this seasons episode “Whatever happened, happened….Juliet told Kate she would give her a head start (when Kate was about to leave in the van with injured Ben) but that she would have to tell Sawyer what Kate was up to before long. No ones mentioned what a creepy kiss BUTT Juliet is but Kate took a hell of a beating from the KATE HATERS when she said the exact same words a couple a seasons ago in regards to Sun and Jin were leaving the beach in hopes of getting to saver ground. I think the next 2 shows will be the best of this season and hopefully will reveal What lies in the shadow of the statue? Great show Great podcast
I love the idea of the Dharma Initiative trying to get back on the Island (Via Ilana, Bram and the others). To me, with all the players such as Widmore, Ben, Richard, Smokey and Jacob, it’s easy to forget that Dharma is still around and probably ticked. I think the Van scene with Miles last night could build the case for Dharma=Bram&Ilana even more.
It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud — but I did — several times.
Can’t remember an episode quite like this one. Loved it. Especially all the VW bus dialog and Miles’ face when Chang announced his favorite music was COUNTRY.
Jack and Sawyer are headed for serious friction. Sawyer referring to Jack as “doc” is not endearing as it’s meant to be insulting. Go Sawyer.
Very cool seeing the Swan and Orchid hatches in construction.
“Ewoks suck, dude”. Maybe Hurley can write Return of the Jedi, as well, and leave Ewoks out of the screenplay. Hey Hurley, while you’re at it, convince George Lucas that Jar Jar Binks is a bad move.
Hey—I KNOW others noticed, but I didn’t see anybody comment on the ceramic bunny outside of the door when young Miles is going into the apartment of the dead man! There was a number 8 stamped on it’s ear. Considering Miles is the son of Chang I thought it was pretty cool. The rabbits (and rabbit ears!) keep coming back don’t they.
I thought the Miles and Hurley scenes were fantastic! I love this show!!
Just 3 things.
I loved seeing the numbers come back. Even from the beginning of the show, when young Miles is outside room #4 and finds the dead man inside.
As a proud Michigan grad, I also love all the references to my alma mater and have to cheer every time someone says “Ann Arbor.”
But best of all was Hurley and Miles listening to “Love Will Keep Us Together.” Here’s the question – where are they getting the music for the van? Is someone making Dharma mix tapes? Are they getting a radio signal? From where? Is there a Dharma radio station?
I love you guys and I love this show – and you make the show even more loveable!! And GO BLUE!
So this episode was definatly awesome. Hurley hoping to write, “Empire Strikes Back”. Just an amazing episode with a lot of potential for a nail biting season finale. Hopefully we will get some answers as to what is going on, but a few observations.
1) The numbers are always present just maybe not as noticable as they were in this episode.
2) What is going on with the new “Losties” on the beach?
3) What has happened with Faraday? Did he leave in the beginning of Sawyer’s, Juliette’s, and Jin’s time with Dharma?
4) This season is definatly back to season 1’s intensity and drama-esque feel. i love it and the podcast.
Keep it up and get it on!!!!
3) Is the hydrogen bomb that they burried back in 1955 and is it going to be used by these new people to destroy the island?
did anyone else catch the magazine that Miles was reading at the station? I believe that was the great Tommy Lasorda on the cover. as a huge Dodger fan, I was pretty excited.
Carol said “John Fisher, I think you should go to the Lost website and ask your timeline question to Darlton for their podcast. You make a lot of sense.”
Actually I did late last week. There won’t be another podcast until next week though.
Here is a Link to the Sports Illustrated cover that dates it as March 14th 1977.
http://www.sicovers.com/Product.aspx?pid=1619
The swan seems to be a counterpart to the temple, both have walls to keep outsiders away, and access is only allowed to those in the “circle of trust”. If this is true on a symbolic level, and since we know a bit about the swan, what does it tell us about the temple? Hell, I don’t know.
Kate botched it, but Roger is paranoid, if my son were kidnapped and someone were trying to comfort me I don’t know if I’d automatically assume she was involved. Maybe Roger knows a bit more about YB’s relationship with the Others than we suspect.
Does no one have any theories about last night?
Like the fact that Hurley can talk to dead people, and the fact that Miles’ ability to talk to dead people seems to make him the key to Naomi’s mission, and the fact that we have seen several dead people on the island walking around…
doesn’t this make us wonder who ELSE is dead? Or even if they ALL died on the original plane crash, and somehow the Oceanic Six were all brought back to life on the island, but their leaving into the real world caused a major problem, b/c dead people aren’t allowed to rejoin society, so they all had to come back, and since there’s something different with Sun (maybe she never died), she didn’t go back in time and just went with the plane normally, like Ben and a dead Locke.
Just FYI, here exactly is what Bram said to Miles in the van. Perhaps it will help people decide who they think Bram works for. —
“But if you come with us, all thos things you spent your life trying to find out, you’ll know. You’ll know who you are Miles, why you have a gift and most of all you’ll know about your father.”
I wonder if this new group of people is related to the group trying to change the Valenzetti equation using whatever means necessary from the original Lost web game?
It’s been so long since I’ve read that story, I don’t know the specifics, but maybe it’s the connection.
Miles is ultimately going to be responsible for making his father “abandon” him and his mother.
Everybody’s comments above are all fine and good but the real question is: exactly what changes did Hurley make in his script to The Empire Strikes Back?
Greetings Ryan and Jenn,
It was not until someone called my attention to it this season that I bacame aware of the apparent importance the way dead bodies are handled. We saw Miles detailed to transport the dental tragedy to his Daddy, indeed taken into the ‘circle of trust’ and yanked out of the security station, stat. Daddy immediately ‘disposed’ the body, then explained “what body?”.
We also got a hint that Miles cannot tune in dead that are cremated (with ashes spread). He explained ‘that creates a problem’ (before asking for more money, which is kind of a knee-jerk behavior for Miles, no?)
So, ‘Dead is Dead’??? Not when you can still communicate with them! Miles can, under the right conditions. And Hurley can, hey, he thinks Miles is jealous cause Hurley’s power is better than Mile’s. (LOL) We were given a big hint about Miles importance, an importance that seemed very vague last season, leaving us wondering why he was part of the freighter contingent. And our ‘New Group of The Statue Shadow’ even wants to waylay his joining the freighter? Hanso is his Daddy as well?? Miles just moved up, way up, in the order of Lost characters, maybe all the way to ‘A’. Teamed with Hurley–three cheers!
Death and the dead. Already a major Island theme, this is about to get a big new twist, and possibly be central to our major thesis.
Maybe Miles’ ability is a side effect of an interaction with his younger self, maybe Miles himself is the reason he was sent away from the island as a child rather than Daddy Chang. Would line up nicely with the theme of the characters creating their own suffering.
Hello guys,
Did many of you cacth the fact when Jack was in the class cleaning up that the chalk board had some information regarding Egypt.
It seems that there was a class talking about Egyptian time frame (Old, Early, Middle, Late). In addition, I could make out some symbols.
I tried to slow down the view of it but I could only see a few words. Again, Egyptian history playing a clue.
Loved last night’s episode. Damon and Carleton mentioned in their podcast last week that this was a good place for some levity before an intense final four hours of the season…I thought they accomplished that goal, but still managed to move the story line forward.
I loved the Faraday/Miles encounter at the end of the episode. When we last saw Faraday with Sawyer, Juliette, et al., in 1974, he looked lost, as he had in so much of his story line. When he emerged from the sub, however, he was oozing with confidence. I was instantly tantilized by what events over that three year span brought about that change in Daniel, and by how much of that story we’ll learn in “The Variable.”
I was also very pleased with how the Chang/Miles daddy reveal was handled. Unlike last week’s ep, where I thought we were shown scenes just for the sake of seeing them (i.e., Ben stealing Alex,) I appreciated the fact that Miles suprised us by coming right out and telling Hurley that Chang was his dad, then at an appropriate point let us know how he learned of this. The semi-thud moment just before the commercial break paid off for me a lot better than a telegraphed flashback scene.
The first lost ARG answers a lot of questions about what the numbers are and time travel and the purpose of things on the island. But…i want them to address this on the show. Cuseloff have mentioned that the ARG’s are not cannon. So untill they address this on the show, it’s officially not cannon. My guess is the next episode (the variable) will address the equation.
I think the 3rd faction definitely has to be the new Dharma Initiative. Why else would they have show the video at comic con? why else would they have spend tons of money on this new DI campaign last year. It certainly isn’t for nothing. Remember season 4? they showed the Orchid station video? we didn’t see anything related to that until the very last episode of season 4!
So, my guess is that Bram and Ilise are with the new DI, quite possibly working with Hawking and Faraday. This is probably the case also because Hawking wasn’t directly working with Ben, since Ben said he needed Locke to give him the information on where to find Hawking prior to killing him; we would have to assume that Hawking was doing her own thing prior to Ben meeting her.
Someone remind me: When did Miles see the Orientation videos? Hurley asks, “Then that was your Dad in the Orientation videos?” (inexact quote). While it appears Candle/Chang is recording the videos in the 70s, Hurley’s question seems to be referring to the Swan and other Dharma station videos the Losties viewed in prior seasons. Since Miles arrived on the freigher after the Hatch imploded, when did Miles view any of the Dharma videos narrated by his dad? Other than that puzzle, loved the humor of this episode and the tear-jerker scene of Miles watching his father play with him as a baby. Is it possible that Chang has also time-travelled, knows of the coming incident and purge and sends his wife and son to safety off the island? I am also leaning toward Bram and Ilana being reconstitued Dharma. The snowman/shadow of statue password connection is too similar to ignore. The coming “war” is between Others and Dharma for control of the island. Can hardly wait for the remaining episodes … especially finale “The Incident” which I think will be an electromagnetic energy-releasing explosion possibly resulting in a nuclear accident involving Jughead. We’ll see.
why do people post before watching the episode on the night of the episode just to say what they hope to see in the episode?
anyway…
Thank you Hurley for coming through again and being a person. The only other character that I have yet to figure on that level is Sawyer. To have that many references at the ready for instant nicknaming means that he has to have a head full of pop culture junk to match any geek out there. could be what makes him a great liar too.