Review: Lost 5.13: Some Like It Hoth

Miles has to reevaluate his childhood perceptions.

I mentioned when the Science Team were introduced that they didn't really get a chance to explore their characterisations. The Writer's Strike had meant that a lot of their character time was left behind for more important end-plot, and that left us with the impression that they, Miles in particular, were a little empty. As far as I'm concerned Daniel Faraday was always the most entertaining of the Science Team in Season Four, but Some Like It Hoth is Miles' first and only centric story. I don't know exactly why production-wise, but Some Like It Hoth is very different in tone to the rest of this season and thus stands out as one of its better hours.
      As a small boy, Miles' mother tries to get an apartment in a small complex. Miles senses a man who has just committed suicide, and tells his mother that the man is still talking to him. As a teenage, Miles asks his dying mother about his father. She tells him that his father had no time for either of them, and that his corpse is somewhere he can never go. A few years later, in his years as a Medium, he cons a regretful father whose son he is unable to find and is then approached by Widmore representative Naomi Dorrit, who offers him a place on the Freighter in exchange for 1.6 million dollars. Confident of this offer, Miles gives the money back to the man he conned, telling that he can't make up for his mistakes.
       In 1977, as Dharma recover from Ben's shooting and apparent kidnap, James' absense leads Miles to become embroiled in Dharma politics, transporting a body from the site of the future Swan Station, the station that caused the original crash of Flight 815 in 2004. When Miles prepares to send the body to the being-constructed Orchid Station, Hurley ends up coming along for the ride and inadvertantly discovers all about not only the secrets behind the Swan casualty, but also in Miles' ability to hear the thoughts of the dead. At the Orchid they meet Pierre Chang, a character who has appeared throughout the series in "Orientation Videos", whom Miles reveals is his long-lost father. Hurley tells Miles that he needs to get over his problems and reevaluate his reputation of his father. Later, Miles helps out at the Submarine and discovers that after three years, Daniel Faraday has returned to the Island. With a theory.

Pierre Chang and baby Miles.

      There isn't a character in Lost that isn't involved in some form of Parent/Child drama, but I find Miles' particularly engaging because of the Time-Travel aspect. Miles isn't just reconciling with his father; he's learning about him for the first time only because of his sojurn to the past. And the fact that Pierre and Miles are written so similarly gives the two men incredible chemistry despite their characters' disdain for one another.
     There's also a continuation of the Ben storyline, as Roger discovers and comes to terms with his son's assault and apparent kidnap. Kate lands herself in deep suspicion when she comforts Roger, leading Jack to have to try and convince him of her innocence. Later, security manager Phil discovers the tapes of Kate and Sawyer taking Ben to The Others, leading Sawyer to... knock him out and tie him up. I'll cover the stupidity of the main storyline in my coverage of my next week's story, The Variable.
     Some Like It Hoth used what time it had to develop a character that really needed it. It felt a lot more relaxed and character-centred than Lost usually is, but that's just in comparison to this much more active season. Miles' character lasted until the end of the series, and his presence is justified by this great hour of strong character development.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: Great character, stupid plot.... it's Daniel Faraday's day to die in The Variable.