513 - Some like it Hoth - recap and comments

Despite a number of Light Moments, this is a "dense" Episode offering a bunch of clues about the true nature of the Island and the Factions competing to control it.

Recap:
An old-style microwave shows the time: 3:16. The Apartment Manager opens it and says, "It comes fully equipped."

Mrs Chang is in the process of renting a "budget" apartment - in what may be the same "Motel Complex" as we’ve already seen used by Anthony Cooper and by Carole Littleton - for herself and Young Miles, who looks to be about 7 or 8 years old. In what may be the first time he exhibits his Gift, he’s drawn to Unit 4 by visions of a Dead Man Lying Down. After he touches his hand to the door, he "learns" that the spare key to the (locked) unit is hidden under the (white) stone rabbit near the entrance.

When his Mom and the Landlord come running in response to his "Mommy!" cries, we discover that Young Miles has learned that the Dead Guy was alone, scared, experiencing chest pain and calling out for Kimberly, his deceased wife. Miles could "hear" him. Despite this freaky occurrence, it would seem that Mrs Chang lived in that apartment complex for the rest of her life.

Miles, like Hugo, Jack, Desmond, Achara etc has a Supernatural Gift and the Island has been busily selecting, training and gathering a Team of Super-Heroes for the Coming War.

Teen-aged Miles returns to Apartment 7, in which his Mother lies gravely ill (like Carole/Claire and Diane/Kate). On the back of his jacket, an upside-down "1". Before she dies, he wants some info:
"I need you to tell me why I'm this way. How I do the things I do. And I need to know why you won't talk to me about my father."
"Because he never cared about us. He never cared about you." He cared enough to take turns waking up early to feed Miles - and to read a Polar Bear book to him.
"Your father kicked us out when you were just a baby. He didn't want anything to do with us. So the less you knew about him, the better." Another Island Child (like Charlotte, Walt, Aaron, Ji-Yeon and maybe even Daniel, James, Jack and Juliet) sent away to Save Their Lives.
"Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because it was over. Your Dad has been dead a long time." Carole told Claire the same thing.
"Where's his body?" Does Mrs Chang know about The Purge?
"Somewhere you could never go." Despite Dr Chang’s self-sacrificing effort to send his child out of harm’s way, the Island’s Agenda is to bring him back - at the appropriate time. Note that CW is acting (consciously or not) as the Island’s Tool in this Return of the Children - suggesting that Aaron, Clementine, Ji-Yeon and Young Charlie will be coming to the Island in S6. I wonder what Grandma Carole is telling Aaron in 2005 - and what Grandma Paik is telling Ji-Yeon.

2004 Miles has been hired to speak to the dead son of Mr Gray, a Grieving Dad. Unfortunately, there’s no body, since the kid’s been cremated. Needing the money, Miles decides to "improvise" and sitting at a table, holding the Dad’s hands - like Richard Malkin, Isaac of Iluru and Lynn Karnoff - Miles tells the Dad what he wants to hear, that his son always knew he loved him. For me, the implication is clearly that Malkin, Isaac and Karnoff may have "cheated" from time to time, but that their Powers were Real nonetheless. So... Malkin’s prediction that Grave Danger would surround Aaron if he was Raised By Another still holds.

Immediately after the above Fake Seance, Naomi Dorrit shows up to audition Miles - and he demonstrates The Real Thing. We find out that it was indeed Widmore who exhumed those Thai bodies and bought the jet used to fake the 815 crash. Naomi knew this before boarding the Kahana, but did Captain Gault? Once again, Ben was Telling The Truth about who was behind the Fake Crash and Widmore was the Lying Liar.
Note that Naomi called CW her "Employer" - the same phrase that Elsa used. It makes no sense to me that CW could have been Elsa’s Employer, since he knew full well who Sayid’s Boss was, but whatever.

We now learn something true and something false:
"This island has a number of deceased individuals residing on it. And as this man was the one responsible for them being deceased, we believe that you can supply valuable information as to his whereabouts." Finally - Proof that numbers of Dead People are walking around on the Island. I’ve been saying for years that Ben is not human - and finally, here’s some support for that notion. I’ve also thought for a long time that Family Ben/Richard consists of mostly Dead People - the famous Non-Living People mentioned by Ben back in S3. The Lie in Naomi’s little speech is that Ben was responsible for their deaths. In 512 we clearly saw that CW was not Banished until well after The Purge. He was in charge before and during its execution.

Note that MA gathered the intel on Miles, Charlotte, Frank and Daniel, but that Naomi, by "auditioning" Miles, may have been testing him for her own peace-of-mind before signing him up for the Mission. Her offer: 1.6 ("16") Million Dollars, exactly half of what Miles subsequently asked Bram (and Ben) for. I doubt he’ll ever see a penny of this Fantasy Payment.

Next up - a 12/04 conversation with Bram:
"You owe me a fish taco." [Yuck]
"Sorry about that, but your apartment's being watched [by CW?] and we had to try our best to talk you out of working for Charles Widmore."
"I have no idea who that is."
Bram climbs into the back with Miles. "He's the man who chartered the boat you'll be getting on next week. And, my friend [is/was Caesar a member of team Ilana?], you do not want to get on that boat. Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue?" How could Bram not know that Miles isn’t already part of their Team?
"No, can't say that I do."
"Then you're not ready to go to that island. But if you come with us, all those things you've spent your life trying to find out, you'll know. You'll know who you are, Miles, why it is you have a Gift and most of all, you'll know about your father." Like Old Ben did to Old Locke, Bram is tempting Miles with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

Note Bram’s use of the word "Gift" - the same word used by Achara. Maybe Achara’s (Thai) people are allied with Team Ilana.

Bram, like Colleen with Sun, was trying to "recruit" Miles to voluntarily join his Team.
"I don't know where you've been getting your intel, but I stopped caring about my father a long time ago. What I do care about is money. So, I'll tell you what, if you want me to pass on going to the island, it's going to cost you double what they offered, 3.2 million."
"We're not paying you anything. All the money in the world isn't going to fill that empty hole inside of you, Miles." Bram, like Ben, is Playing By The Rules; no physical coercion, but offering an "Informed" Choice - and respecting the outcome.
They stop and throw Miles out and Bram says, "You're playing for the wrong team."
"Yeah? What team are you on?"
"The one that's going to win." They drive off. As much as Bram was constrained to Play By The Rules, he still strikes me as a smirking, full-of-himself Jerk. He may not be a backwards-talking blood-thirsty Hater/Killer, but I doubt that he’s a Good Guy.
Bram’s comment about the "empty hole inside" Miles does linger in his brain, though - in a good way.

Note that CW and MA knew about the Gifted Children - Miles, Charlotte and Daniel. I’m still thinking that CW isn’t quite the Bad Guy Enemy he’s made out to be. I think he’s being used by the Island (as it’s using Ben) even if he himself thinks differently.

Note also that if the Island (or some part of the Island) wanted Team Ilana dead, they’d be dead. Maybe the Island will soon be at war with itself - a "crazy", schizophrenic possibility.

Just before flying off to Bali to board the Kahana, Miles decides to revisit Mr Gray and give him back what (compared to 1.6 Million dollars) is now chump-change plus a heart-felt but nonetheless hurtful comment: "If you needed your son to know that you loved him, you should have told him when he was still alive." This advice sounds like something that Christian should have heeded while he was still alive - if "repairing the relationship" was in the cards - which it wasn’t.

At this point in the Series, it’s impossible to know what’s "real", but this (2004) "Flashback" has a strong influence on 1977 Miles’ decision to reach out to his Father - an effort he did not make during his first three years in Dharmaville, but which he might now make within days of his conversations with Hugo. If so, he’d better act fast. Our Losties have to leave Dharmaville before the Return of "Ben".
　
Island:
Jim and Kate, having handed Dying Ben to Richard, must now return to Dharmaville and try to "cover their tracks". Good luck with that. Jim radios Miles and asks him to erase the Security Tape for Camera 4. Before he can complete this task, Miles is interrupted by Horace, who inducts Miles into the Circle of Trust and sends him to meet Radzinsky in Hostile Territory with an empty Body Bag.

Miles’ Forgotten Erasure of Tape #4 comes back later to haunt the Losties and hasten their departure from Dharmaville. Jack’s Partial Erasure of the blackboards provides a hint about some of the Memory Fragments that seem to have surfaced from Past Lives. It would seem that Tabula Rasa is not always possible on the Island.

After entering Grid 334, Miles is stopped by Radzinsky, who leaps out of the bush seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He whistles for his two lackees to bring out the body and feeds one lie after another to Miles about the circumstances surrounding the death of this Construction Work Man. After they load the corpse into the back of the van and walk away, Miles unzips the BB and asks: "So, what really happened?"

Back in Dharmaville, Horace is on the phone with Dr Chang: "Pierre, if it was caused by the [Swan] electromagnetism, we need to know." Having just arrived back at Dharmaville, Miles is now sent to The Orchid, where Dr Chang will perform an autopsy.
After some back-and-forth with Hugo, the two of them drive off in the same van, with both corpse and job-site lunch in the back.

Hugo: "We're going to the same place. Why don't we car-pool? It will help with global warming, which hasn't happened yet, so maybe we can prevent it." Hugo the Activist, thinking (correctly) that he can change the Past/Present/Future.
So ... the Orchid was built slightly ahead of the Swan.

Infirmary:
Kate returns and thanks Juliet for sending James, when suddenly Roger barges in, having just returned from his Mission to The Staff Station for no-longer-necessary Medical Supplies. Fast-thinking Juliet apologises for less-than-perfect Patient Monitoring and suggests that Ben’s been kidnapped. After Roger storms out in search of Security, Juliet turns to Kate and says: "Well, here we go".

For me, the implication is that Juliet has been through this sequence of events a few times already and knows that her three years of Playing House with LaFleur are over . The alternative explanation is simply that with the arrival of Kate, Hugo, Jack and especially Sayid, there was no way to keep things smoothly rolling along as they had been for three years. And rightly so. The Island has/had no intention of permitting J&J to live happily ever after in the 70's and 80's.

Van:
Hugo asks: "How do you spell ‘Bounty Hunter’ ?" For me, this was a reference to Ilana, as was Hugo’s subsequent comment that Boba Fett was eaten by the Sarlacc - a hint, I guess that team Ilana will eventually be defeated.

Other Important Lines: "Forget it; you’re imagining things" - another reference to the "unreality" of "events" we’re seeing on the show.

We learn that the dead Work Man died when a filling in his mouth was [electromagnetically] pulled out of its socket and right through his brain. This line reminded me of Desmond telling John and/or Jack that whenever he walked by the Swan’s Chernobyl-style concrete wall that his "fillings hurt." When Hugo asks Miles how he knows all this, he displays his Openness to Comic-book style Miracles and Super-Powers. Note that Hugo was the first to identify Desmond’s Super-Power-like ability to see the Future.

I loved how Hugo bulled ahead to say and to do what he thought was Right, regardless of the express wishes of his companion. Note that Miles, like Jack, Kate, Charlie, Sayid and James, is another in a long list of emotionally-wounded and morally-suspect CW Tools that the Island has healed/rehabilitated for its own use.

Playground - in which we learn why 2004 Cindy and her Other colleagues gave away so little info:
Instead of rushing over to Security, as he’d threatened, Roger’s decided to drown his sorrows in Beer. Heart-of-gold Kate decides to share a little Future Knowledge with Grieving Dad - and triggers the Law of Unforseen Consequences. Instead of being comforted, Roger grows suspicious of Kate - and, soon enough - her Friend Jack.
Maybe one of these days, Kate will learn to keep her cards closer to her vest. Or not. In any case, it’s all good. The Losties have to leave 1977 very soon - and the actions/words of Sayid, Kate, Jim, Juliet, Jack, Jin, Miles and Hugo will bring on their collective departure on schedule.
The frustrating but necessary reticence of the 2004 members of Family Ben/Richard is to some extent shared by Juliet - who (still, I think) knows way more than she’s sharing.
Miles and Hugo - in which they each learn about the Abilities of the other. Miles can discern the circumstances of the death of the deceased including their near-death thoughts, whereas Hugo can hold two-way conversations and even play chess with them. Hugo is proud that his "power" is "better" than Miles’. Note that Hugo’s not really aware that his Greatest Power is the Power of Wish-Fulfilment - which is how he revived the dead Dharmavan in 2004.

I had to laugh at how Hugo blurted out to Dr Chang that he knew about the corpse but could keep a secret - a self-contradictory statement if I ever heard one. If Hugo knows, everybody knows. Nevertheless, the threat of weighing Polar Bear shit did seem to make an impact on Hugo - and brought a rare smile to Dr Sarcasm’s face. Note the disdain with which Pierre regarded the work of his Hydra "colleagues". Professional rivalry?
"I don't want to talk about it," Miles says.
"Are you kidding me? How weird is it that your dad is the dude from all those movies? Only back then he was called Marvin Candle. Is that like a stage name?"
"What part of 'I don't want to talk about it' isn't sinking in?"
"Well, if you didn't want to talk about it, why'd you tell me? [Good Guy Hugo can tell truth from Truth] How long have you known he was your Dad?"
"The third day we were here, I was in line at the cafeteria and my mother got in line behind me. That was my first clue." So ... Miles can be in the same time/place as his younger self.
"But all those Dharma dudes end up dead. Don't you want to save him?"
"I can't save him. [Miles has swallowed Daniel’s Passive Kool-Aid] They're going to get killed no matter what I do, so why bother?" This "defeatist" attitude may have been invented or instilled by the Bad Guys ... OR ... whatever Free Will interventions or non-interventions happened, happened.

Class-room:
Jack is erasing (badly) the blackboard, which contains a lesson about Ancient Egypt, including some Symbols and some dates (2000 BC, 1300 BC, 700 BC). The fact that his erasures (like those of Ms Hawking) are incomplete implies that the Memory Edits undergone by our Losties as they go through their various Time Loops are sometimes incomplete. Some memories "leak through" from Previous Lives. Some folks would write this off as Deja Vu.

During his subsequent discussion with Roger, Jack reveals that he and Kate are friends - further connecting the suspicious newbies to each other. When Roger told Jack that Kate had given Ben some blood, I was reminded that 2004 Kate (and James, Michael and Jack) all had blood samples taken from them involuntarily. It may be that these 2004 samples were taken to compare them to some 1977 samples.

Jack’s exposure to his Dad’s drunkenness - as well as his own - led him to "talk down" to Roger about his compromised mental state that day - giving Roger further incentive to remember this conversation.

Pierre, Miles and Hugo:
Hurley: "So, I'm new here, Dr. Chang; what is it exactly you do at the Orchid?"
"It's classified."
"Oh really, you can't tell anyone? Not even your wife?"
"No."
"What about your kids?"
"I have a three-month old son, so, no I haven't told him."
"Three months, wow, congrats! What's his name?"
"Miles."
"Small world," Hurley says. "That's your name too, right, Miles?"
"Yeah," Miles says. Hint, hint, Pierre
"So, you a fan of jazz, Dr. Chang?" Hurley asks. "Like Miles Davis?"
"My wife is," Pierre says. "I like country."
"So you two [Miles only] have been here for three years now," Hurley says. "Must be pretty tight, huh?"
"Dr. Chang and I don't exactly travel in the same circles," Miles says.
"I wasn't aware there were [Time Loop] circles," Pierre says.
Hurley says, "Great! We should all get together for a beer sometime. How awesome would that be?" Hugo is trying to push Miles and his Dad together - not to Save (or Destroy) The World, but to "heal" Miles’ wounded soul.

Swan site:
Pierre opens a Secret Fence - which "conceals" the Swan job-site, complete with Armed Guards. What a joke. The site could be seen from any nearby hill or tall tree ... the Construction noise could be heard from miles around. Willing suspension of disbelief - OK, OK. But, seriously, there’s no way such a Project could be kept secret from Family Richard/Charles, not even counting the fact that moles like Ben, Ethan and (possibly) Amy were in constant communication. The DI were positively asking to be Purged. Note, however, that the Swan was off-limits to 2004 Bea. So ... maybe it was somehow off-limits to 1977 Family Richard/Charles. After all, Radzinsky , Kelvin and Desmond survived there (including Food Drops) for many years undisturbed. Note also that the (completed) Swan was "buried" (how?) with concealed entrances.
Note that a day or so ago, Radzinsky was working on the Swan model. And yet, a day or so later, construction is well under way. Talk about Time Pressures.

Having dropped Pierre off, the Two Musketeers continue their banter/therapy session:
"So your dad," Hurley asks, "was he around, you know, where we came from, the future?"
"No."
"Well then this is kind of awesome for you, huh?"
"How is it awesome?"
"Because you get to hang out with him, you know, get to know him better and stuff. Don't bother thanking me, but he was totally down for that beer, dude. You know, maybe he'll let you hold baby you or you can change your diaper."
Miles slams on the brakes. "Listen up, because we're only going to have this conversation once, okay? I don't want to hang out with my dad. I don't want to know him better, and stuff."
"Why not? Did he beat you up when you were little or something?"
"He wasn't even around when I was little, you dimwit! I never knew him, until now. Why am I even telling you this?"
"Because you're in pain and you need to let it out." Hugo sees to the heart of the matter - just like 2004 Bram did. But 1977 Miles has a unique opportunity to "make contact" before it’s too late.
"I'm not in pain! It doesn't matter. My father is dead. He's dead. He's gone. He never cared about me. And nothing I can do will ever change that." This is the Lie that Miles has been telling himself for three years.
"But he's not gone. We just dropped him off." Hugo wants to Change the Past/Present without regard to what these changes might mean to the Future. This "wonderfully human ability to cheat" is exactly what the island needs to avert Future Disaster.

Then we get a Big Hint about the Reality behind LOST:
Hugo: "It's 1977, right? So Star Wars just came out. And pretty soon George Lucas is going to be looking for a sequel. I've seen "Empire" like, 200 times, so I figured make life easier and send him the script...with a couple improvements."

So ... our Losties have been Observed acting out their Script numerous times - with "improvements" edited into the Script from time to time. We keep talking about The Island, but maybe there are some (competing) DI Scientists Observing and Manipulating events from The Future.

Hugo’s final comment (for now) : "At least I’m not scared to talk to my own Dad"

Casa LaFleur/Burke:
Jim walks in, weary from a long day of Crisis Management. Jack is waiting and informs him that Roger is suspicious of Kate. But that won’t matter for long, because Phil has discovered the not-erased Security Tape, and as soon as Jim does a Ben and finds out that Phil has not told Horace, he knocks him out and orders him to be tied up, sounding like Ilana ordering Frank to be tied up. Next step? Pack up and flee to Family Richard?

Hugo and Miles, having returned to Dharmaville:
"Sorry I said you were afraid to talk to your dad, dude." [The Right Thing to have said]
"Don't worry about it."
"I used to hate my dad, too, dude."
"Yeah?"
"He left when I was 10. But the best thing I ever did was give him a second chance and although I may never see him again, I miss him. And I know he feels the same."
"My dad didn't leave when I was 10. I was a baby. I never knew him. And I don't want to [the same attitude that Claire had toward her Father]. It's not happening."
"That was Luke's attitude too."
"What?"
"In "Empire", Luke found out Vader was his father, but instead of putting down the light-saber and talking about it, he overreacted and got his hand cut off. I mean, they worked it out eventually, but at what cost? Another Death Star was destroyed. Boba Fett got eaten by the Sarlacc [Ilana’s destiny?] and we got the Ewoks. It all could have been avoided if they'd just, you know, communicated." Hugo planting the right seed at the right time. Our heroes have to let go of corrosive emotions like Fear, Doubt and Vengeance

Having been Influenced by Hugo’s comments, Miles looks in from outside on Pierre reading a Polar Bear book to Baby Miles (who’s wearing a DHARMA jumper; talk about Company Loyalty). Miles can see for himself the Affection that Pierre shows to his younger self and, when Pierre - having taken the phone-call informing him that the Sub had just docked - comes out, spots Miles and says: "Miles, I need you" , his love-starved reply: "You do?" had just the right note of wistful hope in it - only to be dashed (or set aside) when Pierre followed up with: "The sub’s in from HQ. I need your help bringing them in."

With Radzinsky signing in the newly arrived Ann Arbour Scientists at dock-side, we see the poignant arrival of Daniel (who’s wearing a Swan patch) : "Long time no see"
Maybe Miles does (soon) reach out to Pierre and therefore helps convince him about the reality of TT, especially with Daniel in the picture too.