New LOST: Father & Son & Chewbacca

GeneralGametime: Better late than never. Lost was good this week. Very good. Which is especially nice, considering last week's episode was one of the worst in a while. And we have to wait two weeks for the next installment (which happens to be the 100th episode). This week we got a much better idea of where Miles came from, why he is on the island and what role he might play in the final season. Good stuff.

VincentVega: Finally, we got Miles's backstory. He's definitely one of my favorite characters on the show, and he's at his best when he's with Hurley (who was also in fine form this week, and looking especially fat). Their trip in the van was hilarious from beginning to end. Not only an entertaining episode, but a lot happened too. To start with, we officially find out that Dr. Pierre Chang, aka Marvin Candle, Edgar Halliwax, and Mark Wickmund, is Miles' dad, as we've long suspected. And that he likes country music.

GG: So Miles was born on the island. Not a big shocker given his special abilities and all. As much as I enjoyed the episode, I'm not totally sure we learned that much about Miles himself, but more about the people around him. We now know that Naomi was working for Widmore and that it was in fact Widmore who dug up the bodies and put them in the fake plane in the ocean. We know that the group of plane crash survivors on the Hydra Island are neither agents of Widmore or Ben and they probably wanted to be on the island. And we learned that the DEA agent from Breaking Bad didn't tell his son that he loved him enough. But we already knew Miles could talk to dead people and guessing that Chang was his dad wasn't that big a stretch. After all, everyone is connected in this show and the number of Asian people to choose from was fairly limited.

VV: Speaking of Naomi, she looked incredible this episode. The biggest development in this episode was Miles being hauled into the van. Bram's method of persuasion ("all the money in the world isn't going to fill that hole") was unexpected for me. Bram is the newest addition to the cast - we saw him in last week's episode on the beach with Ilana. If he's trying to thwart Widmore, does that necessarily mean he works for Ben? I figured Ilana worked for Widmore, but now her and Bram seem to be working together. I'm really interested to see where this goes. Back to Miles...one thought I had at the end of the episode...he is existing twice at the same time on the island - as present day Miles and as a kid. Is he the only one?

GG: Definitely possible that others are there at multiple ages at the same time. Remember, Sawyer caught a glimpse of Kate back in the day helping Claire give birth, meaning that at that point, we are assuming there were two Sawyers in the same dimension. Were you a little surprised that Dr. Chang couldn't figure out that Miles was his son? I thought he was down with the time-traveling rabbits and might have some sense that this Asian dude named Miles might be his son from the future. I'm sure the Miles-Chang situation will continue to progress and that is one of the stories I'm more excited to see play out.

On a separate note, what did you make of the guy with the crown through the head? We know there are some crazy magnetic forces, but this is the first time we have seen them unleased. Hurley points out that the Swan is built to control those forces, but are we assuming this magnatism is what makes the island the way it is?

VV: I think so. The magnetic force is certainly what killed that guy Alvarez (who is clearly an Other, right?), and we know that Dr. Chang suspects that too, since we overhear Horace talking to him and saying as much. Right now, DHARMA is starting to harness the magnetic energy. They are building the Swan (the hatch) and the Orchid (housing the wheel). Remember, Dr. Chang doesn't discover the wheel until Faraday is working in DHARMA, and as we saw at the end of the episode, he's just arrived.

On that note, let's talk about the ending for a sec. Seeing Faraday was awesome, and so was his line, "Long time no see". But I was surprised he recognized Miles. Can you explain to me Faraday's time travel? He came back in time with Miles, Juliet, Sawyer, and company, but has presumably gone crazy because of Charlotte's death. Is he on the island twice as well?

GG: I don't think so. My guess is that Faraday found someway to get off the island not long after Charlotte's death and joined the initiative as a scientist in Ann Arbor. This is his return to the island. It is the same old Faraday as always. Glad to have him back. Maybe he will help fill out a little of the time travel plot, although we have seen even he doesn't always know what is going on. By the way, I just arrived in a small town in Kentucky and I'm wishing I could do a little time traveling right now.

VV: Interesting theory. You're probably right, that it's the same Faraday. It would be just too weird otherwise. Let's get to the other people in the episode. Thanks to Kate (adding yet another reason to why I don't like her), the new DHARMA additions are going to be under suspicion. That's now guaranteed with Sawyer clocking Phil (the creepy guy from Mad Men and Old School) when Miles failed to erase the security tape. Things are about to blow up in DHARMAville.

GG: Yeah, it is about to get ugly for Sawyer and Co. And it is all the new kids' fault. While we are discussing the newest Dharma recruits, let me toss in a screencap from the classroom that Jack was cleaning . Clearly the youngest Dharma kiddies are learning all about Egypt, bringing that theme to the forefront once again. And just one more cool thing I picked up in the episode--the microwave clock in the opening scene when Miles and his mom were looking at apartments read 3:16, which is a significant number for many reasons (John 3:16, Ajira Flight 316). Always got to be on your toes with this show.

VV: Seriously. I really like where this show is right now. Setting its finale(?) in the DHARMA era is fantastic. We learn a lot each episode. I think that's basically all we've got for this episode, but before I close it, I need to mention the highlight of this episode: Hurley's Empire Strikes Back diary. What a hilarious and stupid idea. He really should have written to Lucas to tell him not to make episodes I, II, and III, lie and say they bombed at the box office, and save the world a load of grief.

That's all for this week. Again, the next new LOST episode will be two weeks from now, so don't be too disappointed when you tune in next week for a rerun.