With “Some Like it Hoth,” we finally got to see some backstory for the mysterious Miles Straume (Ken Leung). Reading the comments section for Bob’s post, I was surprised by Modwild’s comment that she was disinterested in the episode and didn’t like Miles as a character. Not only because I think Miles is one of the most fascinating characters on the show right now, but also because I almost always agree with what she has to say!
Last season when we were first introduced to the Freighties, I had a little moment of internal squealing with joy as soon as I saw Miles. I realize that might seem a little strange, so let me explain: back in 2000 there was this movie that I have honestly never heard anybody mention, except for myself and my husband, called Keeping the Faith.
It had some serious star power, with the likes of Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, Ron Rifkin and the late Anne Bancroft. There are even appearances by Susie Essman and Lisa Edelstein. Yet, whenever I think of this movie, invariably my mind goes to Ken Leung’s brief, yet hilarious performance as a karaoke-machine salesman, which I have of course embedded here for your viewing pleasure.
So I’m being honest here, and admitting that I’m completely biased. I would probably love Miles Straume if he were the most poorly-written character in the history of Lost, although I really don’t believe he deserves that title. After all, Sawyer started out as a jackass too, and now everyone thinks he’s a cuddly, sexy teddy bear. Or something.
Now, I’m not proposing that Miles is Sawyer 2.0. I’d probably get beaned over the head by a couple of people for that. But let’s face it, there are similarities. They both have issues with their father abandoning them. Although now that I think about it, there are so many characters with similar issues, if there were a club, the members would far outweigh the non-members.
There’s also the sarcasm they both display. Who doesn’t love the scenes with Hurley and Sawyer? Hurley can be so naive, so innocently ignorant to what is actually going on, that when you put him together with a smart-mouthed asshole, it’s like yin and yang. They complete each other. The same goes for Hurley and Miles, as we witnessed in their drive to the Orchid station together transporting the dead body Miles had to deliver, along with the sandwiches Hurley made for the crew, complete with his famous garlic mayo.
Getting away from comparisons to Sawyer, I’m also a huge fan of Miles’ stoicism, which has added to his mysterious nature but also provided a bit of comic relief. How could you not laugh when Miles was abducted by Bram and his henchmen and thrown into the back of a van only to say, “You owe me a fish taco?” Or what about, “That douche is my dad.”
Lastly, dude: Miles can talk to dead people. And not just people, but animals, too. Allison Dubois, as much as I love her, has never gone and talked to the spirit of a recently-deceased wild boar to find out if he died of natural causes and was therefore safe for everyone to eat.
Like I said, I’m totally biased, so I want to know: what do you think of Miles? Is he as awesome as I think he is, or does his character suck? Vote in the poll and elaborate in the comments section!
Clacked by Cate Cropp
on Apr 18, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
See now you’re just encouraging us to be devil’s advocate in our comments. :)
Thank you for reminding me that Ken Leung was the awesome karaoke salesman guy from Keeping the Faith. Count me as one of the five people who know and like that movie.
I love Keeping the Faith, but it’s been years since I’ve seen it, so I totally forgot Ken Leung was in it.
I adore Miles, mainly because even though he has the same issues that everyone else has, he’s not all soap opera-y and dramatic like some people (I’m looking at you, Kate and Jack) can be. He’s badass and hilarious and a welcome addition to the show.
Okay – I’m having a Hulu day on this rainy Saturday and I’m going to revisit the episode and try to look at it with fresh eyes. I stick by my thought that I’m concerned with continued focus on newbies (even if Miles isn’t so new, really) when we are getting down to the last 20 episodes of the series. I get a little jittery when I know the end is in sight. Freely admitted, right there.
That said, Rescue Me just finished, and I’m going to ABC to give it another go. I’ll be back!
perhaps getting ‘jittery’ about a tv show is a sign that you need other interests.
I’m pretty sure a good majority of the people here get a little jittery about their favorite shows. Of course, I can only speak for myself…
Miles is interesting in an angry guy sort of way. I’m looking forward to his development.
Since you mention Hurley, I have to say I love the big man. Just think how hurt everyone would be if something happened to him. Perish the thought!
To start out on a positive, I’m just wondering why you find him so fascinating as a character?
Although Miles was in some difficult situations that could have been made humorous, he didn’t provide that relief. Hurley did, but Miles just seemed pissed and angry. I can’t compare him to Sawyer. Sawyer comes off as a dork who wants to be mean as hell, but can’t really pull it off, so he brings on the funny. Even after watching the seen from Keeping the Faith (which I did see, but can’t really remember very well), I don’t see the funny in his presentation as Miles.
I have to look at Lost and realize that every character will most likely be explored and shown a tie to the island, or they probably wouldn’t be there at all. I SHOULD have been excited about Miles connection; he’s the son of the man who brought us our first glimpse of the initiative! But it fell flat to me. Everything else going on in the episode was far more interesting to me than Miles.
It might be the casual way he is treating seeing his parents. He just nonchalantly mentions that his mother walked up behind his father in the cafeteria. If I saw my dead mother, my reaction would be so incredibly different. I’m thinking of when Sawyer saw Kate helping Claire give birth when they were shooting through time. His face showed so much emotion, the kind I would show if I saw someone I loved in a place out of time. Miles, to me, seems like a bystander in his own life.
I look forward to what else they reveal about him going forward, and I hope he breaks out of his emotional cocoon, because I’m just not good with non-emotional types. I’m going to keep myself open to some Miles goodness Cate!
“It might be the casual way he is treating seeing his parents. He just nonchalantly mentions that his mother walked up behind his father in the cafeteria. If I saw my dead mother, my reaction would be so incredibly different.”
You have to take into account that we’re listening to him talk about it after he’s had three years to acclimate to the idea. He didn’t just see his parents yesterday.
And the comment he made was actually that his mother walked up behind HIM in line at the cafeteria, not his father. That’s significant only in that it suggests that at the very least he was curious enough after the encounter to look into her and discover the connection to Chang and piece together that the man was his father.
It’s implied that Miles being unaffected by being around his parents is only a front he’s putting up. Hurley observes that if he really didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t have told him about Chang being his father in the first place. The scene towards the end where he watches his father reading to him as a baby further underscores the idea that there’s emotions running beneath the stoic exterior he’s trying to maintain.
Hey, to each her own. I haven’t seen much discussion on Miles (of course, I don’t really look for it either) so your comment just gave me a good reason to bring up the subject of his character in general, not to make you feel like you have to jump on the Miles bandwagon. :D
I haven’t seen Leung in much of anything, but I’m liking Miles as a character.
In my view, with the previous “Back to the Future” exchange and this recent episode, they seem to be grooming him as a sort of replacement for Charlie. Not in terms of personality but more as a potential comedic pairing with Hurley. I hope we get to see more interactions between the two.
I am either way with Miles; I find his flashbacks fascinating, but if something happened to him I wouldn’t really be upset since he hasn’t had any actual meaning to the show yet. I know he’s connected to Widmore and his dad is be big initiative douche, but we haven’t seen the actual “answer” yet. That’s why I am fascinated by him though. I am wondering if he was born on the island, since he has the ability to talk to the dead. He’s growing on me, but still not the greatest on the show yet.
I don’t really care for Miles. It’s nothing in particular, I just find him boring.
Speaking of the comparison between Miles and Sawyer wasn’t Hurley’s reaction to Miles the first time they met “Oh great the freighter people brought us another Sawyer!”?
I like Miles as a character. The flashback provided some insight into how he developed his ability.
I wonder if some of his emotional disconnect is for self-preservation – I would think that being able to speak to dead people beginning at a very young age would kind of skew your world view.
I thought that he was the baby that Dr. Chang was holding at the end (and in the season premiere) or am I wrong?
Loved Hurley re-writing Empire Strikes Back, with some improvements.
Ken Leung was also the big bad for most of the first Rush Hour movie before the final reveal of who Juntao (sp?) was toward the end.
FUCK YOU ALL ,LOST IS ABOUT TIME TRAVEL BITCHES