Hey there ecstatic examiners of evidence, and I don't think there's ever been an episode of the show made more with me in my mind. Seriously: time travel, superpowers, discussions with the dead and the acting powerhouse that is Ken Leung, not to mention more Star Wars references than you could poke a stick at, all being used to create one of the strangest TV father-son relationships ever.If you strip that all away though, this episode worked so well for me because of the belief system being examined. Lost has always examined faith but several episodes this season have focused on a how a person's individual belief system motivates their actions. Hurley is the voice of the audience and he's unique on the show in that his beliefs are a fusion of a Catholic upbringing and self-reliance, yet all his reference points stem from his pop culture obsession. We look for relatable characters or compare events in our lives to moments from the media we watch just as Hurley does. He uses Back to the Future as a way of attempting to understand Rene Barjavel-style grandfather paradoxes caused by time travel. When creating a father-son relationship comparison he uses Star Wars instead of the Bible or a play by Plautus.
I was aware the episode was called "Some Like It Hoth" but I'm proud to say I twigged to Hurley writing something Star Wars related when he innocently asked Miles how to spell bounty hunter, way before the reveal. What a reveal it was! Hurley, in 1977 as Star Wars is released, takes it upon himself to write Empire Strikes Back and save George Lucas the hassle, adding a few improvements. We only heard of one change but boy was it funny. Hurley seems to look at himself as faithful sidekick material so, in his version, Chewbacca shoots the Imperial search droid instead of Han Solo, a not-so-subtle shout out to Lucas' tweaks made in the 1997 digital re-release edition of A New Hope where bounty hunter Greedo now shoots Han first in the Mos Eisley cantina.
The point of all of this? Hurley believes, with all his heart, he can change the past. Everyone else is resigned to the fact that whatever happened, happened except Hurley. While the most obvious example of this is his writing of Empire Strikes Back, one telltale line that shows how little faith he has in Faraday's theory: "We can travel together, you know, help stop global warming... which hasn't happened yet." Hurley's story of boarding Ajira 316 is the only one we're not aware of but he obviously believes he's been sent back for a good reason, probably at the direction of the dead he communicates with. When he sat in Miles' van, watching the numbers being hammered into the hatch door in an area outside the truce zone, you could practically see the light bulb go off above his head.Hatch = Death Star
Also, I kinda really wanted Hurley to rewrite Empire Strikes Back so this might happen:
Yes, that's me flying an X-Wing. As you can see, I could talk Star Wars references all day. Here are a bunch of other pop culture references I caught in the episode:• Young Miles could have stepped straight out of The Sixth Sense
• Early 20s punk Miles looked like Rufio, leader of the Lost Boys in Hook
• Miles and Hurley having to keep quiet about the dead body brought to mind Some Like It Hot
• The Swan is being built in Area 334 which shares its name with Thomas M. Disch's futuristic novel
Now, a few things I'd like to point out that were awesome:
• Hurley attempting to get Miles and Pierre Chang chatting in the van
• Pierre saying he "didn't know there were circles..."
• Pierre liking country and Miles' look of disapproval
• Pierre reading baby Miles a polar bear book and giving him a kiss
• The use of the words douche not once but twice
• Hurley claiming Miles is jealous due to having a lesser superpower
• Pierre's total "What body?" dad-joke about Alvarez.
• Phil getting punched the heck out by Sawyer, followed by "Get some rope."
• Faraday is back from Dharma HQ in Ann Arbour, Michigan!
And a couple that were not so awesome:
• Kate once again messing things up, thinking she can help
• Jack once again making things worse in an attempt to fix them
• Juliet not being able to come up with a cover story in the entire time Kate was out
• Phil getting his hands on the security tape
• The Swan is being built with noisy machinery in enemy territory
• Faraday is dressed in Swan station (evil) black
• Scary-eyed Bram, currently on the beach tying up Frank in the present, is involved in something much bigger than we thought. I really, really want to know what's in that statue's shadow already!
To close it out, I'd like to pass the mic to my good friend Hurley for a few wise words.
"He over-reacted and got his hand cut off. I mean, they worked it out eventually, but at what cost? Another Death Star was destroyed, Boba Fett was eaten by the Sarlacc and we got the Ewoks. It all could've been avoided if they'd just communicated and, let's face it, the Ewoks suck dude."
Namaste,
The Heroic Lost Ninja