Lost introduced many compelling characters throughout its six-season run from 2004-2010, from its main ensemble of the likes of Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lily), Locke (Terry O’Quinn), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) to its guest stars and recurring players. While most of Lost’s characters are certainly flawed in their own ways, the first time I watched the series, there was one I couldn’t seem to get on board with.
That would be Miles Straume (Ken Leung), introduced at the beginning of Season 4. The cynical psychic medium’s snarky attitude towards the main players quickly started to irritate me, particularly after three seasons spent mostly in their company. But rewatching the show years later, something surprising happened: not only did I start to find Miles endearing, but I also found myself actively drawn to him, sometimes over the characters that had been part of the series from the beginning. So what changed?
Wait, Who Is Miles Straume Again?
Spoilers for ‘Lost’ Seasons 4-6For those who might need a refresher, Miles is part of the crew sent to the island by Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) on the freighter Kahana to retrieve Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), along with scientists Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) and Daniel (Jeremy Davies) and helicopter pilot Frank (Jeff Fahey). The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 see this freighter as their way off the island, a notion which the party is willing to exploit to get close to them. Miles was chosen for his skills as a psychic medium with the ability to hear the voices of the dead, in order to commune with the island’s supernatural residents.
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After Ben moves the island in the Season 4 finale, Miles and some of the others are sent back in time to the early days of the doomed Dharma Initiative, where they integrate themselves into the crew and try to find a way back to their own time. While there, Miles has a chance to connect with his father, Dr. Pierre Chang (Francois Chau), a Dharma scientist whom he resents for never being around during his childhood, but opts not to take it until it’s too late. The group manages to return to 2004 after detonating a bomb to trigger a timeline reset, and Miles eventually escapes the island along with Kate, Sawyer, Frank, Richard, and Claire in the series finale.
How I Changed My Mind on Miles
Watching Lost weekly over a period of years (including its many months-long mid-season breaks), my original loyalty as a viewer was to the survivors of 815, particularly John Locke, who I found most compelling the first time around. So when Miles showed up in Season 4 and started acting like a jerk to these characters that I’d spent the previous three years following, I quickly found myself getting irritated with him. This feeling continued as Miles became a more significant member of the cast in Seasons 5 and 6, particularly as other original cast members began to be killed off.
But watching the show in a binge format, when years quickly collapse into one continuous stream, Miles’ snarky tone actually felt like a breath of fresh air when it arrived. He’s able to quickly cut through the self-seriousness of characters like Jack, Locke, and Sawyer, whose constantly shifting alliances and tough-guy posturing grew more pronounced when watching episodes back-to-back. In a strange turn of events, I found myself growing more annoyed with the main cast, whose dynamics sometimes felt stuck in the same gear, making Miles’ ability to puncture their egos that much more enjoyable.
As Miles’ backstory is fleshed out in Season 5, he becomes a more complex character with deeper layers than just a snarky counterpoint. Leung also does excellent work in the role, his sarcasm clearly a mask for his emotional pain and alienation. Interestingly, it seems I may have been in the minority at the time, as Miles’ introduction was largely well-received by critics and audiences.
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I’m not sure exactly how to explain this change of mind. I was in my teens when Lost originally aired, and might have been more apt to become emotionally invested in certain characters, whereas I was able to take a more objective view as an adult during my rewatch. The binge format also plays an important role, as the characters’ flaws and virtues become more apparent in a condensed timeframe.
As a network series, Lost often had long season orders to fill, and occasionally found itself spinning its wheels or going off on odd tangents to mixed success. Binging the series was a very enjoyable experience, particularly on a plot level, despite what its creators may think. But when it comes to the characters, I was surprised to find myself growing impatient with those I’d previously revered, like Locke. Maybe it’s because I know myself well enough to know that in a similar situation, I’d likely be more of a Hurley or a Charlie than a Jack. Chalk it up to familiarity, life experience, or changes in viewing habits, but I wouldn’t have imagined Miles would go from being one of my least favorite Lost characters to one of my favorites.
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