Lost/Miles Straume

Miles Straume Lost
Actors	Ken Leung Lance Ho (flashback)
First Appearance	4x02 - Confirmed Dead
Last Appearance	6x18 - The End
Show Status	Season 4 to 6: Billed
Episode Count	35
Notable Episodes	4x02 - Confirmed Dead 4x04 - Eggtown 5x13 - Some Like It Hoth
Flashback Count	2

Miles Straume is part of the group of people on the freighter looking for the island. He is played by Ken Leung and appeared in thirty-five episodes.

Basic Information

Before Oceanic 815

Miles as a child

Miles Straume is the son of Pierre and Lara Chang and was born on the island where his parents were employed by the DHARMA Initiative. In 1977, while Miles was still a baby, Pierre forced Lara to leave the island with Miles and a few other DHARMA employees. Lara took Miles to the United States and raised him alone. Miles never knew who his father was and always believed that his dad had simply abandoned him and his mother. When Miles was a little boy, he joined his mother when she went looking for a new apartment. As Miles played around and wandered the grounds, he discovered a dead body in one of the neighboring apartments. Miles could hear the man speaking to him, even though he was dead. Since then, Miles had the ability to communicate with the dead.

When Miles grew older, Lara fell terribly ill. Miles visited her on her deathbed and urged her to give him answers about his childhood and particularly about his father. Miles wanted to understand why he was the way he was and where his ability to speak to the dead came from. Lara told Miles that his father turned his back on them when Miles was still a baby and that he had died since. Miles wanted to know where his father's body was, but Lara simply told him that it was in a place where Miles "must never go". Miles eventually let go of his confusion over his ability and used it as a mode of income by becoming a "psychic ghostbuster" who communicated with people's dead loved ones and convinced them to move on.

After Oceanic 815

In late 2004, Miles was living in Inglewood, California, still using his ability to make money. He was contacted by a woman named Naomi Dorrit, who was aware of his unique talent and offered him a business opportunity. Naomi took Miles to the back of a restaurant and announced that this was his "job interview." She uncovered the body of a dead man and asked Miles what he could tell her about the man. Miles communicated with the man's spirit and revealed the details of his life to Naomi. Miles had passed Naomi's test and she offered him $1.6 million to be part of an expedition going to an island. The expedition was organized by Matthew Abaddon on behalf on Charles Widmore. Naomi told Miles that they were going to the island to find a man who was responsible for the deaths of many individuals. She explained that there were a number of dead bodies on the island and that Miles could use his ability to communicate with them to find out the whereabouts of the man they where looking for - Benjamin Linus.

That night, Miles was grabbed by a group of men and thrown into the back of a van. The man in charge, Bram, proceeded to talk to Miles and tried to convince him not to go to the island. Miles agreed to do so if Bram paid him $3.2 million - double the amount he was offered by Naomi. Bram told Miles that he was choosing the wrong side. He explained that Miles would find all the answers he was looking for about his father if he listened to them. However, since their was no money involved, Miles was not interested and was tossed out of the van onto the road. Miles joined the expedition to the island along with a group of scientists and security personell. They departed from Fiji on a freighter called the Kahana.

Season Four

After Naomi left the freighter with a helicopter and didn't return, George Minkowski, the freighter's communications officer finally got a call from Naomi's satellite radio after she had been missing for a few days. The call came from Jack Shephard, who announced that he was part of a group of survivors from Oceanic flight 815 and that Naomi was with them. Miles and two other scientists - Daniel Faraday and Charlotte Lewis left the freighter with a second helicopter piloted by Frank Lapidus. After reaching the island, Miles was forced to jump from the helicopter when it experienced electrical problems above the island. He landed on the rocky coastal section of the island. A few hours later, he was tracked down via his GPS transponder by Jack Shephard, Kate Austen and fellow expedition member Daniel Faraday. He ambushed Jack and Kate, pulling a gun on them and demanded to be taken to Naomi's body due to her use of a code phrase to secretly inform the freighter she was under duress. Alone with Naomi's body, Miles was able to confirm Kate's story that she wasn't killed by them.

The group discovered expedition member Charlotte Lewis's transponder attached to Vincent, a dog living amongst the Flight 815 survivors. This was a sign that Charlotte had been captured by John Locke. However, they located the final expedition member from the helicopter, Frank Lapidus, who successfully landed the helicopter intact. It was soon discovered Juliet Burke wasn't on Oceanic 815 but was a "native". Miles questioned her as to the location of Benjamin Linus, pulling out an old photograph of Ben and telling them the expedition was there to find him. He accompanied Sayid and Kate to the barracks to get Charlotte, but they were ambushed by Locke's group. Sayid made an exchange with Locke, taking Charlotte back and leaving Miles with Locke.

As Locke's captive, Miles was tied up and kept at the barracks' boathouse. Kate approached him, wanting to know how much he knew about her, but Miles refused to give her any answers until he spoke with Ben, who was being held under Locke's watchful eye. She hatched a plan and managed to get him a couple minutes with Ben. Miles offered Ben a deal: he would tell his employer's Ben was dead in exchange for $3.2 million. He wanted the extortion money in just two days but, seeing as how Ben was also a captive, gave him a week to come up with the money. As Kate fulfilled her part of the bargain, Miles revealed to Kate that the people on the freighter knew all about her and that she was a fugitive. He suggested she'd be better off staying on the island. Locke eventually found Miles and Kate, and Miles was forcefully returned to the boathouse. Locke told Miles he made a mistake in not introducing himself properly, and placed a hand grenade between Miles' teeth and removed the safety pin. He introduced himself to Miles and told him he was responsible for the well-being of the island, before leaving Miles with an active grenade in his mouth.

Episode Appearances

1. 4x02 - Confirmed Dead
2. 4x03 - The Economist
3. 4x04 - Eggtown
4. 4x08 - Meet Kevin Johnson
5. 4x09 - The Shape of Things to Come
6. 4x10 - Something Nice Back Home
7. 4x12 - There's No Place Like Home (1)
8. 4x13 - There's No Place Like Home (2)
9. 5x01 - Because You Left
10. 5x02 - The Lie
11. 5x03 - Jughead
12. 5x04 - The Little Prince
13. 5x05 - This Place Is Death
14. 5x08 - LaFleur
15. 5x09 - Namaste
16. 5x11 - Whatever Happened, Happened
17. 5x13 - Some Like It Hoth
18. 5x14 - The Variable
19. 5x15 - Follow the Leader
20. 5x16 - The Incident (1)
21. 5x16 - The Incident (2)
22. 6x01 - LA X (1)
23. 6x02 - LA X (2)
24. 6x03 - What Kate Does
25. 6x05 - Lighthouse
26. 6x06 - Sundown
27. 6x07 - Dr. Linus
28. 6x08 - Recon
29. 6x09 - Ab Aeterno
30. 6x10 - The Package
31. 6x12 - Everybody Loves Hugo
32. 6x13 - The Last Recruit
33. 6x16 - What They Died For
34. 6x17 - The End (1)
35. 6x18 - The End (2)

Character History

Information is shown in chronological order.

• 4x02 - Confirmed Dead: Arrives on the island with Daniel, Frank and Charlotte.
• 4x03 - The Economist: Goes to the barracks with Sayid and Kate to get Charlotte.
• 4x04 - Eggtown: Is kept prisoner by Locke. Makes a deal with Ben.

Trivia

• Last Name: Miles' last name was revealed as a clue in the Find 815 ARG leading up to the premiere of "The Beginning of the End". The name is derived from the word "Maelstrom," meaning a very large whirlpool. Word "straume" is also a word in latvian (spelled as is - "straume") meaning "current", "gush", "torrent", "stream", "flood".