Thursday, April 30. 2009
LOST: The Variable
Damn. If Desmond is "The Constant" then who is "The Variable?" Well, we kinda-sorta find out. And things definitely take an interesting twist. Many spoilers abound, and theorists put your thinking caps on....
Quasi-Recap
So at last we get away from the "daddy issues" bit only to discover that Faraday has "mummy issues." ... sigh....
Through a series of odd flashbacks, some of which are events we've seen parts of before, we discover that Widmore was the one funding Faraday's research at Oxford, and that yes folks, Eloise Hawking is Daniel's mother. Seems she had big plans for him, but his research sent him in a spiraling mess of mental instability. Not nearly to the point of his girlfriend/assistant Teresa, but leaving him a shell of his former genius self. She gives him a blank journal (the one we've seen) for graduation. Widmore comes to see him directly after the scene where he sees the news of Oceanic 815 and is saddened, but doesn't know why.
Widmore asks him to go to the island, and tells him that it will cure him. Later his mother returns to him, and reaffirms this, and Daniel agrees to go, since it will make her proud of him. On the way out, she runs into Charles. It's revealed that he is Daniel's father, which we could have guessed....
MEANWHILE.... Desmond gets rushed into the ER for his gunshot wound which Benjamin Linus has dealt him. Eloise shows up to apologize to Penny, and reveals to her that she is Daniel's mother. Strangely enough, little Charlie is left in the waiting room with an unknown nurse..... cue the impending music.
Now then. Back on the 1977-time island, Faraday emerges from the sub. "Hey, Miles!" He's returned from Ann Arbor (and god help me if I can figure this one out!) He's on a mission, and after much ado, finds Dr. Chang, and reveals the mission: He's here to prevent "The Incident" which will happen if they tunnel any further down in their construction of The Orchid station. A release of the energy "30,000 times stronger" than what is killing the workmen will be released at the Swan site, which will require the pressing of the button, which Desmond will fail to press, which causes the crash, etc. etc. Oh, and he lets slip to Chang that Miles is his son, and that he's from the future. Way to hold up the credibility there Dan-o!
He convinces Jack and Kate to help him get to the Hostiles, since he knows how to fix it. Curiously enough, Juliet helps them out by giving them the "fence" code, but its clear that she's doing this to get Kate away from Sawyer.... ooh, I smell a rivalry going on here!
On the way out, Jack, Kate, and Daniel are stopped by Radzinski and his henchmen, and a firefight ensues. They manage to escape, but when Radzi goes to get Sawyer, er I mean LaFleur, they find Phil in the closet..... Not good!
Faraday posits to Jack that it is they who are "the variables", that they have the power to change events that will happen....
Kate, Jack, and Daniel find the hostiles' camp. Faraday calmly walks up to the camp, gun in hand, and demands to speak to Eloise. He finds Richard, who maybe recognizes him from his run-in in '54. Faraday wants to know where the bomb is, so he can prevent the impending doom. Blam! Faraday is shot, by none other than Eloise herself. Doh.
Not much of a recap, I know, but I think I got the main points..... upward and onward.
The Variables
OK, so if the Losties are the variables, and they do what Faraday has planned on, can they indeed stop "The Incident" from occuring, and prevent the entire timeline from playing out? I think so. Actually it makes perfect sense, as they've already done it in the world Locke, Sun, and Ben are in. When the island took "the five" back to the island from the plane, and the incident never happened, then they crashed onto that island. Following me yet?
The Constant
Ah, but here's the kicker. If they are the variables, and Desmond is "The Constant," what will that mean for him? We've seen him sort of bouncing around in time, and if what he's experiencing is in fact his destiny, and everything "course corrects" back to that.... then there's a big paradox going on, or is about to happen.
Another Paradox
Faraday also tells Jack that "they don't belong here" in 1977. If that's the case, then why would he feel the need to try to change things here in this time? Wouldn't he come to the conclusion that they shouldn't try to change things?
Daniel, RIP?
It looks as though our favorite scraggly scientist is dead. But is he? Will Richard intervene? Can he? Or will the Losties follow through on his plan, which means there will be no crash, no freighter, no back-to-'77 and no gunshot for Daniel? You also have to love the fact that this moment must have been what separated Eloise and Charles.... but one other thing....
Wouldn't this mean that there's a little baby Daniel somewhere on the island?
Charlotte
Yeah, and the strange little man Charlotte spoke of is indeed Daniel. BUT. If this 1977 island is their "present" as he says, how would he know that they've had this conversation, and where does his affection for her come from previously? Oh yeah, there's more to this Faraday time-travel business than meets the eye.
Juliet vs. Kate
Interesting also that Juliet would seemingly betray Sawyer by giving Kate the fence code, right at the moment Sawyer asks Kate to choose between him and Jack. This way Juliet gets rid of Kate and keeps Sawyer for herself. Yeah, that will come back to us.
Miles and Pierre
Will anything become of the revelation to Change that future-Miles is his son? Or does Chang just think Faraday a total nut case and that'll be the end of it?
Charlie
Now for my "he must be smoking crack" theory of the week. Here it is, ready?
Little Charlie Hume is in fact Charlie Pace. Note that he gets left alone with "this nurse" thatEloise Hawking the doc says will watch him. Would explain the connection that Desmond and Charlie had, wouldn't it? And since technically he would be the grandson of Eloise and Widmore, wouldn't it make sense that they would take some sort of measures to protect him? Like maybe sending him back to 1977?
Or maybe not. I just think its more than an homage to older-Charlie that they named him that.
I still can't help feeling that things are getting rushed though. The first 15 minutes of the episode especially felt that way, just one thing after the other in such quick succession. Slow down guys!!
So at last we get away from the "daddy issues" bit only to discover that Faraday has "mummy issues." ... sigh....
Through a series of odd flashbacks, some of which are events we've seen parts of before, we discover that Widmore was the one funding Faraday's research at Oxford, and that yes folks, Eloise Hawking is Daniel's mother. Seems she had big plans for him, but his research sent him in a spiraling mess of mental instability. Not nearly to the point of his girlfriend/assistant Teresa, but leaving him a shell of his former genius self. She gives him a blank journal (the one we've seen) for graduation. Widmore comes to see him directly after the scene where he sees the news of Oceanic 815 and is saddened, but doesn't know why.
Widmore asks him to go to the island, and tells him that it will cure him. Later his mother returns to him, and reaffirms this, and Daniel agrees to go, since it will make her proud of him. On the way out, she runs into Charles. It's revealed that he is Daniel's father, which we could have guessed....
MEANWHILE.... Desmond gets rushed into the ER for his gunshot wound which Benjamin Linus has dealt him. Eloise shows up to apologize to Penny, and reveals to her that she is Daniel's mother. Strangely enough, little Charlie is left in the waiting room with an unknown nurse..... cue the impending music.
Now then. Back on the 1977-time island, Faraday emerges from the sub. "Hey, Miles!" He's returned from Ann Arbor (and god help me if I can figure this one out!) He's on a mission, and after much ado, finds Dr. Chang, and reveals the mission: He's here to prevent "The Incident" which will happen if they tunnel any further down in their construction of The Orchid station. A release of the energy "30,000 times stronger" than what is killing the workmen will be released at the Swan site, which will require the pressing of the button, which Desmond will fail to press, which causes the crash, etc. etc. Oh, and he lets slip to Chang that Miles is his son, and that he's from the future. Way to hold up the credibility there Dan-o!
He convinces Jack and Kate to help him get to the Hostiles, since he knows how to fix it. Curiously enough, Juliet helps them out by giving them the "fence" code, but its clear that she's doing this to get Kate away from Sawyer.... ooh, I smell a rivalry going on here!
On the way out, Jack, Kate, and Daniel are stopped by Radzinski and his henchmen, and a firefight ensues. They manage to escape, but when Radzi goes to get Sawyer, er I mean LaFleur, they find Phil in the closet..... Not good!
Faraday posits to Jack that it is they who are "the variables", that they have the power to change events that will happen....
Kate, Jack, and Daniel find the hostiles' camp. Faraday calmly walks up to the camp, gun in hand, and demands to speak to Eloise. He finds Richard, who maybe recognizes him from his run-in in '54. Faraday wants to know where the bomb is, so he can prevent the impending doom. Blam! Faraday is shot, by none other than Eloise herself. Doh.
Not much of a recap, I know, but I think I got the main points..... upward and onward.
The Variables
OK, so if the Losties are the variables, and they do what Faraday has planned on, can they indeed stop "The Incident" from occuring, and prevent the entire timeline from playing out? I think so. Actually it makes perfect sense, as they've already done it in the world Locke, Sun, and Ben are in. When the island took "the five" back to the island from the plane, and the incident never happened, then they crashed onto that island. Following me yet?
The Constant
Ah, but here's the kicker. If they are the variables, and Desmond is "The Constant," what will that mean for him? We've seen him sort of bouncing around in time, and if what he's experiencing is in fact his destiny, and everything "course corrects" back to that.... then there's a big paradox going on, or is about to happen.
Another Paradox
Faraday also tells Jack that "they don't belong here" in 1977. If that's the case, then why would he feel the need to try to change things here in this time? Wouldn't he come to the conclusion that they shouldn't try to change things?
Daniel, RIP?
It looks as though our favorite scraggly scientist is dead. But is he? Will Richard intervene? Can he? Or will the Losties follow through on his plan, which means there will be no crash, no freighter, no back-to-'77 and no gunshot for Daniel? You also have to love the fact that this moment must have been what separated Eloise and Charles.... but one other thing....
Wouldn't this mean that there's a little baby Daniel somewhere on the island?
Charlotte
Yeah, and the strange little man Charlotte spoke of is indeed Daniel. BUT. If this 1977 island is their "present" as he says, how would he know that they've had this conversation, and where does his affection for her come from previously? Oh yeah, there's more to this Faraday time-travel business than meets the eye.
Juliet vs. Kate
Interesting also that Juliet would seemingly betray Sawyer by giving Kate the fence code, right at the moment Sawyer asks Kate to choose between him and Jack. This way Juliet gets rid of Kate and keeps Sawyer for herself. Yeah, that will come back to us.
Miles and Pierre
Will anything become of the revelation to Change that future-Miles is his son? Or does Chang just think Faraday a total nut case and that'll be the end of it?
Charlie
Now for my "he must be smoking crack" theory of the week. Here it is, ready?
Little Charlie Hume is in fact Charlie Pace. Note that he gets left alone with "this nurse" that
Or maybe not. I just think its more than an homage to older-Charlie that they named him that.
I still can't help feeling that things are getting rushed though. The first 15 minutes of the episode especially felt that way, just one thing after the other in such quick succession. Slow down guys!!
HUH???? doesn't make sense!!! Eloise revealed that she is Dan's father????????
Also, what happend to "the war" that Widmore sd. was coming to John? And Maybe Faraday is wrong and Eloise did mean to send Jack there so he could stop the "accident" since she knew she was going to kill Daniel.