Well, the producers told us that our last episode (“Some Like It Hoth”) was purposefully a bit slower and humorous, given the direction of the final episodes of Season Five. Boy, they weren’t kidding. This week’s installment, “The Variable”, was a dense, satisfying, shocking hour of programming (the 100th hour in the series). I’m thinking this will probably rank right up there in the top 12 or 15 episodes of all-time for me once I have the chance to watch it again.
With brief opening and closing scenes in Los Angeles circa 2007, the bulk of the episode centers around Daniel’s return to the Island in 1977. In Dharmaville, Farraday approaches Dr. Chang in an effort to warn him about the pending accident at the Swan station. When Chang doesn’t respond, Farraday drops the news that Miles is his son. Chang didn’t buy it immediately, but I’m guessing he’ll come around before season’s end.
Meanwhile, Sawyer and Juliet’s domesticated Dharma existence is collapsing like a house of cards. Holding Phil hostage was only going to work for a little while. I worry that something might happen to Juliet; everyone else is wearing Dharma jumpsuits and she keeps wearing red. Good thing she’s not in an M. Night Shyamalan film.
I really love Farraday’s character. Whereas most of our characters have significant Daddy issues to sort out, Farraday gives us a character who has always been fighting for his mother’s approval and respect. This episode filled in some gaps in his storyline (I’m glad we got to see why he was crying when he first saw the staged Oceanic crash on TV) and it also advanced the mythology in some pretty crucial ways. Here’s the quick run down of what we learned, with a few questions sprinkled in:
- Farraday is Widmore’s son and Eloise is Widmore’s baby mama. I guess this makes Penny and Daniel half-siblings (I’m assuming Penny is the child Widmore had with someone off-Island that was referenced a few episodes back). These ideas have been circulating for some time, but it’s nice to get some confirmation.
- Eloise explains that Ben’s attempt to murder Desmond was precipitated by her son, Daniel. How is this true? Eloise makes a comment toward the end of the episode that for the first time in a long while, she doesn’t know what’s going to happen next. Is this an indication that the future (Eloise’s present) has in fact been changed. If “whatever happened, happened” is still true, is there a sense in which “whatever hasn’t happened yet, may or may not happen”? Has Eloise been stuck in some sort of perpetual time loop only to have that loop broken now by some force outside herself (The Island, perhaps?). Do these last two or three sentences even make sense? Boy, this show messes with my head.
- With 4 hours or so before Farraday’s predicted “accident” at the Swan, will Jack and Kate take Farraday’s advice and detonate the hydrogen bomb from earlier in the season? And if so, how will this shape the direction of Season Six? Is it possible that Season Six becomes a dramatic replaying of what the lives of the Oceanic 815ers would have looked like if the plane had never crashed?
- How did Farraday get off the Island in the first place? I was hoping to hear more about his time off the Island in Ann Arbor. Guess we won’t be hearing about that now.
- For the record, I wasn’t expecting Daniel to be shot by his mother. But that certainly explains her comment about sacrifice, how she had to send her son back to the Island, knowing that….and then she was cut off. Now we know what she was about to say. What would drive Eloise to do something like this? Does she truly believe this is her son’s “destiny”, to be shot by a younger version of herself (before he was even born, perhaps?) or is she holding out hope for an Island healing / resurrection? Remember, we’re at the point now where she doesn’t know what’s going to happen.
- Still no Rose or Bernard. It’s been, like, 12 episodes.
- Confirmation: Widmore IS the one who satged the Oceanic crash.
- LOVED Jack sticking up for Kate, telling Sawyer she can speak up and say whatever she wants. Maybe we’re finally going to get Jack with more of a backbone again.
already & not yet 
What happened to Jack? In his first scene when he walks down the hall, puts on his shirt, then walks into the light – it looks like he had been in a fight. His nose and face looked bruised. I didn’t remember him being in a fight on a previous episode. Then later, I didn’t notice this. DId I imagine this?I had a feeling Daniel was Widmore’s son. But that’s the only thing I had figured out. I doubt that any of the Oceanic survivors would chose to go back to life before the plane crash. All of them are better people now than at the start of LOST.
“Is it possible that Season Six becomes a dramatic replaying of what the lives of the Oceanic 815ers would have looked like if the plane had never crashed?”THAT is the greatest LOST question I have seen asked in some time . . . and in light of Tara’s final comment, I wonder how much of what IF they will show us, and it would be something if this show could wash all the time travel stuff out to sea and leave US on the beach thinking about our own lives in ways that most TV shows could never accomplish. . . . with the exception of a few great episodes of Andy Griffith.
Interesting observation about Juliet wearing red and everyone else jumpsuits… I wonder what significance that may have.And yes, big shocker when Farraday’s mom shot him! And if she shot him and he died, how could he have ever been born?! Some of this really messes with my mind as well. But I did love when Daniel talked about the Variable vs the Constant… I mean… that’s deep.I also agree with Tara- the Oceanic survivors lives may be crazy post-crash, but I feel like they are also so much richer. To lose all that they have gained would be devastating! And if the show ends up doing what Skid described… well, this show would end up being the best show to ever air on television!
Is it possible that Ben told Juliet all this would happen, and told her to make sure she was not wearing a dharma suit? Crazier things have happened, but I had noticed that also, about Juliet not wearing the same thing. I think it is part of what Ben told her to do a long time ago, and she’s just playing out a role. I could be totally wrong.
I just need to stop falling asleep during the show. I have to watch 3 episodes to catch back up.
Tara,I don’t think anything happened to Jack. I think it was just the dark lighting in the scene that made it look like he’d been in a fight. But judging by the previews for next week’s episode, it looks like Jack will be bloodied and bruised before long!I think you’re right; we’ve seen these castaways find redemption on the Island. But you have to wonder what their “destiny” would be like if the Island ceases to exist (which is the history-altering phenomenon Farraday was hoping to bring about). Skid,I’m leaning toward a Season 6 reboot, if the nature of “The Incident” is going to be as game-changing as I think it will be.
Jenna,Juliet wearing red may mean nothing. I mean, who wouldn’t want to wear those uber-fashionable Dharma suits? :)I think Farraday could be killed in the past because it wasn’t “his” past; it was his present. But that wouldn’t adversely affect whether or not he would eventually be born. Now, if something were to happen to Eloise circa 1977, that would be a different story. Lane,I don’t think we’re supposed to assume a connection between Ben and Juliet anymore. After spending three years in Dharmaville with Sawyer, I think her loyalty lies with our castaways, not the “Others” or Dharma. But like you said, crazier stuff has happened on this show. Sunny,You need a Red Bull or something. How can you sleep through this stuff!!!???
I guess I’ll play devil’s advocate here…..but I’m not sure if I’m cool with 5 seasons of the history of these characters suddenly becoming null and void. Although, it would be interesting to see where they take that. Of course we don’t know if Jack and Kate will succeed in blowing the hydrogen bomb. Daniel could have been wrong, and the “variables” may not be able to change the past and “whatever happened” did indeed happen. Sometimes I hate the way this show makes my brain mush with the time travel stuff, but I also love it too. Especially when it makes you think about free will vs. destiny in your own life. I think one of the issues the writers want us to question is how much do our choices matter in life and how much of our lives are destined to take place. It’s been interesting watching this season while also reading Old Testament theological books this semester about how God partners with us in the process of continuing creation and how the future isn’t a set constant, but is dependent on the actions humans make in our roles as facilitators of creation (sorry to get philosophical/theological there).
Eloise mentioned to Penny that what is going on with the island is “bigger than all of us.” Widmore and Eloise also referenced the struggle for the island in their conversation, and obviously what is going to happen on the island was important enough for Eloise to sacrifice her own son. This is all part of a continuing set-up that has been going on all season about this great upcoming struggle for control of the island (which likely involves the mysterious “shadow of the statue people”). I’m now believing that this struggle is MUCH bigger than the petty Ben/Widmore feud. What is about to happen on the island is BIG.Anyways, FANTASTIC episode. I hate to see Dan go, but it was a great way to go out.
If they did do an alternate timeline in season 6 of flight 815 not crashing, could they re-sign Dominic Monghan for a few episodes? How about Boone, Shannon, Eko, Ana-Lucia, Libby, Michael, Artz, the Marshall, the pilot, maybe even Nikki and Paulo back? (They’ve killed a LOT of people on this show).Would that make season 6the aforementioned “zombie season” Darlton always talked about on the podcast? 🙂
Dylan,Your last comment is similar to a thought I’ve heard somewhere. Since Skid’s LOST Thoughts and Entertainment Weekly’s Doc Jensen are the only sources I consult re: LOST these days, I guess it was there. But I’ve heard some people question whether or not we might actually see some sort of “zombie season”, just like Darlton has joked about for years on the podcast. For the record, I’m with you; I would hate to see 5 years of character development flushed down the tubes in one game-changing moment. But maybe that’s just the point; maybe we’ll see these characters fulfill their “destiny” (or perhaps, better said, choose to fulfill their destinies) apart from any sort of connection to the Island. That is, maybe the Island isn’t the central driving character in this series all along. Maybe “The Island” has just been a conduit for a transcendent force / Being that has always been at work, taking the choices we make and partnering with those choices to create an ultimate destiny where the final destination is “set” or “fixed”, but the way in which different characters get there is entirely up to them. I’m pretty sure that’s the longest sentence I’ve ever written.
By the way, I haven’t had this many comments in about a year. So, yeah, I’m padding my total. It’ll take me another year to hit this high-water mark.
By the way Jason, I personally wish I had my own Dharma jumpsuit… I mean… come on! So cool!
Hey, I’ll help you pad your comment total.I’m hearing some rumors that Farraday isn’t dead. He looked pretty close to dead to me. But with Lost…you HAVE to see a dead body. I guess if Jin ended up surviving, then you never know.
Thanks for the pad, guys. :)Jenna, if I had to wear a Dharma jumpsuit, I would prefer the dark blue / black to the tan. They’re WAAAYYY cooler looking if you ask me!Dylan, wasn’t there a ComiCon video (or something like that) with Chang talking to the camera and then halfway through he gets distracted or makes a mistake and then we hear Daniel’s voice off camera telling him to shoot the video again? Do you remember this? If we haven’t come across that footage yet in the timeline, isn’t that proof that Dan isn’t dead?
Jenna . . .http://cgi.ebay.com/LOST-Deluxe-Dharma-Initiative-Jumpsuit-choice-of-patch_W0QQitemZ390039176915QQihZ026QQcategoryZ164117QQcmdZViewItem
Ooo… I want one!Then again, if I could just find my old youth group drama troupe jumpsuit, I’d be set…..(Skid- how’s that for a throwback?!)
The podcast made it sound like Farraday is indeed dead.
yeah, they pretty much said it. i’m surprised.