Thursday, April 30, 2009

LOST, Episode 5.14: "The Variable"

"The Variable" was a revelatory and stellar episode, appropriately rich and rewarding for the 100th of the series. This particular episode will always be special to me because we saw part of it being filmed in Hawaii earlier this year; more on that at the end of the post!

I experienced an "a ha!" moment, which provided much needed clarity with regard to the entire time travel facet of the show; Faraday's explanation that they could not change the past but they could change their destiny.

And I could not recall the last time we were treated to a scene with most of the main cast; I loved seeing Faraday, Hurley, Jack, Jin, Juliet, Kate, Miles and Sawyer in one room together. It fondly reminded me of the Season 1 days of old, when many of them were sharing misadventures on the beach or in the jungle together.

But let's get started with the episode analysis...

BEN

I've been thinking about that photo of Ben in 1970's attire, the one that Miles brought with him on the freighter mission. It certainly seems as if it were taken off island. We know that Ben was on the island in Dharmaville at a young age in the 70's, and that he traveled off island frequently in later years (thus, his secret spy office with passports, international currency and multiple wardrobe options), so seeing him in 70's garb at an older age is a tad confusing.

We have long been aware of the island's healing properties, which is why Ben's spinal tumor still stands out as one of the only ailments that seems to have developed on the island without guarantee of recovery. Did the island revive him after being shot at close range as a young boy, only to give him a tumor as a test of his loyalty?

CHARLES WIDMORE

We have now seen three of the four members of the Freighter Four recruited by Widmore or his team. Widmore's man Matthew Abaddon assigned Naomi, who recruited Miles, and Widmore himself approached Faraday. So who will seek out Lapidus for the mission to the island?

Goosebump-inducing moment: when Widmore emerged from the shadows to ask Eloise about Desmond's condition! Even though we all know that his true agenda and concern is the island and not Desmond's well being, it was still a surprise to see him at the hospital.

When Widmore said that his relationship with his daughter "was one of the things I had to sacrifice," I got a sinking feeling that Ben may somehow get to Penny to avenge his own daughter's death eventually and after all.

CHARLIE HUME

I know it still seems crazy and/or impossible, and that some of the details have changed, but I'm sticking with my Charlie Hume is Charlie Pace theory (especially after seeing Penny leave little Charlie in the care of a nurse while going to see Desmond in recovery).

I have a feeling that their son will be gone when she returns, and it isn't a coincidence that Hawking and Widmore are right outside that hospital when it happens...

DANIEL FARADAY

Let's start with the logistics. Young Faraday must also be on the island in 1977. He was obviously already born, given that only 19 years later he was a professor at Oxford. And truce or not, I doubt that the Dharma folks were allowing the Hostiles to use the sub to send their pregnant women off island to safely deliver their babies. So if Daniel was conceived and born on the island, perhaps that is why he has a "special gift." The confusing part is that Widmore was exiled from the island 12 years later (in 1989) for fathering a child with an 'outsider.' I am assuming that child is Penny. I am now curious to find out exactly when and how Ellie manages to leave the island, and if it relates to what we witnessed tonight. We are assuming that Chang sends his wife and son Miles off island before 'the incident,' so I can't wait to see if Widmore is able to arrange the same for his family.

Mommy Hawking and Daddy Widmore are both British, yet young Faraday was obviously raised in the States because he has no accent.

After Faraday & co. became stuck in 1974, he alone was able to hop on the sub and head back to the real world while Sawyer & co. remained on the island. If he was 'doing some research' at Dharma headquarters in Ann Arbor, they must have known who he was and arranged for his travel to Michigan.

I've recommended that you watch the Dr. Chang Barracks video many times, because of its increasing relevance to what is unfolding this season. And after Faraday's "I'm from the future" statement to Chang tonight, it is almost certain that he is responsible for the creation and message of this video. It is worth revisiting for that reason.

By getting shot and potentially killed, it seems that Faraday became the variable himself.

If Faraday does die, the ramifications of his failure to negate the energy beneath the Swan are truly mind blowing; that everything from 9/22/04 on is still going to happen for our friends from Oceanic flight 815.

Even though it seemed like Faraday was dying at the end of the episode, it is possible that the island will heal him (much like young Ben).

Daniel and Penny are half-siblings, just like Jack and Claire. Both Charles Widmore and Christian Shephard have been very busy men. If we're lucky, Faraday and Penny will both live to see Season 6 and find out that they're related.

One of the best exchanges in this episode:
Daniel: "I can MAKE time."
Eloise: "If only you could."
It is worth noting that Faraday is not sporting his infamous skinny tie beneath the Dharma jumpsuit. I kind of miss it. But the man clearly lacks a hairbrush, regardless of the era.

Was anyone else disappointed to see that Faraday's future caretaker Caroline was not someone we'd already met? We have been so spoiled by character connections that I've come to expect such a thing now.

DESTINY/FATE v. FREE WILL

Hawking's first encounter with Desmond back in 1996 takes on a new significance after tonight's revelations:
"The universe, unfortunately, has a way of course correcting. That man was supposed to die. That was his path just as it's your path to go to the island. You don't do it because you choose to. You do it because you're supposed to. You may not like your path, Desmond, but pushing that button is the only truly great thing you will ever do." (episode 3.08, "Flashes Before Your Eyes)
As do Ben's words to Locke, which can be applied to almost all of the characters on the island with serious daddy issues:
"You will never be free until you release the hold your father has over you. When people join us here on the island, they need to make a gesture of free will, of commitment." (episode 3.19, "The Brig")
And let's not forget how being called 'special' relates to certain characters and their destiny vs. free will:

Emily Locke to her son, John: "I want to tell you that you're special, very special. You're part of a design. You realize that, don't you?" (episode 1.19, "Deus Ex Machina")

Eloise Hawking, to her son Faraday: "Destiny means that if one has a special gift, it must be nurtured. Your gift, Daniel, is your mind. And it's my job to keep you on your path." (episode 5.14, "The Variable")

Faraday, to Desmond: "You're the only person who can help us because, Desmond...the rules do not apply to you. You're special. You're uniquely and miraculously special." (episode 5.01, "Because You Left")
ELOISE HAWKING

To me, the emotional manipulation of her son Daniel to convince him to go to the island is on par with Ben's irresponsible decision to use his daughter Alex as a pawn in his game.

I was surprised to hear Eloise tell Penny that "for the first time in a long time, I don't know what's going to happen next" because I believed Faraday when he told her in 1977 that she knew he was going to get shot and sent him to the island anyway.


HURLEY


At first I assumed that the guitar case Hurley brought back to the island was simply symbolic of Charlie; that not only was it in honor of the sacrifice that his buddy had made in order for his friends to get rescued, but that it served as a sort of proxy in Charlie's place for the return flight via Ajira.

But Hurley has the case as they prepare to leave Dharmaville, which makes me think that something far more interesting than a guitar is stored inside. {reminder: this is a spoiler-free site so please do not post a comment if you've heard or read anything relating to this or other thoughts & theories!}

THE INCIDENT

Dr. Chang and Eloise Hawking used the same expression, 'God help us all.' Chang was referring to stopping the drilling beneath the Orchid so as to avoid releasing the energy within ("Because You Left"), and Hawking was referring to Ben's inquiry about not getting all of the Oceanic Six to return to the island ("The Lie"). To me, both of these are going to relate to the pending Incident.

Given that we've seen Chang in various other Orientation films...he must survive the Incident. But it is a safe assumption that he'll lose his left arm during or because of it.

JACK AND KATE

Just like old times, Jack puts Kate in an uncomfortable situation, making her choose her alliance between him and Sawyer. I loved it. They're back! And you know you were happy to see them traipsing through the jungle together again.

JUGHEAD

Where is Jughead currently housed? Back in 1954, Faraday told his young solider mother Ellie that they needed to seal the leak on the hydrogen bomb with lead and then bury it beneath concrete. That we know of, at that time on the island, the Dharma stations had not been built.

Something tells me that in addition to Eloise, the ageless Alpert knows the location of Jughead and will take Faraday to it if he lives. Perhaps we'll even see Alpert take Faraday to The Temple to heal and survive, as he did with Little Linus...

JULIET

I will openly admit that my heart broke a little when Juliet heard and reacted to Sawyer referring to Kate as Freckles, followed by her loaded statement that "it's over, here, for us anyway."

RADZINSKY

When he confronted Jack, Kate and Faraday at the motorpool, he said he had just left Dr. Chang, who was allegedly at home with his wife and baby right there in Dharmaville. Then why did Radzinsky arrive via van? Liar pants.

And seriously, who put Captain Hothead in charge? He seems to be the strongarm leader of the Dharma Others before Ben purged them and took over. Where is Circle-of-Trust Horace during this particular crisis?

RICHARD ALPERT

Will someone please remind me why it is that Guyliner is ageless but is unable to remember people he'd met from various eras on the island...

SAWYER

Amid the chaos, Sawyer provides the evening's comic relief. "Twitchy" just might be my favorite of any of the nicknames he has assigned over the years.

I also laughed when he told Jack that he'd "love to trade theories" about why and how Faraday returned to the island, because that is what the fans have been speculating about for quite some time.

THE SWAN

Jack had to remember his visit beneath the Swan with Sayid in Season 1 when Faraday spoke of cementing in the area like Chernobyl; that is exactly what Sayid referenced when they first saw it.

It definitely struck me when Faraday said that people are going "to spend the next TWENTY years keeping that energy at bay by pressing a button," because that would only be until 1994. That is the year that a) Walt was born and b) Desmond met Penny. Both of them are 'special' and have obvious ties to the Swan at a future point in their lives.

THERESA SPENCER

Faraday had subjected both himself and his rat to time travel experiments. He lived but the rat (so lovingly named in honor of mommy Eloise) died.

I find it fascinating that Theresa wound up in a catatonic state after being stuck in time, a kind of temporal displacement...and wonder why Faraday managed to live, albeit with severe memory loss. And does her condition have anything to do with her Constant (or lack thereof)?

Of course now I suspect Eloise had something to do with Theresa's fate, given her disdain for Daniel's life outside of his island destiny.

DID YOU NOTICE...

The metronome on Faraday's piano foreshadows the giant pendulum swinging in the Dharma Lamp Post station in Los Angeles where mommy dearest was calculating the Oceanic 6 return to the island.

When Widmore visits Faraday in 2004, the title on the Wired magazine is "The Impossible Gets Real." It is not a coincidence that they featured this particular magazine in this historic 100th episode of Lost, because this his month's issue of Wired is "The Mystery Issue," edited by none other than J.J. Abrams.

Young Charlotte said the same thing to Faraday on the swing that she did before dying, "I'm not allowed to have chocolate before dinner." ("This Place is Death")

LIVE FILMING V. ACTUAL EPISODE

Many of you know that we were fortunate to witness live filming of this episode of Lost back in February on Oahu (in Dharmaville/New Otherton). It was quite surreal and fantastic to actually watch that scene at the Motorpool unfold on the show tonight. At the time, I had no idea why Jack, Kate and Faraday were donning Dharma jumpsuits, because it was before we knew that they had returned to the island...let alone back in the 70's.


When I saw actor Eric Lange there in a black jumpsuit, I inquired who he was playing and a very kind source revealed that he was the infamous Radzinsky (who up until that point in Lost lore was a mere blood stain on the ceiling of the Swan). That discovery, coupled with the fact that Faraday had blood on him but no tie, just about made my head explode. As a spoiler-free fan, I was very conflicted; while I absolutely loved watching them film our favorite show live, I knew I could not talk about it until it aired.

So I am thrilled to now be able to share the details of that day. We arrived shortly after the explosion (when Jack shot at the gas tank), and saw a few takes of the Dharma jeep crashing into another and taking off with Jack and Kate. We heard and saw the gun shots (from blank cartridges of course), and were very amused by the well cast Jack, Kate and Radzinsky stunt doubles. For what it's worth, Lange's double resembles him but is a about a foot taller.

We were not too close to the actual film crew or actors, but I can tell you that Jeremy Davies was the only one to wave at those observing the filming that day. Bonus points for Faraday! I am relieved that we did not find out that he was going to be shot and possibly killed in the very same episode!

My only regret is that we missed Elizabeth Mitchell, because clearly she was there filming that week for the scene in her house. Obviously I would have loved to see Juliet on set. :)

---
Phew and wow. That was exhausting but worth every second.

If I could, I would give the entire cast, production crew and creative team of Lost a huge high five and hug tonight for providing us with 100 episodes of amazingly high quality television. I know I'm not alone when I say that Lost is easily one of the most compelling and memorable shows in the history of television. That the audience is so involved and we have spent the last five years of our lives analyzing it at length is proof positive of such.

I've never been happier to have a day off than today, because it is now after 3am. And I'm feeling rather Penny-ish, as in a few hours I am going to pick up my constant at the airport after being apart for the longest time in twelve years together. It seems only fitting that she's flying back right now...from Sydney. Yes, everything relates to Lost, and I wear that geek badge with pride.

So good morning, and have a great weekend! Feel free to leave comments with your insights and reactions.
-Jo

25 comments:

Snusan said...

Thanks for the insights! I bet it's a total relief to start talking about filming.
I have 2 lingering questions about last night's episode.
1. Hawking obviously is in the WHH camp, and explains course correction to Des (and all of us). So why all the pressure and manipulation to her own son? Wouldn't all of those things have happened anyway without her being such a harping mom? Let the kid play the piano if WHH.
and
2. Why was Richard stalling for Eloise when Dan arrived in the camp? "Ellie isn't here" was clearly a lie.

Charlie's ghost said...

Thank you so much for mentioning you thought Eloise had something to do with Theresa's current condition. As soon as I saw how nasty she treated her that was my first though - Eloise totally messed with Daniel's stuff to mess up Theresa and get rid of her!

You didn't mention my favourite scene of the night, when Penny walks into Des's hospital room and he's OK, and they hug, and she has a tear....oh my. I love those 2 people!

Thanks for the recap!

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Widmore exiled sometime around 1994? Post purge and when Alex was about 6? Remember the swingset scene when Ben left to see him off? They were already living in Dharmaville and Alex sure looked older than 1 (born in 1988).

neoloki said...

I am having a problem with this remembering a person from the past thing. For one the actor who plays Richard Alpert did a very good job giving us a hint that he did remember by saying have we met before? But really you meet someone for a couple of hours and you are supposed to immediately remember who they 23 years later? I don't think so.

Also, I made this same mistake, but on further reading I found out that the comic-con video's are not canon. D & C are quite specific about this. Only things that happen in the show are canon, very similar to the comic-con video before season 4 which we never saw during the actual season. We won't see the Cheng message in Lost, thus it does not matter that it is Faraday's voice in the video, thus Faraday is dead. Dead is dead is dead. Very unfortunate. He was one of my favorite.

Oh and Daniel never had a "dark side" he experimented on himself also. The effects of the experiments were variable thus we have theresa in a coma and Faraday with no memory.

Unknown said...

My heart was pounding this entire episode, and honestly, the next day it still is. I can't stop thinking about it!

I just recently started reading your blog, so I hadn't read your theories regarding Charlie until today. Brilliant! I wanted to scream at the tv when Penny just let the nurse watch Charlie. Her and Desmond had just been shot at and she leaves their son out of her sight? It seemed absurd to me, and I knew there would be more to that. I also think that Desmond's words to Penny, 'see I told you I'd never leave you' at the hospital were also foreshadowing his leaving her eventually, perhaps to look for their missing son? I was a bit heartbroken when I heard that because, I knew that only meant bad news for one of my favorite couples.

How amazing was Juliet this episode? I rewound my DVR 3 times to see the look on her face when she heard Sawyer call Kate Freckles. Devastating.

Sheila from Go Visit Hawaii said...

Gosh, Jo, I don't know how you can make so many connections. I do love Lost, but my abilities to keep up with theories were surpassed sometime earlier this season. :)

How cool that you got to see the filming and how on earth were you able to keep quiet about the details!? Kudos to you. :)

Unknown said...

Reposting these thoughts from another site I posted them at...

Maybe I’m missing something but…

If they blow up Jughead and negate the Swan…

1) 815ers detonate the bomb so
2) Oceanic 815 never crashes so
3) 815ers never go back in time so
4) 815ers never detonate the bomb so
5) Oceanic 815 crashes so
6) 815ers go back in time so
7) 815ers detonate the bomb so
7) Oceanic 815 never crashes

Is this not paradoxical? I think I’m still on the “Whatever Happened Happened” train. Daniel states “you knew this would happen” regarding his mother killing him… and it seemed like she knew SOMETHING unpleasant would happen when she told him to go to the island. So, him going on his quest for Jughead and to kill the Swan ALWAYS happened, so she ALWAYS killed him, and I think we’re still cool and completely on track. I think everything is still happening as it did. The bomb was never detonated, the plane always crashes. Another person I discussed this with went further, that it is actually Dan's maniacal quest to change the past that ends up causing the Incident in the first place.

Did that make sense?

Unknown said...

I keep thinking about the episode last night.

Do you think that Faraday knew when he was walking into the Others' territory his mom was going to kill him? Was this the plan all along? He seemed to know a lot of details about where Dr. Chang was supposed to be and where...

Also, since he is said to be "special", do you think he will really die, or will the island heal him?

PS - I agree with Sheila, the way you can make connections is amazing. I read your blog in order to see everything I missed by watching the show. :)

Anonymous said...

I personally don't think Faraday is dead. We are all falling for what they continue to do to us, show us portions of conversations along with worried looks to LEAD us to believe certain things, only to find out later that it was anything but what we thought. I mean, there is a top surgeon just within the treeline and the island does have healing powers.

Another thing that I wonder is how Farady gets his notebook and where has it been all those years?

I long surmised that Farady had fried hi brain trying the time trave, especially after they showed the mouse and what happened to it. Apply the same action to something many time larger, and you get a less extrem reaction, but none the less debilitating. He seemed to me to always seem to regain a certain something after each incident happened once he got on the island.

I also thought the comment by Faraday about destiny and also the concept of free will was interesting. While his mother kept saying to evryone that all these things were their destiny, it was still the free will of the individuals that made them do what they do. She always gets a weird look on her face as she "suggests" to people certain things, but still they make the choice. If it was their destiny, why wouldn't she just tell them what to do and not to do?

neoloki said...

Brad yes that makes perfect sense. The grandpa paradox arises if you try to detonate Jughead. Unless it is possible for the whole time line to just drop away like it never existed, but I can't rationalize that. The possibilty if Jack plays variable and whh isn't always true would be the process of him trying to change the future does indeed effect some things just not what he intended.

neoloki said...

THE DIALOGUE this episode has created across the Lost community is crazy exciting. So many people are talking about all kinds of possibilities as to whh or if the variable will actually work. I think this episode will go down as one of Lost seminal episodes; even if it wasn't your favorite it is definitely one of the most important.

(sorry about all the different posts, but a new thought springs up and currently there is no way to go back and edit a comment.)

Natalie said...

Jo Jo Jo! I have been DYING to talk to someone about this episode! Which is crazy considering I only just finished watching it.

Other than completely agreeing with you about Charlie getting taken by "this nurse" (I was yelling at the screen), I had a thought about the whole Dan possibly being dead thing.

Wouldn't it make sense that he might have survived to be the voice behind the camera on Chang's video? His failed attempt to negate the electromagnetic energy might well have convinced him that the video would be pointless and that maybe the future couldn't be changed.

One more thing - if the future could be changed and suddenly 815 would land in Sydney, what would happen to the 815 gang in 1977? Would they disappear? Where would they go?

Great review, as always :)

neoloki said...

I think the big question for the week is did Faraday actually believe the variable equation would work or was he saying this to manipulate the losties into fulfilling their destinies. If he was just being manipulative than you got to figure he knew he would get shot by his mom and we haven't seen Daniel master plan unfold yet.

Hillary said...

First off, where the hell are Rose and Bernard?! :(

I don't think Eloise knew she'd shoot Dan because, as he'd stated not long before, he didn't have a scar on his neck from the bullet. It was all happening for the first time.

After Widmore told Farady Eloise was an old friend, I wondered if they were siblings. And then I was proven wrong, although I had previously suspected he might be their son.

Knowing what happens after the crash, how much they have changed, grown and the emotional connections they have established, I don't know that everyone would want to prevent the crash.

- Kate knows she would be in prison, probably for life. She would never have experienced loving and being loved by Jack and Sawyer.

- Jack knows he might never evolve from a man of science to faith, obsessed with fixing things, his ex-wife, and still harboring so much anger towards his dad.

- Sawyer would not find closure regarding his parents and continue being a con man with a daughter he has no contact with. He would also be sacrificing his relationship with Juliet (which still lacks chemistry for me, just like she said they did on Jimmy Kimmel!!)

- Jin and Sun's relationship would be back to it's awful state.

- Hurley would be living in his post-lottery win world and hating it.

- Sayid could likely prevent Nadia's suspected murder, due to his island connection (assuming they found each other).

- Miles would not have had the opportunity to know his father.

Of course, the flip side is all the lives that would be saved from the crash and post-crash. It would not be an easy decision for any of them.

Nat said...

Hilary - I think perhaps Old Eloise, rather than Young Eloise, knew that Dan was going to get shot, since she would have already experienced shooting him.

Although - in the hospital scene, where she said that she had no idea what was going to happen next...did that include shooting her own son?

1miletogo said...

Maybe the 70's Ben picture, was one of his first times off the island and he gone and updated his wardrobe from the DHARMA days of the island. It does look like he is at the airport, so, I too am a little confused on why he would be there. I always thought that the secret way off the island would be like a magic phone booth hooked up to a tiny FDW. Party on - LOL

I think that Ben got the tumor to remind him that he needed to return to living off the island and not in DHARMAville.

I had a thought during the Widmore/Hawking meeting, what if Dan was not biologically the son of either? Could he have been taken and raised by another? We've seen children taken from their parents in LOST. A line from Hawking to young Dan stands out - ELOISE: Your gift, Daniel, is your mind--a mind that is meant for science, mathematics. And it's my... job to keep you on your path. So... unfortunately, there's no more time... And Widmore saying that Dan was his son too, could Dan have been on the path to become a leader of the others? I know that this is out there, but maybe the future leader is considered a son?

I also think that Charlie will go missing, and that the "Nurse" was actually working for Ben. Ben knew that the island wasn't done with Desmond, and therefore couldn't die, so in the process of shooting him, it put little Charlie right were Ben wanted him, alone when Penny went to see Desmond. This maybe the first time that young Charlie is away from his parents... Now Desmond will have a reason to return to the island, to find Charlie, and this could lend the reason that Ben told Sun to tell Desmond that he was sorry...

As for Eloise, I still think that during the incident she will receive her flashes similar to Desmond's. The expiration date of these flashes are 2007 just after she sends Dan back to the island to have his fate dealt to him. So, she had knowledge of what should happen from the incident up to 2007. She probably wrote so much stuff into the notebook she gave Dan.

On evacuating the island, I was wondering how everyone was going to fit into the Galaga and where the sub is going to go? Maybe they will evact people to Hydra island or the looking glass...

I think Alpert recognized Dan, but he was wondering if this version of Dan had already visited 1954. When you are dealing with time traveling paparazzi that seem to always hunt you out, you need to be sure they have actually met you before. I mean, we've seen Locke, Sawyer, & now Daniel come looking for Richard, he is probably thinking, I'm out here on a hidden and deserted island and all of these people keep showing up and asking for me, what is up with that :)

I not sure about the 20 years that Dan mentioned, it seems to be the rough date that everyone uses, even WIdmore has been looking for the island for almost 20 years. It could be that the incident makes the island jump in time so that on island time and off island time are different - then turning the fail safe key, then returns on-island time and off-island time back to being in sync...

I'm also wondering about Dan and the comic con video, it has been stated that it may not actually fit into the show. What if Dan isn't dead and he gets healed? I don't know if he could make it to the swan or wherever Chang is to make the video in his condition or what if it plays out as this - OK, this is just something I thought up...

We see Jack and Kate run into the others camp, and Eloise is like - holy crap, this is my son from the future, and I killed him. Richard is like what is going on? Jack & Kate are like - there is a DHARMA station that is going to cause a huge problem on this island and it is the thing that brings down our plane, brings Dan to the island, and ultimately brings us to see you now... and Richard is like and who are you? are you with John Locke? Jack then gets a weird look on his face... Then Richard whistles and a golden cloud comes out of the jungle (this is smokey in DHARMA days) Smokey comes over to Dan's body scans him and then turns into him then Richard says to Smokey-Dan, go talk to Chang and tell him about what is going on, make sure they evacuate... Then we have the comic con video, then we have the incident, and we see the golden smokey turn black and go on a rampage - OK, this is probably not going to happen, but it would be cool if it did...

neoloki said...

Hilary- your comment about Eloise not knowing she would shoot her son and the scar? well for Faraday their is no scar because everything happening to him is happening in the present thus no scar but Eloise it depends which you are talking about. Obviously young eloise wouldn't know she would shoot her son because it is her present and it hadn't happened yet, but Eloise, older, the one in 2007, would know she shot her son because it happened in the past and she would remember it.

CeQuiFaitDemain said...

Does anyone think that it's quite stupid for such a great mind (Daniel) to show up at the hostiles' camp with a gun and hope noone will shoot him?
I think the writers were a little too low on this one. He suddenly changes his mind and do crazy stuff like pointing a gun at Richard Alpert. That's not the image I had from a Dan going out of the sub, a Dan who seemed to be sure of what he was doing. And then, everything he does is quite dumb. I'm a little disapointed about that...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your thoughts again Jo, great recap.

from one non-spoiler peep to another, well done for not blurting out what you knew to us all, I think I may have needed to let it all out :D

Paul

ManilaRaf said...

I'm also starting to get intrigued by Hurley's guitar case. Whenever I think of anything in pop culture of someone carrying around a guitar case, I think of Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi trilogy.

I'm wondering if somehow right when things look hopeless for our Losties, Hugo opens up the guitar case and it contains the key to their salvation.

I posted this somewhat jokingly on The Transmission Blog, but now the more I think about it, the more I'm willing to believe it. It may or may not be a cache of weapons; how about a bunch of working batteries for Sayid to use? Unrefuteable proof for Dr Chang so that he believes they're from the future? A bunch of laterns for Jacob? Eyeliner for Richard Alpert? :)

sandra said...

Yeah, Richard clearly sort of remembered Dan, he just needed to be sure Dan had actually met him before, get it? and the eyeliners jokes are really getting old, they almost make me wish there was anther actor playing him

neoloki said...

Sandra- I thought the exact same while watching the episode. Agree with eyeliner joke/comment. Everything I read has that included and I just don't get it. I mean yes he has dark eyes, but the comment has been going on for multiple seasons now and everyone does it. please stop please. But, no the actor is perfect.

Hillary said...

@neolokiIn response to your comment:"Obviously young eloise wouldn't know she would shoot her son because it is her present and it hadn't happened yet, but Eloise, older, the one in 2007, would know she shot her son because it happened in the past and she would remember it."I dunno. I'm thinking that even in 2007 she didn't know. I'm basing my opinion on what happened when Faraday spoke to Desmond while they were time jumping. Desmond woke up after 'dreaming' about their conversation, then realized it wasn't a dream. But he remembered it at *that* moment because it was the same moment it happened to Daniel - Daniel's present and Desmond's present which were also years apart.

And Eloise did say to Penny, "This is the first time I don't know what's going to happen next." (as Nat said. I think the writers were trying to make that clear to us. She wouldn't know she'd shot him until after likely around the same time she smacks her baby daddy.

What do you think? The writers prove me wrong constantly, so I'm always open to it! lol

This all makes me wonder, however, if she knew some of those on the Ajira flight would end up in '77 - if they were supposed to or something. I just remembered that she was able to know the future (Flashes before your eyes) with the dude in the red shoes and all.

So...now I have no idea what to think! haha


@sofuturegenerationIn response to your comment:
Does anyone think that it's quite stupid for such a great mind (Daniel) to show up at the hostiles' camp with a gun and hope no one will shoot him?I think there's a reason he did it that way because it was indeed a ridiculous way to barge into the camp. Darlton will likely explain it in some way.

@1miletogoIn response to your comment:
I'm also wondering about Dan and the comic con video, it has been stated that it may not actually fit into the show.Darlton have said that anything not in the show is just extra stuff for us uber Lost lovers (ie, not canon). I think we've actually had a sneak peak of something that will be on the show.

Your observation about Richard being cautious with the time travelers is great. It never occurred to me, but it makes total sense.

Anonymous said...

To me, the emotional manipulation of her son Daniel to convince him to go to the island is on par with Ben's irresponsible decision to use his daughter Alex as a pawn in his game.


I think too many people mistook what Ben was trying to do. He was trying to let Keamy know that it would be useless to use Alex as a bargaining chip, because she was not really his daughter . . . and that Keamy should just let Alex go.

Bruce Willis' character, John McClane, tried a similar tactic in the 1988 movie, "DIE HARD" with Hart Bochner's charactr.

Anonymous said...

However, Alex was doomed the moment Keamy caught her.