LOST, Episode 4.5: The Constant

Maybe a great magnet pulls all souls toward truth.

kd lang, "Constant Craving"

Can't. Wrap. My. Head. Around. This.

I knew we were in for a doozy when I received emails from two of my biggest Lost fan friends with these one-word subject lines: WOW and OMG.

Last season, Desmond's "Flashes Before Your Eyes" episode was my favorite. And now this. Wow, indeed.

QUESTIONS

Were the Freighter Four chosen by Matthew Abbadon for this mission because they are Constants to some of the Flight 815 survivors?

When the helicopter landed on the freighter, no one seemed concerned at all or asked about Naomi. We know that Miles was on that mission in search of Ben, and Daniel was there for Desmond (even if he didn't realize it at first). So what are the rest of the freighter crew there for?

If exposure to electromagnetism and/or radiation caused Desmond's behavior, will it also affect Locke if he ever leaves the island? He survived the implosion of the Swan hatch too, which was the station for electromagnetism experimentation. Sayid also pointed out the high levels of radiation from beneath that hatch...so it was a double whammy of a station.

Who is the captain of the freighter? Is it Ben's man?

Was freighter crew member Brandon killed, or did he die like Minkowski? Why did he die sooner than Minkowski if they both experienced the affects of the electromagnetism?

Why weren't other crew members affected when the freighter anchored there?

Are solely modes of transportation affected by the time warp between the island and the outside world? Sayid was on the freighter, and he called Jack in real time back on the island. Same with Desmond talking to Faraday.

Back when Ben let Michael and Walt go on the boat, did he give them the same coordinates that Daniel gave Frank for the helicopter?

Were the freighter's wires sabotaged immediately after Charlie unjammed the signal down the Looking Glass station? How are these related?

Were Rousseau's husband and her crew affected in the same way? Is that why they all got 'sick?' And if so, what caused the high levels of radiation and/or electromagnetism 16 years ago, and why was Danielle immune?

Is the shot that Minkowski received on the freighter the same type of injection that the Others used on Michael, Kate, Sawyer and Jack at one point?

If it was Christmas eve on the freighter, was it Christmas day on the island?

BEN'S 'MAN ON THE BOAT'

Whoever it is, they know Desmond and Sayid. The obvious guesses would be Michael or Walt, but that seems too easy.

Is Ben's mole responsible for sabotaging the communications equipment on the boat?

DANIEL FARADAY

Has Daniel been to the island before? Desmond is his constant, he was stationed in the electromagnetic hatch, and he's been there for 3 years.

Daniel didn't appear to recognize Desmond when he first appeared to get on the helicopter. So either his short term memory really was failing him that day or he was putting on an act.

Is his short term memory problem a long-term affect from prolonged exposure to radiation while experimenting with mice at Oxford?

Was he crying in the flashback a few episodes ago (and unable to describe why) because his subconscious knew that his Constant, Desmond, was living on that island among the survivors from Flight 815?

Now that he figured out that Desmond is his Constant, will his memory and behavior change at all?

Did Daniel know Donovan, Desmond's friend in London who was a physics professor? Seems likely after tonight.

Have Daniel and Charlotte known each other since their days at Oxford? He was a professor and she earned her doctorate there.

It certainly seems like the survivors of Flight 815 have been running around that island in a maze like Eloise, Faraday's mouse...they're trapped and being experimented on as well.

DESMOND

How did Desmond know what Faraday looked like, and recognize him at Oxford?

Desmond's old Swan hatch roomie was Kelvin Inman, who interacted with Sayid in a military flashback. The fact that Sayid was with Desmond during this episode isn't coincidence...

FRANK

He memorized the manifest from Flight 815 and freaked out when he found out that Juliet was there but not one of the survivors. So why did he tell the freighter boys that Desmond was one of the survivors from Flight 815? Is he protecting him?

A few episodes ago, Frank told Daniel to hang up the phone if Minkowski answered from the freighter. How did he know that Minkowski had been compromised?

MINKOWSKI

So if radiation and electromagnetism cause the flashbacks and flash forwards, when and where was Minkowski exposed?

He was the freighter's communications officer. Sayid is the island's communications officer. Will we come to find that other freighter crew members mirror the characteristics and positions of those on the island?

Desmond was flashing back to 1996 while he was in the military. Minkowski was flashing back to a ferris wheel. Was he employed by a county fair before becoming a communications officer? It just struck me as odd.

PENNY WIDMORE

Minkowski knew that is was Penny who was trying to reach Desmond when she called the freighter repeatedly. So why didn't Penny mention that boat when Charlie asked her if she'd sent a boat with Naomi? I know they didn't have much time to speak but you'd think that she'd put two and two together.

After Desmond is dismissed from the military and Daddy Widmore tries to buy him off, he starts training for the race around the world. Penny found him at the stadium shortly before he left on that race...and there may have been other times that they communicated before he disappeared. All of that was before 2004. Did Penny ever reference Desmond's odd behavior back in 1996?

Was Penny alone in 2004 when Desmond contacted her from the freighter? Even though we didn't see anyone in her London flat, she had tons of presents under her Christmas tree. Again, just something I noticed...

DADDY WIDMORE

So he purchased a painting of and journal from the Black Rock slave ship, the same one that somehow landed in the middle of the island. The painting was sold by someone in the Hanso family. Coincidence? I think not. Will that journal come into play before Season 6? Probably.

He didn't seem surprised or angry to see Desmond show up at an auction house. It was as if he were expecting him...

DID YOU NOTICE...

After Daddy Widmore bought that painting and was leaving to chat with Desmond, the next item up for auction was something by Charles Dickens. Desmond has a Dickens book (Our Mutual Friend) with him throughout all of his adventures back and forward in time...

The name on the freighter was Kahana. Yet the media reported that the wreckage from Flight 815 was discovered by the Christianne 1 freighter. This discrepancy is in addition to the location where Jack said they were rescued and where the media said the plane was found. The mystery deepens.


The light that Faraday used on Eloise, his time-traveling mouse, was very similar in hue to the color of the sky when the hatch imploded, causing the electromagnetic anomaly.

Frank was piloting the helicopter to a coordinate of 305. Mr. Eko's 'jesus stick' was engraved with John 3:05, which Locke interpreted as a sign and direction to follow.

In Lost time, they're just about to 12/26/04 on the island, which was the date of the tragic tsunami. I would be very surprised if that featured into the Lost story at all, and I seriously doubt they'd emphasis or exploit that tragedy.

MISC.

Last year, the producers released The Orchid, a new Orientation video. It seems to relate to tonight's episode, especially given that the mouse time-traveled. Am I insane?

CRAZY THEORIES OF THE WEEK

• Back when the Swan hatch imploded, causing the sky to turn purple and radiating out with strong electromagnetic pulses...Jack, Kate and Sawyer were being taken hostage by Ben and the Others on the dock. Sayid, Sun and Jin were out on the sailboat looking for them. All 6 were far from the scene of the implosion and the beach. SO...they are the Oceanic 6, and they all live because of where they were when that incident occurred. And I don't know how or why...but there are at least 6 people still marooned on the island in the future who serve as Constants for these Oceanic 6.

• Ben is Miles' Constant, or vice versa.

• Ben and Jacob's infamous list contains the names of those who are Constants from Flight 815.

• Frank is Ben's mole on the freighter. That is why he let Desmond talk to Faraday back on the island, why he opened the door for Sayid and Desmond, why he told the crew that Desmond was one of the Flight 815 survivors, and why he told Daniel the day before to hang up if Minkowski answered the phone.

• When Flight 815 first penetrated the invisible shield covering the island (one of my long-standing theories), it experienced violent turbulence similar to the helicopter in tonight's episode. All surviving passengers traveled back in time at that very moment. OR, it caused the flashbacks we've been watching for three seasons.

• Daddy Widmore financed the freighter. That is why the crew was instructed not to answer Penny's calls, even though Minkowski did. And that is also why Penny knows about the island. She somehow found out about Daddy's mission and that it related to Desmond.

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That is about all I can muster up this evening. I realize that some of my theories aren't fleshed out enough and either don't make sense or contradict one another. Oh well. It's late.

I am off to LA tomorrow for a bit of fun, but check back later this weekend for additional thoughts and theories about "The Constant."

Happy Friday.