“The Variable”
Yes I’m incredibly late for this write-up, but hey, you get my write-up for “Follow the Leader” today as well! Which actually isn’t that great of a deal since you should get it today anyway. Luckily the old saying “My blog, my rules” applies here. For all of you who are wondering how old can that saying be if blogs have only been around for so many years, you can just simmer down for the episode is starting.
The episode begins with Desmond being rushed through an ER. They spit out some dialogue which I just accept as medical gibberish. Penny and baby Charlie are upset. They are hanging out in the waiting room when Ms. Hawking comes in. She makes her presence known by being a creepy as possible. She blames Faraday for Desmond being shot. Penny is just confused. Not alone.
Back in 1977, Faraday is getting off the submarine and sees Miles. He has a copy of the new recruits picture featuring Hurley and friends. So Faraday runs to Jack’s house to wake him up. He demands to know how Jack got back to 1977. Jack says Ms. Hawking said it was their destiny to get on that plane and come here. Faraday says it’s not their destiny and she was wrong. I love how on this show characters constantly disagree with each other on the main plot and themes of the show leaving the audience not knowing anyone to trust. Can we just set some rules? Whenever Hurley says something, it’s fact. That’s a good one. I’ll think of more later.
So we see Faraday as a kid playing the piano really really well. His mom is upset, obviously out of envy. She starts blabbering on about destiny. She says “destiny is if you have a gift it must be nurtured.” Again! I grew up believing destiny was the belief there is a preordained path in people’s lives that they have the opportunity to fulfill. Nope, I was wrong. It’s about practicing or something like that. Another rule: Nobody is allowed to mess with definitions. Anywho so Faraday is Rain Man because he was able to memorize beats on the metronome. She says he needs to give up the piano because he needs to focus on his studies. There is a reason he is so neurotic.
Back in Dharma time, Faraday and Miles go off to run an errand. Jack tells Sawyer that Faraday is back. While he’s over there Jack sees that Juliet and Sawyer have locked up Phil. During that fun session, Faraday runs up to Pierre Chang and goes down into the Orchid station. (Time traveling bunnies locale). He dons a hard hat and—yep—this is the first scene of the season. He runs up to Chang and tells him to evacuate everyone off the island. He says a boatload of energy will be released from the Swan (Hatch) and will be a catastrophic event. How does Faraday know this? Well Faraday is from the future, of course.
Chang doesn’t believe him because, honestly, Faraday is a bit nuts. Miles gets nervous and runs over to them. He tries to convince Chang that Faraday is nutty (Not difficult). Faraday busts out the info that Miles is Chang’s son. Miles denies it. Chang drives off and Faraday said he is making sure Chang does what he is supposed to do. Which is….no idea.
Back in Faraday’s past, he is graduating from college. He is with his love Teresa, who will ultimately die from his experiments. His mom is there and hates Teresa. She takes him and only him to lunch. She insists that he shouldn’t have a girlfriend because his work is more important. He starts saying she should be proud of him after all the work he’s done and this new grant he got from Charles Widmore. Hey, we know him! She looks mysteriously and gives him a gift and then leaves the table. Yeah that was a nice gift: giving him the bill. He opens up the real gift and it’s his journal.
Back in Sawyer’s house, everyone has gathered around deciding what to do. He says “party over.” Sawyer says there’s two options: Take the sub and run away or live in the jungle like the good ole days. Jin wants to stay knowing Sun is somewhere on the island. Or somewhen. I’m hilarious. Their meeting is interrupted by “Twitchy” and Miles. He gives an option C. He wants to go to the Hostiles/Others. He says one is his mother and she is the only one who can get them back to where they belong.
Back in Faraday’s past he is completely bonkers and is crying while watching the fake wreckage of Oceanic 815. Hey this is the scene from Season Four. Cool. Then Charles Widmore stops by. Whoa! Faraday is still crying and tries to explain he has severe memory problems. Widmore offers Faraday a spot on his freighter that is going to an island after explaining that the plane crash was fake. Turns out he was the one who put the plane there. Okay mystery solved. No more flipping that one. Anywho, he goes onto explain the island will further his research and will heal him.
Back in Sawyer’s house, Faraday is trying to explain what’s going on. Jack wants to follow Faraday because he doesn’t think they ought to be there. Jack tries to get Kate to tell him where the Hostiles are. Sawyer says that is a lousy idea. Then Juliet tells Kate the code for the Killer Stonehenge. Miles tosses Faraday the keys as he, Jack, and Kate leave. Sawyer says they will be at the beach once they change their minds. Then there’s this touching moment as he grabs Juliet’s hand and says “It’s time to go.”
They are about to grab some guns because they ADORE guns on this show, but Faraday has one more thing to do. He sees young Charlotte swinging while eating candy. She says “I’m no allowed to have chocolate before dinner.” That was her last words when she died earlier. Another mystery solved. So Faraday fulfills his destiny and tries desperately to save her and tell her not to go back. He now believes that he could change things. Jack and Kate believe they can shot things. Kate hands Faraday a rifle and he says the line of the episode: “Uh, do you have something for a beginner?” She hands him a Luger, of course, and then Radzinsky shows up and a gunfight ensues. This was like old west style here; it was fun. Faraday gets nicked, but he’s fine. They start shooting and running to a jeep. Oh wait. Is that a Dharma gas tank? Boom goes the gasoline! They drive off into the jungle and Radzinsky continues to be unlikeable.
Back in Faraday’s past, he continues to be better at me with the piano. His mom walks in and I think he starts messing up notes just to please her. Probably not. He’s still completely bonkers. She says that he absolutely must take this job. He doesn’t think he can do the work. She says he could get better if he takes this job. Faraday starts to tear up and asks “Will this make you proud of me?” She says it will. He looks defeated and worried, but he says he’ll do it. I’m just saying. This scene is fantastic on a second viewing.
Back in 1977, Jack and Kate and Faraday get past the Killer Stonehenge. Faraday reminds Jack this is their present. They aren’t immortal. Any of them can die. Yeah, foreshadowing. So they start the trek through the woods just as Juliet and Sawyer start packing up their stuff. They are both upset about leaving their home, but they have to hurry. Hurley grabs his mysterious guitar case and I think Jin just swore in Korean. Radzinsky busts in and says Dharma has been infiltrated. Then they find Phil tied up. Whoops.
Meanwhile Jack, Kate, and Faraday are in the middle of the jungle. Faraday explains that in four hours there will be an incident where a ton of energy will be released and they will have to cement all. This will end up being the hatch. The hatch will cause Oceanic 815 to crash. Then because the Oceanic 815 crash, the freighter will come and we know the rest. Yet Faraday said he’s focused all of time looking at the constant, not the variables. Turns out they are the variables. Faraday says that he believes he can stop the energy by launching a hydrogen bomb to stop all of that from happening. Whoa.
Meanwhile back in 2008, Penny is talking to Ms. Hawking. Oh yeah them. Turns out Hawking is apologizing. She says for the first time in a long time, she doesn’t know what will happen next. Why is that? Dunno, Penny has to go talk to Desmond. Turns out he’s fine. He has this nice moment saying he promises he will never leave her. Then Hawking gets bored while waiting in the lobby and goes outside and there’s Widmore. She says he should go say hi to Penny, but he says nah, she hates me. Good point. Then we find out that Widmore is Faraday’s dad. Whoa. Wait. Charles Widmore + Eloise Hawking = Daniel Faraday? Where did the last name Faraday come from? No time for this. More plot going on.
Back in 1977, Kate is starting to disagree with Faraday. She doesn’t want to erase what has happened to them. Yet they stumble upon the Other’s camp. Faraday is going in. This won’t be a bad idea. He walks up with his gun firmly in his hand and starts shooting the ground. He says he wants to speak to Eloise. Richard is there and says Eloise isn’t here right now. Faraday wants to know where the bomb is he told them to bury, but then there’s a shot. It’s Eloise. She shot Faraday in the chest. He drops to the ground and sees who shot him. That’s when he figures it out. She knew. She knew all this time that she will shoot him. She ruined his life making sure he was smart enough to get to where he had to be so he could die. That’s dark and really sad. He tells her, he’s her son and then dies.
L O S T
So I wonder what will happen next week? Any theories? Any idea who it’s about? I do. I’ve seen it. And now I’m going to open a new Word document and write about it. Scroll up if you wish to read it.
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