LOST: Constant and Variable

Last updated on: April 30, 2009 at 10:12 am by James F. McGrath

LOST: Constant and Variable 2009-04-30T10:12:00-04:00 James F. McGrath

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Let me just start this post by saying SPOILER ALERT! I’ll be talking about the latest episode, and if you haven’t seen it, don’t read this until you have.

I thought about calling this post “We’re All Special”, since it seems that Daniel Faraday has reached the conclusion that it is not only Desmond to whom “the rules do not apply”, but all of us can change our destinies. We are “the variables”. What remains to be seen is whether and to what extent our attempts to change our destinies can win out against the constants. Life arises from a combination of law and chaos, leaving room for order without absolute fixity.

For a recap of the episode, or just because they are so hilariously entertaining, watch the latest episode of Lost Untangled. I’ll discuss the details of the episode (with more significant spoilers as well as some speculation) below that.

http://widgets.abc.go.com/o/48bda4baaf82f1d1/49f9a8a1483627c4/49f983e574dd81a9/cc325c7a/-cpid/563cf1c8b78cbdde

The latest episode, “The Variable”, has perhaps allowed us to surmise a lot more about what has been going on on LOST than any other episode so far. Why did Charles and Eloise leave the island? Charles was expelled, but he had apparently already been off it. It seems quite likely that the death of their son Daniel may have been a key factor. The major question now is whether they are working based on the belief that “whatever happened, happened”, or whether they are trying to change the past (and thus also the future), or whether they are working separately out of different views on this matter.

I think, despite appearances to the contrary, Eloise Hawking was telling the truth when she said that she is indeed trying to help her son. Although Daniel believes that the Oceanic survivors aren’t supposed to be in the 1970s, perhaps the reason Eloise works to make sure Desmond goes to the island and pushes the button, and the Oceanic Six return to the island, is a belief that by doing so she can indeed save her son. Note that Eloise gave Daniel the journal – the one with all his notes, the one that will allow the Oceanic survivors to try to implement Daniel’s plan even though he died.

This leads me to speculate further about the identity of Jacob – speculation that isn’t at all incompatible with some of my previous speculation on the subject. What if Jacob is Daniel Faraday’s son, or at least descendant? Perhaps the reason he is in a sort of “limbo” state is that he is doing a “Marty McFly”. And perhaps Michael’s statements about Walt set the stage for what we’re seeing now: we’d do anything to save our children, and what we’re witnessing is either collaboration or competition between various individuals determined to save their children: Eloise Hawking, Christian Shepherd, Charles Widmore, Desmond and Penny Hume, and perhaps even Daniel Faraday, the mysterious Jacob, and even Benjamin Linus.

But I think the most important clue we’ve been given is in Daniel Faraday’s behavior. He specifically wanted to take guns and have a gun himself when he went to see his mother. He acted in a threatening way untypical of himself. He knew his mother was on the island among the “hostiles” – when did he find this out? My guess is that Daniel Faraday went to find the “Others” knowing full well what would happen to him, and believing that it was necessary in order to get his mother to act to change what would happen. Perhaps it takes something big to really change the past, or the future. Something the temporal, emotional and/or historical equivalent of a hydrogen bomb.

These are some of my speculations thus far. I still have no idea who Man #2 in the season finale is going to be, but you can click here if you want to see the actor who will play him. Perhaps a younger Frank Lapidus?

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