WARNING: Here be spoilers!
So, why would any mother, no matter how dedicated she was to the idea that the past is immutable, send her (ill and dependent) son back to a time when she knows that she is going to shoot him? Does Faraday not die? Maybe not, but he looked awfully close to kicking the proverbial bucket.
Is Faraday himself The Variable? He said that he and Kate and Jack were all variables, that they could change the past and make the future that they’ve already lived change. How? Not happening, if the universe is self-correcting. The Past is the Constant, and the variables don’t change the constant; the variables only change the equation in the future. I don’t think he can change anything that happened.
But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be like Faraday and try. I certainly wouldn’t be Eloise and send my son back to fulfill some version of the past that I remembered as a horrific mistake.
Sawyer called Faraday “H.G. Wells.” Love it. Isn’t Sawyer looking kind of pitiful and out of control these days? He’s been tamed by Juliet, and now he’s lost all of his mojo. I feel sorry for him.
Hurley must have watched some Happy Days re-runs in the mental hospital. He referred to the 50’s as “Fonzie days.” I’m surprised Sawyer never called Hurley Potsie.
Juliet seems withdrawn, like she knows her play-party with James/Sawyer is about over. I don’t know what to think about that.
If Desmond is The Constant, and everybody else is a variable . . . what does that mean? (Last season: Faraday was repeating over and over: “Desmond is my constant.”) Desmond promised Penny again tonight that he would never, never leave her again. Unfortunately, as I told my kids, unless he’s discovered the secret of immortality ala Richard Alpert and John Locke (?), then Desmond, too, will die someday.
Next week’s episode is called Follow the Leader. The question is, as it has been from the beginning of the series, who’s the leader?
Then there’s a two-part episode to end the season: The Incident. I’m assuming that’s when the Island blows, one way or another, with Faraday’s hydrogen bomb or Dr. Chang’s electromagnetic accident or both.
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Great recap!! I loved this episode because we learned so much about Daniel and the relationship between him and his mother. She is one spooky bithch!
You make some good points … ones I forgot to include in my recap. The Sawyer/Juliette thing makes me sad – I really liked them together. Hope that works out, but I doubt it.
And I’m really not a fan of Mrs. Hawking anymore. I used to like her, but she is too creepy now. And cruel!
Hmmm I realllly don’t think Eloise actually knew that Daniel going to the island would end in her shooting him. I go into it more in depth in my post, but think about it — her sending Jack, Kate, and the others back in time was what made Dan hop the sub from Ann Arbor… sending them back was the variable that made her tell Widmore she didn’t know what happened next. I’m thinking maybe the memory will pop into her mind the way encountering Daniel did Desmond’s… What do you think?
I think Juliet is uncertain what the recent developments mean for her and Sawyer’s relationship, but I’m not giving up on them yet. ;P Next to Penny and Desmond, I think that theirs is the only healthy relationship we’ve seen so far…
Hurley didn’t have to watch re-runs of Happy Days. he is currently in the 70’s. While it’s unlikely that they can get TV reception on the island, nothing says they can’t. Just sayin’…
I totally agree with you – that is the crux of the question and what I really don’t understand. Mrs. Hawking goes to great effort to make sure Daniel does what he’s supposed to do, even though in the process she’s losing him and even hurting him. So, if it’s such a great sacrifice, what exactly is she sacrificing FOR?? Because, if it’s all going to happen anyways, there’s not purpose to her sacrifice. There’s something missing, and I’m just not sure what…