Variables and Constants

Ladies and gentlemen of the Dharma Blog: Welcome to the 100th episode of “Lost.”

From the earliest days of television, reaching 100 episodes has been a standard. It has represented the benchmark that separated the good from the great, the mortals from the immortals, the classics from the…well, unclassics (Seriously, what is the opposite of classic? I’m losing my mind…).

If my research is correct, since 1947, 296 scripted comedies and dramas have made it to (at least) the 100-episode milestone. Some 83 of those, including “Father Knows Best,” “The Cosby Show,” “Cheers,” and “The Waltons,” lasted beyond 200 episodes. Only 20 – including “Dragnet,” “Dallas,” and “My Three Sons” – passed 300 episodes. One juggernaut, the mighty “Gunsmoke,” went all the way to 635 episodes.

Tonight, “Lost” joins the ranks of TV immortality alongside classic shows like “I Love Lucy, “Dynasty,” “ER,” “The Facts of Life,” “The West Wing,” “Picket Fences,” “Chicago Hope,” “Ally McBeal,” “The Practice,” “Get Smart,” “Happy Days,” “Law & Order” and “NYPD Blue.” (Note: In spite of this impressive list, a number of fantastic shows never reached the 100 episodes, including (most notably) “The Wire,” which closed the book at 60 episodes.)

Folks, “Lost” has arrived in the triple digits. And it is going to be one helluva episode.

…100 Days, 100 Episodes…
In a Lost-like twist of fate, tonight’s 100th episode falls on the day when President Obama will exercise his free will and deliver his “First 100 Days” speech in primetime. According to the network, the President’s speech will last only one hour, leaving “Lost” to start at the regularly scheduled time (9/8PM CST). While I don’t want to think about ABC preempting “Lost” to continue the press conference (should it go longer than anticipated), I think we need to be prepared for it.

Note: Charlie and I will seriously have a panic attack if this happens.

So, cross your fingers, get out your rosary beads…and let’s pray that tonight’s episode, “The Variable,” starts on time and blows us all out of the water as only Faraday can do.

“The Constant” vs. “The Variable”
The producers are saying that tonight’s episode is a “companion piece” to last season’s memorable episode “The Constant,” the Desmond-centric classic that will probably go down as one of the Top 5 episodes of all time. Check out the Dharma Blog recap from that episode for a full run-down of what happened.

But, if you don’t have time to read it all, here’s a quick recap: Desmond endured vicious, turbulence-caused side effects as he flip-flopped through time. His mind jumped between 1996 and 2004: he had conversations with Faraday in 2004 that he passed along to Faraday in 1996. It ended with the heart-felt, tear-inducing phone call with Penny that had all of us choked up.

(It’s alright to cry, Charlie. Go ahead. Let it all out.)

Okay, so tonight’s episode is called “The Variable.” Looks like we need to think back, once again, on the innocent days of high school physics and algebra, and take a closer look at constants and variables…

Bill Nye Can Help Us With This!!
Let me break this down for you. In math, we’ve got constants (things that do not change) and variables (things that do change). They are essentially opposites. During “The Constant”, we learned that constants are the anchors that keep someone grounded as their mind and consciousness jump around in time. Per Faraday, the constant needs to be someone or something that exists in both time periods the person in jumping between…AND the jumper needs to care greatly about and would recognize it/him/her. For Desmond, this was the lovely Penny Widmore. And at the conclusion of the “The Constant,” we discovered that Faraday had written the following in his journal: “If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant.” (More on this to come…)

I’m going to go out on a (well-populated) limb here and guess that a variable will take on a similar specific meaning in tonight’s episode. I’m also going to guess that a variable will be something or someone that can break the rules and change the future. Much like a constant was a person, I’m guessing that a variable will be a person…read: Daniel Faraday…who has found a way to change the past. How? (Much more on this to come, too…)

Guest Stars tonight…
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Sonya Walger as Penny Widmore, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang, Fionnula Flanagan as Eloise Hawking, Patrick Fischler as Phil, Eric Lange as Radzinsky, Sarah Farooqui as Theresa, Alice Evans as younger Eloise Hawking, Wendy Pearson as E.R. doctor, Todd Coolidge as paramedic, Peggy Anne Siegmund as caretaker, Jennifer Sojot as E.R. nurse, Spencer Allyn as young Daniel Faraday, Michael Dempsey as foreman, Maya Henssens as young girl, Ariston Green as workman, Marvin DeFreitas as young Charlie and Brad Berryhill as anxious guy.

(Oh, boy. Brad Berryhill as “anxious guy”?? This is going to be fun!!)

Given that this week is Faraday-centric, the inclusion of Richard Alpert makes me very, well, giddy. Is Faraday going to interact with him in 1977 on the island? Or did Faraday interact with him at some point during the three years he was off the island?? My mind is racing…oh, the possibilities! What if Faraday is a secret double-agent for the Others, working inside Dharma, learning their secrets, figuring out how to take them down from the inside…all the while, learning the truth about the island and its powers?????

So then we’ve got Penny and Widmore. Will they appear in 2008 to advance their storyline, getting them closer to returning to the island with Desmond? Will we finally see Widmore forgive Desmond and tell him that he help returning to the island for the upcoming battle royale? Or will they appear in 1996, in the scenes from “The Constant,” only this time from the perspective of Faraday, who might have been following Desmond around to figure out what the heck was going on? Frankly, I'll take either…

Continuing the guest star excitement (and I know Charlie will like this), it looks like we’ve got not one, but TWO appearances by Eloise Hawking…both in her old 2008 form, and also a much younger/hotter Eloise (circa 1974-1977).

Alice Evans as Younger (Hot) Eloise

Hot Eloise’s inclusion (along with “Young Daniel Faraday”) could mean we will finally get answers about Faraday’s birth…was it on or off island? When did Eloise leave the island? Is Widmore really the father? More importantly, did he find out on Maury Povich?

So what does all of this mean??
Well, it looks like we are going to see a LOT of Faraday’s backstory…and I’m going to go as far to say we might see all of it. Think about it: there is the potential to see his birth, everything he did between 1974 and 1977, and maybe even some of the stuff he did in 1996 and beyond (after his meeting with Desmond, leading up to boarding the Freighter).

Do I even dare say it? Yes, I dare. I’m inclined to move Faraday up on my possible death list. (cue: angry glares and swear words)

However, if Faraday dies, I don’t think it will until the season finale, after he causes (gulp) The Incident…

And the Episode Description says…
On the 100th episode milestone, the time of reckoning has begun when Daniel Faraday comes clean regarding what he knows about the island.

Alright, guys. This is it. I’m absolutely convinced that tonight is going to start up a lot of crazy action and reveals that will all build up to the finale. Tonight’s episode has the potential to flip-flop-and-shift our fundamental understanding of the island. The line about Faraday “coming clean” about what he knows isn’t a Hilary Duff-ism. He knows a lot more than he has shared about the island. We’re likely going to get some intense revelations, folks…and it might not be pretty.

It is also true that “the time of reckoning” has arrived for many storylines. Frankly, there is a lot up in the air right now: Faraday is back on the island, presumably to carry out some plan that will inevitably have dramatic repercussions; Sawyer has Phil tied up in the house and his cover is nearly blown; Horace and Roger are increasingly suspicious about Kate/Jack, leading to an inevitable reveal sometime soon; and Pierre Chang, who may or may not know (1) about the time travel going on, (2) that many Dharmas are going to die in The Incident, or (3) that is adult son is walking around the same community that his baby son is at…

And that’s not even the half of it! Heck, we’ve got Locke…Ben…Sun…Widmore and Desmond and Penny…Ajira 316 + Illana…Sayid running through the jungle…the Shadow of the Statue…

MAN! We ARE in the middle of a lot of crap!

But, we are also in a freaking awesome place. Everything is going to start coming together – both from a season and a series perspective. This week and next week (the episode entitled “Follow the Leader”) will set up a lot for the series finale AND the final season. Will we see many resolutions tonight? Probably not. But we will likely be in a place where we can hit the ground running in January 2010.

Enough Big Picture Stuff. Back to this week…
Essentially, Faraday is going to explain what he knows tonight.

To understand what that might be, let’s look at the timeline of Daniel Faraday…which can get a little confusing. Let’s start by looking from a “Factual Timeline Perspective”:

1954 - Faraday meets Eloise/the Others, helps them with the Jughead
1970ish - Daniel Faraday is born (somewhere, to someone)
1974 - Faraday leaves the island
1974-1977 - Faraday spends three years off-island, starts working with Dharma in Ann Arbor
1977 - Faraday returns to the island
1994 - Widmore begins funding Faraday’s research
1996 - Faraday meets Desmond, who provides him with settings for his experiment
9-2004 - Faraday cries when seeing the Oceanic 815 wreckage
12-2004 - Faraday arrives on-island from the Freighter

However, we also need to look at the life of Daniel Faraday from the order that he actually experienced it. So from a “Daniel Faraday Perspective”:

1970ish - Daniel Faraday is born (somewhere, to someone)
1994 - Widmore begins funding Faraday's research
1996 - Faraday meets Desmond, who provides him with settings for his experiment
9-2004 - Faraday cries when seeing the Oceanic 815 wreckage
12-2004 - Faraday arrives on-island from the Freighter
1954 - Faraday meets Eloise/the Others, helps them deal with the Jughead
1974 - Faraday leaves the island
1974-1977 - Faraday spends three years off-island, starts working with Dharma in Ann Arbor
1977 - Faraday returns to the island

Okay, take a leap and go with me on this next part, guys. Here’s my theory/understanding in terms of this second timeline…

Maggie’s Theory about the Second Timeline
In this second timeline, Mr. 1977 Faraday knows a freaking lot. He has the knowledge from years of study in the 1990s and his time spent on the island, including all the time-skipping. Being one of two time jumpers who left the island (Locke is the other one), there is the potential to do a lot of damage. Sure, Faraday could do fun stuff (like go to Disney World!), but I actually think he spent 1974 through 1977 focused on saving Charlotte. In order to do so, he has to find a way to alter the past/change the present, which is impossible…or is it?

When Faraday time-jumped to yellow-jump suit Des (early 2000s), he told Des that he was “special,” that “the rules” didn’t apply to him. Most people (well, at least me) interpreted this to mean that the rules about changing the past do not apply to Des thanks to the purple blast of electromagnetism he endured when imploding the Swan Hatch. Whatever happened, happened…unless you are Desmond, in which case you get to decide what happened through your actions.

If Faraday wants to change the past, he has to become like Desmond – “special” so that the rules don't apply to him. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the only known way to “become special” involves the electromagnetic properties of the Swan. So perhaps Faraday is returning to the island to expose himself to these properties/powers. During his time spent in Ann Arbor, Faraday probably worked out a plan to figure out exactly how he was going to do this…and now he’s back on the island to carry it out.

Faraday definitely knows the risks. The exposure to high levels of electromagnetic energy could cause him to become unstuck in time when traveling to or from the island (just like Desmond and Minkowski). If Faraday is going to carry out his mission, he needs to take precautions to prevent suffering the same bloody-nosed fate as Minkowski: he needs a constant.

"If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my Constant."
Faraday wrote this in his journal in 2004. Keep in mind this was BEFORE the time-travel stuff started, BEFORE he discovered Charlotte was going to die, BEFORE he concocted his game plan.

In my mind, this means that 1996 Faraday had a journal containing information that he didn’t need until 1977. So, before he left for the island in 1977, perhaps Faraday sent something to himself that he would receive sometime before 2004. Picture this: he’s a normal/nerdy physicist at Oxford, dating Theresa, oblivious to all of this…and then he receives a journal from HIMSELF from the 1970’s and his mind is officially blown. He starts reading his research and carrying out the experiments. Over time, he slowly begins to understand more and more. The journal never leaves his side. He meets Desmond Hume in 2004, he rereads his journal that references Desmond…and suddenly it all starts to make sense.

Faraday has probably had a number of revelations like this between the 1990’s and 2004…come to think of it, maybe there was some journal reference to the island, the crash of Oceanic 815, and his plan to become “special.” This would probably drive him to be slightly crazy (see: Daniel crying when viewing the wreckage of Oceanic 815).

Then again, once he ends up on-island in 2004, having this information would suddenly be really, really useful. It could explain how Faraday knew so much…what equipment to bring for his payload experiment… that light didn’t “scatter right,” etc. – because he sent himself information about all of this, information he gathered through his time on-island and his time with Dharma.

It might all make sense!
You could take this a few steps farther if you want (of course I want to!)…Widmore starts funding Faraday in 1994 because he met him in 1977 off-island while Faraday was working in Ann Arbor and learned the truth…

Oh, the possibilities…

So buckle in, kids! Let’s do this! Happy 100th Episode, Lost!!

Namaste,
Maggie