"The Variable" episode review

Holy crap. Daniel died.
Sad face. :(

I couldn't believe that Daniel got killed off. I have to admit, the misdirection created through Ms. Hawking's line to Penny in the hospital totally had me going, thinking Desmond was going to be the minor-but-really-more-of-a-major-death cited by EW's Michael Ausiello: "Your husband has become a casualty in a conflict that's bigger than him, that's bigger than any of us."

As much as I love Daniel, if the LOST masterminds had killed off Desmond, I would have been even MORE pissed.

That being said, I was right in my predictions about this episode that we'd learn more about Daniel's apparent memory problems. Also, we did learn a bit more about the backstory of his seemingly journal-of-great-importance, as well as a little more concerning his history with Theresa. And it would seem that we even learned who his father is! (but more on that later...)

On a separate note, let me say that I have faithfully held myself back from looking up casting for the two-hour season finale in order to spare myself from ruining ANY surprises whatsoever (which, I'm sure there'll be numerous "Oh my gosh!!!" moments in said season finale, entitled "The Incident").

Oh, and btw, POSSIBLE WIKIPEDIA SPOILER REGARDING NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE...

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Next episode, the penultimate episode of Season 5 before the season finale, entitled "Follow the Leader," is probably not a reference to Ben subverting himself to Locke's judgment and leadership, as I previously surmised. According to Wikipedia, the episode will be centered on Richard Alpert!!!
Yes, I freaked out, too... I cannot WAIT to learn more about his backstory, something we dedicated LOST fans have speculated on and wondered about since way back in Season 3.

Anywho! On to a brief episode synopsis of "The Variable" and then to breaking down some specific episode points which struck me as especially interesting. :)
Read on.

• So let's first concentrate on chronologically breaking down Daniel's growth from child to the grown-up Faraday who we know and love(d): At a young age, Eloise Hawking, Daniel's mother, asks Daniel if he knows what his destiny is and when he responds no, tells him that it's his brilliant mind; she also tells him that it's her job to keep him on this path.
• Years later, Daniel becomes the youngest doctorate to ever graduate from Oxford University. His mother, Ms. Hawking, goes to see Daniel at his graduation, who is with his girlfriend Theresa Spencer, and gives him a blank journal as a gift. She also takes the opportunity to again remind Daniel of his gift. In addition, Daniel reveals in this conversation to his mother that he's been given a $1.5 million pound research grant from some random industrialist "Charles Widmore."
  
• Again, years later, after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, we get to see a continuation of the scene in which we saw Daniel crying as he watched the news broadcast depicting the discovered wreckage of the missing Oceanic 815 airliner. We find out that Daniel had not only done experiments on his girlfriend Theresa in his research, but also on himself, rendering him unable to remember anything over an extended period of time. This condition is considerably more fortunate in comparison to Theresa's, however, who we know to be stuck in a kind of lifeless, vegetative state. Daniel is visited by Charles Widmore, who tells him that the wreckage that's being played on the TV is fake, that it had been staged by him, and that the real plane had landed on the Island, a place Widmore invites Daniel to go to on his boat, the Kahana, where Widmore tells Daniel his ailment will be cured. Later, Daniel is again visited by his mother, Ms. Hawking, who tells him that he should take Widmore's offer and go to the Island, imploring him to consider all the work he could accomplish with a once-again sound mind. Sadly, Daniel agrees dutifully to his mother's desire for him.
• Now, jump to 2007 off the Island. Following the events of "Dead Is Dead," Desmond is rushed to the hospital after being shot by Benjamin Linus and somehow mustering the strength to beat the crap out of him before realizing the extent of his wound and succumbing to it. While waiting for an update on her husband's condition, Penny is visited by Eloise Hawking who apologizes to Penny for involving Desmond in everything that's happening around them. A very confused Penny is then allowed to go see Desmond who is recovering quite nicely. Desmond and Penny have a touching moment (which honestly felt just a little contrived, I have to say -- it didn't go over quite as smoothly as the highly emotional phone scene in "The Constant," I didn't think). Meanwhile, outside of the hospital, Charles Widmore speaks with Eloise Hawking, explaining why he cannot go in and see his daughter: "Unfortunately, Eloise, my relationship with Penelope is one of the things I had to sacrifice." Eloise retorts that he isn't the only person who's had to make sacrifices, as she begins to cite her sending her son back to the Island, knowing full well his fate. "He was my son, too, Eloise." *slap!*
  
• Finally, back to "present" Dharma time. Daniel Faraday has returned to the Island, having been doing research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, off-Island at the Dharma Initiative headquarters. He has apparently returned after learning that Jack and the rest of the Oceanic group came to be living with the Dharma Initiative in 1977 upon returning to the Island. After learning that Eloise Hawking had told Jack and the rest of the group that it was their "destiny" to do this, Daniel has Miles take him to the construction site of The Orchid station, where he goes to find Dr. Pierre Chang. Daniel warns Pierre Chang of a catastrophic event which will occur in six hours at The Swan station. Daniel explains that he knows these things because he is from the future. However, Dr. Chang does not believe Daniel's story, even after Daniel tells him that the grown-up Miles in front of him -- who refuses to affirm Daniel's allegations -- is his son from the future.
• Later on at the Barracks, Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Hurley, and Miles come to the decision that they're going to flee the Dharma Initiative compound to make camp at their old beach. Daniel, Kate, and Jack, however, go to see the Hostiles because Daniel says it is imperative that he be brought to his mother because she's the only one who can get them back to where they need to be in time and space. Unfortunately, the three are confronted by Radzinsky while packing up and getting guns, and a gun fight breaks out. They are able to escape, however, sending Radzinsky to Head of Security LaFleur's house to inform him of the situation and see what the hell he's been up to. Unfortunately for Sawyer and Juliet, Radzinsky and his team discover Phil in the closet all tied up. Fortunately for Hurley and Miles, though, they were outside at the time of Radzinsky's arrival to Sawyer and Juliet's humble abode.
  
• Meanwhile, Daniel explains to Kate and Jack out in the jungle what he plans to do. Daniel intends to detonate the hydrogen bomb which he instructed the Hostiles to bury back in their 1954 time jump visit. He thinks that if he does this, he can destroy the energy residing under The Swan station, preventing it from ever being built, which, in turn, will prevent "The Incident" from ever happening in the first place, which, finally, will keep Oceanic Flight 815 from ever crashing on the Island.
• Kate expresses some measure of unsurity regarding Daniel's plan but there's no time to discuss the ramifications and plausibility of it as the three stumble upon the Hostiles' camp. Daniel strides into the camp with his gun drawn, commanding Richard to take him to see Eloise. Richard claims that Eloise is gone at the moment, and the two continue to argue, ending in Eloise shooting Daniel in the back as it seems he is about ready to shoot Richard. Daniel, very confused, begins to connect the pieces, realizing that Eloise always knew. Eloise, also confused, asks who Daniel is, to which he replies, "I...I'm your son." LOST
  

Story/Narrative - First of all, we are again confronted with this recurring theme in LOST of parent issues. Daniel has serious mommy issues. I felt hurt and deeply moved by the pain that Ms. Hawking had inflicted upon her son due to her ridiculous insensitivity when Daniel asked her, "Will...will it make you proud of me?" "Yes Daniel, it will." "Then I'll do it." Wow. What a blow to the heart. Holy crap...

On a separate note, I found it really interesting how as SOON as Sawyer ended a phrase directed to Kate with the term of endearment "Freckles," she immediately shot an icy look at Sawyer and relinquished to Daniel and the group the security code to unlock the sonic fence. Wow. Great acting and what an interesting development... Man, if Juliet does die in the finale as I am right now suspecting, I will feel terrible for her... It's like she'd seen this coming, Sawyer beginning to tap back into his past feelings for Kate, but knew that she could do nothing to stop it... How sad... :/

Moving on to something which I found to be a little odd, when Penny was told she could go in to see Desmond, she just happily left her son Charlie with the nurse. Okay...really?? There's no way that after everything that had happened that day, she would have just left her kid with some random nurse lady, especially in front of this creepy Eloise Hawking lady who she was approached by who she'd never met before in her life. I thought that was kind of lame, and I'm guessing all mothers would agree.

Finally, let's talk about Jack... Now, I've been holding throughout this season following Jack's return to the Island that he's not turned into some half-hearted wimp but that he's simply biding his time and waiting to see what the Island has for him to do, rather than freaking out and trying to take control of everything... But I can't shake the feeling that Jack launching into action regarding Daniel's plan isn't what he is, in fact, meant to do. I feel like he's jumping the gun and making an inaccurate assumption...but maybe I'm wrong... I dunno... What do you think about this?

Regarding Daniel's plan, after watching this episode, I found myself wanting more backstory regarding Daniel's change of heart. Now, I get Daniel changing his focus from always being on "the variables" rather than "the constant(s)," but what exactly happened to make him realize this and change his thinking? Was it the knowledge of Jack and the gang having returned to the Island into 1977 Dharma time?

Finally, as I've been saying throughout this entire season, we are finally getting to this pinnacle point where our Losties will actually come to a situation where they will test Daniel's past theory of "whatever happened, happened" and see if it really holds up. It's coming; I'm telling you... Look for it to specifically happen in the season finale, "The Incident." I'm guessing Jack will take up where Daniel left off, using his journal to try and see his dying mission through... We'll see how this works out... 4

LOST Theory/Mythology - So, we finally know once and for all that Widmore did, in fact, plant the fake plane wreckage in the Sunda Trench in the middle of the Indian Ocean, which is believable considering his seemingly huge amount of wealth and resources as an "industrialist" -- whatever that means... And how did he come to get all that money and be so rich?? I hope we find this out this season, just so I don't have to wait 7 months wondering why...

We also learned just exactly why Daniel's memory was so messed up: He had been conducting experiments on not only his girlfriend Theresa but also himself, and it would seem, comparitively, that she got the short end of the stick, to be honest...
Although, I'm still a bit hazy as to why Daniel was crying when he saw the fake plane wreckage being broadcasted on the news...did he start having memory problems after Oceanic Flight 815 disappeared, and is that why? But even if that's true, why would he have cried about the remains of a plane that had gone missing being found months later? That seemed odd to me... Do any of you have some insight into this? I would much appreciate it.

Moving on, though, I was interested by Eloise Hawking slapping Widmore when he responded to her, "He was my son, too, Eloise." I do believe that he was, in fact, married to her on the Island as a Hostile. I think she slapped him, though, because of his double-life off the Island with the family he had with an "outsider," one of the reasons which Ben cited in having Widmore banished from the Island forever. This family would have included Penny being born, but the question is inevitably brought up: Who is the mother? Being LOST, I'm sure it will end up being important... Either way, it's cool to think that Jack and Claire as half-siblings have been joined by Daniel and Penny. Interesting.

Finally, the most disturbing and thought-provoking part about this whole episode: Hawking's devotion to her upkeep of time, even to the point of knowingly sending her son to his death on the Island in 1977. Wow.
Now, while it's easy to simply get caught up in Eloise Hawking's ridiculous brutality and lack of any sort of apparent love, what's more interesting, I think, is to consider how amazingly dedicated she is to what seems to be her job of ensuring that everything plays out as it ought in light of past and future events. Who exactly is she responsible to? Or is this simply her "gift"? And on the same line of the whole "gifts" thing, we're learning that more and more of our beloved Losties have different gifts:

Walt = he's "special"; see the mobisode and the one Season 1 scene where he seemingly unintentionally brings about the deaths of birds.
Claire = something weird is going on with her...
Miles = can access the final thoughts of a dead person's life.
Hurley = apparently sees and has regular conversations with legitimately dead people.
Daniel = his brilliant mind.
Locke = special communion with the Island, according to Ben, and also apparent throughout the show.

Now, did I miss anything? I'm not trying to say these will end up being intrinsically important to the show's mythology, but I think they might... It's interesting anyway; something to think about... 5

BAMF moments - Wow. What an epic firefight. I thoroughly enjoyed that part. I think the best part about it was how it started. As Daniel smugly strolled up to the jeep, confident that his words would detain Radzinsky from taking action, Radzinsky let a shot fly -- Daniel didn't exactly understand what a hothead he was dealing with, I don't think. :P
The only reason this section gets a four rather than a five is because I felt a little dissatisfied with the cheap exit LOST took to resolve this situation: Really? An exploding gas drum? Really??

Beyond that, HOLY COW. Radzinsky is freaking spazzing OUT!! Just how I would expect him to react, though, considering how they've presented his temperament throughout this season.
I mean, when he stormed into Sawyer's house, he was PISSED. I was like, "Holy crap -- he is gonna freak the eff out when he finds Phil." And he did. Bad news for Sawyer and Juliet. I wouldn't be surprised if he tortures them for information regarding their infiltrator group, and, if they refuse to give him any, tries to execute them. We'll see, though. 4

Overall Score - (4 + 5 + 4)/(3) = 4.33