LOST - The Variable

Last night's Daniel-centric episode filled in the gaps between our first meeting with the overwrought physicist sobbing at seeing the wreckage of Oceanic 815 and the first episode of this season where we saw Daniel back in 1977 in the bowels of the Orchid station.

The show was bookended by Desmond being rushed into the emergency room following being shot by Ben. As Penny waits anxiously, Eloise Hawking appears to apologize as it was her son's fault that Desmond got shot.

Things we learned:

1. Desmond survived--Yay!

2. Daniel is indeed the son of Eloise Hawking. Duh.

3. Daniel is also the son of Charles Widmore. Whoa! (Is anyone else curious as to how the son of two Brits, and who also went to Oxford has no British accent?)

4. Theresa Spencer was Daniel's girlfriend/research assistant--and he tested time travel on himself before sending her.

5. The little red-haired girl was Charlotte--despite the fact she couldn't possibly have been born yet...Maybe she and her Mom time traveled back to 1974.

6. The release of energy from the Orchid resulted in the building of the Swan aka the "hatch" so that the energy could be released by pressing the button every 108 minutes. When Desmond did not press the button, it caused the crash of Flight 815.

7. Daniel discovered that his theory that you cannot change the past--whatever happened, happened--focused on the constants, not the variables. "We can change our destiny."

8. Daniel's plan is to detonate Jughead--the hydrogen bomb--to release the energy, prevent the "Incident" which will in turn eliminate the need for the hatch which means that Oceanic 815 wouldn't crash, the freighter wouldn't be sent to the island and everyone will live happily ever after.

Or will they? The crash of Flight 815 allowed John Locke to walk again, helped save Jin and Sun's marriage plus allowed the sterile Jin to impregnate Sun and give birth to Ji Yeon and Kate to escape prosecution for the murder of her father. No wonder Kate was more than a little dubious of Miles plan which involved "erasing everything that's happened to us."

A lot of information was disseminated courtesy of Faraday--he told Pierre Chang that Miles was his son and Jack that he and the rest of the O6 didn't belong there and that "This is our present...Any one of us can die."

Which is exactly what happened to Miles (unless Alpert offers him as a sacrifice to the smoke monster in the next episode). He survives the shootout at the Dharma corral only to get shot by his own mother.

Not too surprising since Eloise had the whole icy Mommy Dearest thing going for her. (Anyone else bothered that young Eloise seemed to have dark brown eyes while the elder Mrs. Hawking's eyes were aquamarine in hue?)

Best lines of the night:

Sawyer showing Jack the bound and gagged Phil in the closet:

"Phil, Jack. Jack, Phil."

Sawyer to Faraday:

"Welcome to the meeting, Twitchy."

Sawyer and Miles regarding Faraday:

"Is he still crazy? He’s on a whole new level, man."

Hurley after finding out about the time flashes:

"You guys were in 1954? Like...Fonzie times?"

Daniel to Kate after she hands him a rifle:

"Do you have something for a beginner?"

Sawyer and Juliet:

"You can say I told you so. Maybe after we get to the beach."

So, is Daniel really dead? What's going to happen to Sawyer and Juliet now that Radzinsky has discovered Phil in the closet? Can the O6 really change the past?

Guess we'll find out next week. In the meantime, revisit the expressions of The Variable with the recap at Lostpedia, screencaps at Dark UFO and Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses at washingtonpost.com.