In television, there are funny moments, sad moments and great moments. Then there are those moments where the credits for the episode start to roll and you give out a big "What the HELL?" Last night's episode of Lost not only continued this season's thrilling momentum; it proved to fans that even in its fourth season, it still leaves us with our jaws hanging open.
There was so much going on in this episode, which gave us more of Desmond's already brilliant, headache-inducing story. Add in a whole other leap into physics, time travel and the unknown -- and now we have (more and more becoming one of my favorite characters) Daniel Faraday getting thrown into Desmond's sci-fi/love story odyssey. This was the make of possibly one of my favorite Lost episodes ever.
I currently nominate Desmond David Hume as the most intriguing character on "Lost". Not only does he have the best love story on the show and dare I say on television today (come on, you know you were getting a little misty-eyed at the end...guys, you too), but his back stories provide some of the most thought provoking ideas on the show and a great deal of the mysteries on the island. This episode threw so much at us, so let's take a look at what we have so far.
Desmond: Lover, Button Pusher, Future-Vision-Amnesic-Time-Traveler...
So now we know that it was Desmond's conscious self that traveled back in time during Season 3. His future visions can be attributed to this as well. The big question now is, "Where is Desmond's mind?" With his conscious being thrown back between 1996 and 2004, which Desmond do we have at the end of this episode? Is he still "Desmond 96" or "Desmond XP"? (I would categorize Desmond's flash-forward self as "Desmond Vista".) Did Desmond still not know who Sayid is at the end of this episode? Or is he back to his good old self (wait -- for the sake of avoiding confusion, let's say "current self.")? As far as his health goes, is he out of the woods? Whatever the answer is, this episode added another excellent dynamic to Desmond's journey back home to Penny.
Penny & Desmond: One Hell of a Love Story
With all of the science, mythology, and mystery surrounding Desmond's journey, his story still manages to have a great and emotional love story at its core. In fact, Desmond's longing to get back to his true love Penny is what roots his story in the real world for us. Without it, all of the time traveling, science and mystery wouldn't matter. But because we care and want to see Desmond and Penny reunited, his farfetched, mind-blowing story works.
Penny is Desmond's constant; this ties in quite nicely to the themes of fate and destiny throughout the show. Will Penny be the rescuer of Desmond and our Losties? Did she really not know about the freighter, even with claims by Minkowski that she has tried to communicate with the boat?
Daniel Faraday aka Geddy Lee
Even if Daniel's circa '96 hair resembled a well-known Canadian rocker's, he is one hell of an interesting character. Are his radiation experiments the cause of his seeming brain/memory degeneration? Was his encounter with Desmond in the past the reason he was crying at the beginning of "Confirmed Dead"? Is his note from the end of the episode reading, "If something goes wrong, Desmond Hume is my constant," a clue stating that his own conscious will travel time soon? I, for one, am glad that he has been paired with Desmond's story and hope that together they can help each other complete their journeys.
The Sickness
Are the symptoms that Desmond and the now deceased Minkowski had the same as the infamous sickness that wreaked havoc on Danielle's crew and is oft mentioned by Dharma and other folk? Did Danielle manage to survive by having her own constant? Alex, maybe?
Black Rock Auction
The auction of the journal from the Black Rock was a nice touch that added to the mythology of the land locked dynamite emporium and to island itself. The item belonged to the Hanso family; Alvar Hanso is the major investor and namesake of the Hanso Foundation. The Hanso Foundation, for anyone who needs a refresher, is the creator of the Dharma Initiative. The Dharma Initiative are the makers of those oh-so-lovely hatches, vans, security fences, wine, peanut butter, fish biscuits, and testers of the mysterious island we all love. Why was Widmore bidding on the journal? Products with his name have shown up on the island - anyone remember Sun's pregnancy test? Widmore has long been theorized as one of the ones "pulling the strings." Was this proof?
Easter Eggs and Quick Facts
- Daniel's machine setting was 2.342, and the Black Rock journal was lot number 2342. They both contain the last two digits of Hurley's fabled "The Numbers".
- Desmond asked Penny to wait 8 years for his Christmas Eve call. 8 is also one of "The Numbers".
- Penny's Address? 423 Cheyne Walk. 4 and 23? You guessed it - Two of the numbers.
- It's December 24th 2004. This puts the amount of time that our survivors have been on the island at 94 days.
- With this time table, how does that play into time both on and off the island?
In last night's episode, we got pound-for-pound the most information packed into an episode this season. It will definitely warrant many repeat viewings to delve deeper into the information provided in this story. This episode had a great balance of mystery, action, sci-fi, and romance, which made it a wonderment and thrill to watch. We are only through episode 5 and I'm already white knuckled and firmly placed at the edge of my seat.
What did you think? What are your thoughts, questions, comments, and/or theories? Let's open up the discussion in the comment section below.
Be sure to also check out my podcast "The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack" or on iTunes by searching "Jay and Jack" or "Lost Podcast".
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Jay, my thoughts on the fourth season of Lost in terms of looking for answers I feel we must cast our minds back to the earlier seasons.
We know that the island was an experimental base for the Dharma Initiative, we also know courtesy of Dr. Marvin Candle aka Dr. Mark Wickman that the Dharma Initiative was created in 1970, the Dharma initiative is the brainchild of Gerald and Karen DeGroot, two doctoral candidates at the University of Michigan; we also already know that Alvar Hanso of 'The Hanso Foundation', through its funding of the DHARMA Initiative, was involved in the construction of facilities on the island.
We more recently know of Faraday's experiments with Electromagnetism, my theory at this time short of Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof and JJ Abrams giving all of us an early answer is that what we are looking at from the day Oceanic 815 went down are a number of scientific and spiritual experiments, the island is a fusion of a number of experiments in spirituality and science, Dharma and Faraday are on the scientific side, Miles Straume already obvious on the spiritual side.
Cuse, Lindelof and Abrams have already ruled out the 'purgatory' plotline.
The experiments are running on a large scale, Charles Widmore and Alvar Hanso involved to name but two, I know I am close to some answers based on some of what I have written here, any one else care to comment?
As you can see I am giving some serious thoughts here.
I love the show, but unlike apparently the entire rest of Lost's viewing audience, I didn't like last night's episode at all. The whole concept of the "the constant" was nauseating. It's really hard to believe and while this is a mystical-realistic show, there still must be credibility with remaining aspects and we've already been thrown so much weirdness. The idea that having "a constant" can save you from the physical threat of time travel is, frankly, dumb beyond belief. Also, the time travel I wish they had avoided. Number one: time travel is so stupid. Number two: it invariably leads to plot holes and other inconsistencies that can ruin a show (Heroes?). Number three: it was so unnecessary; unless the big, bad, dirty secret we're all waiting for is driven by time travel (oh god, no), there was no reason to start incorporating something as retarded and silly as time travel.
I understand it wasn't actually time travel, but consciousness traveling. Whatever.
Desmond's character is good, anyhow. And the acting, as usual, was great.
The writers are expending too much effort getting "off the island." Lost doesn't need to be about a time-traveling love story. We already have a plot. Show THAT.
Lost is so...so...
Did anyone besides my 14 year old son notice the references to Slaughterhouse 5? "Unstuck in time"--a direct quote. And the "flashing" between times and events, wonder if Desmond will flash into the future, beyond what we accept as reality...
Wow, what a great episode. thanks Jay for finding the Easter Eggs.
I was wondering about the passage of time on the island and on the mainland.
Could it be that Walt is "bigger" because more time has passed outside the island?
Could it be that Kate has Aaron because it was impossible (based on the mainland's calendar) for Claire to be his mom.
Any thoughts?
I thought this too, but when Desmond calls Penny, it is Christmas Eve 2004 for Penny, which matches very well with the estimated date that the Lostaways think it is on the island.
Yes, thank you Jay for going to Lostpedia and possibly DarkUFO's sites to find those Easter eggs. Nudge, wink.
But seriously, this was one of the better episodes so far this season, even though the Desmond & Penny romance is not at all believable or appealing to me. These two people don't have half the sex appeal of Kate & Sawyer or Kate & Jack, or Jack & Juliet for that matter. Penny's a cow and Des is just plain creepy. I would have preferred Aussie & older -- say Rachel Ward & Bryan Brown, who already have some minor sci-fi cred from co-starring in the On The Beach remake.
I also do not care for Jeremy Davies neurotic dithering. He's like Gilligan crossed with the Professor. Enough already!
Jay doesn't need to go to Lostpedia or DarkUFO to find Easter Eggs and he couldn't have - all of the things he mentioned on this post were all mentioned in his podcast that was released around 3:30am EST on Friday morning - neither of those other Lost sites had ALL of that stuff up that quickly. Sometimes people can actually just notice Easter Eggs on their own.
Without question I have the most emotional investment in Desmond and Penny. They are the ones I most want to see living a happy life at the end of the series.
I have to imagine that Penelope's name is not an accident. I think Desmond is our Ulysses, and he probably won't get back to his Penelope until the very final moments of this series.
So December 24, 2004 ... only 2 days away from the 2004 Tsunami. I wonder if that will play a part in this show at all?
Wow I hadn't thought of the tsunami. It might be hard to include it in the show because of budget but it would be cool if they did it. They put in the Red Socks winning the World Series. If it isn't in the show the producers could just say that because the island exists in a sort of time flux the tsunami didn't affect it...kind of a stretch but still it is a tv show.
PS- I like Penny and Desmond too.
Actually Desmond knew who he was at the end of the episode. He called Sayid by name and thanked him.
Agree.
I'm already lovin' this seasons' episodes.
Last year they "lost" me-cause I just felt that if I blinked I missed something. Too many unanswered questions at the end of each episode to keep up with.
Glad they are not focusing so much on the group as a whole and the storylines-but the individuals-but still keeping it integrated enough. I was becoming a little bored with the "monster-like" episodes.
Wow you've really done your research on all the trivia(num
Had not paid attention to that end of it.
I didn't realize Desmonds last name was Hume.That'
Keep up the great work JJ.
Love most all of your work
(closet 40-something Felecity fan too! lol)
Lost is still on?
The best high-wire act on television. Consistently absorbing and confounding.
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Posted February 29, 2008 | 01:32 PM (EST)