Lost - "The Variable," Ctd

Hello all. I very much enjoyed this week's installment of Lost, "The Variable." As we have previously discussed, "The Variable" was seen as a counterpoint to Season 4's "The Constant," where we learned from Faraday an important time-travel rule: anchoring one's mind to someone or something important can save you from a massive brain bleed. In "The Variable," Faraday dictated another time-travel rule: contrary to prior belief, the past can be changed, because human beings, with their choices and free will, are the variables (or unknowns in algebra) that determine the future. This knowledge has led Faraday back to the Island, in hopes of changing the destinies of all of our friends and, most importantly to Faraday, Charlotte. Here is what I found interesting in this week's episode:

*Faraday, upon seeing Jack, told him that Ms. Hawking was "wrong," but what was she wrong about? If Jack is not supposed to be "there," does that mean he's not supposed to be on the Island, or just not in 1977? Not sure why this stuck out to me, but it did. Any thoughts?

*How and why did Ellie/Ms. Hawking leave the Island? Did she leave at Dr. Chang's behest when he orders everyone else to leave during/after the Incident? When does she get busy with Widmore? I don't remember now, but did Faraday's nose ever bleed during the time jumps? If it's 1977, Faraday has to be born soon, as he appears to be 30 years old at least. Is baby Twitchy already there?

*Faraday told Miles that he was just trying to push Dr. Chang to do what he is "supposed" to do. Further, Faraday had information as to when Chang was to arrive at The Orchid, when the Incident happens (in 6 hours!!), and other future events. How does he have this information? Was this info given to him by Widmore in 2004, and put into his journal? This is confusing to me: Is Faraday trying to make sure the future happens as it should, or is he trying to change it? Does he have to push it to a certain point before he can disrupt the timeline and create a new future?

*How does Eloise know the future? Since she was introduced to us in Season 3's "Flashes Before Your Eyes," Ms. Hawking has expressed knowledge of future events. This episode, she has seemed to contemporaneously know what specifically lies ahead for her son (besides shooting him). Then, when she speaks to Penny at the end of the episode, she says she no longer knows what happens in the future. How did she lose her ability? Has Faraday actually changed the future in some way?

*Faraday's plan to use Jughead to eliminate the electromagnetism under the Swan sounds ridiculous to me. I mean, exploding a hydrogen bomb will blow up the entire Island; there will be nothing left. I guess, the idea is that as soon as the bomb goes off, the Lostaways will immediately disappear and end up back on Oceanic 815 in 2004. I don't know. This is all wacky to me. According to the preview for the next episode, it appears Jack will take up this plan and will enlist Kate and Ellie (I'm 99% sure that was Ellie along with him in one scene) to find Jughead and try to enact Faraday's plan. Something tells me this is not going to work out for the good doctor. Oh, and how can Ellie get the Lostaways back to where/when they are supposed to be? Did Faraday just mean that she knows where Jughead is, or is there some other knowledge she has that can get everyone home?

*Play time is over for Sawyer and Juliet. Her look of death when Sawyer called Kate "Freckles" was absolutely classic, and she was more than happy to send Kate back into Hostile territory. When she said to Sawyer that it is "over here for us," did she mean just their time in Dharmaville, or their relationship as well?

*I think Faraday knew he was going to die, and was purposefully antagonizing the Hostiles by walking in brandishing a gun, shooting it, and pointing it at Richard. I don't think he knew that his mother would be the one to kill him. I do think he's dead, although he just finished moving when the Lost end title card came up. If he is dead, that is terrible because Faraday had become one of my favorite characters and Jeremy Davies' performance has been great.

Quick stuff:

*There had been some discussion on the Jay and Jack podcast (I just started listening to them as my last gig allowed me to listen to my iPod while I worked. I recommend them; they're pretty darn funny.) about whether the metronome count should have been 108 beats. Well, the count of 864 beats is actually 8 times 108. I'm not sure if the composition he was playing was written in eighth-note time, but if so, the metronome would "click" on every eighth note. 8 x 108 = 864. Cool huh?

*Miles' daddy issues continue as he couldn't admit to being Chang's son. I guess telling your dad you're from the future is a it odd.

*How does one apologize for killing your son in the future? Get them a journal in which you write that no matter what (even murder!), you'll always love him.

*Why did Hurley come back to the Island? We still have had no explanation.

*It appears that whenever the Island heals someone, that healing is permanent. Locke could still walk when he came back to the mainland, as did Faraday's memory remain repaired. Someone tell Rose and Bernard!

*I would bet almost everything I hold dear in this world that Desmond will be breaking his promise to Penny and will be leaving her again. I still believe that Desmond is the key to getting everyone home, so he needs to get back to the Island at some point.

That's all I got for this episode. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite possibly losing my man Faraday. Lost is a drama, so we're going to lose people along the way. You know, if it's needed to protect the Island, then it must be necessary. I'm pretty psyched for the remaining three hours of the season, which continue this Wednesday with "Follow the Leader." Wow, I wonder who that could be. Seriously, at this point, it could be almost anyone. More on that on Tuesday. Remember to check out Doc Jensen and Erika's recaps. Until Tuesday...

Namaste.