| | Totally "Lost": Deconstructing "The Variable"April 29, 2009 - Ray EckenrodeVARIABLY CLOUDY Faraday was dying to change history – but he couldn’t. Is Jack now poised to make the same mistake? n  Deconstructing Season 5, Episode 14, of the ABC television series “Lost” titled “The Variable”: The big picture > Faraday returns to the island and changes his tune. People are the variables in this equation, he says, and they can change themselves and thus change history. But before he can test his theory, his mother puts a bullet in his heart, just as she knew she would. Just as she always has. Answers > Faraday claims his mother was wrong when she told Jack it was his destiny to return to the island. > A young Ms. Hawking believe that destiny meant nurturing Daniel’s special gift and keeping him on his path as a mathematician and scientist. > Daniel Faraday was the youngest doctor to ever graduate from Oxford. > Teresa was his research assistant and girlfriend. > Shortly after graduating Faraday received a 1.5 million pound grant from Charles Widmore. > Faraday tested his time travel theory on himself before he tested it on Teresa. > The island helped heal his damaged mind and memory when he arrived on the freighter. > Widmore financed the faked crash of Flight 815 in the Sunda Trench. > The code for the sonic fence is 141717. > Faraday believed he could prevent the release of electromagnetic energy at the Swan Station by detonating the Jughead hydrogen bomb. Questions > What happened to Faraday in Ann Arbor that convinced him the past could be changed? > If his father’s name is Widmore and his mother’s maiden name is Hawking, why is Faraday Faraday? > If Faraday grew up in England, why does he have an American accent? > Why wouldn’t or couldn’t Widmore tell Faraday that he was his father? > Um, did Sawyer just call Kate “Freckles” in front of Kate? That’s bad, dude, very bad. > Why were Hawking and Widmore so worried about Desmond’s condition? What important role will he play in the future/past? > How do Eloise and young Daniel get off the island? Title tracking > Hmmmmm, this one is interesting. In Faraday’s speech to Jack he clearly said that people are the “variables,” plural, yet the episode title is purposely singular. Based on Faraday’s fate, it appears he was NOT the variable, singular, so who is? Easter Eggs > Elizabeth Mitchell’s Juliet was sporting quite a red shirt in this episode. In sci-fi lore, red shirts often foreshadow a character’s death, derived from the “red shirts” who invariably died in a “Star Trek” episode while the main characters escaped (again) unscathed. > Sawyer, er, LaFleur, dropped a “Twitchy” and a “H.G. Wells” on Faraday. > We’re guessing the designs on the cover of Daniel’s journal bear some significance and there had to be something of interest on that cover of Wired magazine the camera lingered on in Faraday’s adult home. Quotable > “I belonged here just fine ‘til you came back.” LaFleur to Jack. > “I can make time.” Young Daniel. > “He still crazy?” LaFleur on Daniel. > “For the first time in my life, I don’t know what will happen next.” Ms. Hawking. > “Don’t talk to me about sacrifice.” Ms. Hawking to Widmore Next week > Next weeks' episode is titled "Follow The Leader.” Article CommentsNo comments posted for this article. Post a Comment | |
