We open with Desmond being rushed into surgery after taking a bullet from Benry. Penny and Charlie are there, which should soothe the people who are still worried that Benry came out of the water and killed them.
White Oracle shows up in the waiting room and introduces herself. I love her reaction when Penny thinks she’s Benry’s mother – “Good Lord, no!” Hee.
And this takes us to “Thirty Years Earlier”. We pick up right where we left off, with Faraday getting off the sub and surprising Miles. He’s been working for Dharma back in Ann Arbor, and only came back to the Island when he saw Jack and the rest in the company newsletter. He asks Miles to bring him to Jack. That’s so cute – Faraday still thinks Jack is the leader!
Jack explains that Faraday’s mother sent him to the Island, and that she said it was his destiny. Faraday says she was wrong, which means he is no longer Mr. “What Happened, Happened”. Of course, the episode itself seems to support his earlier belief, but we’ll get to that.
In a flashback, young Faraday is playing the piano, and he’s pretty darn good at it. His mother enters, though, and explains that he has a destiny, one that must be nurtured. Specifically, his destiny is in math and science. Young Daniel says he can do both, that he can “make time”, but White Oracle wants none of it. Yes, she actually forbids and further piano playing. White Oracle? Not Mother of the Year material…
On the Island, Daniel and Miles head off to the Orchid, while Jack goes to check in with Sawyer. Sawyer’s not interested in the return of Faraday, because he’s a little busy with the whole thing where Phil is tied up in the closet. You know, once you do that, you’re past the point of no return. There’s no fixing that.
At the Orchid, Faraday catches sight of Dr. Marvin Candle. He puts on a hardhat, and next thing you know, we’re in the scene that opened this season. There’s another dead body, probably another side effect of uncontrolled electromagnetic force. Faraday confronts Dr. Marvin Candle – he says the Island needs to be evacuated. They’re going to unleash energy at the Swan building site that’s 30,000 times more powerful than the electromagnetism that’s leaking out at the Orchid.
By the way, in the Pre-Game I questioned whether the Swan was build to contain something, or whether the act of building it released something. It looks like it’s the latter. That raises the question of what the original plan behind the Swan had been. So far, no good answers, but I think I’ll be re-watching those Orientation films.
Faraday, in an attempt to convince Dr. Marvin Candle, plays his trump card: “I’m from the future”. Miles tries to get Faraday out of there, because he doesn’t want to watch this craziness play out. Faraday even announces that Miles is Dr. Marvin Candle’s son, which really just makes the two of them get all awkward. Hee.
In a flashback, Faraday graduates. We also see his girlfriend / research assistant, Theresa. You may remember her from an earlier episode – she’s unstuck in time and is now comatose, occasionally emerging only to talk like a little girl. And yet, they look so happy now. White Oracle is also there and invites Faraday to a nice lunch, but only Faraday. Sorry Theresa! White Oracle ain’t paying for three lunches, that’s for darn sure. At the restaurant, she tells Faraday that he won’t have time for relationships. Nothing but science for her boy! He mentions this research grant from one Charles Widmore, and I really like her reaction here. You can read just about anything into that reaction. Is she upset? Happy? Clearly, the name means something to her, but we don’t really get a clue here. Finally, she gives him a present – it’s the journal that he carries with him all the time. In the front, she has inscribed “No matter what happens, I will always love you”. Considering that she knows darn well what’s going to happen, or rather what did happen, that seems like too little, too late.
The Lostaways meet up in Sawyer’s house to discuss their options. Really, they have two: Steal the sub and leave, or head out into the jungle to start over again. Neither option is particularly appealing. Jin and Hurley don’t want to leave, Jin because he thinks Sun is still on the Island and Hurley because he traveled back in time 30 years to get to the Island and he’s darn well staying.
Faraday and Miles show up at Sawyer’s, and Sawyer asks if Faraday is “still crazy”, and gives him the great nickname of “Twitchy”. Hee. Faraday’s not too concerned with the “Phil tied up” situation, probably because he watches Mad Men and knows that this guy could use a good beating. Regardless, he wants somebody to lead him to the Hostiles. Specifically, his mother. Man, Faraday figured out a lot of things when he was in Ann Arbor. It’s a good place to get some thinkin’ done.
In a flashback, we see Faraday watching the news report on Flight 815 and crying. We’ve seen this before, back when we were introduced to the Fantastic Foursome. Now we’ve got a little more context. Widmore comes to the door (You know, I spent four years with a minimal number of scenes involving doors. Now, there are buzzers and knocks and doorknobs and everything.), and Faraday apologizes for not knowing him. He has a condition that affects his memory. Remember when they used to allude to that last year? Widmore says they’ve never met, which may or may not be true at this point.
Faraday mumbles something about how he tested it on himself first, and he never wanted to hurt Theresa. OK, so now we have a definitive answer on that – Faraday did test his machine before he used it on Theresa. So he is unstuck in time to some extent. It might be that the machine just affected his memory, but I think he’s so upset about the Flight 815 report because he’s seen enough of the future to know the horror that’s coming his way because of this plane. Widmore admits to building a fake Flight 815, since Faraday will forget in a day or so. Clearly, his memory right now is worse than it was when we first saw him on the Island. Here, he’s like the Memento guy. Widmore explains that he wants Faraday to go to a very special Island, and it will heal his mind. That actually makes it pretty clear that Faraday’s suffering from brain damage, rather than just being unstuck in time. Being on the Island didn’t help that, as Charlotte will attest. I wonder why his machine affected him differently than it affected Theresa.
Back at Sawyer’s house, Faraday explains that they met his mother back in 1954. This is the first Hurley’s heard of this, which is pretty funny. Sawyer would rather not involve the Hostiles in what’s already a mess. Jack, because he has to disagree with Sawyer whenever possible, thinks it’s a great idea. He enlists Kate by bringing up Baby Aaron, who he was never supposed to ask about again. Yep, Jack goes straight for the guilt. It even works on Juliet, who gives them the code to shut off the Sonic Death Fence. Jack and Kate agree to go out there with Faraday. Sawyer plans to lead the rest of them back to the beach, where it all began. There’s a lot of circularity in this episode – it incorporates two scenes that first appeared in earlier episodes, and then Sawyer decides to bring everybody back to where they began their lives on the Island.
On their way to the gun cabinet (Lucky thing they’ve got a janitor, right? Also, does it freak anybody else out that the janitors can get into the guns? I don’t think Roger should have that kind of power.), Faraday spots young Charlotte, and heads over to warn her away. Of course, he does it in the most easily misconstrued way possible. Sure, offer the child candy and then tell her that the two of you have a secret. Anyway, he explains that she has to leave the Island, which is exactly what Charlotte remembered a “crazy man” doing when she was a child. As much as Faraday talks about being able to change the past now, he’s pretty much following history by the numbers.
By the way, I really laughed at Faraday asking for a gun “for beginners”. Once they get their guns, Radzinsky and a couple of big guys arrive. You just know that he’s still mad that Sayid saw his model. Faraday is, after all, a beginner, and kind of shows off his gun to the angry guy. Suddenly, there’s a standoff between the two sides, and then Faraday fires a couple of shots and it all goes bad. Faraday actually gets hit in the neck, and Jack blows up some fuel barrels to create a diversion. So, you know, Sawyer was clearly overreacting when he thought Jack and Kate were going to ruin everything when they returned to the Island…
In another flashback, Faraday’s playing the piano again, this time as an adult. His mother mentions the job offer, and tells him that it’s very important that he say yes. She suggests that it will fix his brain, but there’s more to it for her. Now, note that everything White Oracle does in this episode, she does to ensure that events happen the way that they happened. Since she saw Faraday on the Island in 1977, she has to make sure that he get to the Island in the present so that the meeting can take place. White Oracle has always been about making sure that things happen the way they happened, right back to her first appearance when she had to convince Desmond that he couldn’t marry Penny yet. And once again, she’s not exactly Mother of the Year. Desmond asks “Will it make you proud of me?” The correct answer is not “yes”. The correct answer is “I’m already proud of you, son”. Even I know that, and I’m dead inside!
On the Island, Jack checks out Faraday’s wound and determines that he’s OK. Faraday tempts fate by telling him “Any one of us can die”. See, the Oceanic Six aren’t really getting this – Jack thinks that since he’s alive in 2008, he’s safe in 1977. But 1977 Jack is older than 2008 Jack – his survival is not guaranteed. And, as mentioned in the Pre-Game, the only one who’s definitely OK is Dr. Marvin Candle who has to live long enough to lose an arm and make some Orientation films.
Back at Dharmaville, Sawyer and Juliet are packing to leave. The alarm sounds, and Radzinsky comes over to report in. Of course, he hears Phil banging on the door which just raises all kinds of questions. Radzinsky’s never seen a problem he can’t solve by shooting somebody, and now he’s pointing his gun at Sawyer.
In the jungle again, Jack wonders how White Oracle can be wrong. Faraday drops some serious knowledge on him and fills in some Island history by way of enlightenment. An attempt to tap into some energy at the Swan building site is going to unleash massive amounts of electromagnetism. They’ll have to seal the site up in concrete “like Chernobyl”, and spend years pressing a button. And then one day Desmond won’t press the button, and Flight 815 will crash. If he prevents the accident at the Swan, then Flight 815 lands safely in 2004. Desmond now believes that in his equations, there is a variable. Further, he claims that they are the variables, people with their free will. First off, note that the episode title is singular “The Variable”. That’s one variable, not all people ever. Second, so far, nothing we see indicates that he’s right. He scared young Charlotte and told her to leave the Island, which is exactly what grown-up Charlotte remembers happening. So he may not be right here. Anyway, he plans to disburse that energy buildup by detonating a hydrogen bomb. Remember that thing? Yeah, you knew there weren’t going to let that go. It’s like Chekhov’s Pistol, only with a mushroom cloud.
In the present, we go back to the hospital. White Oracle apologizes to Penny for making Desmond a casualty. She admits that she doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, for the first time in a long time. OK, so White Oracle is definitely a guardian of time. She knows how things have to be, and she makes sure that they are that way. But suddenly, she doesn’t know anymore. And I think that’s because Desmond went to find her. Desmond is the variable. And while even he has his limits (Charlie still had to die – Desmond could only postpone it), his abilities can still change history. I’ve mentioned before that I think Desmond got those powers when the Hatch collapsed on him. What if White Oracle was present at the site of the original Swan accident, and that’s why she’s able to correct time like she does? I’ll think more about that later, but right now, Desmond does wake up and promises never to leave Penny. That kind of promise makes me very nervous.
Outside the hospital, White Oracle runs into Widmore. He won’t go inside because he had to sacrifice his relationship with Penny. She responds that she knows something about sacrifice, since she sent her son “back to the Island, knowing full well…” – Widmore cuts her off by reminding her that Faraday is his son too. Hey! My friend Becky called that one! Bonus points for her! So Faraday is Penny’s half-brother. Pretty neat, right?
Finally, back on the Island, Faraday heads straight into the Hostile camp. He raises a ruckus and demands to see Eloise. Our buddy Richard “Batmanuel” Alpert tries to talk him down. Strangely, he doesn’t seem to remember meeting Faraday 23 years earlier, but that might just be because he’s trying to keep everybody from finding out about time travel. Faraday asks for the bomb, and a shot rings out. Faraday’s been shot! By his own mother! As he’s dying, he tells her as much as he knows, and at the end, Faraday looks dead. No! I love Faraday! Come on Island, help a brother out!
And yes, this means that White Oracle knew all along that she shot a man claiming to be her son in 1977, and she spent this whole episode pushing him toward the Island. She had to make sure that what happened, happened. Even if it means killing her son. I’m pretty freaked out by the whole thing at this point.
