A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-14

“Do you have something for a beginner?”

BEST. LINE. EVER.

I stated the following in last week’s Revisited column regarding “The Incident” and the Oceanic survivors perhaps playing a part in the much alluded to event:

To me, that could easily mean that one of the Oceanic survivors-turned Dharma members meddles, perhaps in a failed attempt to prevent something catastrophic. Here's an idea: As Hurley noted last week, the Swan is responsible for their plane crashing. What if he uses the computer with the intention of destroying the hatch, but inadvertently causes the Incident instead? That seems perfectly plausible.

So let me go on record by stating that this is my official prediction to what causes the Incident. And, as also discussed in last week’s column, the Incident is what sends them back to the present day.

Click the "Read More" link for the full column.

Anyway, what a fun episode this was (well, aside from the ending). We got a whole lot of answers and explanations, as well as confirmations about many assumptions we’ve made throughout the season.

Let’s start with the now-confirmed assumptions: Ellie, the Other we met in the 50’s, is indeed Daniel’s mother. Additionally, in an eleventh hour reveal, Widmore is Daniel’s father (unless I misheard him).

Now onto the answers and explanations. First, why was Daniel crying when he was watching the news about the “Oceanic” crash? As we saw, his mind was a bit jumbled. I’m guessing that his consciousness that met the Oceanic survivors figured that they successfully prevented crashing onto the island (meaning his “variable” plan worked), but instead of landing safely in California, they ultimately got in a different accident that cost them their lives. This consciousness was mourning the loss of his friends. And that consciousness likely felt responsible as well. Of course, in “real time” he hasn’t actually met them yet, hence his confusion over why he is so upset.

There has also been this question of whether the Oceanic survivors ALWAYS went back in time and joined the Dharma Initiative, or if this is a new sequence of events that is integrating itself into the already determined future. I daresay that this episode answered that question as we learned that Daniel was pushed throughout his entire life, by both of his parents (verbally with his mother, monetarily with his father) to ultimately end up on the island. Eloise, in particular, seemed pained and uneasily, seemingly because she knows that, ultimately, her past self will kill him. As Daniel noted, “You knew this entire time.” So, from Eloise’s perspective, thirty years ago her son from the future attacked her base, held up Richard by gunpoint, forcing her to shoot and kill him. This episode suggested that this was always what happened, and not an altered chain of events, especially when you consider we witnessed two flashbacks that we’ve already seen (Daniel watching the news report on the Flight 815 crash and Daniel with Dr. Chang).

And about that ending. I have to admit that I saw it coming, although I was desperately hoping I would be wrong. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but feel like Daniel was doomed. I mean, he continuously made the point that any one of them can die, Eloise constantly reminded him that he doesn’t have much time, and it was one of those episodes where you could tell they were trying to tie up all of the character’s loose ends. The writing was on the wall, and I’m sad to see his character go. I hereby award you MVP of Season Five – perhaps the best season yet – Mr. Faraday.

I was very interested in Daniel’s interactions with the Others, however. While he retained his unique charm (like the quote above, and taking the time to apologize to Jack for being rude), Daniel seemed significantly more confident and cocksure than he’s ever been in the past. His interactions with Chang and even a young Charlotte exhibited an air of confidence that we haven’t seen from this character. I don’t think the Daniel Faraday of last season would have semi-successfully held up all of the Others.

One thing I did find curious, though, was that Richard didn’t remember Daniel. At first I figured it was because their interaction happened over twenty years ago, and it’s silly to figure that anybody would remember every single person they came across. But then, as I was writing this column, it occurred to me that, three years earlier, Richard told Sawyer that he remembered meeting Locke. Obviously that was a pretty significant day for Richard. As such, it’s pretty natural that he’d remember meeting three other people as well. In fact, I find it pretty strange that he wouldn’t remember the guy who instructed them how to resolve that little H-Bomb issue.

By the way, this episode will surely open up that whole paradox can of worms. Throughout his life, Daniel is urged by Eloise to focus on his work so that he can ultimately end up on the island, where he eventually goes in the past and is shot by her. Yet she only knows that he ends up on the island BECAUSE he goes to the past and is shot by her. So where does the cycle begin?

Moving onto the non-Daniel stuff…

I was a bit disappointed that Juliet deprived Kate (and the audience) from being forced to decide between Jack’s side and Sawyer’s side. I’ll admit that Sawyer wasn’t privy to what Kate’s life was like over the three years that she was off the island, but I quite enjoyed the fact that Jack intuitively knew why Kate came back (without actually saying so), while Sawyer was pretty oblivious.

Speaking of Sawyer, is his long hair covering the exceptionally short leash that Juliet has him on? Jack shows up at his home and is quickly turned away by Sawyer. Juliet says, “Tell him” and thirty seconds later Jack is inside and seeing a guy tied up in Sawyer’s closet. Then near the end of the episode Juliet completely defies Sawyer by telling Kate the gate code. Minutes later, Sawyer is affectionately holding her hand. Is LaFleur Cajun for “P-Whipped”?

Anyway, here are some questions to consider for next week’s Revisited column (e-mail me or simply comment on my blog):

Is the Incident the event that sends the Oceanic survivors back to the present day?

Are the Oceanic survivors directly responsible for the Incident?

Richard seemed awfully confident that Daniel wasn’t going to shoot him, how did he know?

Also, why didn’t Richard remember meeting Daniel?

What happened between Widmore and Eloise? They obviously grew distant during their time off the island. And Widmore does father a child with another woman.

For argument’s sake, if the Oceanic crew does prevent the hatch from being created, effectively stopping their plane from crashing, what happens to them? Do they disappear? Do they remain in the 70’s? Does the universe implode?

As always, feel free to send me your thoughts and theories on any other issues as well. See ya’ll next week!