S4 E5 The Constant

Wow, what an episode! That was my all time favorite episode! It had all my favorite components: time travel, Desmond, Penny and Desmond storyline, many clues to Lost’s mysteries, and several Easter eggs.

Best lines of the episode were when Desmond and Penny said "I love you!" simultaneously. I have to admit, I cried some tiny tears with them.

Let’s start with the time travel. Obviously, Desmond was not experiencing the traditional flashbacks or flash forwards. People online are calling it a “flash-through” where his conscious mind from 1996 was toggling back and forth between 1996 and 2004. This is the opposite of what he did in Season 3 “Flashes Before Your Eyes” when his 2004 conscious mind went back to his taking-a-picture-with-Penny past. Many people are pointing to “The Orchid” orientation video to explain what happened to Desmond. (If you’ve never seen it, shame on you and click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bTvAUVPyLI) But the rabbits in the video are traveling with their whole bodies, not just their minds. So I don’t think it’s the same thing.

By the way, the producers have hinted that we should all re-watch “The Orchid” and refresh our memory to prepare for an upcoming episode.

According to Daniel, there are two conditions necessary to bring on the time travel side-effects: 1) travel to or from the island on the wrong course and 2) intense exposure to radiation or electromagnetism. We all know that Desmond was exposed to electromagnetism both by living at The Swan Station for three years and being at ground zero when it imploded. So this explains why he was the only person on the helicopter affected.

But this got me wondering about a couple things. Could this be why the Others travel by submarine? Since water is thicker than air and less effected by changing weather, it would be easier to travel to the island at the correct course or angle. Also, all this talk of “side-effects” and “sickness” reminds me of Rousseau and her team. Could this be why she was the only member of her team not to get “sick?” They were on a science expedition, so it could be that the nature of their work dealt with radiation. Danielle was pregnant when they crashed on the island so it’s possible she had not participated in the work which would expose her unborn baby to radiation.

We received another big clue about time. The calendar on the boat showed that it was December 24, 2004. There are many websites where people have kept track of how many days and nights have passed since the first episode (September 22, 2004.) They all agreed that, when the helicopter left the island, it was very close to Christmas. This means that time on the island is ticking at the same speed as time in the real world thus, shooting down the theories that island time is slower than in the real world. I think this means there is some sort of curtain, or barrier around the island and only the things that pass through it incorrectly get displaced in time or space (or both.)

I can report that the grafts, equations, etc. in Daniel’s notebook and on his chalkboard are actual concepts and time travel theories. But don’t ask me what they mean. It’s all over my head.

The Auction, at first glance, may have seemed simply to be a scene about Desmond meeting up with Penny’s father, Charles Widmore. That scene, however, had a whole bunch of clues to the greater mythology of Lost. Here are the facts: the lot he was bidding on included the portrait of the Black Rock and a journal, the only artifact from that ship after it was lost at sea. The journal, written by the ship’s first mate, was being sold by Tovard Hanso. Here are the clues: the Black Rock is the old slave ship on the island (strangely, in the middle of the jungle.) Magnus Hanso was the Captain of that ship and believed to be buried on the island. Magnus’ grandson is Alvar Hanso, CEO of the Hanso Foundation, which was the financial backing for the Dharma Initiative. At this time, it is unclear who Tovard Hanso is, but it a safe assumption he’s related. This leads us to several questions. Why, after keeping the contents of the journal hidden for so long, is Tovard selling it to the highest bidder? Is there information about the island’s location written in the journal? Why does Charles Widmore want it? Are Widmore and Hanso rivals?

One more interesting fact from the auction: the next lot up for sale was something owned by Charles Dickens. Desmond has read all of Charles Dickens’ work except for one book, Our Mutual Friend, which he plans to read when he knows he will soon die.

“The Numbers” were all over this episode. (Here is your cheat sheet if you don’t know them by heart: 4 8 15 16 23 42) The number on the helicopter was 842. The Black Rock painting was auction lot #2342. Daniel told Desmond to tell Daniel to set the machine at 2.342. The time difference that Desmond kept jumping was 8 years. Penny’s new flat was #423. Penny’s phone number, sadly, did not contain the numbers (7946 0893). Neither did Widmore’s auction paddle (755).

I find it amazing that we actually got scenes of the freighter and yet, know nothing about the crew of “Not Penny’s Boat.” The two men we met are named Keamy and Omar. I have not found anything significant about those names or Keamy’s tattoos. As for the rest of the crew, we know one of them is “Ben’s Man,” we know someone made mincemeat out of the communications room, and we know someone opened the door for Desmond and Sayid. These could all be the same person, or three different people. I am leaning toward it being two people. Cutting off communication with the outside world is something Ben has done several times, so that is probably the work of his spy. But it doesn’t make sense why that same person would help Desmond “phone home.” My guess is that Frank Lipidis, the helicopter pilot, opened the door since he already helped them in other ways.

Next week’s episode it named “The Other Woman” and is Juliet-centric. Here is the description from abc.com:
Juliet receives an unwelcome visit from someone from her past and is given orders to track down Charlotte and Faraday in order to stop them from completing their mission -- by any means necessary. Meanwhile, Ben offers Locke an enticing deal.

Namaste!
V