Lost 5.14 The Variable

[selenak]

You know, I feel for Daniel fans, honestly I do, but hey, if my favourites (i.e. Locke and Ben) had to be used for cliffhangers in which they were shot and left for dead in the third season and this season respectively, I don't see why Mr. Farraday deserves special treatment. :)

Okay, seriously now, while I think Daniel does have a miraculous survival chance a la Locke and Ben - popular new character and all - I am evil enough to like it better if he were to genuinenly die, not almost die. Why? Because it would fit thematically so well. But to go back to the start.

Ever since Daniel revealed his mother's name was Eloise, which as attentive viewers know was also the name of his pet lab rat, one could suspect that Mr. Faraday, just for variation to everyone else on the island, doesn't have Daddy issues, he has Mommy issues. Young Ellie in The Jughead seemed a tough girl and Ms. Hawkings in the present is played by one of the most effortlessly impressive actresses out there, so this wasn't exactly surprising. However, parents issues on this show tend to go the range from sulking about lack of attention to full scale attempted or real infanticide/parricide. So the pay off was quite likely not to just that Mom was bossy. Another thing: this show's writers really like one of the scariest (to me) Old Testament stories, Abraham and Isaac, and if you know that other Abrams-originated show, Alias, you get an inkling of what that means. Now, let's check:

1) Locke and Boone
2) Ben and Alex
3) Eloise (and Charles Widmore) and Daniel, in combination with
4) Widmore and Penny

Locke and Boone was the first time this played out, and the most diffuse. Locke didn't know for sure what would happen to Boone, but due to his dreams he knew something would, he did not tell Boone, and with the temporary loss of his abilities to use his legs again, with the healing of the island instantly returning once Boone had fallen down, he made the direct corrolation between cause and effect here. It's very murky; he didn't push or something like that, but he did not warn, either, and clearly knows that he is on a moral level responsible, hence the vision early in s3. Also, the s1 episode in which this all happens, Deus Ex Machina, clearly parallels Locke and Boone in the present with a younger Locke and his father in the past.

Ben and Alex, the next time around this plays out, are still in murky territory as far as real world cause and effect is concerned. No, Ben didn't want her to die, and he was sure he had the situation in hand. But not only would Alex never have been in this position had he not made her his daughter, but he could have taken the most sure path to save her life and traded himself over to Keamy & Co., instead of gambling on his ability to manipulate even a hostage taker. Which is why this is one of the few things Ben genuinenly felt guilty about and wanted to be judged for.

Now, when Widmore says to Eloise that his relationship to Penny "was one of the things I had to sacrifice" this is already a preparation for the grand climax/revelation. Mind you, Eloise telling young Ben early on that he won't have time for hobbies or girlfriends, she wished he would have, but he won't, basically spells out she knows he's going to die young. What wasn't clear was that she was going to be directly responsible, not just indirectly by sending him to the island.

In the biblical story, of course, it all turns out to be a test of faith; Isaac does not really die. And it might very well be that the end result of this season will see the timeline genuinenly changed so that both Daniel and Charlotte are still alive. But right now, my story telling instinct goes with three for three, that Daniel will still be dead, though once Our Lot makes it back to the present they'll find out Charlotte is still alive due to whatever Daniel told her child self, this providing the irony that Daniel while unable to produce a big change still was able to produce an individual one, for one person. (Also, Charlotte died during the constant time shifts, i.e. when time was in flux, not during the "normal" timeline, which should make things easier.)

And while I'm guessing: either Dying!Daniel or Jack (who didn't have much to do this season and so needs some crucial action to perform due to his status in the credits) will in fact use the Hydrogen bomb on the Swan. But as opposed to what Daniel currently thinks, this will not have the effect of containing the energy etc., thus wiping out four and a half seasons of established continuity of this show; instead, it will jolt everyone who doesn't belong in the late 70s back to the present (including Sayid whose guilt-ridden whereabouts in the jungle are unknown). Oh, and of course Dr. Chang will evacuate at least some of the families from the island, thus explaining his separation from wife & son (he probably dies in the explosion); presumably the fact little Ben isn't back yet and Roger is busy drinking again will explaine why father and son Linus stay as opposed to Charlotte and her parents, but I am curious as to why baby Ethan also gets to stay, given Horace's position on the island. Also, the Dharma people will see everything that went down with the Castaways as something done by the Hostiles, thus ending the cold war/truce phase and getting into the genuine war that will end with the Purge.

The episode brings up the predestination versus free will question when it comes to time travel; I think what the entire season suggests is a middle way between DESTINY (tm) and the romantic idea of the individual changing everything. Sayid when shooting the child Ben tries to change his own life that way, but because of the means he chooses - attempted murder of a child who trusts him - he instead ensures his future career as an assassin, the very thing he wanted to avoid. And, like I said, I don't think the use of the Hydrogen Bomb will have the result Daniel hopes for at all; his armed intrusion to the Hostile's camp rather ensured his death at the hands of his mother. BUT on the other hand, Daniel's earlier attempt of changing the timeline in a non-violent way, by talking to Charlotte, might very well affect actual change. This will not save everyone who died on the island since, but it might save her.