[US/IRL] 5X14 - "The Variable" [ SPOILERS WITHIN ]

Sad Professor · 30-04-2009 02:03AM #1

- WARNING: THIS THREAD WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET SEEN "THE VARIABLE" -

Episode Title: "The Variable"
Airdate: April 29th 2009

Synopsis (from TV.Com):

The time of reckoning has begun when Daniel Faraday comes clean regarding what he knows about the island.

Next New Episode: 5X15 - May 6th 2009

SPOILER WARNING:

From now on, this thread shall reveal details of the episode mentioned above. If you have not yet seen this episode, please do not move any further down the thread.

This episode shall air on:

ABC (US) - April 29th 2009
RTÉ (IRL) - May 3rd 2009

If you are sure you have seen the episode as mentioned above (on the channels on those original airdates), you can move down further in order to discuss the episode.

Otherwise, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED - there shall be major plot details of the episode revealed and discussed below with no spoiler tags used!

whirlwind · 30-04-2009 02:11AM

6

well i had the death spoiled on me but i could see it coming when dan said any of us can die at the pylons.
i liked the style, where some scenes we had already seen were repeated and continued.
i do think this episode is laying the ground work for the finale. I liked it though
i wonder was this always the plan to kill dan off so soon. it seems rushed, i thought he would have a major part in the end game.
Just a thought but with 4 hours to the incident and 4 episodes to go i wonder will they be all real time like 24? just a guess

I gave it a 7 but want to change to 8 now i think about it, the ad breaks were annoying and i think that put be off a bit

W1llz0rz · 30-04-2009 02:18AM

6

It was pretty good, I thought it would be a lot better to be honest, but I still really enjoyed it. I've always wanted to see all the stuff about Dharma, ever since season two. They're just not as big of a mystery as I'd like them to be, or maybe they are and we just don't know it yet!

I just can't wait to see how it finishes, I know it will be crap having no more new episodes, but I just want to know!!!!

Sad Professor · 30-04-2009 02:19AM

7

This episode was further proof that time cannot be changed. And as I outlined in the time travel thread, trying to change it is often what causes everything to happen the way it does. But I like the way the writers have the characters fighting with this notion of fate. It's human nature to believe in free will.

Re: the ending, I'm sad but it seemed like the perfect ending for the character.

Only 3 episode left.

cooker3 · 30-04-2009 03:46AM

Wow. Dan is really dead?
I had no idea that was going to happen. If there was spoilers I avoided them. He was 1 of my favourite characters. Damn that saddens me.

Anima · 30-04-2009 03:51AM

8

Excellant stuff.

AlmightyCushion · 30-04-2009 03:59AM

Raging twitchy (lol at sawyer) is gone. I loved that guy.

abelard · 30-04-2009 08:34AM

8

Really enjoyed this one, sorry to see Daniel go as well though

So Eloise finds out she just killed her son, then shapes his whole life so he'll go back to the island and be at that spot so he can be killed by her ("again"). What a b**ch!

Was pretty surprised about what Widomre said - "he's my son as well". It's hard to read it any way but literally.

Will be interesting to see how the action at the barracks plays out, and whether the group will try to intervene in the Swan incident.

The whole idea of the causal loops has been central to this series, and the whole "you can't change the past" idea. I think though that at some stage, the writers will go with someone doing something that does in fact break all these loops. I think that might be what they're aiming at for the season finale, with the final season covering much of the fallout from this.

Handsome Bob · 30-04-2009 08:38AM

8

I was not expecting this episode to be the end of Daniel. If anything I thought it was going to lay the groundwork for Daniel being the instigator of getting everybody back to present day. I think it also really says a lot about Widmore and Hawking as people that they would willingly send their son to the island, knowing full well what would happen.

It was a great episode, but I can't help but feel let down. I thought "The Variable" was going to be Desmond, and I expected him to be an ever present in this episode, rather than just being a bit player. It really makes you wonder about what Des's real purpose is in all of this.

homerun_homer · 30-04-2009 09:50AM

8

Great episode and horrible to see this being the end of Daniel, he was a great character and I thought there would be much more to come with his story. I've just finished watching it and I'm trying to think of what the important things he contributed to the island/Losties/Others/Dharma that it was vital to send him back.
Jarhead would be a big one, but not sure how important til we see the end game.
Off island Dharma work may yet be revealed to be important.

laurashambles · 30-04-2009 09:55AM

7

I really wasn't expecting Daniel to bow out so soon.

I thought he was going to be there right up til the end! *cries bitter fangirl tears* I guess he's the major character death that's been looming all season then?

Saw the "Luke, I am your father" bit coming a mile off though.

Agamemnon · 30-04-2009 10:38AM

7

Very good ep, I was surprised by Twitchy's death. It's going to be difficult for Jack, Sawyer and pals to carry out Daniel's plan to stop The Incident now, unless they have access to the notes in his journal.

Although from Jack and Kate's conversation, some of them have doubts about trying to stop it at all. If they did manage to prevent The Incident, the plane won't crash, the Lost tv series will never exist, this forum will never be created and we'll all get some of our lives back to waste on something else. :eek:

I knew the nuke would make another appearance and it ties in nicely to Season 2, when Sayid was exploring the Hatch and he remarked that Chernobyl was the only other place he'd heard of that used that much concrete. I think the nuke will be used at the end of the season - it'll be hard for the writers to resist using something like that for the finale. But I can't see them preventing The Incident with it - that would lead to huge changes in the timeline and a radically altered final season. Then again, it might be an interesting direction to take: none of the characters would know each other but some of them (Desmond and Locke?) feel that something is wrong and things aren't the way they're supposed to be...

homerun_homer · 30-04-2009 11:03AM

8

The whole changing what happened thing, if the writers go through with it then it may throw up loads of holes in the plot and time travel theories but as ever I look forward to see how it will all pan out.
If they could change the past so that 815 doesn't crash that means Kate goes to jail, Jack is still a moany, wreckhead with Daddy issues, Hurley will still have a miserable life believing he is cursed by the numbers, Sun may eventually run away from Jin, Charlie will have his heroin addiction which may end up killing him (fate), Rose will die of cancer, Locke will still be in a wheelchair living an uninspired & unmotivated life, Sawyer will keep on being the con-man, Des will keep hitting that button until he kills himself (no Locke banging the hatch to inspire him to keep going), and the island would be destroyed (that good or bad thing? we've yet to know).

Sayid may be the only one who comes out good from it all, tracking down his love and her not getting killed by Ben or whoever took her out.

eddiehead · 30-04-2009 12:41PM

I'm just curious to find out what cause could be so important that Hawking (& Widmore apparrently) would knowingly send their son to his death.

homerun_homer · 30-04-2009 01:18PM

8

eddiehead wrote: »

I'm just curious to find out what cause could be so important that Hawking (& Widmore apparrently) would knowingly send their son to his death.

Indeed. The burial of Jughead being the one huge contribution I can think of but apart from that could they not have tried to alter fate, write a note in his journal to wear a bullet proof vest or something

Also it bugs me that the Others didn't see/hear them coming. they are normally 2 steps ahead of everyone with knowing who is near and what is going on.

_JOE_ · 30-04-2009 01:40PM

8

Did anyone see the relevance of the images depicted on Dan's journal?

gearstick · 30-04-2009 03:41PM

8

anyone think maybe the nuke will cause the incident rather than prevent it, as this would tie in with the whole 'you cant change the past' and by trying to prevent something you end up causing it?

homerun_homer · 30-04-2009 03:56PM

8

gearstick wrote: »

anyone think maybe the nuke will cause the incident rather than prevent it, as this would tie in with the whole 'you cant change the past' and by trying to prevent something you end up causing it?

Nah, then they'll all die and no one would be able to live on the island for years because of the nuclear fallout.

Edit: Well that is to assume you meant the Nuke exploding.

Tragamin2k2 · 30-04-2009 04:06PM

6

How come the series 2 finale with the button not being pushed and desmond turning the key wasnt as catastrophic as they are making the hatch problem out to be?

doonothing · 30-04-2009 04:07PM

6

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Raging twitchy (lol at sawyer) is gone. I loved that guy.

I breezed into this thread yesterday, dunno why, and saw this comment briefly and took it to mean that Sawyer was gonna die! Cue me sitting grumpily through the episode waiting for it to happen, Dan's death completely caught me off guard!

Alright episode... Delighted Sawyer's not dead, though the more I think about it, that was never gonna happen

Niall0 · 30-04-2009 04:18PM

8

Tragamin2k2 wrote: »

How come the series 2 finale with the button not being pushed and desmond turning the key wasnt as catastrophic as they are making the hatch problem out to be?

if he didnt turn the key something worse probably would have happened, not really sure what turning the key actually did though (besides give desmond superpowers)
good episode saw the widmore being dans father thing coming for a while, seems to confirm that the past is the past, if they stopped the plane crashing it just wouldnt make any sense.

So what about that comic con vid with miles' dad and faraday when did that happen?

Maybe they will heal daniel like they did Ben?

Sad Professor · 30-04-2009 04:20PM

7

There's no way the island could survive the detention of a hydrogen bomb. But "Chekhov's Gun" demands that the "Jughead" has to go off eventually. However, I reckon it is being saved for the end of next season.

Tragamin2k2 wrote:

How come the series 2 finale with the button not being pushed and desmond turning the key wasnt as catastrophic as they are making the hatch problem out to be?

We never got to see the full meltdown because Desmond turned the fail-safe key which had the effect of "blowing the damn" and sealing off the electromagnetism again. Why Dharma didn't do this in the first place I don't know.

[-0-] · 30-04-2009 05:00PM

9

Great episode. Very sad to see Daniel gone as he was a great character, and the Daniel-centric episodes were all about cool stuff like time travel and finding out more about the Island, Widmore, et al.

The whole time travel thing is insane... if Daniel's mother knew she was going to kill him by sending him back, then this is not the first time she has killed him, and she didn't tell him about it or try to prevent it from happening "because it all happens for a reason".

I'm pretty sure when she said "If you don't go back terrible things will happen" meant that she would never have killed Daniel and none of this would have happened either. If they didn't go back to the Island, they never would have crashed in the first place.

This really leads me to think that the last episode of Season 6 will be them crashing on the Island.

tony1kenobi · 30-04-2009 10:10PM

Niall0 wrote: »

Maybe they will heal daniel like they did Ben?

That's what I was thinking. It was all very abrupt for him to just be dead. Young Dan didn't remotely resemble Big Dan so young Ellie must have enough information when Dan is a nipper to believe his fate is sealed. I don't think Jack and Kate are informed enough to convince her, nor do I think they would bother given they are a pair of self involved testicles.

EDIT: Scrap all of that, I forgot Dan had a very descriptive journal.......except the bit about Jack and Kate being plums......I don't think Dan qualified that, it's my original opinion.

L31mr0d · 30-04-2009 10:17PM

6

maybe I missed it... but why was Faraday crying about the plane on the TV? Was there any relevance to that or was it just because his head was messed up?

Also, I'm liking Hurley more and more this season, he's become the voice of the audience imo. Asking the questions and making the comments the viewer is more than likely saying. Like in this episode when he said going back to the mainland would be "wishy washy". It was exactly what I was thinking when they mentioned leaving on the sub.

pickarooney · 30-04-2009 10:25PM

5

I cried tears of joy when the mumbling twunt finally got what was coming to him. The episode was pretty much ruined by having to rewind every two minutes and explain to the missus what horse**** Twitchy had just muttered into his ridiculous beard.

Now, just bring back Sayeed for the last few episodes and we're sorted.

tony1kenobi · 30-04-2009 11:08PM

pickarooney wrote: »

I cried tears of joy when the mumbling twunt finally got what was coming to him. The episode was pretty much ruined by having to rewind every two minutes and explain to the missus what horse**** Twitchy had just muttered into his ridiculous beard.

Now, just bring back Sayeed for the last few episodes and we're sorted.

You should get a new bird....you'd be far more relaxed.

User45701 · 30-04-2009 11:18PM

1

wow - im alone on this one

Not great at all - twas a decent episode and then it got ruined tward the end with danials plan - good plan and all makes sense logical but the charactors on lost have always been relativity consistent. Kate is still the same person she was when she got on the plan, the time since then on the island and all the events have have changed her perceptions but she cant have changed that much. When he explained his plan to jack and kate, i was expecting kate to flip out perhaps even shoot him in the leg to stop him - She would still be with the federal martial and be spending time in jail.

No reason she would want that - shes started a new life and probally does not want to return to her old one

oh wait in my rambling i just realised she was one of the survivors - how come she didnt have to go to jail?

Mr.Nice Guy · 30-04-2009 11:26PM

7

A pretty good if unspectacular episode. I liked the ending which as has been said was a fitting way to kill off the character.

I suspect Miles may end up having to collect Daniel's body in order to continue his plan. This would mean he'll have to confront Dr Chang.

purple_hatstand · 30-04-2009 11:42PM

Can't believe everybody thinks Dan is dead. The hostiles have 'powers' for healing these kinds of things and......so what if he's dead? So was Locke. This is LOST, remember? He could have travelled back in time again already....maybe. Is Desmond immortal?

Shryke · 30-04-2009 11:51PM

8

Another brilliant episode. It's shocking how much I missed Lost. It's one of the only shows currently airing that I genuinely look forward to every single week and this season has been supurb.
It really is too bad that Daniel died. I had the sense that someone would as Dan, Kate and Jack discussed it. I was hoping Kate would be the one to bite the bullet though.
Still, it's Lost, so maybe he's not quite dead. Chances are he is though. Very tragic stuff. What can you say about the mother? For the minute I'm just going to call her 'nutbag'. We'll see how her character progresses, if she features at all now that her son has been removed. I doubt she'll have too much more of a role in the show but again, you never know. I thought Dan would be in it much longer.

[US/IRL] 5X14 - "The Variable" [ SPOILERS WITHIN ]

What did you think of "The Variable"? 148 votes

Comments

[US/IRL] 5X14 - "The Variable" [** SPOILERS WITHIN **]

What did you think of "The Variable"? 148 votes

Comments

[US/IRL] 5X14 - "The Variable" [ SPOILERS WITHIN ]