'Lost': Doing the unstuck

February 28, 08:43 PM

Before delving too deeply into the implications of tonight's episode, "The Constant," let us first take a moment to marvel at the euphoric catharsis that was the conversation between Penelope and Desmond near the end of this mind-blowing episode. That, gentle readers, is why I love Lost. The show has its mythology, and that's great. It's got its mysteries, and that's great. It had to good sense to quickly kill off Nikki and Paolo, and that's particularly great. But in the end, without strong relationships between its characters, Lost would simply be another genre show, one of many. The impact and emotion of that phone call shows why Lost stands so far and above just about anything else currently on air.

There's more to be said on matters of the heart, but for the time being, let us turn to time itself. As Boy George once pontificated, "Time is precious, I know." And that man knew from once he spoke. Our favorite brutha Desmond found himself unstuck in time, just like Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel Slaughterhouse-Five. (In case you didn't get the connection, the show went and called Desmond's army buddy Billy for good measure.) This episode shed a lot of light on the actions in "Flashes Before Your Eyes," in that Desmond himself doesn't physically time-travel: only his consciousness does.

We learned this thanks to the 1996 version of Daniel Faraday, residing at Oxford with experiments inspired by his namesake and a haircut inspired by a Joshua Tree-era Bono. Desmond visited him after 2004 Faraday instructed Des to visit him in Oxford, equipped with numbers and names to convince 1996 Faraday of Desmond's situation. And if that sentence was hard to read, you can only imagine how hard it was for me to type. (Least this sheds light on why Desmond ended up in military prison as seen at the end of Season 2: dude went AWOL to find Faraday. Awesome.)

Turns out, as widely suspected, that when the Swan went kablooey, Desmond's mind was bombarded with enough electromagnetism to cause his consciousness to move back and forth in time. And Des is far from the only one. Turns out the barely seen Minkowski decided to go for a joyride from the freighter along with another crew-member and got caught a case of cottage cheese brain for his troubles. And Faraday himself: well, we know now the reason for Charlotte's memory test last week. Kudos to all of you who saw it for what it was while I went to the top of Boston's highest peak (elevation: 14 feet) and shouted, "It's ESP! ESP!" until a cop in Southie threatened to make me gone, baby, gone.

And Faraday. What can you say about him? Is it too early to call "Rookie of the Year" quite yet? Because he's got my vote. His own brain is addled thanks to years of experiments more than likely spurned on by his encounter with Desmond. And what a masterstroke of the show avoid the inherent "How did Faraday not remember meeting Desmond before seeing him on the Island?" by using the constant exposure to radiation throughout the years as a way to explain his memory loss. Absolutely fantastic.

And let's look for a moment, if we can, at the numbers involved in Faraday's successful experiment with Eloise: 2.342, running at 11 hertz. We've got two of The Numbers right there, with 23 and 42, and the "11" derives from subtracting two other Numbers from each other (15 and 4). Yes, the show tends to drop the Numbers in scenes as Easter eggs, meant to do nothing more than make fans or, say, people who write Lost recaps, to stand up and say, "Egads, perchance I espy one of the Numbers! Gertrude, more pie, if you please!" So I understand why you might be rolling my eyes at my attempt to derive some significance here.

But in this case, I think the fact that these numbers worked in sending Eloise's mind into the future not only suggests why Faraday is crying upon seeing the wreckage of Oceanic 815, but is the very reason Abaddon (or Abaddon's boss) chose him to travel to the Island. In the first case, his radiation-addled mind can't make a direct connection to the crash, but his subconscious still can. And in the second case, word of his research could have reached Abaddon's ears, and the commonality of numbers could have piqued his interest.

(In any event, the main takeaway lesson here? If you're going to repeatedly attempt to send a field mouse into the future, wear a helmet. Just good common sense for all you kids out there.)

Speaking of Abaddon's boss, hi, Charles Widmore! Nice to see ya, paying a hefty sum in 1996 for the only extant journal from the long-lost Black Rock. And no, in case you're wondering if you've missed something, the Widmore-Abaddon connection is purely theoretical at this point, although it's far from a horrible guess. This little auction scene went a long way in shoring up my theory that the freighter is in fact working under the guise of the Widmore Corporation, built by Paik Heavy Industries (owned by Sun's father), in cooperation with the remnants of the Hanso Foundation. (For more on this, be sure to follow this link and read my initial formulation, made before Season 4 started.)

Widmore's buying of the journal signals a deep interest in the Black Rock: more importantly, any clues as to its navigational records. What we see in this auction, exhibited by the exorbitant price paid for the journal, is a man keen on finding the Island. He would have undoubtedly preferred to locate it on his own, but easily has the means with which to purchase the journal at auction. (I do wonder if anyone else in that auction house will have ramifications in the world of Lost.) Having obtained that journal, Widmore could finally achieve what until then had been the impossible: locating the Island. The Freighter itself is the result of the work jump started the day in which Widmore purchased that journal.

Now that we're back to the Freighter, let's talk about that calendar, shall we?

According to the calendar in the communications room, it's December 24, 2004. That doesn't surprise Sayid in the slightest, except for him remarking that he didn't realize it was so close to Christmas. The fact that the background of the calendar featured a tropical setting made me think, "OK, this is just a calendar to show what time the people on the Island think it is." I thought it either might be a cheat sheet or a way to screw with the heads of anybody from the Island who got off.

But that's not quite right, is it? It seems clear the majority of the people on the freighter are COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT that Oceanic 815ers have landed on the Freighter. So, having a calendar in a room not intended for outside observers seems a bit weird. More to the point, Desmond calls Penelope on the exact day as he promised: Christmas Eve, 2004. We know this to be true because there she was, all decked out in holiday gear, in front of a Christmas Tree, and saying nothing like, "Why are you calling me in the year 2012, Desmond?" Then again, she might have said that: my sobs were drowning out the dialogue somewhat.

Then there's the problem of Faraday's rocket and Lapidus' helicopter. Faraday's rocket, if you remember, arrived roughly 31 minutes later (31 being, of course, 15+16...OK, OK, I'll stop bringing up the Numbers) than it should have. From Island perspective, the helicopter than should have taken 20 minutes to land took more than a day. From helicopter perspective, the trip DID take roughly that long, but they left at sunset and arrived seemingly mid-day. I quickly looked at the diagram listed in Faraday's journal for advice and/or answers, but at some point blood started to come out of MY nose, and decided to leave the heavy physics to those more equipped to explain to inference of all these events.

Then again, all of these discrepancies could be what freaks Faraday out so much. Remember: as a scientist, he would be looking to design and conduct experiments in which he could consistently achieve the same results. And yet, his life's work yielded nothing but differing results, driving him batty (both literally and figuratively). Perhaps such inconsistencies mark the danger not only of traveling to and from the Island, but perhaps also with the Orchid Station itself, a station that looks to make its grand appearance in the show next week.

The Orchid Station, for those of who that haven't heard of it, is a new station introduced by the producers of Lost at Comi-Con last year, and seems to involve not only the mental, but physical act of time travel. This physical act, however, it not without peril, and not without surprise.

In the orientation video, the scientist formerly known as Marvin Candle shows up, holding a white rabbit with the number 15 written on its side. (Much like Ben's White Rabbit #8, suggesting Ben's well acquainted with the Orchid.) Halfway through the Orchid orientation video, a second White Rabbit #15 appears, and the whole scene breaks down into the type of chaos normally reserved for opening night of a Hannah Montana tour. See for yourself.

In this video, Candle (or Edgar Halowax, as he calls himself) refers to something called the Casimir effect. I won't purport to understand 10% of that link, but the bit about wormholes and faster than light travel sure caught my eye. What about the Orchid's research is so unstable? Was it created based on theoretical applications of the Island's unique properties? Is Ben using the Orchid for his worldly travels? So many questions, and in Faraday, we potentially have a source for answers. And I like answers. I'm a fan of them, you could say.

But as stated at the beginning, none of this Casimir effect mumbo jumbo would mean a thing if we didn't give a damn about Desmond and Penelope, and I give as much of a damn as Rhett Butler doesn't. I was frankly shocked to see them make any type of "real world" connection this early in the show (I had that pegged as a Season 6 activity), but in that they still have a long way to go before truly meeting again, I marveled at this conversation as a way for these two to steel themselves up for the last, and most difficult, part of their journey back towards each other. I've said it before, and having this episode, I feel it more strongly than ever: these two are the romantic heart of the show. Sorry, but for having had such little screen time together, it's nothing short of a miracle on behalf of both the actors and writers to construct a relationship that anchors the actions of everyone else in the Lost universe. And it puts the squabbles over time travel, wormholes, and electromagnetic anomalies into their proper context.

Five things that I noticed, couldn't jam into the recap, but wanted to note:

The doctor on board the freighter? Named Ray. Could this be the "RG" listed on Naomi's bracelet?
Notice all those security cameras on board the freighter? Remind anyone of similar cameras already seen on the show, say, in New Otherton?
Did they really hire Fischer Stevens for essentially two voice-overs and a few scenes in this episode? That's it? Is this karmic payback for going ahead and doing the sequel to Short Circuit without the involvement of the legendary Steve Gutenberg? (There better be a flashback involving Minkowksi, and soon.)
The friend on the boat that opened the door? Probably the one that also destroyed all the equipment. And probably Ben's man on the boat. (After all, we know Ben's a fan of jamming communication to the outside world.) I think we all know this person's identity at this point, correct?
Desmond is Faraday's constant? Damn. I was all out of Kleenex after the phone call. Unfair, Lost. Unfair.

OK, now that I've had my lengthy say: now it's your turn! What did you make of Desmond's travels through time? What exactly is the Freighters' main objective? And what would you use as your constant should you find yourself exposed to an electromagnetic anomaly? And be sure to check out more news, theories, and insight over at Zap2It's Guide to Lost.

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude.

in ABC , Lost

Permalink

Comments (125)

TrackBack (0)

Comments

My mind is still a bit addled by the show. Wow. Just wow. Best episode this year. As soon as I get my bearings straight and take some advil to stop the headache ... maybe I can think of something to say.

Freighters main objective? Outside of Ben that is? Seems more like a scout team now within the context.

I am very curious at the dynamics between Penny and Pops. How is she able to make these calls to the ship? Maybe Pops spilled the beans to her.

And if I was time traveling and needed a constant ... outside of family, I'd say my cat. Lame, I know. She's been with me for 7 years now, though.

Tony | Feb 28, 2008 8:56:20 PM | #

WOO HOO!!! i get to post first! sniffle...snarfle...

i would like to begin by apologozing for everything i said about Darlton. that last scene was one of the most beautifully acted and written things i've seen on TV since John from Cincinnati's fabulous monologue. ryan, you know the one i'm talkin' about.

not only was this an emotionally packed episode, it was an informative one. so we have offifical comfirmation of time working differently on island vs. off. AND we were told that time-travelling does not move your physical body, but transports your conciousness. if i'm interpreting it correctly, i guess your "future mind" goes and jumps in your "past body" and you go from there which is why Des doesn't recognize anybody on the boat because his past mind went to his future body???? ok, my nose just started bleeding and i'm fresh out of kleenex.

mri | Feb 28, 2008 9:01:24 PM | #

I'm thinking way too hard about this. I gotta stop. Short of it is, time travel is tough to do (explain show wise that is ... not real life). I keep wondering what happened to the alternate timeline then. Because how would final Faraday know Desmond, but early show Faraday have to send Desmond back, for Desmond to meet Faraday? Or something like that.

Or is the implication that the Faraday we find on the island at the end of the episode a different one ... than the one that landed? If that's the case, what dynamics brought a similar conclusion to a different timeline? What were the previous dynamics that brought this same conclusion?

I think Faraday badly needs a flashback. The rest of the freighters ... don't really need it. Maybe Miles Straum. But I think Faraday needs one soon. Just too intriguing of a character.

Now, if I stopped to think about it so heavily, then yes, it's one heck of an episode.

Btw, love Sonya Walger. I remember her in Sleeper Cell, amongst others. tough way for her to end in that show. Guess the T: TSCC is a very part time gig.

Thinking way too hard about this | Feb 28, 2008 9:06:10 PM | #

Awesome episode and great recap Ryan. One thing I still don't get:
The woman in the ring store who told Desmond that he is not suppose to buy the ring but instead leave and go on the boat race. If you understand that scene please explain, b/c I still don't get it.
Was she unstuck too or something?

Dean | Feb 28, 2008 9:21:54 PM | #

Couldn't agree more about the emotional pull of that final scene - it was a brilliant "Lost" moment.

Couple things:

- Interesting background info on the Black Rock. We know it was bound for Siam (Thailand), lost in 1845, and that the journal turned up 7 years later in Madagascar. And the family selling it? Hanso. Presumably this is what sparked the Hanso interest in the island? (And apologies if this is info already given out in the ARGs; I haven't followed them diligently).

- If Faraday needs a "constant," does that mean he had a caretaker because he was blacking out and getting unstuck in time?

- Glad that the show has established that we're still in 2004. While that raises questions about just who's capable of staging a massive plane crash in such a short time and how Lapidus established his shop in the Caribbean so quickly, I think it makes sense. For all the ducking and weaving "Lost" has done, and whatever the time anomaly on the island is, it just feels right to me that the islanders are still more or less on the same timeline as the rest of their world.

rick | Feb 28, 2008 9:25:17 PM | #

Dean: I actually addressed your concern on the Lost blog yesterday.

http://blog.zap2it.com/lost/2008/02/lost-wish-lists.html

Rick: one thing I've been mulling...there's always a possibility that wreckage was pre-staged. It was there, in place, BEFORE Oceanic 815 left Sydney.

I won't pretend to fully understand how all the timelines work, but between the calendar and Penny seeming to confirm Desmond being gone for 3 years, it's more likely that the wreck was pre-staged than it being constructed in the time after Sept. 24, 2004.

Unless there's a new wrinkle the show hasn't unveiled yet.

In related news, I need a drink. A big drink.

Ryan | Feb 28, 2008 9:29:26 PM | #

Without even reading the blog post and the other comments I just needed to get this off my chest as quickly as possible - THIS FOLKS is BY FAR the best episode of the entire series.
I am so completely in awe in regards to the creative talent of the writers I cannot even put that in words.
Maybe a bit strange but I just feel great being part of this experience in terms of having watched each ep over the years. And now this! Not only is season 4 easily the best season but this ep (I am about to repeat myself to some extend) feels like the culmination point. How can it get any better than tonight?

Now I gotta get some sleep since I am in Germany and just stayed awake to watch it - no regrets - simply put superb entertainment.

TillmanZ | Feb 28, 2008 9:34:19 PM | #

If it's still 2004 I wonder how they're going to explain Walt's dramatic increase in size.
I'm sure they have an answer though. They seem to have direction and are following through nicely. So far.

Awesome ep, best of year!

D | Feb 28, 2008 9:34:30 PM | #

My random thought on Walt is that I wonder if maybe the Walt we see now is one that comes back in time? I guess Michael's episode should give clarity on how they wish to pursue that. But Walt was a "special" kid from the start. Remember the whole bug or bird thing? Memory's shoddy now, but in the first flashback, when his step-father got all worried and creeped out by him.

Tony | Feb 28, 2008 9:39:04 PM | #

I am EXTREMELY happy that we got the time difference thing settled. Now let's all be friends, ok?

In my own opinion, this Desmond episode TRUMPS "Flashes Before Your Eyes" by a HUNDRED! It was more plausible, more understandable and gave a lot of answers that the fans have been looking for. "FBYE" was too much of a doozy that I can't understand myself to this day. especially the whole Ms. Hawkins bit. Ryan, didn't you say that Widmore had interest in Hanso or did I read that somewhere else? I can't remember because Lost-based information has been coming at me at all corners recently. Other than that this was one of the best and great performances all around. And based on the previews, all hell is going to break loose... The mysterious person who opened the door? How many more think it was Michael?!?!?!!

Mark O. Estes | Feb 28, 2008 9:44:55 PM | #

I'm not willing to throw in the "one day on the Island=one day off the Island" towel just yet. I don't think the show's shown its full hand in terms of how time works.

In the meantime, Des/Penny? You complete me.

And Mark: you get Lost info from someplace else other than here? For shame! And follow the link in the recap for Widmore/Hanso connections.

Ryan | Feb 28, 2008 9:47:48 PM | #

Ryan, why not? If they didn't smack it over our heads enough tonight I don't know what else they could do...

Mark O. Estes | Feb 28, 2008 9:49:12 PM | #

Mark: because of Walt. Because of Richard Alpert. Because of the four-toed statue. Because of the rocket. Because of the chopper. Because the Orchid Station may blow everything we know out of the water.

Ryan | Feb 28, 2008 9:52:53 PM | #

I saw a possible Final Theory tonight: Ben Linus is trying to PREVENT Hanso/Dharma from changing the Valenzetti variables. He knows part of the Secret Of The Island... but not the full thing, as mothers still die there. We also know Sayid; Ben must have given him a DARN good reason to start shooting people. My theory: Ben is the Good Guy, the anti-hero using emotional manipulation and underhanded means to Save Humanity.

Mothers die on the island because there IS a virus, and THAT'S how Dharma will change the Valenzetti variables. Only the Island can save us now, and its current Shaman is the fat guy with bad luck.

Oh boy.

BlueNight | Feb 28, 2008 9:54:32 PM | #

I think Richard Alpert is the victim of being a human lab rat. Remember in the LOST Experience they mentioned the ape, Joop, who couldn't age? I think that Dharma began to do tests on humans and those humans were the natives of the island which would make sense for them to constantly attack the Dharma camp because they were hurting their people. I think Richard Alpert is just the side effect of what happened. As for Walt, if Darlton and JJ use time difference to explain Walt's growth then to me that's a cop out and its too far fetched. Remember when you got out for summer and half of your classmates had growth spurts during the summer? I would use that rather than say time difference because it has been two and a half months since the Losties have seen Walt... If he was constantly with him they wouldn't know the difference, but a few months apart can make someone look mighty different. Especially if you aren't really or haven't been around them all the time.

Mark O. Estes | Feb 28, 2008 10:14:31 PM | #

i havent read the whole post but im here commenting on the PEN-DES Scene! THAT WAS THE MOST POWERFUL TWO MINUTES OF THE SHOW EVER!

i was crying buckets. literally. it wasnt cheesy. it just felt so natural. it was like im just sooooo happy for them. i felt like des and pen were family.

okay. im gathering myself now. some theories and high points as well as read the blog to follow.

james | Feb 28, 2008 10:15:12 PM | #

I agree about the whole Pen/Des thing James and I smell an Emmy. If they don't give LOST an Emmy after what we have seen so far this season then someone needs to be shot and pronto.

Mark O. Estes | Feb 28, 2008 10:24:51 PM | #

im rewatching the show. with mom this time.

james | Feb 28, 2008 10:30:44 PM | #

im still gathering thoughts notes for my "official" post BUT

two points
1) i seriously need to be watching lost with you. you are so nutzzz and soooo good at analyzing the show. YOU are my CONSTANT!

2) who would have thunk that LOST can insert TIME TRAVEL to the show soooo smoothly. at least for now, the time travel thing is the best physically "possible" out of all the theories presented in any other movie or show. the whole minkowski-newtonian model of time travel added a certain authenticity to the show's attempt at the time travel plot.

with this episode, i am totally relieved that JOURNEYMAN has been cancelled because my new JOURNEYMAN is DESMOND.

JMan was dramatic at time but that one final scene bested Jman's season.

it was funny how i had time travel continuum questions as i was watching the show and i was crossing them out because they were being answered as the show progressed. wonderful. the episodes are more fulfilling now in a sense that there is a sense of closure to it.

james | Feb 28, 2008 10:42:23 PM | #

Holy shiznit! This was such an amazing episode! I have to admit I was a little concerned after the opening and thought it would be a repeat of Flashes b4 your eyes which I liked but didn't want to see again. But this episode had everything like Ryan said. And the scene between Des/Penny - both actors and writers deserve some awards - all that emotion and over the phone not even face to face. You totally buy that they haven't seen in each other in 3 years. Plus, I was already getting teary with the phone ringing and Pen not answering, I thought he was going to miss her like in the looking glass.

Anyway, my nose is totally bleeding too. I have no idea what to actually make of everything now. Does seem like it is 2004 (although if 815ers have been on the island exactly 100 days it should be New Year's Eve, not Christmas Eve) on the freighter, yet we now know for sure that something with time is off. I knew it wouldn't be as simple as the freighters being in 2008, this is LOST, they lead you so far but you still can't figure it all out! However, it would appear that time moves Faster on Island, then off since a half hour helicopter ride seemed to be a full day to the island folk. But if that's true then how is the date correct on the freighter? Dan said their "perception" of time is wrong, not necessarily that time was moving differently. This issue seems separate from Des' consciousness jumping.

Still, like a couple others have posted, I don't quite understand how this all works, especially since we know Des/Penny communicated b4 he left for the race around the world (the scene b4 Des goes into the stadium and meets Jack, Penny shows up and it is very soon b4 the race around the world which he left for in 2001.) So, did Penny already know about this exchange in 1996 during this 2001 stadium convo?? Or because it is Des' consciousness and "you can't change the future" according to Daniel that those events only happened to bring Des' mind back and those events didn't really happen that way? If I think anymore about it I will end up like Minkowski!

Craig M | Feb 28, 2008 10:43:18 PM | #

i was referring to you RYAN with my last post item number 1.

answer this my friend: WHAT DO WE CALL THE FLASH thinggies in this episode OFFICIALL?

flash forward? flash back? flash forward in flash back's body? vice versa? (grabs kleenex, nose bleed again)

james | Feb 28, 2008 10:46:06 PM | #

I'm tired and I need to get up early, so I'll just limit myself to agreeing with others: Best episode of the series so far. I don't know if it's the MOST answers we've got in an episode, but it FELT like the most.

As for the Penny/Desmond reunion-via-phone (talk about an LDR!)...who would have thought a bloody phone call could surpass the Rose/Bernard reunion in S2? Just amazing stuff, there.

Looking forward to next week. Heck, I look forward to seeing this ep again. (And for the record, I take back all the evil things I said about the whole pop-up idea; there's been some useful, or at least interesting, info each episode so far.)

DanC | Feb 28, 2008 10:49:00 PM | #

I loved that scene too EPIC!

Tyson | Feb 28, 2008 10:54:29 PM | #

to answer your question CRAIG!

i think penny knew about all of those stuff, but she doesnt have RECALL

why? she doesnt have an anchor/constant to all of those things (2001 race, 12-22-04 phone call)

she probably thinks it was just her thoughts and she doesnt have anything to cement those thoughts.

remember the final scene with faraday. the note past faraday left on the journal cemented future faradays knowledge of him actually seeing future desmond in the past

james | Feb 28, 2008 10:55:36 PM | #

Thanks James. I hadn't thought about it that way. Despite how confusing this all is, that actually kind of made sense. Plus, Des did go see Faraday in 1996 if he has that note written in his notebook.

Craig M | Feb 28, 2008 11:00:58 PM | #

FREAKING WOW!!!! Unbelievable episode. I believe a previous poster might be right, Penny/Dez might be thr TRUE heart of the show in the end. I think the BIG line that was not mentioned in the blog was Penny saying, "We know about the island." She knows about it, She knows he's there.....just that storyline by itself has just been played perfectly so far.

Faraday is an exceptional charachter! You watch an episode like this and you think about how silly our "Is Aaron one of the Oceanic 6" debates were. At any point in this episode were you wondering about how Kate got Aaron? Hell No! Although I see a trend to this show. It is EXPANDING at an alarming rate. In the old days the flashbacks told the story of how they all got to the same place, and the coincidences and stuff. Now with these flash forwards we're going off in all these crazy great directions. Not only were we not thinking about Aaron and Kate this week. We weren't thinking about Ben and Sayid either. Or Mental Ward Hurley, or "We have to go back" Jack. 3.2 million dollars? Didn't even cross my mind and the guy has a grenade in his mouth!!! This is the show that just keeps on giving and giving and giving. Unbelievable.

realgenius | Feb 28, 2008 11:12:30 PM | #

Agree completely, brutha, about the euphoric catharsis -- I was actually crying!

In fact, I agree with all of your post -- dammit, as I had some good thoughts that you've already covered!

Most importantly, I was going to say that at first I was embarrassed (being quite familiar with Slaghterhouse Five) (even met KV at the stage adaptation a few years back) that I didn't think about Desmond simply being unstuck in time.

But then I remembered all of the reasons, including the rabbit in the Orchid video, for thinking there is some physical time travel or dialation going on.

(Not to mention that The Writers seemingly have intentionally misdirected us by referring to other works, but not S-5 [until this episode when Farady says that the mouse has become unstuck in time].)

And certainly since it took about 14 hours (whatever dusk to mid-day is in that area of the world in December),
not 20 minutes, for the helicopter to make the 40 mile journey (from the point of view of the island and the freighter; apparently to Sayid and the pilot it did seem to be only about 20 minutes), that gives credence to some kind of physical time dialation. (Not to mention the rocket taking 31 minutes.)

Did I catch the name of the owner of the Black Rock log correctly, as Tovar Hanso? (Or perhaps the auctioneer said Alvar Hanso, I'm not sure.) And did anyone ever mention the name of the first mate who kept the log? I have a gut feeling that he may also have been unstuck in time... and perhaps be somebody we have already heard of. But I'm not sure why I feel this way. Anybody else have the same feeling? (Or is it supposed to be obvious that the first mate must be related to Alvar Hanso? I'm unclear as to what we are supposed to assume.)

In sum, to quote Monty Python: "MY BRAIN HURTS!" Finally, a couple of quick questions (anybody? anybody?) (Ferris Bueller reference):

1) What is the "tender" that Minkowski refers to (that he and the now-dead guy went joyriding in)? Is that a helicopter, a dingy, what?

2) Speaking of The Numbers (and liking the pop-up enhancements better), was the pop-up indicating that the docket number of Kate's trial was The Numbers backwards?

3) Speaking of The Writers, I noticed right away that this episode was written my Carton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff and directed by Jack Bender, so I had very high hopes from the beginning. Too bad they can't write and direct all of the episodes. At minimum, however, I wish they'd keep a closer reign on the other writers to keep them (for instance) from having all of the stupid contrivances I pointed out in a previous post regarding last week's episode.

4) Speaking of dilation -- in this case my bad eyes -- is it just me or is there no "Lost" link in the It Happened Last Night/Shows We Recap list (should be right after "Lipstick Jungle", shouldn't it?)? At times this has made it almost as hard for me to find these recaps as it is for the outside world to find the island (though I finally have it bookmarked now).

"Concerned" no longer! | Feb 29, 2008 12:17:04 AM | #

I was just over at The Fuselage and someone came up with the theory that makes you slap yourself silly by not thinking about it...

Desmond, Minkowski, and Minkowski's friend are all of a sudden "sick"...

Could this be the "sickness" that Danielle was afraid of and inspired the Quarantine sign on the hatch?

Mark O. Estes | Feb 29, 2008 12:28:07 AM | #

My head is spinning now. Oy.

I think they've pretty much shown now that, although time is moving differently on the Island and off of it, I don't think that time difference is as great as years or even months. I can't explain how the wreckage of 815 was found a few months after it crashed, but I'm not ready to accept it being pre-staged as part of a greater scheme...mostly because that's a Pandora's Box my mind just can't handle yet.

Michael is obviously on the Freighter and opened the door. Boo for killing Mikowski! I've liked Fischer Stevens since "Hackers"; what a waste.

I loved the Widmore/Hanso connection tonight. Seems like vindication for the grand theory about the people behind Dharma.

Here's what I think, regarding the Freighters; like I postulated weeks ago, there's a distinct divide within their ranks. Faraday and (possibly) Charlotte are there only for the science; Lapidus is there just to help them; and Miles is there for himself and his own profit. However, it seems everyone else on the boat, including the late Mikowski, are the foot soldiers of the new Dharma Initiative/Widmore Co. They are there to fulfill their mission(s) with ruthless efficiency, and the 815'ers are just "in the way." That's the impression I got anyway from how they treated Sayid and Desmond, and why Mikowski was forbidden to answer Penny's calls.

In fact, the only person who seems to sympathize with the 815'ers and try to make peace with them is Faraday. Charlotte is confrontational (and seeing as how Locke kidnapped her, I don't blame her), Miles is just a prick, and Lapidus has been somewhat amiable to the 815'ers, but he did demand Sayid's gun and got into an argument with tank-top-Freighter-guy, presumably over bringing Sayid and Desmond on board.

Other Sean | Feb 29, 2008 1:02:40 AM | #

Err, lemme rephrase that last part; Lapidus seems to be amiable to the 815'ers, because he got into an argument with tank-top-guy, probably in defense of Sayid and Desmond.

Other Sean | Feb 29, 2008 1:05:21 AM | #

All that was missing was a scene of someone waterskiing behind the freighter, hitting jumps over the heads of sharks.

I'll still watch it, but for a HUGE portion of the fanbase of this show, this will be the episode that goes down in infamy, it will turn off viewers.

matt | Feb 29, 2008 5:00:12 AM | #

I agree with everyone that this was a great episode. Of course, all of us who read these blogs and comment are not casual fans, I wonder how they felt about this one. I think it could have been frustrating for them and they might jump ship now. I hope not, but I fear they might. I guess I'll find out when I get to work and talk to my casual-viewer friends.

I liked how Daniel said to Desmond in Oxford when he still wasn't buying it how his colleagues had better come up with something better than a "paradox". I thought that was a nice little reference.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned how Minkowski said "when we get BACK to the Island". I know he indicated that he already ventured out there but I understood that statement to mean the collective "we" going back. Meaning those on the freighter or who they work for have already been on the Island. This gives further credence to the theory that this is DHARMA on the freighter.

One thing that puzzles me: Shouldn't have Faraday's memory come back the minute he met Desmond on the Island rather than afterwards? And how does Faraday know that, if he gets unstuck, he will go back to 1996?

Blue Sean | Feb 29, 2008 5:05:36 AM | #

Fantastic recap, Ryan!! If all of the sudden Darlton were to proclaim this the last episode of the show, I'd be happy. Of course, they wouldn't do that, but "The Constant" was just that satisfying!

"dude went AWOL to find Faraday"--I don't think he went AWOL...he did tell Penny on the payphone that he (conveniently) had two days of leave.

Xannie | Feb 29, 2008 5:24:29 AM | #

I am pretty cofused up to this point but last night's episode was by far the best episode of the season. It never occurred to me that when Desmond showed up on LOST he was going to be the best character. That scene with him and Penny just crushed my heart. Just a phone call and I was just crying like a baby. Great episode!

Mariela | Feb 29, 2008 5:34:21 AM | #

Xannie- You beat me to it! I meant to say that in my first post but it was a little long and I forgot to put that in there. I agree, though, he was definitely on leave so we are yet to find out why he was locked up.

Blue Sean | Feb 29, 2008 5:42:08 AM | #

I can't believe no one pointed this out - or was it really a mistake in the script. When Des looks at himself in the mirror, George comments that 12 years is a long time (or something like that.) IF they were still in 2004, it would have only been 8 years since 1996. Did the writers just make a mistake?

Molloy | Feb 29, 2008 6:07:55 AM | #

Loved the ep last night. Every moment of it.

I know no-one's mentioned this so it's probably just me but I thought Minkowski looked very much like connect-four guy at the mental ward with Hurley (the one repeating the numbers) I haven't looked to see if fisher stevens played him (prob not) but I thought they at least made him up to look very much like him.

no-idol | Feb 29, 2008 6:13:29 AM | #

Who knew physics could be so romantic? GREAT scene with Des and Penny!

Adventure, survival, betrayal, redemption, conspiracies, spiritual journeys, life, death, love and physics...and friends still don't get why I watch this show! :)

darkcity | Feb 29, 2008 6:20:42 AM | #

Im not a LOST fanatic like most on here. I have watched the show since day 1 and read this site the day after to help make sense of it all. I get so confused a lot on who people are or where they crossed paths. That being said, this was the BEST hour of TV EVER!!!!!!!

Ray | Feb 29, 2008 6:24:28 AM | #

Same here, Ray! I just sit back and enjoy the ride!

darkcity | Feb 29, 2008 6:33:36 AM | #

I'm not a rabid fan, but do enjoy the show, so I apologize if I'm off target or my thought has been brought up before. Realizing that in 1996 Widmore was purchasing the Black Rock journal, I started to wonder if there may have been prior attempts to get to the island (before the freighter). For instance Danielle Rousseau and her ill-fated "science expedition." What if she was part of a team sent to the island for a purpose and the rest of her team was killed/cut off making it impossible for her to complete her mission?

Loved last night's show -- it is making me re-think everything we've discovered so far. Thanks for the great blog and posts. I enjoy reading everyone's thoughts.

Deb | Feb 29, 2008 6:42:35 AM | #

Deb: Many, many attempts, often by Widmore. The hot air balloon? Produced by his company. The boat race that landed Desmond there? Sponsored by his company.

Mark: That Fuselage though is eeeenteresting. Me like. Need to think more about that, and reread Danielle's distress call as well.

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 6:44:59 AM | #

You know, I'm starting to wonder if the time 'problem' is even on the island at all. What if time is moving the same on both the island and in the real world, but there is a barrier - a sort of temporal DMZ - between the two, where time is in flux? And to travel to/from the island requires passing through this zone, and if you don't follow the correct path (heading), the temporal flux messes with your head.

Just a thought I had after watching last night's episode....

DanC | Feb 29, 2008 6:52:01 AM | #

The scene in the bathroom between Desmon and Charles... Charles took the papertowell and used it to turn the water on. At first I thought he was a germaphobe. Desmond faints and the overflowing sink causes him to wake up. I am guessing that Charles stopped up the sink with the paper towell. Is he aware that Desmond was time shifting? If so.... wow!

Tim | Feb 29, 2008 7:02:19 AM | #

"Concerned" - our bad. We'll get a 'Lost recaps' link in the right rail as soon as possible.

Rick | Feb 29, 2008 7:03:06 AM | #

Speaking of the correct bearing to leave the island...

Ben sent Michael on a bearing of 325.

Lapidus went out on 305.

Was Ben sending Michael somewhere? Or maybe Farraday doesn't know as much as he thinks. Thoughts?

E | Feb 29, 2008 7:15:18 AM | #

E: I'm pretty sure Ben sent Michael to the Freighter. See this for more info on the theory behind this statement.

http://blog.zap2it.com/lost/2007/12/theory-thursday.html

There's also more than one way on/off the Island. It's just important to retrace your steps, lest you get all nose bleedy.

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 7:30:04 AM | #

on the "time on island vs. time off island" debate. Daniel clearly says, "your perception of how long your friends have been gone, it's not necessarily how long they've actually been gone."

time is different, whether it has to do with flying through the temporal DMZ (DanC, i like it!!) which spits you out at a different time than when you went in (as Sayid noticed when they landed on the Freighter), or if the island is in fact out of sync with the rest of the world.

mri | Feb 29, 2008 7:31:02 AM | #

"Concerned": a "tender" can be the size of a ship or smaller. "Tenders" were/are ships that supply other ships with oil [Oil Tender], coal [Coal Tender], munitions, etc. It also can be small for carrying sailors to and from their anchored ships... I've heard them referred to as a "launch" more these days and are about 20-something feet for a large ship.

It's interesting that Desmond had time effects and Say id does not, but Desmond was in the "big bang" of the hatch going off as was Locke.

How about Charlie. Is Charlie of the past visiting Hurley of the future at the hospital? How else could he prove his physical/material presence with a swat to Hurley's head?

Once they get the whole past-future deal worked out by pushing some buttons or running some equipment on the Island, will some of our dead favorites no longer be dead? Naomi, Charlie or others?

RadicalRik | Feb 29, 2008 8:14:40 AM | #

I'm not a "casual fan" - I watch religiously and read the blogs, but I don't spend every spare second researching screen shots and playing internet games. I realize for some, the show just amped up in a great new way, but for some of us, it was the wrong way. I've been holding my breath hoping against hope that they wouldn't introduce time travel, but alas. It's like the producers dug and dug and dug, then looked up and said "Poop. Now we can't get out." So they introduce magic to explain everything away. (Kind of like religion - there's a discussion topic - explaining away the magic things on the show with either Faith or Fizzicks. Everything you don't understand? Magic. Or God. Or Science.) Regardless, I'm still watching, and it was an excellent episode.

Kudos to the poster who suggested the "virus" might be one and the same as what's got hold of Des. Maybe the time-change stuff exists in everyone, but only affects the ones exposed to radiation/electromagnetism, but the little baby brains can't deal with it.

Richard (I think that's his name - Suddenly Susan guy) could be an old-timey pirate from the Black Rock. Arrr!

Nonnie Muss | Feb 29, 2008 8:17:24 AM | #

Radical: Boy, I hope not. That would be Claire Bennett's Magical Blood all over again. Had enough of that the first time, thank you very much.

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 8:18:36 AM | #

...and with Locke's past cryptic "that's not how it's supposed to be" comments it leaves me wondering if he is "time shifting" like Desmond as a result of the hatch explosion ... but we haven't seen him do it yet. ...? But it only gets critical (e.g., deadly) and more frequent once one leaves the island.

Okay, nose bleed...

Deb | Feb 29, 2008 8:21:51 AM | #

Great episode! Lost has been fantastic ever since the first Juliet flashback of Season 3 and this current season is the best since the heyday of Season 1!

One thought: Since the time in the Lost World is December 24th, 2004, do you think the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami will play a factor at all (since it occurs on Dec. 26th)?

Kevo | Feb 29, 2008 8:24:41 AM | #

Maybe they're all time-shifting in gentle ways. Maybe that's what the flashbacks/forwards really are.

Whoooooooooa. Did I blow your minds?

Nonnie Muss | Feb 29, 2008 8:24:51 AM | #

Re: travel to and from the freighter to the Island. It seems that travel to and from the Island by helicopter has different effects on the occupants. That is, the pilot and Sayid suffered no effects, while Desmond did. When Minkowski and friend took the tender for a ride to see the Island, I don't remember him stating they ever actually reached shore, but had to turn back when his friend lost it and then himself later. I wonder if they had to travel through a storm like the helicopter?

Speaking of boats, Michael and Walt left by boat didn't they? Wonder what "affects' they suffered if any.

RadicalRik | Feb 29, 2008 8:25:36 AM | #

thought about it after last night, and though have been skeptical of the whole time travel/shift thing for a while, most of desmond's plot seems to revolve around it. so if it happens to him and i'm okay with it, i have to be okay with it as a major plot line. i give in.

dc | Feb 29, 2008 8:31:26 AM | #

I had a little confusion with the phone call last night and while watercoolering last night’s episode I came up with a theory. I hope I can explain it.

If Penny had been searching for Dez for 3 years and knew that he was going to call her on Dec. 24th 2004 that she would have been quicker to pick up the phone. I mean if I had been searching for my true love for 3 years, and I knew they were going to call on a certain day, my phone would not have left my side. My thought is that she really is in 2007.

Here are my ideas as to why.
1st - She has been searching for him for 3 years. What happened 3 years ago to make her all of sudden start looking for him? If she is in really 2007, she would have started looking for him when he did not call her in 2004.

2nd - Minkowski said that Penny started calling a couple of years ago. Again I think this could be due to Dez not calling when he said that we would cause Penny to start her global search for him.

3. If there is a time shift going from the island to the outside world, as shown by the almost 2 days it to for the chopper to get to the boat. Why would Sayid think that they were not that far off. He just said that he did not realize they were not the close to Christmas.

4. I think the calendar in the Comm room was put there by Faraday so that boaties would be able to keep track of island time while still in the real world.

I could be way off base, because my brain is still messed up from last night. But you never know anything is possible with Lost.

Bb | Feb 29, 2008 8:36:54 AM | #

A point about the Numbers. Weren't some of the Numbers featured on last night's episode the same numbers of Kate's court case from last week's episode?

BS | Feb 29, 2008 8:39:35 AM | #

Nonnie, it's not magic, it's physics...at least I think it is. I think the writers introduced time travel in the most innocuous way possible by using science and physics to explain why conscious time travel is possible. There may come a point in the series where physical time-travel is introduced but, for now, it's only the conscious mind that laspses, not actual living beings.
I'm curious about the theroy of Danielle's group being infected with the same sickness that Minkowski and Desmond got from travelling to and from the island. Was Rousseau's crew exposed to high levels of radiation too before or during their trip to the island? Was Danielle NOT exposed to radiation purposely because of her being prgnant and that's why she never got sick or did she have a constant too?
I don't get Charlie. I still think he's a manifestation of Hurley's imagination or one of Hurley's guilt. If Charlie is dead then, his conscious mind cannot travel and certainly cannot visit Hurley in the future if his present self is dead.

Chris | Feb 29, 2008 8:40:14 AM | #

But it's still magic, because no matter how much they talk physics and numbers and math and rats and flux capacitors, it still ain't real! They're using fictional science to explain the magic.

Nonnie Muss | Feb 29, 2008 8:47:20 AM | #

YAY CHRIS!! this is hard science time travel and the writers have been planning it from day 1. get used to it peeps.

mri | Feb 29, 2008 8:47:25 AM | #

NM - they are asking you to take ONE SMALL STEP into a slightly different realtiy. take it, you'll be better for it.

mri | Feb 29, 2008 8:50:07 AM | #

I'm surprised so many people enjoyed the show last night, as I thought it was one of the weakest episodes they've done.

I love time travel movies, but adding time travel to LOST is just TOO much. To me, it's like making a chocolate cake, slathering it with chocolate frosting, and then pouring chocolate syrup over it. Too much.

There are plenty of mysterious, cool things going on with this show without having to throw in another twist. What's next--aliens? How about talking apes? Maybe the Enterprise.

Someone upthread mentioned the show expanding at a rapid rate. I agree, but that's not always a good thing. We're getting so big that the show runs the risk of being disjointed and hard to decipher. Where are the Others (the large number of Others Not killed or captured)?

Reggie | Feb 29, 2008 8:53:54 AM | #

I'm not trying to beat up the show or other posters - just think it's interesting that science and religion can serve the same purpose on this show - explaining away the "magic". With the Locke/Jack Faith/Fact themes running around, I think this adds a new layer.

Nonnie Muss | Feb 29, 2008 8:55:34 AM | #

Nah, not impressed, the episode and the show lately has been too much of a mindf*ck for me to even enjoy anymore, was completely 'LOST' this episode. i tivo'd it, i'm sure i'll watch it again to watch it minute by minute on what seems to have flown over my head and into the Pacific Ocean

Rob | Feb 29, 2008 9:05:36 AM | #

Nonnie -

I'm sorry, but you're worried about magic in this NOW?

I stopped worrying about magic in Lost sometime around flying black smoke, 60+ survivors of a plane which split in 3 in mid-air, miraculous healing powers, ageless people, polar bears in the South Pacific, ships (and horses and dead dads) in the middle of the jungle, and purple sky induced my a massive explosion which destroyed an entire structure but did nothing but blow the clothes off of the guy who was literally sitting on the bomb.

If you think Lost "introduced" magic last night, you should review the previous 3 seasons.

Dwight | Feb 29, 2008 9:19:23 AM | #

Agree that it definitely is NOT magic that they are introducing into the show. Plus, we don't yet know what/how these time effects will actually work overall in the show. The writers knew where they were going so it's not as if they found themselves cornered or anything as others have said. And, time travel is possible according to physics, it's just not possible yet as far as we know. Plus, I can't imagine any fan of the show from day 1 thinking that the show was 100% based in reality. It's a fictional tv show, it doesn't have to be real. I do know that this can be used as a crutch or to explain things away, but so far I don't see that happening. In fact, the creepy thing is that the way it is being handled it actually feels more real, like the island could really exist somehow in our world.

Other thing to throw out there in regards to the episode: is it safe to assume that Charlie is one of the 8 that the Oceanic 6 claim survived the crash since Penny knows he was alive? And how is Penny kept quiet about Desmond if he doesn't get rescued along with the O6? Also, I'm curious as to what Juliet's sister was told since when she went to work for "Mittelos" she was supposed to only be gone for a few months, was she told she is dead? Or is she like Pen, searching for her? For all that has been done to try to keep the existence of the island a secret, it seems that there are several people who are either aware of it or know that some part of the story they've been fed doesn't completely ring true.

Craig M | Feb 29, 2008 9:22:58 AM | #

Incredible episode -- beyond words! Will definitely be re-watching it at some point today! I felt like everything happened so quickly that a second viewing is in order to be sure I didn't miss anything.

One interesting point: Desmond's mastery of time shifting and retaining his memories reminds me of a very similar plot from the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Q has Captain Jean-Luc Picard shifting through different time periods (his past, present, and future) to solve a mystery in the hopes of proving that humanity can grow beyond itself. At first Picard is confused by what is happening and barely has any memory of his time shifts...they are like dreams to him but with each passing event, he remembers more and more and eventually is able to work in tandem with his other selves in the different time lines to orchestrate a solution.

I felt like Desmond was doing the same thing towards the end when he was able to tell Penny in the past he would call her in 8 years on Christmas Eve if she gave him her new phone number. Once he had that information, he was able to relay it to Sayid in the future (or present) in order to establish his connection.

While I think the plots are similar, I think LOST has really raised it to a different level with the very human and romantic component of Desmond and Penny. Brilliantly done.

I also find myself wondering a couple of things here: 1) Obviously Desmond and Lock were at Ground Zero when the hatch blew...I think this means we an expect to see witness some side effect with John Locke at some point. 2) I think the rest of the Lostaways were exposed to lower levels of magnetic radiation...which means perhaps they can, to some lesser degree, time shift. This could possibly explain why at times (before and after the hatch blew), they can hear those ghostly whisperings ... which I still think has something to do with parts of the Island phase-shifting in time. The low-level exposure to the magnetic radiation to the Lostways may be inadvertently causing them to catch glimpses of an earlier or future time on the Island, yet not powerful enough to send their consciousness to an earlier/future state of their lives like Desmond.

Now I worked up an appetite with all this thinking.... chew on that and let me know if you think I might be on to something! :-)

Dan in Boston | Feb 29, 2008 9:26:24 AM | #

Are the 'original Islanders' that Ben joined and then wiped out the Dharma group possibly from the Black Rock and are not aging?

It's interesting that Jack in the future wants to (or is obsessed to) get back to the Island and flies regularly everywhere hoping to crash again on the Island. Kate and Hurley and Sayid don't seem interested or in the same condition as Jack about it in going back to the Island.

This seems to indicate that Jack cannot just go back there in a conventional way like just sailing there or hiring someone to fly him there by helicopter from a nearby island...

RadicalRik | Feb 29, 2008 9:59:51 AM | #

RR: I kept waiting for the auctioneer to announce that the journal was written by Richard Alpert. So I share you suspicions.

As to Jack's inability to go back, it could be as simple as the Oceanic 6 making an agreement with certain parties in exchange for money/freedom, or something happens by the end of this Season 4 that literally seals off the Island from the outside world. Both are possible.

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 10:08:32 AM | #

day after -

four things on my mind

a) first, elizabeth mitchell looks a bit different now. a little more rugged. i figure that might be intentional, as a sign that she's more of a "lostie" than an other now.
loved her facial expressions with the whole "speak slowly" line. can't wait for her flash.

b) in ttlg, penny basically says that she doesn't know about the boat. so why is she calling the boat (minkowski's statement). certain some explanatory possibilities exist, such as

c) this show always blurs the line btw good and evil. maybe, just maybe widmore isn't all bad, and maybe her dad convinced penny to be on their side. just one possibility.

d) i think this answers the question as to whether or not the O6 are the only ones that get off. I don't think they'd kill off Des now, would they? I mean ... everyone's waiting for that Des/Penny reunion now. This gives me hope for Elizabeth Mitchell's ability to make it off as well.

tony | Feb 29, 2008 10:11:43 AM | #

RadicalRik- Keep in mind that the scene we saw at the end of "Through the Looking Glass" is the furthest forward on this timeline so far. Hurley already mentioned in the scene with Jack playing Horse that he thinks they did the wrong thing and they should go back. He just might not be as manic about it since not that much time has passed. I think one of the greater questions of the series is now 'What made Jack go from saying he will NEVER go back to the Island to saying that they HAVE to go back?' Something drastic had to happen to cause this shift and it will be interesting to see what that is.

Bear with me on this one guys, it is just fermenting in my head. Maybe Jack can't get back to the Island because no one that is still on the Island thinks the Oceanic 6 will come back? Maybe they can only go to the Island if they are being expected? Think about it: Kelvin was expecting a replacement so Desmond was allowed in, Ben was expecting a spinal surgeon so one crashed on the Island. Desmond (through his flashes) expected a parachuter to rescue them so Naomi arrived. Jack and Co. expected rescue from the Freighters so they were allowed to come.

Maybe this is why no one can just show up on the Island. If you have read any of the Harry Potter books, you can probably relate this (somewhat) to the end of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone". Dumbledore put a spell on the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone to only allow it to be retrieved from the Mirror of Erised by someone who wants the stone but not to use it. We can call this conditional ownership.

Blue Sean | Feb 29, 2008 10:18:05 AM | #

Is it just me or is this show getting a little too complicated? Its getting a bit hard to follow... I still love it though

| Feb 29, 2008 10:37:05 AM | #

Like I said in last week's post, I think Desmond is the most important person in all of this. This has been my favorite episode this year, maybe of any year. Now I may be wrong and I'm not going to pretend to understand Flashes Before Your Eyes, but it seems time works oppositely on the island. In 1996, Faraday exposed Eloise to radiation to send her mind to the future. After the hatch blew up, Desmond's episode had him moving into the past a la Flashes. In order to leave or get to the island, you have to go through that thunderstorm (remember the lightning storm when Faraday parachuted down). So, while Des is leaving, he forgets everything and has to work back from the past. Wow, that was confusing.

Is anyone else ready for a Russo flashback?

Aaron | Feb 29, 2008 10:39:35 AM | #

Nonnie, The Fusalge board also brought up the theory of all the flashbacks that we have seen are actually what Desmond went through just not as badly...

BlueSean: I think that Desmond was only allowed on the island because Libby, possibly working for Dharma or better yet Widmore or someone else, gave him that boat to send him there in the first place which is why Kelvan was expecting him. Also as we learned in "FBYE" Ms. Hawkins said that he HAD to go to the island which means that it was going to happen eventually.

Mark O. Estes | Feb 29, 2008 11:06:26 AM | #

Ryan, you should examine the theory of "pre-destination" on your next Lost blog :)

Other Sean | Feb 29, 2008 11:24:05 AM | #

I was reading all the posts (yes, ALL the posts, mwa-ha-ha-ha) in a bit of a hurry, so if I glossed over a point already made, my apologies. The thing that struck me when I saw Fisher Stevens name on the guest star list was how ironic it was for him to be on a show that is essentially now about time travel (more or less), since he was in a so-bad-it-was-kinda-good movie from the 80s called "My Science Project," which also starred Dennis Hopper. In it, Fisher Stevens and a couple other characters steal a strange engine-like object from what looks like an undergound storage facility at an abandoned airplane graveyard, dust it off and turn it in as a science project. So happens that the machine is a portal that allows a user to travel back and forth through time. I'd have to look through a cast list to see what character Fisher Stevens played in that movie (which included the immortal lines, "What the hell's this Yahoo?" "I believe that's a Neanderthal Man." "I don't care what country he's from--one shot in the chomes, and he's down."), but if there's an homage there, I wouldn't be surprised. I honestly don't know if the show's higher-ups intentionally got Fisher Stevens for his previous stints (as well as his role in Early Edition on CBS, which wasn't really about time travel, but still had an element of science fiction in it), or if it was just coincidence, but still... As for the episode, I had been expecting it to be a little weird because of Desmond being the center of the plot this week, but DAMN! I can only hope the rest of the season, and by extension the rest of the series, is this well-written. With the amount of continuity that absolutely has to take place in a show like this, I am in awe that even minute details are paid attention to, if it is necessary for a future plot point. Very few shows ever attempt this kind of explicit attention to detail, even ones like The X-Files, which also had a long-running back story that drove the show for all nine of its seasons. I know I'll be one of the first in line whenever the show finally ends, and the aforementioned super-duper- deluxe bells-and-whistles DVD collection comes out around 2012 or so. I don't know if episodic television is still eligible for science fiction awards (the way "The City On the Edge of Forever" won a Hugo, I believe, for Star Trek), but this week's episode definitely deserves something. And as for the final phone conversation...damn it, guys aren't supposed to get weepy. Curse you, Lost writers, curse you! Whew, now on to next week!

Dark Disciple | Feb 29, 2008 11:54:15 AM | #

Why does Desmond have a total lapse of memory but Minkowski does not. There seems to be a whole in this some where.

Also, did when did Faraday write in his journal that Desmond was his constant? Was that on the Island.

Does it seem convenient that Desmond's memory takes him to a time that he can save himself by finding Faraday and his relationship by asking Penny to believe him?

DJ | Feb 29, 2008 11:59:22 AM | #

One thing that I'm trying to figure out is why Present Eloise died; shouldn't have Future Eloise, with a little, bloody mousie nose, have died?

Because I'm trying to figure out the greater implication here:

If Desmond had died, 2004 Desmond would have died; 1996 Desmond would continued to live. Or would have 1996 Desmond died and then he never would have gone to the Island (never been exposed, never shifted, and then wouldn't have died ...?!?)

Lisa | Feb 29, 2008 12:00:14 PM | #

Blue Sean: Yessssssss! Someone died and nobody show up to their funeral? Jack grows that beard he tells Hurley he's thinking about growing. Jack is by then a drug addict in some sort of major pain. Jack is in process of suicide when a car accident interrupts him because he helps the victims...

Something major has definitely happened to cause him to go to that extreme. The question about the unknown expired person is: is this the only one? OR, is this another in a string of Jack's friends being picked off? Having the same trouble as Jack? OR dying by the hand of someone else?

Tony: The Penny's 'incoming call' that Charlie answered in the undersea station is curious. However, she tells Charlie when asked that it's not her boat...or she is not on a boat... Could it be that after Charlie's death (Charlie finding her to be Desmond's Penny and then also telling Penny that Desmond is there on the same island and he's fine...)that she then finds the boat and she then starts calling Minkowski?

RadicalRik | Feb 29, 2008 12:19:35 PM | #

I don't think the show has gone "deus ex" or jumped the shark at all. The show made it clear from the very beginning that things happen on the island that defy conventional explanation. We've been faced with the possibility of things that require supernatural or scifi explanations from extremely early on. The show just never made clear whether we'd end up in supernatural, scifi, or extreme conspiracy theory territory. Now we're getting far enough in that we're getting to real explanations, and finally finding out what most of us have suspected all along - though we didn't know it for sure early on, this is a scifi show, and one willing to allow some pretty trippy stuff.

I'm totally OK with that.

Great episode, sure to be up there in a list of fan favorites. It's been amazing at the pace we've been getting answers and new questions to debate. Before this season started, I speculated that this could turn out to be the best season so far, and at this point that looks very likely. Let's just hope they are able to pull off the last five episodes well despite the extreme time crunch they are faced with.

milo | Feb 29, 2008 12:20:21 PM | #

DJ - Minkowski doesn't have total memory lapse since Faraday says this time shift effects each individual differently from how far of a shift there is as well as what specific symptoms. Minkowski's crew-mate had much more immediate impact. I'm assuming Des went a whole 8 years back because he turned the fail safe key to the hatch and would be affected the most.

I think we are to believe Faraday wrote that in his journal back in 1996 since he would be aware that Des would believe what was going on in a future time so he would need to try to find him.

As for Des going back to 96 when Faraday was in Oxford, might be convenient, but to me not farfetched or too much of a stretch.

Lisa - My brain hurts so don't know but the mouse died because Daniel sent the consciousness ahead and then she came back to the present, so the effects caused her to die in the present. Des however appears to have flashed from the present 2004 back to 1996, I guess the island has an opposite effect than what is supposed to be possible. I believe though the implication would still be the present 2004 version of Des would have died if he had not made contact with his constant. But I don't know how the writers or physicists theorize how this all works, so I have no idea!!

Craig M | Feb 29, 2008 12:22:55 PM | #

Eloise only went an hour into the future (or more specifically, her mind), then came back pretty quickly. So as long as she died more than an hour after that (Faraday says Des was unconscious for about 75 minutes), she caught up with her time shift and died after all her time issues were settled.

milo | Feb 29, 2008 12:27:48 PM | #

I'M SOOOO CONFUSED !!! LOL..
Wonderful touch with Desmond & Penelope on the phone. TEAR-JERKER ! I got LOST (no pun inteded) in their raw emotions for each other. I found myself mesmerized and forgertting about any ISLAND !! Great show- confused as ever, but awesome episode

Carmen | Feb 29, 2008 12:36:24 PM | #

DJ: I think Faraday probably wrote down Desmond as a constant after he told Desmond that he needed to find one back in 1996 [Desmond's mind-time]. At the end there, he was searching around through his journal for something (perhaps he was having a sense of slipping away?). Faraday perhaps has been 'mind-time traveling' before they picked him for this mission and was not nuts but in a similar condition to Desmond, thus needing a caretaker?

Just a side question: where is Desmond's sail boat? It had been taken by the now dead bad bunch, but it was not sunk. The 'Losties" should now have access to it.

Re: Minkowski was having trips away from this time and place on the freighter to an amusement park? So, he had been leaving and coming back. Unlike Desmond though, he had no constant to contact?

RadicalRik | Feb 29, 2008 12:37:29 PM | #

OK, I think the fact that Faraday made a meta-criticism of time paradoxes in-episode means we should just Ockham this whole topic: Desmond can't die in 1996 because he's alive in 2004 (at least). Done and done.

Milo, thanks for bringing up the 75 minute thing, since the 75 minutes in 1996/5 minutes in 2004/7 calls to mind the 755 on Widmore's auction card.

Now, couple that with Tim's noting above that Widmore left the water on, and you have yourself a conspiracy theory that states Widmore spent a long time prepping Desmond for a trip to the Island. (Which I plan on writing about next week over on the blog.)

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 12:43:36 PM | #

one random thought first -

could faraday be time tripping forward? thus we see him crying when he sees the crash ... because he's met the 815 survivors and his mind is all haywired? perhaps knowing desmond now stabilizes him?

Radicalrik - I thought about that possibility, but ... Penny did say that she has been researching the island for some time, and from a timeframe perspective, from ttlg to now, hasn't it been only a few days at most? how does she suddenly find the boat now? i guess it's possibel she spied something from her dad ... or that her team in alaska finally found the boat. something like that.

a lot of possibilities, and admittedly, i'm somewhat nitpicking.

tony | Feb 29, 2008 12:44:54 PM | #

I completely agree with the theory that Widmore manipulated Desmond into doing the boat race as part of a strategy for finding the island.

Here's something else to consider - at this point, 1996 Desmond knows about the boat and the island. What if Desmond said something in the past about it to Widmore (or to Penny, and her dad found out), and that was the inspiration for Widmore using Desmond to find the island?

milo | Feb 29, 2008 12:49:47 PM | #

Ryan, to get a bit off topic, would it be possible to include the Lost/It Happened Last Night articles included on the RSS feed for the lost blog?

feed://feeds.feedburner.com/Zap2it/lost?format=xml

And if not, what about a separate feed of just the Lost articles instead of all the IHLN ones? Thanks.

milo | Feb 29, 2008 12:55:04 PM | #

Milo: Not sure, but I've forwarded your query onto the tech experts here at Zap2It, I'll let you know what I find out.

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 12:57:27 PM | #

How about a print command for this article? :)

BB | Feb 29, 2008 1:13:33 PM | #

Your friendly neighborhood Zap2it producer here... milo, the short answer is yes. I've asked our boffins to whip up a feed URL that'll package Ryan's Lost Guide plus his recaps. Once it's ready, I'll post it here and probably within an entry on the Guide.

BB, do you mean a specifically printer-friendly (that is, sans ads and frames) version?

By the way, I (ahem) had something in my eye during last night's Desmond/Penny phone call.

Andy | Feb 29, 2008 1:19:52 PM | #

milo- A couple of things. Daniel only mentioned that he was going to teach Eloise about the maze in an hour, not that she "time-slipped" an hour ahead. For all we know, she could have time-slipped three days but just had the memory of the correct route through the maze. But, then again, we know she died 75 minutes after the experiment so can one time-slip to a time where they do not exist? OUCH!

Also, I don't think 1996 Desmond has any memories from 2004 Desmond. There is nothing in the show that indicates that since 2004 Desmond only had memories of 1996 Desmond. I don't think that them speaking to Penny and finding their constant meant that 1996 Desmond got 1996-2004 memories as well. Just that 2004 Desmond now remembers everything he has gone through. OUCH AGAIN!

And- I think there is a man-rule that says you are allowed to cry during LOST. That's one of the only exceptions though. That and a great steak!

Blue Sean | Feb 29, 2008 1:40:58 PM | #

Blue Sean: Don't forget the end of "Field of Dreams". That's an exception too.

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 1:46:45 PM | #

Ryan- Good call. What an incredibly awkward movie to watch with your own father though. You want to give him a hug and all but that somehow makes it weirder.

Blue Sean | Feb 29, 2008 1:49:48 PM | #

My Dad and I reserve contact to high fives after a David Ortiz homer or a Tom Brady TD pass. Them's the rules.

Ryan | Feb 29, 2008 1:57:02 PM | #

Definitely an amazing episode...but the fact that Kate wasn't in this episode might have had something to do with it.

I'm just really confused because of the time traveling thing. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse stated that there was some time traveling in the show in that article on ew.com, but now it seems that time is the same for both the 815ers and for the boaties. Gah! This show frustrates me sometimes, but the more it frustrates the more I want to keep watching! Funny how that works...

And, yes, Desmond and Penny--oh man, it doesn't get much better than that. If they end up happily ever after, I won't care if Kate never chooses who she wants to be with, if Sun leaves Jin for Michael, if Nadia turns out to be evil and breaks Sayid's heart, and maybe even be okay with the fact that Charlie died. Okay...that's an exaggeration, but only by a little bit.

Lauren B | Feb 29, 2008 2:29:17 PM | #

Here is a possible explanation as to why Locke has not/will not experience the time shift even though he was right there when the hatch went supernova. The reason Locke is dead set on not leaving the island is that Jacob has told him what will happen to his mind if he leaves. Jacob could have also forgotten to mention (either intentionally or unintentionally) that there is a cure for his "sickness".

Tim | Feb 29, 2008 2:30:53 PM | #

Tim- what I am interested in is what would happen to Locke's LEGS if he were to leave the Island and slip in time. Would he be crippled in the past but not the present/future? Would his consciousness include the fact that he can/can't walk in whichever time period he goes so it is consistent? THAT would be a lot of fun to see.

I doubt, though, that we will get to see this because I'm not so sure Locke would ever leave the Island alive.

Blue Sean | Feb 29, 2008 2:51:50 PM | #

Blue Sean, you're right that the amount of time Eloise jumped wasn't specified. Assuming she only jumped about an hour is the paradox-free assumption.

I think Locke's paralysis is psychosomatic, so if he were to do some time slips, his legs could switch back and forth between working and not working. That would be a very cool episode to see - I don't know if Locke will go through the same thing as desmond, but I bet he will have some sort of "side effect"...assuming his visions and "the island told me" moments aren't that very thing happening already.

Ryan and Andy: you guys rock, keep up the good work.

milo | Feb 29, 2008 3:30:49 PM | #

I think the answer to Farraday making the note in his journal about Desmond being his "constant" was because Desmond did tell him that Farraday's future self was on an island. If Farraday knows about the constant "variable" to the time equation, he already knows that Desmond would be his future constant because the would meet again on "some island." And he already knows Desmond in 1996 so that completes the equation. If the radiation is causing the memory lapses we seem to see happening, Farraday left himself that clue soon after he met Desmond in 1996.

And another thought to my earlier posting about this time-shift plotline being similar to the final epsiode of Star Trek The Next Generation: Picard also had a constant in all three timelines he was shifting through: a spatial anomaly is in the Devron System. It appeared in each timeline at a different stage of growth but in reverse...it was largest in the past and just born in the future... growing larger as it moved back through time. I don't think there is a reverse time element here, just pointing out that the LOST storyline does borrow the idea of a "constant" in the timeshifts.

Just got done watching the episode again -- the first time I've ever re-watched a LOST episode -- it was really well done with the pacing and made for a riveting 45-minutes thanks to TiVo!

Dan in Boston | Feb 29, 2008 4:19:27 PM | #

Faraday becomes excited when Eloise already knows the maize that he was planning to teach her in an hour. Which indicates she time travels into the future and came back with knowledge of it. But then she dies in the present. So when did he teach her the maize? She had no future in which to learn it.

Is this time anomaly one way to explain the "dead" being "alive" on the island? Were Jack's father and Eco's brother in their past, where they were still alive? Or are they alive in the time shifted minds of Jack and Eco?

If the Others are the remnants of the crew of the lost ship, where have the female Others comes from? There would not have been women on a trading ship. Although they could have been passengers. Of course they speak in totally modern idiom, which isn't likely.

William Robinson | Feb 29, 2008 4:33:03 PM | #

After re-watching the episode, I made a couple interesting mental points.
1. Minkowski in the infirmary, when hearing Desmond's name identifies himself as the communications guy to Desmond and proceeds to tell the story of the "blinking light" on the console (incoming call) that they were under strict orders "never supposed to answer" and disobeys and answers...only to meet and chat it up with Desmond's Penny Widmore. So, Penny had the freighter's number.

2. Minkowski tells Desmond and Sayid that someone wrecked the communications equipment. He takes them to the communications room, Sayid asks Minkowski "who did this" and he answers "I don't know, but when the captain finds out, I feel sorry..." and blinks out.

3. Minkowski says the equipment was wrecked 2 days ago. The captain does not know communications are destroyed after 2 days? This seems to indicate the captain of the freighter is not aboard. Question: where is he? The helicopter is aboard, so he is not away by that means...unless there is more than one helicopter. If the captain is away by "tender" is it to the Island? If so, wonder how he is affected...

4. Penny, as we now know, was also able to obtain the number to the undersea station. Remember the "blinking light" on the console that Charlie answered that was Desmond's Penny?

5. Penny has the freighter's number and the undersea station number. I wonder how. Desmond has to flash back in time to obtain Penny's number. It is not until Desmond was told he needed a "constant" in both times by Faraday did he chooses Penny and tried to call her from Faraday's office, then set out to get her number one way or another before he blinks out again (or dies), so he can have that number to call in 8 years on Christmas eve.

6. Desmond goes back to 1996 after passing through what seems like "the vortex" on way to the freighter. However, after the hatch meltdown, Desmond seemed to already be flashing even farther forward than the "now" we know. He saw Charlie die in the jungle, struck by lightning, drown in a rescue attempt, and then finally in the undersea station. I think he has had other 'forth-tellings' I can't remember now, so Desmond is no stranger to "side-effects."

RadicalRik | Feb 29, 2008 4:34:15 PM | #

An after thought: Weren't there TWO helipads on the freighter when Desmond and Sayid were taken to the boat? If so, it raises the question if there is another helicopter with Freighters aboard who could be on the Island somewhere?

Dan in Boston | Feb 29, 2008 4:46:25 PM | #

In The Economist episode, Jack tells Frank that they've been on the Island for 100 days putting them in January 2005, yet according to the calendar on the boat, it's Christmas Eve 2004.

I guess it could be a continuity error, but that seems a bit out of place on this show.

Still, since some sort of time travel plays within the mythology of the show, this could be it -that the Island is out of temporal sync with real world.

David from L.A. | Feb 29, 2008 4:53:04 PM | #

Just had a nose-bleed thought: Desmond, in the communications room finds out it's December 24th 2004 because he is 1996 Desmond out of current time.

When Sayid asks Desmond for the number to call Penny, he doesn't know, but remembers? that he needs it when he wakes up in the restroom in "actual" 1996 not his 2004 version of 1996 aboard ship.

In the past, he knows the future need of the number and the time he'll need it. It seem that as Desmond was flashing more rapidly (as Minkowski said it would) he seemed more able remember? what he needed to obtain for the future.

You could sort of see at the end the two Desmonds as if 1996 Desmond knew (with a small smile) that future 2004 Desmond would be alright after he left Penny's with her number.

RadicalRik | Feb 29, 2008 5:10:39 PM | #

Wow! In reading all this I have to wonder: am I the only one to have absolutely HATED this episode? I mean, REALLY the worst ep this season..which in perspective is still probably better that the other dribble out there, but still...

Would love to LOVE this ep like so many others here so maybe someone could help me with a couple of things that took me completely out of the show:

--am not a fan of the time travel. reason being that usually when a writer introduces it, becuase it's so complicated they usually miss things to make an authentic storyline (one without millions of holes). to wit: 1. why didn't faraday recognize desmond when he first saw him? he should have gotten to that island and asked for desmond first off. he seems to not have known he existed. 2. desmond couldn't be in more than one "time" for more than a couple of minutes without flipping back and forth (even tho the measure of time was slightly different in each year), yet he was in 1996 long enough to sleep, wake up, board a train to oxford (probably about 12 hours)? 3. when penny saw desmond at the sports stadium in "2001", neither mentioned his date to call her in 8 years.

So that would mean that the time shift would've been erased from his memory "afterwards". Otherwise, it would be "present" Desmond who went back in time. But instead, it was "past" Desmond who kept jumping into the future...but didn't remember it. It would've been more plausible the other way. 4. --daniel had no memory of desmond either despite the fact that daniel was living a "normal" timeline. and i doubt HIGHLY daniel would've forgotten desmond. I'm actually surprised daniel wouldn't have MADE sure he kept in constant contact with Desmond since he is the only person he knows that has switched time. They should've stayed constant associates. What would've been cool is if Daniel started talking to Des and asked if Des remembered him and Des said yes and then we saw what they were both talking about. That would've been cool. But alas, no.

Other bones:
--Fisher Stevens. (sigh) first he's barely coherent when Des is thrown into the room, then he becomes completely lucid in time to get to the tower. too cliche' for JJ.

--Understand frank wants to help, but seriously? he's going to help ppl on the island he just met, one of which has gun vs the ppl on the boat whom, assumingly he knows? without explanation? And now that I mention it, why didn't frank ask for Seth Norris (the plane's pilot) once he got on the island, since that is the reason for his guilt and (seemingly) decision to join the frieghter crew?

--Love the Des/Pen love story, but this got a shmultzy for me: "you need a constant in both times" Ooo! I know! I wonder if the writers are thinking the same thing I'm thinking! PENNY'S his constant! Seriously?

--And I get why Sayid is loyal to Des, but if my friend suddenly "flips" out and says that she no longer knows me and there is a doctor where we are, I'm going to at least let the doc look why i stand over his/her shoulder. i mean, sayid basically threw the doctor out for even looking at des.completely implausible IMO. i mean, sayid is the logical, thinking one. if it was jack, then it would be pure emotion and would make sense, but sayid?

--hated when daniel asked if desmond had been exposed to radiation, as if that was the explanation for the time shift right after stating that the change affects everyone differently. too convenient.

--Also wasn't feeling the way the two "men" took Des to the "sick" room. They both should've walked behind him, since he was very unpredictable at that point, instead they walked together like three collegues. But that's just me.

--Here's my thing: Why would they put Des who is flipping back and forth in time in the same room with someone that have to strap down? Were there no other rooms on this thing? The "doctor" comes in and injects fisher with this huge needle and then expects des to remain calm? huh? really?

--A man like Widmore who uses a towel to turn faucets on and off would never stuff a sink and let the water run. there's no point to it. i smell plot device.

--Again, LOVE the pen/des love story, but HATED that they all went thru all of that, the knocking ppl out, the reconnecting the tower equipment, all that just so des can tell pen he loves her. and then the phone goes out as soon as they are done. why can't the phone stay on and ppl have uncomfortable silences? why does it always go out at just the right time? but that's just me...

--and my BIGGEST BONE: So here is Desmond, not knowing where he is, what's going on, who are these ppl. and he's talking on the phone with some strange guy on the phone who is telling him "come find me. i'm at oxford. here are some numbers you should remember" and desmond writes them down on his hand, time travels and the numbers are not there. yet he remembers these numbers PERFECTLY from then to hours and hours later when he immediately finds Daniel (whom he seems to have recognized)at which time he could recite the numbers Verbatim even though he didn't know what he was talking about. come on! plus if i woke up in 2015 and am surrounded by ppl that i don't know who say they are my friends, i will come to a LOT more conclusions before i land and settle on time travel. dreaming? hallucinating? brain anerysm (sp?) [thanks, Eli Stone]? psychological problems? which require doctors and tests before i settle on time travel. and since he has no memory of the time travel "before", i just felt this was a little convenient.

woo! got that off my chest.

now, because i do LOVE the show, i'll end with what i loved:

--loved the possibility that daniel at the beginning of the season was reacting to his unconscious knowledge to what happens to the survivors, since it might involve the time shift.

--loved the look on jack and juliet's face when daniel asked if sayid had been exposed to radiation since neither was there when he turned the key. they looked like he was speaking a differnt language. hysterical.

--loved that frank is starting to look like a good guy.

--loved miles. even when he's not in an episode. I LOVE YOU, MILES!

--love ANY episode featuring Desmond. I LOVE YOU, DES!

--love the "extras" ep that comes on before giving insight to what they are reading and what it's about. very cool.

someone said eariler that they think it's 2007 and penny's been looking for des for three years since he never called.

i think that time slows on the island so every 90 days, for example is a year on the rest of the planet. using this example, then juliet who has been on the island 3 years would find that she's really been gone for 12 years or something like that.

anyway thanks for letting me sound off.

Lisa | Feb 29, 2008 5:24:06 PM | #

The time travel aspect might explain some of what has happened. When the show introduced Jacob, I immediately thought that instead of a ghost, perhaps he was also "unstuck in time". Perhaps it also explains things such as Locke being able to walk; maybe somehow his physical body moved back in time while his mind is still in the present. I loved the ending with Desmond and Penny but I'm thinking it can't be THAT easy for them to connect in person. Perhaps with her father being involved with the Hansos / Dharma, Penny's also connected to the time jumping. It would be a kick