LOST The Variable

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Hi, and welcome to today's episode of Sassin's Sips. Today we are going to talk about Lost Season 5, Episode 14, The Variable. I am Lisa. I'm Agnes. And today I am sipping on a white wine sangria.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Nice. Going outside the box. Olivia Pope drinking white wine instead of red wine. Oh my god. I know.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Well, it's hot, you know, so it's actually kind of refreshing. So yeah, it works. It works.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

I'm drinking, I don't know what fuck I'm gonna call it. It's like, okay, so I had like the best mango. It's like the best mango ever. So I had like all these juices. So I had like a mango, tequila, splash, spritzer, thingy that I just kind of mixed whatever I had in the house. I was like, nice. So I'll probably be on my ass like 30 minutes into this recording. Mm-hmm. Alright, well, cheers.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

The variable.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

What are your hot takes? The end. I was like, what the fuck? And it made sense. There were some things that came up. I'm like, yep, not surprised. I saw that one coming. And I'm like, okay, nope, not surprised. I'm like, okay. But the end. I was like, oh, it makes sense. No wonder mama was mad at dude. You're mad, my son. Oh, like yeah. So I'm like, oh, no wonder she was mad. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Okay. So this is a Daniel-centric episode. And we go to flashback. We see a young Daniel playing the piano. His mother, who is a middle-aged Eloise Hawking, appears in the doorway and she watches him play. He asks her. He asks her opinion of the music, and she tells him that it's wonderful, but you might not want to waste your time something so frivolous. I mean, the kid has like an immense talent on the piano, and she's like, don't waste your time. Most of our parents would have been like, Carnegie Hall, here we come.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Right. My mother was actually gonna get me a baby grand piano, but the way the apartment was made, we couldn't get it in. She would they would have to actually take out the window. Um yeah, and yeah, it was kind of weird. She's like, Well, we'll get you, you know, do your lessons, and then if it works out, then it we'll get we'll work it out. So took the lessons, I took a summer break off and never went back to it. I still can play canon and D by memory. Okay, muscle memory.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Um so she says that he has a scientific mind and he must dedicate basically everything he is ever gonna do to science and mathematics. She says that it's her job to keep him on the path and that there's no time for distractions. Daniel's like, but I can make time, and she's like, Nope. And she closes the piano and basically stomps all over his dreams.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Talk about, you know, good mothering, right? I mean, okay, in this scene, I'll just be like, uh, hello there. But taking that scene aside, I think as parents, we do the best that we can, and we for the most part, we're doing what we think is best. Right. Does it come out wrong sometimes? Absolutely. And I'm gonna talk about like the crazy parents, it's about like the ones that really think it's in their kids' best. They're trying to do well for them, I guess. I suppose. We try, but I like it's a little annoying as a mother that all like this the stereotype that everyone goes to therapy to talk about their mother.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Like, the fuck. But it's funny because also in this show where it's like everyone's terrible, you know, like the all the whole terrible mothers and I mean terrible fathers too, but this is like the mother of all terrible mothers episodes.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Usually it's this show really has a history of just dogging the fathers. Locke's father, Jack's father, Kate's stepfather.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Like it's Yeah, the fathers on the show have been traditionally bad, but the mothers haven't been great either. I mean, you've got Jack's mother, who was like kind of fine, but she was like, eh, not really like just there. There. Kate's mother wasn't as bad as her stepfather, but like but then she chose the stepfather.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

The abusive stepfather.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Right, and was ready to turn her kid in because you know, she saved her from the abuse.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

I just I think it's as at this when this show came out, it's about time that mother weren't blamed for everything.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yeah, but but you put it in comparison to the the respective spouses, like the fathers, then the mothers didn't seem so bad. So bad. But even Susan, um Michael's ex and Walt's mom.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Oh, well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

I mean, she was kind of like, Well, I'm just moving across the world, and there's not not a damn thing you could do about it.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Even though she acts to Michael, but was she a bad mother?

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Well, she's really a bad mother.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

But what that's that that then that wasn't a question, that was more like, but was she? I don't know, was she?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

But but in a sense, like you you took the kid away from his father. Right. And you didn't really give the father much choice. And I know like that's a that's really a tough one because you want to do the best that you could do for your kid, and if that means that you have to move because of job or better situation, but that's still kind of fucked up.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

I mean I think it's they were realistic with the city.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yeah, but what then wasn't she ho hiding the letters, all the letters that Michael sent? But that so then even if you want to be like, okay, well, she did what she had to do for a better life, blah blah blah, but then you didn't give the kid any of his dad's letters.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

But I think with interpersonal relationships, they were the writers were pretty realistic about no one's all good, no one's all bad, no one like this the yin and the yang and the the good within the bad, the bad within the good, and the the characters in the show are it's not black and white, it's really like really, really well fleshed out.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Oh, and then um Boone's mom, who was Shannon's stepmom, she was a total fucking see you next Tuesday to Shannon. Forgot all about her. Mm-hmm. So I mean people say are right. It's just like bad parenting.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

Like everyone though. Like we're the uh I guess everyone has their things they can all think about. But wait, there's more. But wait, there's more. I feel like this should be like an infomercial shamrawi coming up. Well, that's like what it's from, but I know I'm expecting to pop up on the screen or something.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Oh. Several years later, Daniel is graduating. He's receiving his doctorate degree at Oxford. As he walks out of the college with Teresa. I know. I guess it's a good thing he stopped playing the piano so that he can graduate.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

I mean, just I mean, this is such an underachiever there. I know.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Fucking doctorate from Oxford, yeah. Yeah. Slacker.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Pish Tosh.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

They they're met by Eloise, who coldly responds to Teresa's repeated attempts of bonding with her. She's such a fucking bitch. Uh and then she's like, I made reservations for lunch. And he's like, Oh, we'd love to. Not we, just you. Sorry, bitch. Sorry, Liv. And Teresa's like, it's okay. And I don't know, whatever. But um Daniel's just not happy, but but they go along with it. Them two go to a restaurant. And even though Daniel expresses his like disappointment, she says that he has no time for women and that he must focus entirely on his work. Here we go again. Daniel says that he's the youngest doctor to ever graduate from Oxford and that he also received a 1.5 million pound research grant from Charles Whidmore. Eloise relents. She apologizes to Daniel and tells him that she's not there to fight with him. She goes to leave, but not before she gives him a little gift. And when Daniel opens it, it's a leather journal. And that's the journal that obviously we've seen him with throughout the course of the show. We cut to 2004, where Daniel is watching the news report regarding the wreckage, and he's crying. And this is like the scene that we saw before, but then we elaborate on it. He says he doesn't know why he's crying, and then he receives a visitor who happens to be Charles Whidmore.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Dun dun dun.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

The two discuss Woodmore's grant, the following research, and Daniel's dismissal from Oxford. Daniel shows remorse over Teresa, mentioning that he tested it on himself before her, but Woodmore notices Daniel crying and he asks if there's something, if he says something to ex to upset him. Daniel replies it's because of the discovery of Flight 815's wreckage and that he doesn't know why it's bothering him so much, other than it's a sad situation. Woodmore replies that they aren't dead because he faked the wreckage. He feels secure in telling this to Daniel because due to Daniel's recently developed memory issues, Daniel will forget the entire meeting. Woodmore offers Daniel a job working on the kahana and going to the island, which he claims will heal Daniel's problems. When Daniel comments on how similar Widmore sounds to Eloise, he says that's because we are old friends. And then some. A short time later, Daniel is playing the piano when he is visited by Eloise. She asks if he's been offered a job, to which he says yes. But he says that he can't do the job because of his memory loss. Eloise eventually persuades him by telling him that going to the island will make her proud of him. And he agrees. So now we go to quote presentame pre what? Present. Now we go to what I guess is the present day, but it's 1977, so it's like yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Lost present day.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah, you know. I mean, because technically it's present day for everyone who is in 1977.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Technically, you are correct. So are we someone's past right now? Are we someone like like never think about? I mean, obviously we will be, but are we currently someone's past?

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Yeah. Could you whisper me the lotter numbers or at least like take that insurance policy before it's too late? Just a little help would be nice.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

A little heads up.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Or maybe, hey, don't kill a spider.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Oh, watch where you're stepping when you do kill a spider.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Yes. Alright, so 1977. Daniel arrives via the sub and is greeted by Miles. He tells Miles that he's back due to his discovery in Ann Arbor of a photo of the new recruits. And the new recruits being Jack, Kate, and Hurley. He demands to be taken to Jack's house, and Miles complies. Once he's there, he's like, How did you get back here? Jack is like half asleep, and he's like, Um, there was a plane, and your mom. It sounds it's it kind of sounded like Wizard of Oz-ish, right? And you were there. And you and you were there, and there was a house, and there was a witch. But he says, actually, Daniel, it was your mama who was like, You need to go back. Speaking of your mama, what did my mama do now?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Krista has it always happened. I say something, she's like, Your mama, and then I go, Your mama is a bitch. And then people like, I don't know. But I say in front of people that know us, and they're like, but oh, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

I do it to my kids too. They'll say something, I'll be like, Your mother. That's a joke, dumbass. I already knew. Um my kids are special. So Daniel is like, oh, and let me guess. She said it was your destiny. And Jack is like, yes, she did. And he's like, Oh, my mother was wrong, and you don't belong here. But did he mean on the island, or did he mean the Dharma Initiative? Or did he mean 1977? You just went back a whole another decade.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

I did, but I thought you said I think you said 67 like five minutes ago. Did I? I think so. Well, I meant 77. I was like, yeah, 67. Okay. We will find out in edits. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Miles takes Daniel to the orchid because he has to run an errand. Jack is like, but wait, and Daniel is like, no, it's okay, I'll be back. Just just hold on to that cliffhanger of a thought right now. So Jack is like, I'll just go to Sawyer's house. Yeah, Jack tells Sawyer about Faraday and you know all of that, but Sawyer's like, anyway, I can't help because Phil's tied up in the closet. While Daniel and Miles are at the orchid, they're just in time to witness the arrival of Dr. Chang. Leaving Miles in the Jeep, Dan follows Chang and like into um because the orchid is still being built. Daniel overhears Chang's discussion with Tony, who's the foreman, regarding the danger of drilling deeper into the rock and potentially releasing dangerous energy. Daniel walks in and he bumps into an impatient Chang, and we've seen that scene before. Which I don't know if it's just my brain twisting, but that scene got me. Dr. Chang has a brief talk with Tony, who's highly skeptical of Chang's theories about space and time. Because like time travel, like, what are we crazy? Daniel then goes to Chang, who remembers Daniel from like three years ago, and Dan explains that it's necessary to begin evacuating the island because the magnetic energy unleashed by Dharma construction has caused injuries. When Chang responds skeptically and insists that the energy has been contained, Dan explains that in six hours a catastrophic accident will occur at the Swan Station. Chang demands to know why Daniel considers himself qualified to make such a prediction, and he's like, Well, because I'm from the future, motherfucker. He follows Chang outside, where Chang accuses him of having a little fun at his expense after overhearing his comments about time travel. Dan is like, look at my journal. He's like, I'm telling the truth. And he then he's interrupted by Miles. And Daniel is like, hey, did you ever look at Miles? Because that's your son. He's like, he's Chinese and you're Chinese. Chang is like, is that true? And Miles is like, no. Fucking Miles. So Chang, um Chang is like, just stay away from me. And he leaves. Miles then confronts Daniel, like, what the fuck, man? And he's like, that's the only way of getting Chang to do what he is, quote, supposed to do. In the meantime, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, and Hurley meet in Sawyer and Juliet's house to discuss their options. According to Sawyer, they must either leave the island by sub before they get caught or head into the jungle to start from scratch.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

You know it was coming.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

Yeah. Jin is like, so long as my wife might be on this island, I will not leave.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Just not that time.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Yeah. And Hurley is like, yeah, me too. He's like, we can go through all this trouble to just leave. But before they can continue, they're interrupted by Miles and Daniel. Daniel's like, um, hi, where can I find the hostels? He explains that he's looking at the taco bar. Where's the his mother is among them. She's another. Mother is another. And furthermore, she is their only hope of getting back to where they belong. It's clear, it's not clear whether he means off the island or back to the present. Help me, Eloise Hawking. You're my only hope. So this is why that little scene confused me because when we saw when they were skipping, like, I can't remember when we saw that scene of him carrying and like bumping into Dr. Chang while the orchid is being built.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

And that's that's the part that was confusing me. Is like I'm like, where I forgot where the other part goes. What how we saw that already? I know it was. Because I could have sworn it was while the time was skipping. And I didn't have time before we recorded. So I was just thinking about it. And then I thought I didn't have time.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Before the skip. Like that was like a flashback. Before the skipping.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Maybe. I'm I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

I'm I'm gonna have to just go back and rewatch every episode. I thought it was a flashback. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Yeah, I don't. Alright, well, I don't know. I don't have to watch every episode. I just you know, like um the last I mean it would only be this season.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Was it beginning?

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Because they couldn't have put that episode there because it would have ruined the whole time travel thing.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

No, because it was before the skipping. And it looks like it was him. I think it happened before they started skipping.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Oh, no, no. It happened when they were skipping, but before we understood what was happening.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Or that they were skipping, or something.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Yes, and then because right, because it was when they were skipping and watching themselves.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Right? Because because then Sawyer have a Sawyer saw like Kate and Claire give birth.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

I feel like I s because you asked me about him, and like, well, what is that about? Yeah, and you were saying that that was his father. So obviously the skipping didn't happen yet, because if the skipping happened, we're like, okay, that's How it okay. Anywho, I don't remember.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

No, I think okay. I think it's because it was skipping and you didn't realize we knew there was skipping. But but remember, we knew that they were skipping, but I knew that they would land back in time. You didn't, so you didn't have that frame of reference. Gotcha the past, the current colias.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Okay, so it was like the beginning of the skipping.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yeah. Before it was explained, and right. And that's that was I mean, that's a rational thought that it's not him. Now he's not watching or him. Yeah, but I'm I'm still gonna go look anyway. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

But I feel better. I feel better. I mean, I wasn't even fucked up over it, but I feel better to have an idea of when it happened now. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Sawyer refuses to assist Daniel, but then Jack is like, well, Kate, where are the hostels? Like, Sawyer is like, Kate, don't answer. And Jack is like, she can answer if she wants to. And I'm like, I feel like my face is following a tennis match. Because I'm like, Jack, don't go over Sawyer's things, like what he says. He is now in charge, not you. But then I'm like, Sawyer, don't tell Kate what to do. Jack, you stuck up for Kate, but only because you wanted to get what you wanted. Like, like which who's right and who's wrong?

SPEAKER_00 23:58

They're all being typical children.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Yeah. Um this scene is interesting though, because you know, that it's the whole back and forth and Jack Sawyer power play, which is like the A in the scene. Because that's the obvious. But then uh I think Kate, I think, asks something about like something.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

And when Sawyer asks something about something.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Yeah, she it was definitely something about something. But Sawyer, when he responds to her, he calls her freckles.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Juliet did not like that.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

She did not, because Juliet's response was the code is she's like, all right, go, go, go, go now. And she was like, yeah, she was like, we're done here anyway. And so you still have you have the men, but you still have that power play with the women. And it wasn't even really Kate, like Kate was just cating.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Katie was kating.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

But Sawyer called her freckles, and Juliet was like, nope. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

You are the weakest link. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

So they're like, you know what? Fine. But when it fails, we'll be at the beach. Kate is like, we need to go to the motor pool because we need guns. Actually, no, they have like the guns, I think, somewhere else, but anyway, it doesn't matter. Daniel's like, oh, go up ahead, I'll catch up. And then we see him talk to Charlotte, who is like seven years old. It's such a weird scene.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

We saw that scene also when him like he remembers seeing her. Like it was his, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Not this much in depth. And this is the scene. Well, no, actually. We saw uh I think we saw from like a different angle before, but we never saw him talk to her.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

No, we saw her see him, right? It was her memory.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Okay, okay. She would she's like, the f because I know she said she told him about it.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

But it's like creepy and endearing at the same time. And he's like talking to her, and and I, you know, he obviously is not trying to hurt her or be like traditionally inappropriate, but I'm like, dude, you're a grown man and you're telling this child all these things about evacuation and danger, to the point where Charlie is crying. And he's crying, and it's like, well, you just effectively scared the shit out of this kid. A man she's never met before, he just stands next to her and cries and tells her all this shit. It's weird. It's so weird. But while Kate, so okay. After he's done thoroughly traumatizing Charlotte for the rest of her life, he meets back up with Jack and Kate to get their guns. But then Radzinski comes with two other Dharma guys, and they're like, mmm, nope, firefight. Daniel is grazed in the neck, and Radzinski is shot in the arm. Jack, Kate, and Daniel make their way to the Jeep, and Jack opens fire on a fuel tank, and then, you know, of course, movie magic, boom, big explosion, big boom. They escape as the dust settles. And Radzinski is like, sound the alarm. When they get to the fence, Jack treats Daniel's neck wound as Kate enters the code. Daniel reminds Jack that 1977 is now their present and such, and as such, they would do well to remember that they are still at risk of injury or death, regardless of their presence in the future.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

That made sense to me.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Right, because their future already happened, so it's their past.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Right. This is their current yeah. This is this is currently their future, the past. They're living there, yeah. That makes sense. In a weird kind of I need more alcohol way.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Meanwhile, Juliet and Sawyer are packing to leave for the beach when they're interrupted by the alarm. Angry and injured, Rodzinski burst into Sawyer's house and informs Sawyer of the situation. Much to Rodzinski's horror, he quickly discovers the bound and gagged Phil. It's like boom, boom, boom. What's that? Uh I think it's outside. Like, can't you be like, no, get the fuck out of my house? Like, aren't you in charge of these Yahoos? Come on.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Anyway. It's like Lord of the Flies, though. Seriously. It's pure chaos.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

So, Radzinski's big big mad now, and he holds Sawyer and Juliet at gunpoint. Meanwhile, Jack, Daniel, and Kate stop at a creek to rest. Jack wants Dan to explain his intentions and he reveals his knowledge of the impending disaster caused by a massive energy release at the Swan Station. He explains that as a result of this, the installation they know as the hatch will be built as a precautionary measure to contain this energy and prevent future incidents. Over the next 20 years, it will be necessary for Dharma to keep this energy at bay by pressing a button. But ultimately, Daniel's failure to do so will cause the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. He tells Jack and Kate that in his studies of relativistic physics wait no. He tells Jack and Kate that his studies of relativistic physics have revealed the relationship between the constants in this equation and the variables. The variables, though, are people, specifically their choices and free will that they have that will allow them to change their destiny. He then reveals his intention to set things right by detonating a hydrogen bomb in an attempt to negate the catastrophic energy release. Thereby he's hoping to prevent the events that led to the oceanic A15 crash.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

So let's say they're still on the island in 1977. And let's just say he was able to thwart thought throughout through the stop this from happening. So they would never crash. Did they just like disappear from the island? Like just because if they never crash, the series of events after the crash never happened. So they just did they just disappear from 1977? Okay. Like a la back to the future.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

They phase out. Just fade on out. Jack, Daniel, and Kate arrive undetected at the hostel's camp. Daniel goes in, fires two warning shots into the ground, and demands to speak with Ellie. Richard Alpert appears to recognize Daniel, but insists that Eloise is not there. Daniel asks Richard at gunpoint where the hydrogen bomb is buried, and as Richard attempts to talk him down, Daniel is shot from behind by none other than his mama.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

His mama.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Bleeding out, Daniel tells her you knew this was going to happen, but you sent me here anyway. When it's apparent that Ellie does not recognize him, he says in his dying breath that he is her son. Talk about bad mama. This is like the worst of I think all of them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

I concur.

SPEAKER_01 33:08

Now we got another flashback. So from 1977, we're gonna flash back to 2007. Desmond, after being shot by Ben, is rushed to the hospital by the paramedics to undergo surgery. A doctor tells Penny to stay outside, like in a waiting room. So she's just there with her son Charlie. Then she is approached by Eloise Hawkin, who comments that Charlie has his father's hair. Penny's like, What? Do I know you? She says that she knows Desmond and that his injury is caused by her son. And Penny's like, your son is Ben? Which I feel like is such a natural like reaction.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

Conclusion, right? Because I was like, for a hot second. I'm like, Ben, no, the other one. Like, mm-hmm. That was my gut, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

Eloise is like, no, but it's Daniel. She apologizes for her son's actions, and Penny asks if Desmond will be alright. Eloise says she doesn't know, and that for the first time in a long time, she does not know what will happen next. But soon afterwards, a nurse comes out and is like, Desmond's in recovery. The surgery was successful, and he wants to go talk to you. So Penny leaves her son with the nurse and rushes to meet Desmond, who reminds her of his promise that he would never leave her. Eloise leaves. As she's exiting the hospital, she's approached by Charles Whidmore, who asks about Desmond's condition. She's like, Desmond is fine. Your daughter is there if you want to go talk to her. Woodmore says that he has sacrificed his relationship with Penny. Eloise is like, you know nothing about sacrifice. And it's only after she slapped him. And now this scene happens first. Actually, no, wait, hold on a second. She says, You know nothing about sacrifice, and then he says, It's my son, too. And yeah. And then that's when she slaps him, I think.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Yeah, I was kind of, I'm like, okay, I can see that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

So that's, I mean, you know, the episode is over. And we we know now that the sacrifice she was talking about was sending him back to the island knowing she was gonna kill him.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Well, what do you make of it being Whidmore's son, too? Not surprised. Penny and Faraday are are siblings.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

Yeah, I was like kind of cool. But yeah, I'm not, I was like, yeah, that makes sense. When he said we're old friends, I was like, oh, uh, makes sense. Got it.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Some trivia. Trivia, yeah, trivia, yeah. This was billed by ABC as the 100th episode of Lost. The original broadcast date of the episode, which was April 29th, 2009, was coincidentally also President Obama's 100th day in office.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Oh, that's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

ABC aired Obama's press conference for the event immediately preceding the episode.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

That's kind of cool. To have your hundredth episode doing a president's hundredth day in office. That's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_01 37:06

This is the first and only time of the entire series that Hurley and Daniel see each other.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

Is it?

SPEAKER_01 37:19

Apparently.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

Yeah. Okay. Six hundred seasons later, and they're five minutes into like their lives. I think.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

In this scene when where Daniel is crying in front of the television and Whidmore visits. The exact same comic sits on Daniel's couch as was used in Richard's test on Young John Locke.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

Ah, interesting.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

Daniel is the seventh character to die in their centric episode. The others being Shannon and Lucia, Mr. Echo, Nikki, Paolo, and Locke. But speaking of dying, don't forget that they have uh that whatever magic that they used for Ben. So do you think they're gonna use it on Daniel and what's gonna happen to him when they do?

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Because remember, they say we could do it, but they'll never be the same.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

No idea. Yeah, I no more figuring out, boss. It's just gonna I'm gonna be in a pattern room with Daniel Faraday.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

To celebrate filming this episode, Jorge Garcia ordered a specialty cake from Charm City Cakes. That's the bakery featured in the television show Ace of Cakes. It was featured in their episode Lost in Hawaii.

SPEAKER_00 39:05

Oh, that's cute.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

Apparently, on this on the season five um extended version, or on the season five DVD, there's an extended version of the scene by the river where Daniel explains his theory to Jack and Kate. He brings up a metaphor about stones and boulders, how a pebble, a small change, won't alter the course of a river, but a boulder, big change, will.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 39:38

Oh, here it is. This is a blooper, but in the first scene of Because You Left, Dr. Pierre Chang wakes up at 8 15, takes a shower, feeds the baby, shoots a take of the orientation video for the arrow, and only then is he called to the orchid because of the sick worker. However, in this episode, it is clearly around 6 a.m. when Daniel briefly questions Jack about the reason for his return to the island, and then he's immediately taken to the orchid where he sees Dr. Chang and the same sick worker. That's where the scene was. It was the first episode of the season, and it was Dr. Chang's flashback that we saw him in.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

Well, maybe maybe not Dr. Chang's flashback, but but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

It was a flashback of Dr. Chang.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

So pre skipping.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Well, no, they were already like skipping because at the end of last season, there was remember that was the whole thing. That they had to move the island.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

But they didn't, they had they didn't know they skipped yet. They skipped, they just didn't know what it was. I mean pre-known skipping. Like it was skipping, but we didn't know it was skipping. So pre-skipping. Pre realizing.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Yeah. That's what I meant. Like, no one knew they were skipping. Like they were skipping, like they skipped, we didn't know they skipped yet. Having the same episode, but I don't think we just didn't realize it was skipping. Well, you might have, because you've seen it. I'm gonna have I'm gonna have alcohol now. They didn't know. I'm going good night. I'm gonna watch the episode after we start recording so I can get my thoughts in order. All this back and forth time travel skipping. I think I left my brain somewhere in another decade.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

The episode talks about free will versus fate and the irony of Daniel trying to change the course of actions because he has free will, except that it all happens exactly how she knew it would happen, which would lend itself to fate.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

It's funny because all like every movie, every book, every show about changing like the you know, free will over fate. Like I have free will, so I'm gonna change it. And that change, or them trying to change it, actually causes the thing that they're trying to stop. So kind of like if I didn't know anything about it, just set my hot ass down, maybe it wouldn't have happened. Like me knowing about it, my free will turned it into fate, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

But so then was there ever such a thing as free will?

SPEAKER_00 42:56

Yeah, because you could just say, fuck, I ain't doing shit. Yeah, but it was but not this per se.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

You knew it was gonna happen, it was gonna happen, so therefore fate.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

Right. But you knowing about it, trying to change it probably caused it. So here's a question. If you don't do shit, and like fuck it, I know about it. Let's see what happens if I don't do shit about it. Will it still happen? My free will not to try to change it. You don't know. I don't it's one of those things. What comes first, the chicken or the egg? You don't fucking know. Well, I think they do know, but I don't fucking know. I mean, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Mango tequila, people. Some cultural references are H. G. Wells. Sawyer refers to Daniel as H. G. Wells, who was a famous science fiction author known for his works, The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, and The Shape of Things to Come.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

Gee, that sounds so familiar. Speaking of which, did you write your second verse yet? Shh. No.

SPEAKER_01 44:21

DVD. Just DVD, not any DVD, just DVD. DVD. Miles shares his surprise at Daniel's return by remarking, Once you left for Ann Arbor, I figured you'd gotten rich, invented the DVD or something.

SPEAKER_00 44:38

Okay, here's a random thought. How many people do we think are cra like, like, oh my god, they're fucking crazy. They're talking out their ass, but they're really from the future. They know something we don't know. Okay. And how would like what if things that were invented or discovered were really from time travelers? They're like so and so. This is this is something in my in my present. I need this now. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

According to Lost Pedia, Faraday thinks he's a variable and that he can change the past, but later acknowledges that his mother knew that this was going to happen, proving himself wrong. This demonstrates that a person, a variable, cannot act upon another to suppress, obstruct, or nullify his actions and their consequences. I mean, it gets a little like really like deep, deep. Like you gotta be either really, really sober or like really, really, really high.

SPEAKER_00 45:49

Yeah. Really fucked up.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

And then it will probably make sense.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

You know what? Let's try this out. How much alcohol do I have in the house?

SPEAKER_01 46:00

And here we go again with the two groups. One is Sawyer's group who want to like, you know, leave the island, but like go to the beach. And the other one is Daniel, Jack, and Kate, who want to go find Ellie and like, you know, quote, prevent all the shit from ever happening. Now that we've seen the more events surrounding Faraday, what would you guess is the reason that he is crying when he sees the wreckage?

SPEAKER_00 46:43

I have no idea. I feel like I'm failing a test. Like I was like, I didn't study for this pop quiz. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

No, but I was thinking because I was thinking about that, and I'm like, is it because it reminds him that of somehow like having this like perception that he was there like this was going on? Yeah, almost almost like he failed. Like this perception of that he was supposed to do something and he didn't do it. Do it, even though like those events hadn't happened, but sometimes you just get like those feelings.

SPEAKER_00 47:27

Okay, same way with um why can't I remember his name? The one that kept that Penny's bow. What the fuck? Why can't I remember his name? Charlie? No, Penny's boyfriend. Desmond. You know how Desmond was able to like he remembered things, he was going back and forth between the two consciousness, and and he just didn't know why. He was like, what the fuck? He remembers things, he kind of felt things have happened before, whatever. Maybe it's something along those lines with the whole because he was doing the study, he was doing the expert the experimenting. So maybe he kind of like for some reason, the whole back and forth somehow got stuck in this current consciousness, but he doesn't know it. Or he knows he doesn't remember it, or something, whatever the case. No, no, no, right, right. There's a connection there, he just can't place why the connection is there. And his opposite.

SPEAKER_01 48:29

And also that plane kind of symbolizes the catalyst of his impending death.

SPEAKER_00 48:37

Wow, you know, that's the reason he that's deep. That's deep.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

Well, but that's the reason that he goes to the island, and then once he's on the island, it's Charlotte's death, and then not directly his death, but you know, but it's all connected. I don't know. His mother's betrayal. My God, that's crazy though. Like, you have to realize your mother shot you before you die.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

But the reason but they sent him back, they allowed him to go back or forced him to go back for a reason. And I kind of question if everything had to happen, you didn't have to send him back. It was gonna happen regardless. So maybe there must be a reason they sent him. I don't know why send him back if that was gonna happen. Because it doesn't stop anything. So maybe having him go back does stop it. I don't know. I'm good night. Good night, I'm done. Fucking rabbit hole. Good night. Say goodnight, Gracie. Good night, Gracie.

SPEAKER_01 49:54

It's an involved episode.

SPEAKER_00 49:58

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

Yeah. But I mean, I that's all I have for it.

SPEAKER_00 50:09

Anything else? No. Um, it's funny how The Constant was probably my probably my favorite episode. This morning, like meh, okay. Can it all be winners? No, no, listen. I think the way we started and where we're at now, you've like it's a win for you. I have turned a complete 90 degrees. Uh not 180, 90 degrees. And I based how it was before, I yeah. Okay. We're heading in a positive, you know. All right, we're getting there. Okay. I don't completely hate it, just indifferent. Well, that is an improvement. Yes, see, 90 degrees.

SPEAKER_01 51:06

The next episode is called Follow the Leader.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

Following the leader, the leader, the leader. Following the leader.

SPEAKER_01 51:18

It's the penultimate episode of season five, so we are so close to wrapping up this season.

SPEAKER_00 51:25

Even that much closer to wrapping up the series. Woohoo! Lisa's like she hates when I get excited by any of this. Is season six? Am I gonna like season six? Do you think I'm gonna like it?

SPEAKER_01 51:44

I I think so. I think so because it's the end. No, there's that it's different and it starts to wrap everything up. Is the earth gonna turn its axis and do one of these? It's gonna turn 90 degrees.

SPEAKER_00 52:06

Told you.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

Yeah. Um, I think I need to go have some bread or something now. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 52:19

I can't have you falling on your ass with a broken ankle. But you know. Stay in bed.

SPEAKER_01 52:27

You need to go eat something too, I think.

SPEAKER_00 52:31

No, I'm gonna drink more. But anyway, responsibilities today.

SPEAKER_01 52:37

Oh, that's good. That is gonna do it for this episode. We remind you, as always, to please drink responsibly. Do not drink and drive. Visit us at sassinsips.com for all the ways to get in touch with us, to find our show, to hang with us, and you know, maybe even support us, drop us like buy me a coffee, buy me a glass of wine, Patreon, subscription episodes, everything is all at Sastsips.com. And until next time, I'm Lisa and I'm Magnus. And we are out of here.