The Constant (405) [Archive]

GateWorld

January 29th, 2008, 04:06 PM

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<FONT SIZE="4"><A HREF="http://www.scifistream.com/lost/s4/index.shtml" STYLE="text-decoration: none">THE CONSTANT</A></FONT>
<FONT SIZE="1">EPISODE NUMBER - 405</FONT>
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A turbulent trip back to the freighter causes Desmond to flash back in time, but when he returns he has no memory of his years on the island. With help from Sayid and Daniel, Desmond must discover what is happening to him before his brain can't take any more.

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JohnRico

February 28th, 2008, 06:09 PM

Lost is going Sci-Fi ;)

Amalthea

February 28th, 2008, 06:12 PM

That was awesome... nice to finally get a Desmond episode. I was hoping that he'd tell Penny more thus explaining a few more things, but, this is good too.

SierraGulf1

February 28th, 2008, 06:15 PM

That it is, and I loved it.

Desmond is by far the best character Lost has at their disposal (or at least one of them). So far all of his episodes (in my memory) have been knockouts, this one included. Not to mention, Daniel Faraday intrigues me more and more each episode. This one was hard to wrap my mind around, but in the end it's all understandable. Great acting by HIC.

As for the note in Faraday's notebook, I'm not sure if he wrote it himself and is currently going through the same experience, or if Penny and/or Charles are somehow involved. One of the three names Desmond as their "constant," very interesting indeed.

GATEGOD

February 28th, 2008, 06:20 PM

My favorite episode this season! I loved the bit when he puts on the radiation thing and Desmond asks Shouldn't you put one on your head.... lol so funny Both of these two characters became very interesting to me I never really loved Desmond all that much but he severely grew on me in this episode. I loved every minute of it! Very beautiful ending he had with that phone call. So sad and sweet.

memnarch

February 28th, 2008, 09:58 PM

Without a doubt, one of the best episodes Lost has done. Desmond has always been one of my favorites, but now I have to say he's definitely at the top of my list. Lots of characters on the show have something that drives them. Jack is obsessed with looking out for people and Locke is driven to learn the Island's secrets and to protect it; Ben too to a certain extent. But what drives Desmond his love for Penny. Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic, but that really touched me while I was watching "The Constant." Desmond and Penny's reunion was beautifully executed and very satisfying. I do hope that he manages to get off the Island somehow to be with her or that she makes it there to be with him.

Charles Widmore's bidding on the Black Rock diary is intriguing, as was Dan's note about Desmond being his constant. The ominous tone of the music when it revealed Dan's note seems to indicate that Dan counts on something "going wrong." I believe that has to do with the next episode (Possible spoilers!): The preview seems to depict Dan and Charlotte in a DHARMA station. I believe that it's the Orchid station, a station spoilers have indicated that Juliet has visited before and given that the next episode is Juliet-centric... I was sad to see Minkowski go so soon, especially since there was so much buildup with him being the voice on the end of the phone for so long.

Overall though, **** stars, no question.

LiquidKal

February 28th, 2008, 11:33 PM

Best episode of Lost I have ever seen.
I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, literally.
When Desmond was on the phone at the end... I nearly exploded.

Ohh, and the Black Rock diary was owned by Alvar Hanso! I bet thats how Dharma found the Island originally.

Is Charles Widmore, the current owner of the diary, involved with the Freighter people?

memnarch

February 29th, 2008, 12:03 AM

Ohh, and the Black Rock diary was owned by Alvar Hanso! I bet thats how Dharma found the Island originally.

Is Charles Widmore, the current owner of the diary, involved with the Freighter people?

Charles Widmore bought the diary in 1996. The Dharma Initiative was founded in the late '60s.

It seems like the freighter folks are at least aware of who Penny Widmore is, so it stands to reason that they know who her father is, possibly more than they know her.

LiquidKal

February 29th, 2008, 01:03 AM

Charles Widmore bought the diary in 1996. The Dharma Initiative was founded in the late '60s.
Ahhh, yeah, I realize that ;). I wasn't linking Widmore with DHARMA.
I was excited about who owned the diary before Widmore. Alvar Hanso!

The Hanso Foundation, founded by Alvar Hanso, financed the DHARMA Initiative. Clearly they found the Island via the diary. So it must hold some kind of key to finding its location.

And now Charles Widmore has the diary (as of 1996) and I'm suggesting that perhaps its through him, either directly or indirectly, that the Freighter people have found the Island in 2004.

Dusk

February 29th, 2008, 05:25 AM

Superb!! Absolutely a blast!

This episode... just...wow. The pieces start moving, and the season begins to take a sexy shape. This is the FIRST episode of the entire series where any of the Oceanic survivors is officially 'off' the island and back in the normal flow of time and space. Also, incredibly, a flashback taking place RIGHT NOW! Get your heads around that one.

If Locke ever leaves the island, then I imagine he might experience the same temporal entropy effect that Desmond and Minkowski did. Interesting. Also, there was a not so subtle hint that a certain someone may be aboard the ship helping Sayid and Desmond. I'm pretty sure I have a good idea who it is...

Desmond and Penny's telephone reunion had me in tears! Touching, just touching.

This season truly is shaping up to be a knockout. Let's see the next episode hit another home run.

marty2006

February 29th, 2008, 08:11 AM

Ive always loved desmond especially because he is also scottish and a celtic fan but this episode was just awesome

pavaneofstars

February 29th, 2008, 09:07 AM

Fantastic episode! Good to experience those "ohmygoshwhatjusthappened?!?!!" moments again. :D And Desmond's reunion over the phone with Penny was very heartwarming. Awwww!

memnarch

February 29th, 2008, 10:30 AM

Ahhh, yeah, I realize that ;). I wasn't linking Widmore with DHARMA.
I was excited about who owned the diary before Widmore. Alvar Hanso!

The Hanso Foundation, founded by Alvar Hanso, financed the DHARMA Initiative. Clearly they found the Island via the diary. So it must hold some kind of key to finding its location.

And now Charles Widmore has the diary (as of 1996) and I'm suggesting that perhaps its through him, either directly or indirectly, that the Freighter people have found the Island in 2004.

Oh yeah, I definitely agree with that. Especially since (possible major spoilerage: Charles Widmore is credited in next week's episode, which is a Juliet flashback taking place entirely on Island. It seems likely that if he isn't connected to the freighter folks, that he's connected to the Island in some way.

Morbo

February 29th, 2008, 03:55 PM

best episode

LiquidKal

February 29th, 2008, 04:50 PM

Oh yeah, I definitely agree with that. Especially since (possible major spoilerage: Charles Widmore is credited in next week's episode, which is a Juliet flashback taking place entirely on Island. It seems likely that if he isn't connected to the freighter folks, that he's connected to the Island in some way.
OOOooooh!
Excellent.
Can't wait for next week!

This season is so awesome, I haven't had this much impatience for the next episode since late season 2 :)

jenks

February 29th, 2008, 09:35 PM

Another great episode, although the 'it's a London number' line and a few of the accents had me rolling my eyes!

Anubis69

March 1st, 2008, 05:48 AM

"If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."

Holy crap. Just... Wow. I pity the fools that gave up on this when there "were no answers".

JayShadow

March 1st, 2008, 07:07 PM

The preview seems to depict Dan and Charlotte in a DHARMA station. I believe that it's the Orchid station, a station spoilers have indicated that Juliet has visited before and given that the next episode is Juliet-centric...

Actually, according to a preview clip, they're heading to the Tempest, which is a power station on the island. So I don't know if they're trying to power up the Orchid or if the Orchid is part of a Juliet flashback.

memnarch

March 2nd, 2008, 12:37 AM

Actually, according to a preview clip, they're heading to the Tempest, which is a power station on the island. So I don't know if they're trying to power up the Orchid or if the Orchid is part of a Juliet flashback.

Really? Where in the preview clip is that? Do you have a link?

LiquidKal

March 2nd, 2008, 12:45 AM

Really? Where in the preview clip is that? Do you have a link?
I saw this preview earlier today.
Here it is (http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=b7ccf993-644a-492e-8ae4-bf2406e6df69)

I assume thats the same preview JayShadow mentioned.

SoulReaver

March 2nd, 2008, 08:38 AM

one of the best episodes, though the notion of a "constant" and especially the way Daniel expounded it doesn't really scream "sci-fi" (then again, was the show ever supposed to be "pure sci-fi" ?)

btw. Desmond is Daniel's constant ? I thought Daniel said the constant had to be something both 'familiar' and which the subject 'really really cared about', manifestly Desmond is neither of these, so it turns out the constant merely has to be a physical reference common to both timelines

also, did Desmond recover his memories or is he back in 2004 with an 8-year amnesia ? :tealcanime49:

SoulReaver

March 2nd, 2008, 08:39 AM

also, it would be interesting to see another character strong enough to break the time trap without the need of a constant :tealc:

JayShadow

March 2nd, 2008, 12:35 PM

I saw this preview earlier today.
Here it is (http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=b7ccf993-644a-492e-8ae4-bf2406e6df69)

I assume thats the same preview JayShadow mentioned.

Yeah. Usually ABC will post a few scenes from the next episode at Lost's official site on Friday. I think eonline usually picks it up the same day, and it pops up on youtube everywhere by that night. They tend to be scenes that happen early in the episode, so they're not huge spoilers even when they sometimes look like it out of context.

memnarch

March 2nd, 2008, 02:59 PM

Ah! Okay, I'd seen that one before, but the audio quality wasn't as good and I missed hearing "Tempest."

Amalthea

March 2nd, 2008, 05:53 PM

btw. Desmond is Daniel's constant ? I thought Daniel said the constant had to be something both 'familiar' and which the subject 'really really cared about', manifestly Desmond is neither of these, so it turns out the constant merely has to be a physical reference common to both timelines

also, did Desmond recover his memories or is he back in 2004 with an 8-year amnesia ? :tealcanime49:

I would say that Desmond would mean a lot to Daniel because when he showed up in 1996 it validated all of his theories, and in turn, his whole existence. Daniel would therefore really care about Desmond making him an appropriate constant.

I think Desmond got all his memories back since he said he remembered Sayid and everything.

SoulReaver

March 2nd, 2008, 08:04 PM

I would say that Desmond would mean a lot to Daniel because when he showed up in 1996 it validated all of his theories, and in turn, his whole existence. Daniel would therefore really care about Desmond making him an appropriate constant. yeah that would mean he values Desmond as the bloke who helped him solve a bunch of mathematical equations - from "valuing" to "caring" (which was Daniel's word) there's quite a stretch, surely you'll see the difference between Daniel & Desmond's relationship and the real, long-time bond that unites Penny & Desmond

he said he remembered Sayid and everything.u sure ? :confused:

Wyrminarrd

March 3rd, 2008, 04:33 AM

Desmond sure seemed to now know who Sayid was.

Great episode, this season continues it´s impressive performance.

I´ll admit that I´m not a fan of time travel, it´s always been way to much of a plot device that charactes don´t seem to know how to use correctly. However, Lost seems to have it´s act together and have a good handle on things. I´d say they go with that the future creates itself and there is only one timeline.

jenks

March 3rd, 2008, 05:43 AM

yeah that would mean he values Desmond as the bloke who helped him solve a bunch of mathematical equations - from "valuing" to "caring" (which was Daniel's word) there's quite a stretch, surely you'll see the difference between Daniel & Desmond's relationship and the real, long-time bond that unites Penny & Desmond

u sure ? :confused:

Yep, I'm pretty sure their consciousnesses had been 'restored'.

SoulReaver

March 3rd, 2008, 02:23 PM

I dunno...Desmond sure didn't seem too act like he'd gotten his memories back http://img.infos-du-net.com/forum/images/perso/bou%20le%20loup.gif
more like he'd just broken the "loop" & that was it

JayShadow

March 3rd, 2008, 08:59 PM

Nope,. he's normal Desmond again. Saying Sayid's name was sort of TV shorthand for recognizing him again. Same with his past self smiling the last time we see him, because he's back in his own time.

SoulReaver

March 3rd, 2008, 09:59 PM

Wyrminarrd

March 4th, 2008, 01:50 AM

yeah but under such circumstances his reaction is surprising (if he did recover his mems)

losing one' s memory all of a sudden is one thing, recovering it all of a sudden is another

remember this was Desmond with several years missing, talking to Penny - in other words as far as he knew, the island, sayid, daniel, the boat, the hatch, dharma & a whole lot of other things never occurred (and "a lot" is an understatement, we got to know Desmond as an active kind of bloke which means he must have been through quite a few adventures during those last years) and then the next thing he knows he finds himself with 8 full, fresh new years of life, *poof* out of the blue - like an instant personality download, matrix-style but a whole lot bigger in terms of data. I don't know about you folks, but a normal human would have more likely panicked - in a heart-attack or brain-explosion kinda way http://img.infos-du-net.com/forum/images/perso/666%20.gif

Depends on how all of this really works, it could be more like the "current" Desmond all of a sudden remembering not the last eight years but more like him remembering being without his memories. To put it more precise he remembers being without his real memories for a short period of time but doesn´t feel like he ever lost them.

Then again he could simply be to happy to really give his memories much of a thought ;)

SoulReaver

March 4th, 2008, 02:41 AM

yeah maybe it depends on how it works, but seeing how he reacted when he lost his memories (he found himself on a helicopter & the only unfamiliar thing at the moment was the chopper & the 2 people with him yet that was enough to send him off his bonkers) - imagine how he should feel with not just a few seconds, but 8 full years of unfamiliar events suddenly popping in his head http://img.infos-du-net.com/forum/images/perso/knyten.gif

then again maybe he must (would ?) be better off without those memories, in which case a brief recap from his (new) friends would suffice