Constant Connection

My long Lost brothers and sisters,

If you did not yet see the latest Lost episode, I now present you with SPOILERS. If you have seen it, I present you with gibberish.

Given, that the show was about constants, I want to stress some constants in the Lost universe. Constant is more than a mere steady presence, as we Lost addicts are searching for a Lost constant... the truth about the Lost world, and in our search, we try to connect the dots, so that we are not torn apart by Lost's time fluctuations. Yes, it is the viewers who have the difficulty, (not deadly difficulty, but mild discomfort) of having to be ripped back and forth in time constantly at the whims of the show. We get ripped to flashbacks, flashforwards, and occasionally foray our combined wisdom to the knowledge of the present on an unknown Pacific Island on December 24, 2004, the present. So, if Penny is a constant for Desmond, and Desmond is a constant for Faraday, then who is our constant? Is it Jack? Is it the love triangle that we always come back to? Or is it the same for you that it is for me... the truth about the Island? That is my constant, and why I keep coming back for more. The show was trying to get me to acknowledge that Lost is really about connections between people and the development of characters, and not some unfathomable pseudo-scientific, pseudo-mystical truth. I'm not drinking that Kool-Aid. The connections and characters are great and make the ride more fun, but I'm not watching TV to meet new people. I'm watching TV to learn.

But, onto the new unique characters. Let's start with Faraday, namesake to the famed boy-genius English physicist, Michael Faraday (mostly non-fictional historical character) who as far as I can recall, was a specialist in electro-magnetism. Daniel Faraday, fictional modern-day character, is a guy who knows about electro-magnetism and radiation, and of course, time travel. Does it strike anyone as odd that he is vaguely reminiscent, in looks, character, and mannerisms of Horace Goodspeed, the mathematician that helped birth Benjamin Linus and recruited Roger "Work Man" Linus to the island? This connection, if there is one here, would explain why Faraday became a scientist, why he's obsessed with time travel, and why he would have a personal reason to track down Benjamin Linus, who killed Horace Goodspeed with gas (hence the gas mask). So, my outlandish theory of the day, Horace Goodspeed is Faraday's father. But, that's probably just me.

But, as for Faraday's story...
Why was Faraday crying when he heard about the Lost plane crash in Episode 2 of Season 4? Because he lived this future moment already and though he couldn't clearly remember it, his subconscious had a memory of knowing all these folks. He was crying because he knew these people already in the future. However, maybe he was crying (and not happy that they were alive) because he knew their fate beyond the island. But, throughout his memories, past and present, Desmond (who was not on that plane) is his constant.

What was the memory game with the cards? Faraday was trying to remember this moment from his past because he has experienced this moment already. On the Island, he is perhaps better able to perceive these memories of the future. Yep, now it's all tied up in a neat little bow?!? And all of this subconscious time travel is a side-effect of the major time distortion caused by the radioactive electromagnetism emitted by the island. Quick, get a physicist here.

How about Faraday? No, how about Minkowski, who we finally met, before his quick demise. But, doesn't this clown look like someone from Hurley's past? Is it Leonard? My Lost early season DVDs are on loan, so someone else has to check this out for me. But, it's interesting to me, which people are having the time travelling side-effects... Minkowski, Faraday, and Desmond, but not Sayid or the pilot. (Or is that why Sayid is listening to Ben/killing for Ben, because they both know something in the future? Also, someone should check Staples Lewis vs. Annie, Ben's childhood girlfriend, as per Doc Jensen's proposed theory from a month ago, that they are the same person. Perhaps, are all the people on the Island connected by their memories of a joint consciousnessness, which would play out in their intricately interwoven lives, culminating on landing at the same airport terminal? What's really going to bake your noodle later on, is if the islanders hadn't seen the future by being on the Island, would they have gotten on that plane in the first place?)

Minkowski was something of the communications officer of the boat, before he went mad visiting the island in the chopper with his dead unseen buddy. They died of brain aneurisms, like Eli Stone has, but the aneurisms were not prophecies of the future, like Eli Stone has... wait, yes they were... What is that?!? Cross-advertising? They should just name a character, Eli Stone. (By the way, not a good show, despite the lawyer-prophet stuff and the George Michael sound track.) Overall, Minkowski's role here was a bit anti-climactic, and doesn't make much sense unless they explain it a little more, perhaps giving him a bit of back story when we explore Abaddon.

But, now to the Widmores and their antics. Penny's love for Desmond is pretty deep, in the fact that she was waiting around for him (not sure if she's married, as my brother pointed out that she was covering her fingers). When these two star-crossed lovers finally spoke and professed their eternal love for each other, it was a beautiful moment. But, I'm more interested in her dad, Charles Widmore?

What's Widmore's deal? He is more than likely involved in the stuff with the island, but is he a time traveler as well? Does he know that Desmond will be on the island, and thus, he doesn't actually hate Desmond, he just needs life to play out, such that Desmond and Penny are separated and Desmond finds the Island in a ridiculous effort to prove himself. Thus, Widmore might not actually hate Desmond; but the more interesting question is what was in the diary of the Black Rock captain that Widmore purchased?

First off, the prior owner of the diary was a Hanso, so did Widmore win the bidding on that piece in the hopes of attaining the location of the island? Or protecting the Island's secrets from others?

So, let's recap what we know and what we think we know here... Hanso was with the Dharma Initiative. The Hostiles are present on Lost Island, when Dharma is studying the Island. With low level Dharma employee, Ben Linus's, betrayal of the Initiative, Richard Alpert and the rest of the Hostiles expel/kill the Dharma island scientists and workers. Alpert represents himself to Juliet as a doctor from a company called Mittelos (anagram for Lost Time,) which is presumably run by Linus. The logical position would be that the people on the frigate, the Abaddonians, are from the descendant company of Dharma or Dharma itself reincarnated. None of this would explain Widmore's relationship with any of these companies.

But, the Black Rock, which was lost at sea 150 years earlier was discovered in the middle of the Island and Alvar Hanso did know the location of Lost Island, as discussed in the training videos in the Dharma stations. The people that could have known that the Black Rock was not actually lost at sea, but was actually on Lost island... Dharma, because they were on the Island before, Mittelos, because they are on the Island now (as well as before), and almost anybody else because of corporate espionage, which definitely occurs in the Lost world, see Sayid and German girl in the Economist or Ben's mole on the boat.

The most intriguing line in the episode came as a Faraday, 1996 mumbling throwaway, when he sputtered, paraphrased, "the future can't be changed." What does that mean? What about the multiple Charlie deaths that were avoided, which if they occurred as we suspect, changed the future, at least a little bit? Did they never happen or was Faraday wrong? If he's right, how did Faraday forget about meeting Desmond? And how did he forget about the mischievous little Eloise, lost in the maze hotel, even though she was not lost at all. I have no conscience knowledge of an answer for that question, and I let you bake your noodle on if I already know the answer subconsciously.

Stay Lost,
ME PB