LOST celebrates its 100th episode (including each hour of multi-parters) with The Variable, a decent episode which takes the time-travel storyline past the point of no return.
Flashbacks take us through Daniel Faraday's difficult journey to prominence in the world of physics. It started with his mother, Eloise Hawking, steering him away from one distraction after another (piano, women, probably R-rated movies) and relentlessly pushing him toward his "destiny". It came as no surprise when his crazy experiments nearly killed his then-girlfriend Theresa and scrambled his own brain. Widmore showed up with an irresistible solution: an island that would heal him and further his research.
On the island, now-healed Faraday comes back from the DHARMA headquarters in Ann Arbor and he's got some news: his mother was wrong all along. The Losties aren't in fact destined to be stuck on the island in '77 and they can change the course of history. All Faraday needs is the location of the hydrogen bomb ("Jughead") so he can destroy the electromagnetic anomaly at the Swan site before the DI drills into it (the "incident" mentioned in Dr. Chang's orientation videos).
Just one problem: the Losties' cover is now officially blown with the DI and all hell's breaking loose. Faraday, Jack, and Kate make their way to a Hostile camp in hopes of finding Eloise. Oh, they found her... she appears out of nowhere and shoots her own son in the back. Faraday slumps to the ground, bleeding out, eyes glazing over. He'd never see his plan through.
The beauty of the writing here is that it opens up one major question: what WAS the actual "incident" — the DI drilling into the anomaly as Faraday feared, or the result of the Losties detonating a bomb? As we'll see in the season finale, the DHARMA drill had already hit a pocket and was causing all sorts of chaos; the question is whether that alone was the basis for the Swan's new purpose after that (containing electromagnetism rather than harnessing it) or if the Losties were indeed the cause of their own suffering.
It seems every time I watch Season 5 my appreciation for Jeremy Davies increases. His personality was truly unique in the midst of an already varied cast, and most of that was due to subtleties in his acting ability (the "twitchy" factor as Sawyer might have called it). He portrayed a man who was simultaneously empathetic and excruciatingly intelligent — not a combo you see every day, so kudos to Davies for walking that line.
Bonus points to Alice Evans (middle-aged Eloise), particularly for her opening scene with young Faraday. She was very convincing as a distraught mother who needed to start nudging her son toward the inevitable.
Deductions for Fionnula Flanagan (senior-citizen Eloise), who drives me absolutely insane with her exaggerated expressions and overenunciation.
I like the pacing of The Variable, and as always I give some credit to the director (in this case Paul Edwards) and editor when the pace is nice and brisk.
The "motor pool shoot-out" is executed quite nicely; I was surprised at the scale of it for something which seemingly came out of nowhere and fell near the middle of the episode.
Love the way the camera pans across a swingset to frame Faraday's conversation with young Charlotte. That scene is filmed, written, and acted very effectively.
I think The Variable had two strikes against it before it even aired: 1) it was the 100th episode, and 2) its title drew inevitable expectations of being The Constant: Part II in terms of sheer scale and impact.
To me The Variable is what it is: a solid, entertaining episode that's mostly a setup for an outstanding season finale. It's true that it marks a tragic end for Daniel Faraday and there's huge significance in that, but we'd soon find out that Jack volunteered to carry the torch from there. The Variable is merely Act 1 of an increasingly intense build-up.
As my appreciation for Faraday/Davies increases over time, so does the emotional impact of The Variable. It's so frustrating to see the way Daniel was used and abused by his parents throughout his entire life, especially when you consider he didn't use that as an excuse to be an angry or spiteful person.
The two most emotional scenes are the obvious ones, Daniel meeting with young Charlotte and his eventual death at the Hostile camp. This was another case where I was in a bit of denial the first time around, assuming Faraday would somehow warp back to the present after later events unfolded. No such luck... this was another tragedy that would "stick."
