If you told me there was an episode of LOST with only a few minutes spent on the island and hardly any of the original Losties, I would assume the episode was a dud.
The Constant is why you don't assume. It is undoubtedly my favorite non-finale episode of the entire series, which seems counterintuitive since it doesn't even feature my favorite character.
One of the problems of admitting The Constant is my favorite is that some fans in the LOST community assume they know WHY I loved it. Some might even assume I'm a "casual" fan because I fell hook, line, and sinker for the Desmond/Penny phone call scene. Well, I certainly DID love that scene and I'm not ashamed of it; but no, that's not the only reason I love The Constant.
There aren't many episodes in ANY television series which simultaneously present a compelling love story AND give you all the sci-fi time-travel goodness you could possibly want. If that weren't enough they also advance some pieces of the mythology, with Widmore pursuing a coveted Black Rock journal and Keamy's mercenary team being introduced.
I must paraphrase something Damon said on the commentary. What they wanted to avoid in The Constant was bombarding the audience with exposition (something I personally hate). They figured the best way to do it was to introduce a crisis, and that's why Desmond was freaking out before they even landed on the freighter. It's a very effective way of moving the storyline forward and introducing the characters while letting the exposition handle itself in a very natural way.
That's exactly how it worked out. We've got Desmond suddenly experiencing flashes which are ping-ponging his consciousness between 1996 and 2004. One second he's getting evaluated by the doctor on the freighter, the next he's back in the Royal Scots Regiment. One second he's in the sick bay with George Minkowski, the next he's asking Charles Widmore for Penny's address. While this is a blast for the audience to watch, it's also moving Desmond toward Minkowski's fate: death by inability to return to the present.
Bah... there's no sense in me trying to summarize it, you just have to watch the brilliance unfold yourself.
The key element is his meeting with Daniel Faraday in 1996, in which Desmond learns what he has to do: contact Penny, his extreme emotional attachment, and beg her to talk with him eight years later in 2004.
This sets up the famous "phone call" scene on Christmas Eve 2004, where Desmond does indeed get in touch with Penny. She has just saved his life in more ways than one.
Another great aspect of The Constant is that it's nearly self-contained, minus a few references to things on the island. Even someone who's not an avid LOST fan would be able to view this one episode and likely be affected by it, if not by the Desmond-Penny story then the intriguing sci-fi elements.
I honestly can't imagine a better written episode than The Constant but I can't bring myself to give a perfect 10. Every episode has an aspect that can be scrutinized until it feels like a stretch of credibility. In this case it would be Charles Widmore being willing to give Desmond his daughter's address. I don't see that happening and wonder if it'd been better to remove CW from the equation altogether. Desmond could have found her in other ways I'm sure, since it's pretty clear they were meant to be together.
I'll run out of positive adjectives if I try to fully describe Cusick's performance. When you consider the difficulty of the script and what he was asked to do, and then add in the consideration that he's not even a regular cast member, it's not enough to simply say it was a phenomenal performance. I'd go so far as to call it a benchmark of acting in general.
If Cusick had coasted through any particular moment there's an excellent chance things would've gone cheesy. But he never skipped a beat. Whether it was flipping out at the freighter crew or "snapping" into 1996, his reactions were completely plausible.
The phone call with Penny is obviously the most famous scene of The Constant, but it's not my favorite scene in terms of Cusick's performance. That would come just a few minutes earlier, when 1996 Desmond enters Penny's apartment and begs for her phone number. The desperation in his eyes and his voice is acting at its best. I'm serious... at its best.
Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday) is the other major player here and his exchanges with Desmond are something special. My absolute favorite Faraday scene is when he's with Desmond and Eloise (the rat), hurriedly culling information from Desmond as he scribbles notes and equations on his chalkboard. Take some time to study Davies' performance here, his look of consternation as Desmond describes his experiences. The facial expressions, the timed pauses, everything is in sync with what Cusick's doing on the other side of the dialogue.
Sonya Walger (Penny) wasn't on-screen as much as you'd think, but her performance was just as critical to The Constant's success as anyone else's. Once again I go back to the scene where Desmond begs her for her number. She's the other side of that equation, with pain and heartbreak clearly visible in her eyes while she wonders if her ex has descended into madness.
So why not a perfect 10? The reason is this: the Acting category covers the entire cast, not just the centric character or a few I choose to select.
Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Fisher Stevens (George), Kevin Durand (Keamy), Jeff Fahey (Lapidus), and Alan Dale (Charles Widmore) all performed beautifully in their guest roles, just not perfect-10 material in some of those cases.
Even if I set aside the hugely emotional impact of The Constant, and even if I set aside the brain-frying depth of its sci-fi implications, there is one undeniable truth about The Constant: it is the best example of directing and editing in the entire series.
I'm so glad Damon and Carlton brought Mark Goldman into the episode commentary because his work on The Constant was exceptional. I confess I don't even think about an editor's challenges all that often, so when a peon like me recognizes what an achievement The Constant was in editing, you KNOW it's something very special.
Apparently the powers-that-be lamented over the proper way to cut from timeline to timeline, i.e. what visual or audio cues to tell the audience a transition had occurred. The eventual answer: nothing. That's right, nothing. Just cut with no cues. It was the one and only correct answer as far as I'm concerned, because the contrasts in sights and sounds between those cuts really delivered all the dissonance they needed.
A few of the cuts are so perfect you have to see them to fully appreciate them. The only one I'll mention (but not the only one that blew me away) is when Desmond sprints out of Faraday's "office" and heads down a stairwell. He loses his balance, tips to one side and slams into a table in the freighter's sick bay. That last sentence was constructed properly but covered two entirely different locations and time periods. That's the magic and beauty of The Constant.
It's important to note that Goldman's masterful work wouldn't even be possible without Jack Bender's directing (which is now practically synonymous with "top quality"). Even in the first ten minutes there's plenty to feast your eyes on, whether it's the chopper approaching and landing on the freighter or the jolting cuts to a rainy and miserable scene at the Royal Scots Regiment.
This was the quintessential collaborative effort between everyone on the editing, visual, and directing teams and the results clearly show.
I'll put it this way: I watched The Constant twice this evening (one with and without commentary) and loved it both times. The only problem is that I was really analyzing every detail for this review instead of letting it fully impact me, so guess what? I'll watch a third time tonight and love it just as much as before.
In terms of significance, well, if Desmond doesn't survive his ordeal it pretty much changes the landscape of the final season of LOST. The introduction of Keamy's mercenary team is very significant for the arc of Season 4.
I'll also throw in the fact that since The Constant is consistently ranked very high in the LOST community's favorites lists, it may have permanently established a trust and loyalty with the audience to see the series all the way through. After all, The Constant is sandwiched between two episodes that are frustrating at best, so it may have been the beacon of hope many needed to dig in for the long haul.
I'm not sure if "what the hell is going on" qualifies as an emotion, but that's certainly the feeling that ran through me the first time I watched The Constant. Bewilderment is the word, I guess. Adrenalin kicked in during the first few minutes and never really let go, in fact it escalated as the flashes got more extreme and Desmond's crisis became more urgent.
And then... the phone call. I'm surprised I even heard half of what they said the first time around, I think I was a blubbering mess before they even got to the rapid-fire "I love you" sequence.
But the moment that literally sends chills through me every time: 1996 Desmond begins to walk away from Penny's flat, defeated and distraught, but seconds later 2004 Desmond and Penny connect. We get one more glimpse of 1996 Desmond and his expression suddenly changes to a knowing smile. I honestly can't describe how powerful and meaningful that visual is in a way that does it any justice.
It's safe to assume none of us will ever find ourselves in Desmond's dire situation, but the beauty of this episode is that it makes you ask yourself a deeply personal and important question: do I have a constant, someone whose love I can count on today as well as years from now?
