Lost: Vows and Constants

So last week I wrote about how the fourth season of "Lost" (which I'm really digging so far) had been severely underusing Elizabeth Mitchell's Juliet. I could've said the same thing about Henry Ian Cusick's Desmond.

I understand that this is mostly the result of the series incorporating four significant new characters, but I still thought it was a shame because whenever those two are given anything to do, they absolutely shine. Well last night, half the problem was solved.

"The Constant" was one of those potentially infuriating episodes that only focus on a small number of castaways. Actually, although Jack, Juliet, and Sayid were in it, you could really say this was the Desmond show.

As with last season's "Flashes Before Your Eyes" (the episode that was basically an extended flashback), "The Constant" again used an unorthodox flashback technique in presenting Desmond's story. The fact that they've done this with the Desmond character twice really makes me think that he, and his relationship with Penny and her father's ties to Island, may turn out to be the most significant player on the Island.

As he flew in Frank's helicopter with Sayid toward the freighter (which turned out to be a lot less impressive than I expected) the trio hit a storm, during which Desmond seemed to lose his present-day Island consciousness, which was replaced by his 1996-self, when he was still in the military. Faraday eventually explained that Desmond's previous exposure to radiation or electromagnetism (obviously the latter) was responsible for his condition.

Of course, that left him completely disoriented and with no recollection of who anyone on the Island was, and he spent the entire hour toggling back and forth between his harsh military days (when are we going to see a nurturing supportive drill sergeant on screen?) and his unfamiliar freighter adventure.

Sayid traded his gun for a phone (kinda like the gun for walkie talkie trade in the new E.T. release) so that he could call Jack to let him know that he was safe, and so that Faraday could help Desmond. The physicist who won't be pigeonholed told Desmond to take a train to Oxford and find his 1996 self, and this is where my favorite scenes of the evening took place.

I loved the way Desmond's shifts in consciousness were portrayed (nice work, writers and editors). I can't be the only one who laughed when he went back to the future in the middle of running down a flight of stairs, resulting in a nasty fall (Daniel DID tell him to be careful crossing the street)

Also, Faraday's skeezily long, mid-90's, collegiate long hair was worth a laugh on its own. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm REALLY liking Jeremy Davies' performance as Faraday, and he seemed to enjoy playing his past, more pompous self. After Desmond gave him the secret code to set the "device" to 2.342 (NUMBERS alert!), and told him that he knew about Eloise, Faraday revealed that he's been working on a form of time traveling since his Oxford days.

More specifically he was transporting his lab rat Eloise's consciousness forward and bringing her back with the knowledge of the future. He told Desmond to find a constant, something in his 1996 consciousness that he could reference whenever he went back to 2004. Of course, being the big 'ol romantic he is, he chose Penny, leading to the episode's more touching scene.

He went to her house (the on her building was, NUMBERS alert, 423) and begged her for her phone number, vowing to call her eight years from now (in the Island's 2004 "present-day" timeline). And how absolutely sweet and touching was it when he called her phone and she answered (thanks to Island MVP Sayid, who'd made a makeshift/temporary phone). The two had not gotten to talk when Charlie made contact with Penelope, so I was glad that they were, not only able to make contact, but each other "I love you" (plus, it's always good to see "Tell Me You Love Me"'s Sonja Walger).

I mean think about it. We've seen these two together in, maybe three or four episodes together (and we especially haven't seen THAT much of Penny), yet I buy into their love a lot more than I buy into something like Jack/Kate. Go figures.

Meanwhile, during his time on the freighter's sick bay, Desmond met someone suffering the same fate has he, and it turned out to be the man known as Minkowski (Fisher Stevens), who we'd heard on the phone a few times during the past couple of episodes, before the castaways stopped being able to reach the freighter by phone. Minkowski, who'd tried to get close to the Island with someone named Brandon (probably resulting in his present, time-traveling condition), told Sayid and Desmond that someone had destroyed the ship's communication system (Michael's spy?)

We didn't get to learn more because Minkowski made like Eloise and suffered a brain aneurism. Goodbye, Fisher Stevens. I liked "Short Circuit", so it was good to see you again, even if you were a complete paranoid weirdo in this role.

In the end, the not-so-shocking twist was that Faraday had written in his journal that, if something goes wrong, that Desmond would be his constant.

Overall, despite not seeing many of my favorites, I REALLY liked this episode, and am constantly amazed at what the writers of this show come up with.

So what'd you think of this episode? Has Daniel Faraday been to the Island before? (Seems like the answer is "yes", and maybe that explains his emotional response to the crash.) Why was Jeff Fahey (Frank), listed as a guest star, while his other three freighter friends were listed as series regulars? (And what's with his vaguely racist comments to Sayid?) Why was Penny's dad so intent on buying the Black Rock's ledger? Finally, how do you like your Desmond: short hair and clean shaven (military style) or Island chic (long-hair and beard)?