LOST: THE VARIABLE (TV)

Summary

One in this fantasy drama series about a group of plane-crash survivors forced to live with each other on a remote and mysterious island. Characters' past lives are told through frequent flashbacks. In this episode, Desmond is rushed to a hospital after being shot by Ben, and a frightened Penny is bewildered by a visit from Eloise Hawking, who suggests that her son is to blame for the tragedy. Daniel returns to the island in 1977 and informs Jack that his mother was "wrong" about their needing to come back before charging off to the Orchid station, and when Jack updates Sawyer, he finds that Sawyer has captured Phil, who is aware of their efforts to save young Ben's life after Sayid's would-be execution. In the past, Eloise tells young Daniel to embrace his "destiny" by focusing solely on his studies, and in 1977, Daniel begs Dr. Chang to evacuate the island to avoid catastrophe, adding that he's come from the future – with the adult version of Chang's infant son Miles.

At Daniel's graduation from Oxford University, Eloise is brusquely dismissive of his girlfriend Theresa, and Daniel impatiently demands to know when his accomplishments will finally be "enough," adding that he's received a grant from a mysterious benefactor: Charles Widmore. As Kate, Jack, Hurley, Miles and Sawyer debate the Phil dilemma, Daniel returns and requests to be taken to "the Hostiles," with whom the younger Eloise is currently living. In 2004, Daniel is inexplicably distraught by news of the discovery of Flight 815's wreckage, but Widmore then visits him and reveals that it is an elaborate hoax, adding that the island on which the plane really crashed can "heal" Daniel's neurological damage, accidentally inflicted by his time-travel experiments. Sawyer is highly suspicious of Daniel's claims that they don't really "belong" on the island after all, but Jack and Kate agree to escort him to meet Eloise. On the way, Daniel encounters young Charlotte and, aware that his time-altering plans may fail, emotionally begs her to leave the island in Chang's sub.

Stuart catches the trio near the motor pool and angrily tries to prevent their departure, leading to a brief gunfight. In the past, Eloise pushes a confused Daniel to accept Widmore's strange "job offer," and on the island, Daniel reminds Jack that the chronological past is still their present, meaning that their lives aren't necessarily safe. Stuart bursts into "LaFleur's" house and finds the captured Phil, and Daniel finally explains that an upcoming accident at the Swan will release a catastrophic amount of electromagnetic energy, leading to the construction of the hatch, leading to "the button" and Desmond's one-time failure, leading to the plane crash, leading to the freighter's arrival, et cetera. Explaining that they themselves are the "variables," Daniel adds that he plans to prevent the entire string of events from occurring – by destroying the Swan with a hydrogen bomb. In 2007, Desmond recovers from his gunshot wound, and Charles Widmore greets Eloise outside of the hospital, revealing that Daniel is also his son. In 1977, Kate seems unsure about "erasing" their entire history with the island, and when an armed Daniel storms the Hostiles' camp and encounters an unchanged Richard, he is suddenly shot – by a young Eloise. He reveals his identity to her, horrified to realize in his final moments that she "always knew" that she was pushing him towards his inevitable murder at her hands. Includes commercials and promos.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: April 29, 2009 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:01:51
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 108624
• GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Drama, mystery/suspense; Islands; Time travel; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2004-2010
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - "Angels & Demons" motion picture
  • TV - Commercials - "Star Trek" motion picture
  • TV - Commercials - "Terminator: Salvation" motion picture
  • TV - Commercials - Apple iPhone 3G devices
  • TV - Commercials - Boys Town National Hotline
  • TV - Commercials - Claritin allergy medication
  • TV - Commercials - Energizer batteries
  • TV - Commercials - Federal Student Aid financial services
  • TV - Commercials - Ford/Lincoln/Mercury automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Frontline Plus tick and flea prevention
  • TV - Commercials - Honda automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - L'Oréal Collagen Filler Lip cosmetics
  • TV - Commercials - L'Oréal Féria hair color
  • TV - Commercials - Mac computers
  • TV - Commercials - Macy's stores
  • TV - Commercials - Mars M&M's candies
  • TV - Commercials - Mazda automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Olay Definity Color Recapture cosmetics
  • TV - Commercials - Olive Garden restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Reach UltraClean toothbrushes
  • TV - Commercials - Sears stores
  • TV - Commercials - Sensodyne toothpaste
  • TV - Commercials - Social Security online services
  • TV - Commercials - Sprint wireless networks
  • TV - Commercials - Suave hair care
  • TV - Commercials - T-Mobile wireless networks
  • TV - Commercials - The Home Depot stores
  • TV - Commercials - Verizon Wireless cellular services
  • TV - Commercials - Walmart stores
  • TV - Commercials - Windows computers
  • TV - Promos - "20/20"
  • TV - Promos - "FlashForward"
  • TV - Promos - "Grey's Anatomy"
  • TV - Promos - "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
  • TV - Promos - "Lost" upcoming episode
  • TV - Promos - "Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist" special
  • TV - Promos - "The Goode Family"
  • TV - Promos - "The Unusuals"
  • TV - Promos - "Ugly Betty"
  • TV - Promos - "Wipeout"

CREDITS

• Bryan Burk … Executive Producer
• Carlton Cuse … Executive Producer
• Jack Bender … Executive Producer
• J.J. Abrams … Executive Producer, Created by
• Damon Lindelof … Executive Producer, Created by
• Adam Horowitz … Executive Producer, Writer
• Edward Kitsis … Executive Producer, Writer
• Stephen Williams … Co-Executive Producer
• Elizabeth Sarnoff … Co-Executive Producer
• Jean Higgins … Co-Executive Producer
• Paul Zbyszewski … Supervising Producer
• Ra'uf Glasgow … Producer
• Brian K. Vaughan … Producer
• Pat Churchill … Producer
• Richard Peter Schroer … Co-Producer
• Melinda Hsu Taylor … Co-Producer
• Samantha Thomas … Co-Producer
• Greggory Nations … Co-Producer
• Amanda Lencioni … Associate Producer
• Jim Triplett … Associate Producer
• Noreen O'Toole … Associate Producer
• Paul Edwards … Director
• Jeffrey Lieber … Created by
• Michael Giacchino … Music by
• Naveen Andrews … Cast, Sayid Jarrah
• Henry Ian Cusick … Cast, Desmond Hume
• Jeremy Davies … Cast, Daniel Faraday
• Michael Emerson … Cast, Benjamin Linus
• Matthew Fox … Cast, Jack Shephard
• Jorge Garcia … Cast, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes
• Josh Holloway … Cast, James "Sawyer" Ford
• Daniel Dae Kim … Cast, Jin-Soo Kwon
• Yunjin Kim … Cast, Sun-Hwa Kwon
• Ken Leung … Cast, Miles Straume
• Evangeline Lilly … Cast, Kate Austen
• Elizabeth Mitchell … Cast, Juliet Burke
• Terry O'Quinn … Cast, John Locke
• Nestor Carbonell … Cast, Richard Alpert
• Alan Dale … Cast, Charles Widmore
• Alice Evans … Cast, Middle-Aged Eloise Hawking
• Sarah Farooqui … Cast, Theresa Spencer
• Patrick Fischler … Cast, Phil
• Fionnula Flanagan … Cast, Eloise Hawking
• Eric Lange … Cast, Stuart Radzinsky
• Sonya Walger … Cast, Penelope Hume
• Spencer Allyn … Cast, Young Daniel Faraday
• Brad Berryhill … Cast, Anxious Guy
• Todd Coolidge … Cast, Paramedic
• Marvin DeFreitas … Cast, Young Charlie
• Michael Dempsey … Cast, Foreman
• Ariston Green … Cast, Workman
• Maya Henssens … Cast, Young Charlotte
• Wendy Pearson … Cast, ER Doctor
• Peggy Anne Siegmund … Cast, Caretaker
• Jennifer Sojot … Cast, ER Nurse
• François Chau … Cast, Dr. Pierre Chang