5x14 The Variable: Ginger Ale Talk

Faraday’s Parents - Eloise & Widmore
RACHEL: You know, a lot of what was answered/said on last night’s episode - we’ve talked about or mentioned in our previous entries.
SUSAN: Yeah, it was nice to be proved right most of the night, aside from Eloise actually being Faraday’s mom.
RACHEL: Well I thought she was his mom :)
SUSAN: Okay, ONE of us was proved right. And Widmore is his dad but.. Eloise isn’t Penny’s mom? They [Faraday & Penny] seem pretty close in age. So.. does that mean Widmore was screwing around?
RACHEL: I don’t think she is. He probably was. Maybe he had his on-island family (Eloise, Faraday) and his off-island family (Penny, her mom).
SUSAN: What a bastard, no wonder she slapped him.
RACHEL: I also think she slapped him because he knew that she would shoot him in the past.
SUSAN: But she sent him back!
RACHEL: True but Widmore helped. That was his freighter; he made the offer to Faraday.
SUSAN: Last night’s was the most emotionally draining episode yet. At the end I felt like I needed chocolate and a nap.
RACHEL: I know right! It was like a mini cliffhanger before every commercial break.. and all this build up towards him DOING something or talking to his mom. And then for her to shoot him like that.
SUSAN: The implication is that Eloise and Widmore were working together, to send their son to the past, where she would shoot him. Why would a mother WANT to shoot her son?
RACHEL: I don’t think she WANTED to per se. But from what we’ve seen of her, she seems to firmly believe in that whatever happened, will happen. That they can’t change things and technically that already happened before.

Constants vs. Variables
SUSAN: I sort of felt like the whole thing culminated in Faraday being proved wrong. That they were not, in fact variables, they were constants.
RACHEL: Like maybe he was supposed to think they were variables and try to change things but then get shot? As in, all that was supposed to happen anyway? By the way, we totally talked about the whole even though there’s a “set” timeline, people still have free will and always have a choice and therefore can possibly change it.
SUSAN: Yea, last night’s episode pretty much established our awesomeness. I find myself wondering why Eloise wants to keep the set timeline so badly. Faraday, knowing he couldn’t change things, still talks to Charlotte, and tells her to get off the island. He still tries to save her. But Eloise never even says, don’t try to find me or some such.
RACHEL: She seems all about keeping people on course (according to the timeline she knows). But she genuinely seems a little freaked out that she didn’t know what would happen next.
SUSAN: Yes! Which definitely implied Ben is the variable.
RACHEL: Definitely. Or at least one of the variables. I think the Losties could still be considered variables. Or maybe just Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid (where is he?!) since according to Faraday, they weren’t supposed to be there.
SUSAN: But Faraday was wrong. I’m starting to think, if you impacted other people’s timelines, you still have to live that in order to propagate the same timeline that influences your own past.
RACHEL: So you think there’s no way that Kate and Jack will be able to continue with Faraday’s plan and succeed?
SUSAN: I don’t think they can because it influences their own past. Whatever has happened to get them on that island must still happen because you can’t change the timeline that’s already been set. They can only alter their futures in a way that does not alter the futures of the other people.
RACHEL: So you can’t change what already happened, but can change what’s going to or what’s expected to happen?
SUSAN: I’m trying to think of it the way I learned relativity, with a twist. So, say there are two trains. One is running slow, one is running fast. The one running slow passes the one moving fast, and someone from the slow train spray paints the fast train. So the fast train arrives at the station with spray paint. That’s set, the fast train must arrive at the station with spray pain. Anything else can happen in the slow train, but the person who is supposed to spray paint must be alive and able to use the paint when they pass the train. Anything can happen to any of the other people, but that one element must happen.
RACHEL: I’m following and not following at the same time.
SUSAN: So.. Faraday has interacted with his mother in the past and therefore influenced his future timeline. Therefore Faraday must do exactly the same thing in the past because his future has already happened. Jack and Kate didn’t interact with Eloise which might make them variables. Although.. the NOT doing something is really DOING something. I just confused myself.
RACHEL: Maybe Faraday’s timeline still played out as it was supposed to because he didn’t have all the facts. He didn’t know. Like if he had known that his mom was going to shoot him. I doubt he would’ve gone into the Others’ camp the way he did, waving a gun around. Maybe he wouldn’t have gone at all.

More on Faraday
RACHEL: Just a side note but - when he asked Kate for a beginner gun, that cracked me up!
SUSAN: He’s so cute! Plus him playing the piano and then talking about relativistic physics - I swooned.
RACHEL: You and me both!
SUSAN: We’re like teenage girls, lol.
SUSAN: Do you think Faraday is dead?
RACHEL: I think he is dead unless Jack rushes out and figures out how to save him. But it seems like he’s dead. Wait - I know he said that that was their present now, so they could die. But if he dies during that timeline, how will he be on the freighter? It’s just like how we (pretty much) knew child Ben couldn’t die because he’s alive later.
SUSAN: But he can die, he’s already been on the freighter. I’m pretty sure they killed him to prove that point.

Pierre Chang
RACHEL: What did you think of Faraday telling Chang the truth and outing Miles?
SUSAN: I still have the sneaking suspicion Chang knows. When he asked Miles if it was true, I think he was really asking if Miles wanted to acknowledge him as his father.
RACHEL: It’s either that or eventually he will believe everything Faraday told him and therefore send Miles and his mother away. But for a minute there, it seemed like he would’ve believed Faraday if Miles had acknowledged him like you said.
SUSAN: I guess he has to [send them away], that had to happen. Chang is enigmatic, I think he knows a lot more than he’s letting on.
RACHEL: He does have to know more than he’s letting on if he believe that the island’s energy can cause time travel.
SUSAN: Well, we know the incident has to happen. Does Chang know that too? Does he know the incident must take place in order to propagate the correct timeline?
RACHEL: I don’t think he knows about the incident yet. But I think it’s possible that someone will tell him. He also seems to believe that whatever happened, happened.

Desmond’s role
SUSAN: Desmond is really bothering me. Eloise was confident Desmond still had a role to play. Then he gets shot by Ben and suddenly she doesn’t know what’s going on. What was Desmond supposed to do? Does him getting shot keep him from going back to the island the way he was supposed to?
RACHEL: Which in turn brings up another question - did the Losties subtly change something insignificant but it was still enough to change the future as Eloise knew it?
SUSAN: And is whatever he’s supposed to do the reason why Widmore didn’t want him with Penny. Did the Losties change it or did Desmond? Or, even more likely, Ben. I’m actually really liking the idea of Ben as THE variable because if it’s like math (and god I hope it is because math is awesome), then the variable is responsible for manipulating the constant(s). So.. Ben manipulated Desmond by shooting him.
RACHEL: Interesting. I do like the idea of someone as THE variable and I definitely like the idea of it being Ben. But I feel like Desmond is a variable too because there’s been so much emphasis on how he’s special.
SUSAN: Is he special because he is constant? Because in the episode, the constant, it’s about him? Or actually, if you look at it from the new point of view we got last night, the constant is Faraday.
RACHEL: I was just thinking that. After Faraday went on and on about being a variable, things still happened as they were supposed to (him getting shot), which would make him a constant.
SUSAN: Poor Faraday, he always gets it wrong. And wow what a turn of events.

Freckles
SUSAN: Sawyer calling Kate freckles and the AWESOME look it got from Juliet.
RACHEL: Seriously! Her giving Kate the code for the fence was the perfect comeback to him calling her freckles.
SUSAN: I loved that scene so much I cheered out loud.
RACHEL: I still have hope for Juliet and Sawyer though, based on next week’s promo. They have to stay together.
SUSAN: Juliet is kind of unpredictable though. I feel like she’s with Sawyer, but she’s not as trusting and I think that’s gonna come out at some point.

“Gifts” and children of the island
SUSAN: Why do you think Faraday’s experiments, that he said he tried on himself before Theresa, didn’t put him in a comatose state as well?
RACHEL: Eloise kept emphasizing how his mind is his gift.. so maybe it made him less susceptible? Or maybe it might have to do with him possibly being born on the island. He could be special too.
SUSAN: That’s what I was leaning towards. Faraday, Miles and Charlotte are children of the island.
RACHEL: That’s true but Charlotte didn’t seem to display any “special” gifts.
SUSAN: Yeah… how come the girl gets gipped? Oh wait, what if it’s from the incident? So she leaves beforehand, but Miles and his mom don’t yet? And presuming the ages are right from here out and there’s not more Charlotte actually being 40 even though she looks 17 incidents. Faraday should be about the same age as Miles, meaning he should be a baby in the hostile camp right about now.
RACHEL: Well in Miles’ case, we talked about how Chang has probably had a lot of exposure to the radiation so that could explain Miles. As for Faraday, either his parents had exposure too.. or it’s something he inherited from his parents/mom in particular.
SUSAN: Or he’s just crazy smart. But I like that they’re all children of the island.
RACHEL: I was just going to bring that up. I do think that the other side of this war is the children of the Island / Dharma Initiative. And that Widmore/Ben/Eloise are actually all on the same side but they’ve got their own issues with each other.
SUSAN: Which begs the question, how do the Losties fit into the grand plan.
RACHEL: Right. Are they just casualties of war because Desmond forgot to push the button once? Or do they play a bigger part?
SUSAN: Remember when Eloise said pushing the button is the most important thing he’ll ever do? Maybe that’s because he’ll get a second chance to push it? And allow the plane to fly over unharmed?
RACHEL: My boss and I were just talking about that! How maybe they will succeed in changing the past. And the final scene of the series will be them landing in LA and going on to lead their crappy lives. But maybe one person (like Desmond) will remember what did happen and what could have been.
SUSAN: Well.. without them Desmond never gets off the island and never sees Penny again.
RACHEL: Do you get the impression that they don’t end up together? Him telling Penny that he’d never leave her again .. it almost seemed like a sign to me that they’ll be separated again somehow.
SUSAN: I think they’ve built up the ties between Desmond and the island so strongly, it’s hard to believe he’s done with it. But.. I don’t want them to separate Penny and Desmond.
RACHEL: Me neither! But even Eloise told him that the island isn’t finished with him yet.

Parent issues
SUSAN: Okay my other thing that is going to eat at me until they address it - they cut away when Faraday was talking to young Charlotte. Is that because he didn’t say what we thought he was going to say?
RACHEL: I think? Or maybe he said what he was supposed to and more.
SUSAN: I definitely think there is something to that. Also, I was just thinking, Faraday and Miles were both raised by their mothers. There’s sort of an absent father theme in this show, isn’t there.
RACHEL: There’s a lot of father issues but Faraday seems to have mother issues.
SUSAN: But his mother was present, and raised him. Everyone seems to be raised by their mother in this show
RACHEL: That’s a good point.
SUSAN: I know I just hate being wrong but.. what if they’re not his parents, really.
RACHEL: Honestly, I do think Eloise is but a part of me is skeptical about Widmore.
SUSAN: What if Eloise and Widmore are two people with an ability to see destiny, for whatever reason and they recognize what his destiny could be. So they raise him as their own as partners; only, Widmore falls in love with some other woman, and breaks the partnership.
RACHEL: That’s possible. Widmore said he was the father but Ben said the same thing about Alex and he actually wasn’t.
SUSAN: Exactly, and Eloise kept saying things like it’s my job to keep you on your path like he was her assignment rather than her child.
RACHEL: But maybe she was also trying to convince herself of that - seeing him as a “job” because she knew what would happen later. But there is something about them being his parents that’s a little.. off? I mean, I know we sorta called it about Eloise and Widmore but it’s still strange. I hope they elaborate more on Eloise and Widmore’s history.
SUSAN: And Faraday’s early childhood.
SUSAN: Did we ever see how Charlotte got recruited to the island team?
RACHEL: No we didn’t. Also, of the 3, she was the only one who seemed to already have SOME knowledge of the Dharma Initiative and pursuing it on her own.
SUSAN: Yes, I was just thinking that. She wanted to go. Miles did it for the money. Faraday did it for his mother’s love. Charlotte just wanted to be there, herself. Maybe that means she pursued it on her own. We know nothing about her, including who her parents are.
RACHEL: Do you think her parents are important? Miles’ father is definitely important as well as Faraday’s parents.
SUSAN: It stands to reason they are.
RACHEL: Just thought of something else. You mentioned earlier how everyone seems to be raised mostly by their mothers and it’s the same thing with Charlotte. She was raised by her mother in England.
SUSAN: Hmm and when Faraday talked to young Charlotte, he said “your mother is going to take you on the sub.” No parents.
RACHEL: Right, I didn’t even pick up on that! Which sorta leads me to another question.

Faraday’s Time Travel Experiments
RACHEL: How did Faraday know all that? About her, about Miles, about knowing exactly what time Chang would show up at the Orchid. The time at which the incident would occur.
SUSAN: And how could he know all that, but not that he was going to die.
RACHEL: Exactly! And presumably he was at Ann Arbor this whole time. Unless Ann Arbor had records of this already somehow?
SUSAN: Or he was studying Dharma already before he came to the island.
RACHEL: But just didn’t remember since he had that memory problem.
SUSAN: Exactly, but it was in his journal.
RACHEL: He said he tested on himself right? That’s why he had that memory problem. Do you think it’s possible that he time traveled (via his subconscious, like Desmond) to the island?
SUSAN: But wouldn’t people have seen him? When Desmond time traveled, he only went to the past right? Oh, but Faraday is in the past.
RACHEL: Okay I don’t know where I’m going with this or if it even matters but.. we saw Faraday graduate and happy with Theresa, about to start his new research project. At some point between that time and his dismissal, Desmond “travelled” to Oxford to meet Faraday. And in the process, gave him the proper coordinates to make his rat experiment work therefore allowing for time travel. Since he had the right formula for time travel, he was then able to test on himself and on Theresa. Which makes me wonder - where/how did he time travel?
SUSAN: Oh RIGHT. You raise an excellent point. What’s more, he has all that in his journal. So when he goes to work in Ann Arbor, he brings with him the secret of time travel.
RACHEL: Exaaactly! Was he using that information and the resources there to find out all that information (about Miles, Charlotte, the incident)?
SUSAN: Ooo so.. maybe that’s what the black swans are. Time travelers.
RACHEL: Possibly? I think the black swans play a big part in the incident. Or wait.. could the “incident” be caused by Jack and Kate? Like, what if the whole time Faraday was thinking the h-bomb would solve the incident but in fact, it’s actually the cause of the incident or the incident itself because he was always supposed to die at that moment.
SUSAN: True.