The Tail Section

Episode 4.5 “The Constant” Afterthoughts

Lost Recaps — February 28, 2008 at 11:02 pm by Matt

I have a co-worker who is starting to get annoyed that every Lost episode this season is ending with a big shocker.  I personally don’t have a problem with that, especially when the shocks are as good as last week’s reveal of Kate being Aaron’s caretaker.  The art of the cliffhanger is something that Lost has perfected, and, in a smaller way, they’ve used that trick once again for the end of "The Constant."  Tonight’s episode promised to introduce us to the freighter people while explaining what the heck happened to the helicopter after it took off. Desmond fans, get ready for the ride of your lives.  Just be warned that your brain may melt during this ride, so please keep the love of your life constantly on your mind.

Missed the episode? Read our recap here.



Writing my thoughts immediately after seeing an episode that twisty and mindblowing almost seems impossible.  This is exactly the kind of Lost episode that requires hours, or maybe days, of dissection and theorizing to really do it any justice.  For those of you who think you have some awesome new ideas about the Lost mythology after this hour, scroll to the bottom of this post and read about how you can submit your own theories to be posted on TTS.

Though the entire time traveling thing blows my brain apart, I’m happy to see it addressed again.  I thought I had read somewhere in the past that Desmond’s time tripping would be done after Charlie died, but that would have seemed rather anticlimactic.  After all, we had no real explanation as to why the time traveling was happening in the first place, aside from the knowledge that old Des was in one hell of a hatch explosion.

Now, thanks to Daniel Faraday, we’ve learned a lot more.  It turns out that being exposed to high levels of electromagnetism or radiation can cause you to jump through time.  We saw the radiated Eloise the rat magically know the entire layout of a maze an hour before Faraday taught it to her.  Of course, the unpleasant side effect of time jumping is sudden death.  However, it appears that if Desmond continues to hold on to his anchor, Penny, he should avoid the same fate that Minkowski suffered.

Speaking of Minkowski, I was surprised to see him go so quickly.  We’ve been hearing his name since last season and I expected him to play a bigger role.  However, before he went he mentioned the "sickness" that overtakes some people as they travel to the island.  Could this be the same sickness that caused Rousseau’s crew to go nuts?

Though we did meet the freighter folk in this episode, we still haven’t learned much about them.  They seem rather surly and certainly weren’t welcoming to the 815 crew.  I’m also wondering why we haven’t seen Regina yet, and what role she might play if and when she finally appears.

Oh well, enough about that.  Back to the time anomalies.  Let’s just run down the list of interesting time issues in this episode:

– Faraday tells Jack that his perception of the amount of time the helicopter has been gone may not be the actual amount of time it’s been gone.

– Sayid wonders why the chopper took off at dusk and landed in the afternoon.

– Desmond blacks out for 75 minutes in 1996, but feels like he was only gone for five.

– According to Faraday, some people become "confused" when traveling to and from the island.  Some have been known to become off by a couple of hours, while others experience a loss of many years.

– Having an anchor, or constant, is essential to maintain your sanity while time jumping.

– Daniel has a page in his journal that reads, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant," leading us to believe that he is also a time traveler.  This could also have something to do with his attempts to remember the playing cards last week.

Aside from all of that exciting information, we also found out that Charles Widmore owns a diary from the Black Rock.  This journal was also mentioned by Oscar Talbot in chapter 5 of the Find 815 ARG.  Talbot, who was working for the Widmore Corporation, mentioned that his employers had the journal.

This episode has disintegrated my poor, overtaxed brain, so I’m going to turn the questions to you guys.  Feel free to answer them here, or better yet, type up your theory and send it in to TTS using the information below.

– Is Daniel also moving back and forth through time?  If so, had he been to the island before?

– Is the person who opened the sick bay door Ben’s man on the boat?

– Why does Charles Widmore want the Black Rock journal?

– Why weren’t the freighter people allowed to answer Penny’s calls?

– Is the sickness that Minkowski described the same sickness that Rousseau has described?

– Are there any time paradoxes present that are going to rip your brain in half?

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"Your Voice" is a new TTS series in which Tail Section fans submit their articles, theories or reviews to be published on The Tail Section for all their fellow fans to read.  Have you spent far too much time pondering the origins of the DHARMA Initiative?  Have you alienated your co-workers by rambling about Daniel Faraday’s wacky time anomaly experiment?  If so, we want to hear from you.  Send your own Lost theories, reviews, or general thoughts to Editor(at)TheTailSection.com.  Please keep all submissions between 300 and 1,000 words.  We will read through all submissions and contact you if we publish your entry.  You will also receive byline credit on our site.

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