Top Ten Greatest Episodes Countdown - #2 “The Constant”
Getting down to it now, this week we’ll go to season four for Desmond Hume’s mind-melting episode, “The Constant”. Straying away from the typical format comprised of on-island events and a flashback/forward, “The Constant” visits two separate time periods, but over one stretch of time. Desmond, after being exposed to the burst of electromagnetic energy as he turned the fail-safe key, has now shifted from predicting the future to actually reliving his past. Although a wild ride and fun for the viewers, becoming “unstuck in time” will eventually kill the subject if there is not a “constant” for the individual to use to separate the two realities which they are traveling between. Luckily for Desmond and his fans out there, Daniel Faraday is now on the island and is ready, willing, and able to help him find his constant and put an end to the time-jumping.
Throughout the series, Lost has provided us with countless moments that simply put, blew our minds. From the polar bears in season one to the moving island in season four, episode after episode has had us scratching our heads. “The Constant” was one big “what the $&^#?” moment. As I’ve said before, Lost is at it’s finest when it’s completely absurd, and that is certainly the case here. The first few moments of the episode were just as disorienting for the viewer as they were for Desmond. As Faraday started to shed some light on what was really happening, and things started to come together, it was evident that we were watching a truly special episode.
“The Constant” not only scrambles our brains, but also ties up a few loose ends, answering questions that were posed as early as season one. The sickness that Rousseau claimed consumed her crew with insanity and later killed them, seems to be what Desmond is dealing with here. With no genius physicist to assist, her expedition team never had a chance. I believe we also see why Desmond was discharged from the military. In the season two finale, Kelvin says that he was discharged because he couldn’t follow orders. For the duration of Desmond’s time at the military base during this ordeal, he is constantly disobeying orders due to the disorientation caused by the time-jumping. I can’t figure out the logistics of how his time-jumping could actually change the past after it had already occurred, but I’m going to leave that for another day. Perhaps one of our brilliant readers can go ahead and prove my theory, or shoot it down completely.
As has been a theme amongst the top episodes, “The Constant” delivers one of the greatest moments the series has seen. Toward the end of the episode, Desmond’s unforgettable call with Penny was sure to make even the toughest guys in the room claim they tragically got some dust in their eyes. It was everything we’d hoped for in their reunion. Later on in the season, when they finally meet face to face, it doesn’t pack the punch it seemingly should have because of the power of this scene and how it already served as the grand finale in their story. I hope that Des and Penny continue to be regulars on the show, but if not, I can accept it because of this scene and the closure it brought to their saga.
So there it is, nine of the top ten episodes up to this point. What do you think will be #1? Think “The Constant” should have taken the top spot? We’ll settle this in a week…
Hum…. Love the description, but I’m really looking foward to seeing what’s in spot number 1. To me it was clear it was reserved for The Constant, which was by far the best episode I’ve seen of any tv show… But number 2 is great anyways
Oh, most of you probably don’t care, but I got a honorable mention on the haikus contest on buddytv (which people tend not to like around here :D)
Can’t wait till the 21st.
Comment by TheBird — January 6, 2009 @ 3:40 am
Lets make this more interesting shall we. What about best scene? Here’s a few:
1. Jack revives Charlie in the nick of time; him and Kate have an emotional moment while Charlie gasps for air
2. Charlie’s death scene
3. Locke stands up and walks for the first time in four years, moments after 815 crashes on the island.
4. Jack and Locke’s ‘destiny’ talk before they blow the hatch.
5. Desmond wakes up, cooks, works out, showers… Wait a minute! What’s Jack and Locke doing there? Get Out! Where in the hatch.
6. Michael, Walt, Sawyer and Jin sail off on the raft; Vincent swims out after them and Walt yells at him to go back.
7. Sun reveals to everybody (including Jin) she speaks English… And Locke blames the raft burning on the Others; even though he knows it was Walt.
8. The Others witnessing 815 crash
9. Sawyer kills Anthony Cooper at The Black Rock
10. Michael gets in the boat with Walt and abandons his friends on the Pala Ferry dock after it is revealed that Ben is indeed the unofficial leader of the ‘good guys’.
11. Widmore changes the rules as Keamy reunites Alex with Karl and her mother
12. Sawyer tells everybody there’s a new sheriff in town.
13. Jack wakes up in the jungle and meets Vincent
Anyone got any other suggestions?
Comment by JD — January 6, 2009 @ 8:08 am
“sure to make even the toughest guys in the room claim they tragically got some dust in their eyes.” Very true and a great analogy. I loved that episode.
I would obv put the phone call with pen and des on that list.
As well as Jack, Locke and Sawyer with kate as a hostage talking to Tom in the woods with his “this is our island talk.
And lastly - The Hurley kissin Libby scene cause you gotta respect a guy of that size making it with a sweetheart like lib’s.
Comment by Ryan — January 6, 2009 @ 8:41 am
Best Lost scene? I’d have to say the kitchen scene from 3rd season “One Of Us” when Juliet confronts Ben about his cancer and demands he let her off the island. That or the last scene in 2nd season “The Whole Truth” where Ben delivers his creepy monologue about ‘what he would do’ if he were one of the Others. Both give me goosebumps in completely different ways–that’s the magic of Michael Emerson’s acting/the whole show in general.
Comment by Adam — January 6, 2009 @ 10:20 am
One of my favorite scene happens at the end of Season 1, when Sawyer tells Jack that he met his father before he take the plane in a Sydney’s bar.
” 3. Locke stands up and walks for the first time in four years, moments after 815 crashes on the island.” is also one of my favorite scene, because of the shock it gave me the first time I see it but also because of the Michael Giacchino’s score that play at the same time. Still gave me goosebumps!
I also like the scene between Kate, Sawyer and the Others around the cages in season 3, when I think it’s Danny wants to kill Sawyer and put him on his knees and asks Kate to watch. Sawyer tell Kate to close her eyes and she beg to let him go… oh my, I really love that scene! Again, the score of M. Giacchino plays a big part in this too.
In fact, there’s plenty of those scenes throughout the four seasons of Lost that I love so much and that I still watch sometimes… Charlie’s death scene is also one of them.
Comment by Frank — January 6, 2009 @ 11:58 am
The Pilot has to be #1
Comment by Todd — January 6, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Number one must be the pilot. I think that “The Constant ” is generally considered by Lost viewers to be the best episode, so I must say I am surprised that it is number 2. Although. looking back at the countdown Through the Looking Glass is not there, so maybe that is number one? In my opinion it doesn’t deserve the #1 spot, but it should certainly have been on the list!
The Sci-Fi channel is showing last season’s episodes as a lead up to the premiere and last night they showed “Through the Looking Glass”, The Beginning of the End, Confirmed Dead, The Economist and Eggtown so the first episode next Monday (they don’t show it throughout the week, just on Mon) will be The Constant.
Comment by lost_grrl — January 6, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
I definitely have to agree with Adam on those two scenes… Pretty much any scene with Michael Emerson, Elizabeth Mitchell, or Terry O’ Quinn is amazing.
Here are a few of my favorite scenes… in no particular order, other than the order that they come to my mind in:
1. “One of Us” - That last scene when we learn that Juliet and Ben were plotting the whole time to infiltrate the beach.
2. “The Man Behind The Curtain” - The whole scene inside Jacob’s cabin… and also the scene where Ben kills his father.
3. Pretty much any scene that reveals a new orientation video to a Dharma station.
4. How could anyone forget the end of “Two For The Road?!”
5. OOOH! The end of “Raised By Another” when we find out Ethan wasn’t on the plane… and he approaches Claire and Charlie and says: “Hello there!” (end of episode)
6. The end of “Do No Harm,” when all you hear is Michael Giacchino’s “Life and Death” as Claire holds the newborn Aaron, and Jack approaches Shannon on the beach to tell her about Boone… and she silently sobs over his dead body. Incredible, and so moving.
7. The smoke monster trampling over everything in “The Shape Of Things to Come”
8. When Walt is kidnapped, and the raft is blown up
9. The end of “Everybody Hates Hugo,” when Hurley passes out all the food on the beach, and we find out that Bernard is alive… and white… and Rose saves a chocolate bar for him.
10. The blast door map… period
11. Pretty much all of the flashback scenes in “Maternity Leave…” Creepy. as. hell.
12. “Not In Portland” when Juliet’s ex-husband gets hit by the bus.
13. “Flashes Before Your Eyes” when we meet Miss Hawking.
14. The woman with the cat, and her monologue in “Enter 77.”
15. The reveal of how Locke got in his wheelchair, and seeing Anthony Cooper on the island in “The Man From Tallahassee…”
16. The sonic fences in “Par Avion.”
17. The scene we think Charlie gets an arrow through the throat in “Catch-22.”
18. When Sun learns her baby is Jin’s
and that’s all for now… I’m getting bored… there’s just too many… like… really at least one from every episode I can think of… I’m obsessed with this show. It’s unhealthy.
Comment by Matt — January 6, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
So glad this wasn’t #1, it was a fantastic episode but there were so many things missing from it that make Lost great. Nearly the entire episode was on the freighter and so many people and storylines weren’t even seen/mentioned. That Penny and Desmond scene on the phone was just amazing though, definitely a powerful scene, maybe the most powerful of the entire series.
Comment by LockesWife — January 7, 2009 @ 1:55 am
They’ll cheat and say it’s a tie for the number one spot between the “Pilot” and “Through the Looking Glass”. Although I must say I was surprised to see “Deus Ex Machina” at number 3. Not that I think it’s a bad episode.
Usually when countdowns like this follow a certain trend, such as picking episodes that are generally fan favorites, like “The Constant”, or ones that stood out because they contained defining moments in the progression of the story, such as “Walkabout”, you expect less talked about episodes such as “Deus Ex Machina” not to get a look in. So seeing it at number three was quite surprising.
Again, I’ll say that the Pilot and all the finales should have there own list and graded as such from one to five. They will always stand out simply because they’re the first episode of an awesome concept or the ending or semi-ending to a season, so there’s more resolution and action.
Top Ten stand alone character-centric episode:
10. Numbers
9. ?
8. The Long Con
7. The Man from Tallahassee
6. The Constant
5. The Brig
4. The Man Behind the Curtain
3. All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues
2. The Shape of Things to Come
1. Walkabout
Comment by JD — January 7, 2009 @ 8:39 am
Best lost scenes for me are
1) kate flipping out and kissing jack in the woods
2) Locke pounding on the dashboard whoooosh he’s pounding on the hatch BAM there’s a light - great moment, makes me cry
3) sawyer killing antony cooper
Comment by what kate did — January 8, 2009 @ 7:38 am