The Variable

Variable (adj) apt or able to vary or change.

I just wanted to make sure we have a clear definition of the word.

Charles Widmore is Daniel's father. Who didn't see that one coming? But is he really his biological father? Is Eloise his biological mother, for that matter. How do two people have a child and then systematically raise that child for one purpose only? We're talking about a human being not a pet rock!

From every flashback we see, we get one important message. Daniel, it would seem, was conceived in order to return to the island and die at his mother's hands. By adhering to the idiom that one can't change one's destiny, Eloise Hawking has directed every stage of her son's life in one direction. Eloise Hawking has some major redemption of her own to fulfill. It's like she conceived Daniel for the sole purpose of directing his life to the point where she shoots him in 1977, believing that fate is set and there is nothing they can do to stop it. They denied him the small pleasures of life, pushing him toward a destiny they believed he had no chance of avoiding.

I'm wondeirng if she left the island because she shot her own son.

For Daniel's part, he just wanted to make her proud. Everything he did in his life was in hopes that his mother would love him and be proud of him.

Daniel: "Will...will it make you proud of me?"

Eloise: "Yes, Daniel. It will."

Wow. I have never thought so ill of a woman as I do of Eloise Hawking at this point in the show, but then, I see the pain in her eyes during the confrontation outside the Marina Medical Center at the end of the episode.

Charles:"Unfortunately, Eloise, my relationship with Penelope is one of the things I had to sacrifice."

Eloise: "Sacrifice? Don't you talk to me about sacrifice, Charles. I had to send my son back to the Island knowing full well that..."

Widmore: "He was my son, too, Eloise...."

Slap!

What's important here is what Eloise said. "I had to send my son back to the Island knowing full well that...."

Charles and Eloise know exactly what is going to happen to their son.

The winds of change are coming to Dharmaville. The jig is up and the interlopers know that it is time to flee. What with Kate stealing away with young Ben to the Hostiles, Sawyer helping her, Daniel on a whole new level of crazy. Something had to give and Stu Radzinsky is angry and aggressively paranoid and has been itching for a fight for too long. He finds is in the motor pool and gets a shot by a physicist for his trouble. His next fight is at LaFleur's place, only this time he wins.

Jack, Kate and Daniel head for the jungle to seek the others, while Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Jin and Hurley get ready to depart for the beach. Sawyer and Juliet are arrested and Phil is apparently freed from the closet. We have no clue what happens to Miles, Jin and Hurley.

Daniel leaves Kate and Jack in the jungle and walks into the Hostile's camp demanding to see Ellie, who shoots him. The following exchange says it all.

Richard: "Why did you do that?"

Ellie: "He had a gun on you."

Richard: "He wasn't gonna shoot me, Eloise."

Daniel: "Eloise. You knew. You always knew. You knew this was gonna happen. You sent me here anyway."

Eloise:" Who are you?"

Daniel:"I...I'm your son."

Charles and Eloise raised their son, nurtured his gift, just so they could send him back to the island to be shot by his mother. Either they are so dedicated to the island and their fate that they were able to coldly allow Daniel's promising life to come to this.

WHAT I'm WONDERING

1. Radzinsky annoys the H E L L out of me! That man is such a cheat and a crook that his every action is suspect. He's always been annoying, but what exactly is in his job description?Too bad Daniel only shot him in the hand.


2. Juliet was sure quick to give Kate the code to the sonic fence when she heard Sawyer call her Freckles. Getting rid of the competition?


3. Speaking of Juliet, she knows way more than we think. She's up to something and it has little to do with saving her own butt. Her operating on two people was accepted way to easily. When Sawyer asked if she still had his back, she asked it back. What is she hiding?


4. Jack is finally realizing what his purpose is. He has to lead his people back to 2007 and Locke, then he needs to deal with his father issues.


5. Kate, too, is returning to her purpose and realizes she needs to get to 2007 and find Claire.


6. Richard hasn't changed his shirt is a few days. He has that same purple shirt on. Doesn't anyone in the camp know how to do laundry? And how did he know that Daniel wasn't going to shoot him?


7. Is Charles Widmore really Daniel's father, and if so, what kind of a man would purposely send his own child to his death for the sake of protecting a bloody island? I don't think the Island wanted it that way.

QUOTES OF NOTE

Sawyer - Phil, Jack. Jack, Phil. *closes closet*

Daniel - Think about it. A Chinese man named Miles, the same name as your son, shows up with me from the future.....

Daniel - Why would you tell me that?

Charles - Because come tomorrow, you won't remember I did.

Sawyer - Your mother is an Other?

Sawyer - Welcome to the meeting, Twitchy. Good to see you again. Pound cake's in the kitchen. Help yourself to the punch.

Jack - You need a gun to talk to your mother, Dan?

Daniel - You don't know my mother.

And my all-time new favourite!

Jack: I'm kinda getting used to insane.

SPECULATION

Here is what I think. I think Jack doubted that they were supposed to land in 1977 and has been waiting for confirmation, which he got from Daniel. Now he will emerge to lead his people to rescue Sawyer and Juliet and then find their way back to 2007. During their fight, the incident will occur anyway, but certain "events" of the future will never happen as a result of their actions in 1977. At least I hope so.

Think about it. If Oceanic 815 had never crashes, Sawyer will never grow into the loving man he is with Juliet. Juliet will be trapped, the object of two men's desires. Kate will go to jail and will never have learned how important a mother's love truly is. Hurley will forever believe the numbers are cursed and would probably lose half his fortune in the credit crunch of 2008/2009, as well, he probably would never reconcile with his father. Rose would die from her cancer and Bernard would be completely devastated. Claire would have given up her baby for adoption and never would have known the joy of true love only having a child can bring.

Of course, all those people who died in and after the crash wouldn't have died. Ana Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Dr. Artz. Ethan. Charlie would still be whacked out on heroin and Miles would still be scamming bereaved parents. Emma and Zack would still be shunted between parents. Boone and Shannon would still be playing their petty games and Paolo and Nikki would again be looking for ways to cheat each other out of the diamonds. Desmond would probably still be pushing a button every 108 minutes instead of finally connecting with Penny and having baby Charlie.

There's benefits and disadvantages to everything that happens in the world. Cause and effect. Action and reaction. The human condition that allows us to think, make our choices and exercise free will. Daniel was right. People are the variables! We will always be unpredictable. Wavering. Fluctuating. Mercurial.

Photo from Dark UFO