Lost (TV Series) The Variable (2009) User Reviews

Fate vs. Free Will

[bornfilm-2 · 10/10 · 4 May 2009]

When we saw Faraday emerge from the sub at the end of Hoth, a sense of relief came over us. Why? Without a doubt, Season 5 has given us one character that was sorely underdeveloped last season: DANIEL FARADAY! This episode focuses the relationship of Daniel and his mother, Eloise. The relationship also acts as some interesting metaphor for free will (Dan) vs. fate (eloise). The flashbacks focus on this battle, as Eloise pushes Dan towards his tragic fate, against his own will. This dynamic brought an emotional factor to a character that we never thought would bring such feelings, while explaining all of our unanswered questions on a somewhat mysterious Faraday.

On top of this, the Island stuff is tense and packed with amazing stuff. The scenes here are filled to the brim with tension, and the acting is spot on. Jack and Kate finally get some direction that was lacking after Whatever Happened, Happened.

However, the episode really knocks things out of the ball park with the ending. Although tragic, the ending reinforces the whatever happened, happened time rules. Even though Daniel thought free will was present, his actions only led him down the road to the fate his mother knew from the get go. Tragic, yet incredibly satisfying in terms of the mythology, this episode stands as a cornerstone episode of the season. I can't wait to see where the finale will take us.

This is what we've been waiting for

[gridoon2024 · 9/10 · 30 April 2009]

If Season 5 wasn't scheduled to run a specific (17) number of episodes, "The Variable" is exactly the kind of fare we would - and should - have gotten much sooner. Like Daniel Faraday says, "I've spent so much time thinking about the constants, that I forgot about the variables". Packed with action, conflict (the council at the barracks is a nice little homage to the councils at the beach of earlier seasons), and revelations (the Incident that made the creation of the hatch necessary, Daniel's father, the aftermath of Desmond getting shot by Ben, etc.), it's an episode that doesn't have any extraneous moments. And of course at the center of it all is the eternal battle of the series: fate ("You always knew this was going to happen") vs. free will ("We think, we reason, we make choices"). Only this time the battle is fought with a sense of urgency that, out of all the Season 5 episodes, only "He's Our You" came close to achieving. "The Variable" belongs in the Top 5 of this season, perhaps even at spot #1 (a close race with "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"). ***1/2 out of 4.

The best episode so far this season

[Mustard128 · 10/10 · 30 April 2009]

This season of lost has been a good one. Not as good as some of the others, but still good. These last few episodes have brought us back to the type of shocks and twists that we saw in the first few seasons. This episode is about Daniel Faraday and how he came to know about the freighter and why he joined it. We find out that his mom was a Hostile and that His dad is Charles Widmore. This episode had quite a shock at the end of it too. Things aren't going so good for Dharma either, Jack and Kate leave after an intense gunfight, and Sawyer and Juliet get caught holding someone hostage.

Overall, a great episode. I hope i see more of these type of episodes in the future.

"For the first time in a long time, I don't know what's going to happen."

[itsgillian_w · 25 August 2009]

Daniel Faraday is one of my favourite characters. He has been portrayed by Jeremy Davies so well. I am surprised that he hasn't been nominated for an Emmy award. While we didn't really find out why he was crying when they showed the finding of flight 815, there are several more revelations. The one about his father especially. The ending of this episode is not a happy one. It is a shocker. And now we know why Eloise (Wheezy as I call her) was crying in the flashback, and why Daniel came to the island. But still . . . Daniel Faraday fan girls who want to see him happily married with children next season?! (if you have not seen the 2009 Lost panel at Comic-Con, you will not know what I am talking about) I guess if they like zombie weddings.

Meanwhile, Penelope grapples with Desmond's shooting while speaking to Eloise at the hospital. And when Eloise is waiting for a taxicab, we find out Daniel Faraday's daddy issues. Apart from the shocking ending, it was a great episode.

The Tragic End

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 19 April 2013]

Daniel returns to the island and he has a plan to fix time and bring the group back home. However, he needs to meet his mother that belongs to the hostiles and explode the hydrogen bomb. When Jake, Kate and Daniel are ready to go, they are surprised by Radzinsky and his men but they succeed to escape. However Sawyer and Juliet are hold in the Dharma village and kept captive by Radzinsky. When Daniel arrives in the hostiles' camp, he is shot by Eloise.

"The Variable" is maybe the best episode of this Season of "Lost". The story is dramatic and also full of action and unfortunately Daniel Faraday is gone. As usual, there are time paradoxes and inconsistencies in the plot. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "The Variable"

Getting to know Daniel Faraday

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 12 August 2018]

When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.

Season 4 was a solid season, with high points such as "The Beginning of the End", the three part finale and particularly "The Constant" and the only disappointments (though they were still decent) being "The Other Woman" and "Eggtown". "Because You Left" couldn't be a better way to start Season 5, definitely among the stronger 'Lost' season openers and one of the most confident and most settled. The episodes between that and this were also good to great, the weakest being a long way from low-points.

"The Variable" is a great episode, not one of the show's very best but one of the best of the season. It's taut and thought-provoking, providing new mysteries and questions as well as some answers and nice references here. The on-island events are tense, emotional and above all gripping.

My only problem was that an explanation could have been provided for Daniel's changing his mind with changing the past, that would have been really interesting so it was a little disappointing it didn't come.

On top of all that, it advances characters, shows plot progression rather than repeating itself or being filler. There are surprising moments and also illuminating ones, particularly with Daniel's origins.

Also found "The Variable" to be an episode full of entertainment value, tension and emotional moments. The latter is most obvious at the end, which devastated me more than a lot of individual scenes from Season 5. The more dialogue-driven parts is a case of it being thought-probing, relevant and adding a lot rather than slowing things down and rambling. The character dynamics are surprising and with interesting perspectives and the revelations shock.

Can't fault the performances, particularly the truly powerful one of Jeremy Davies.

Nor the stylishness and atmosphere of the visuals, nor the effectively understated and chilling use of music, taut writing and the tightly controlled direction.

Summing up, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Bad Will Hunting

[igoatabase · 4 May 2009]

The Constant was fascinating, this one was disappointing. In fact I think I just had too high expectations. Desmond Hume's story really inspired me and when Daniel Faraday got out from the submarine last week I thought they would be both featured in this episode. Moreover now that the time shifting element doesn't surprise us anymore, it makes Daniel's crazy explanations less entertaining. We already saw him trying to convince Jack and Kate so it really felt like déjà-vu. An other problem was Daniel's story because it's nearly impossible for most people to identify with him, that's the issue with genius. His scenes with little Charlotte and the Hostiles were also quite disappointing. First the young actress is not a natural redhead and made the character less believable. Second and last even if Daniel is clumsy he should know that you using a gun is the worst argument against people. It just doesn't make sense, specially considering he's a rational scientist. However the whole Sawyer arc was interesting and I really felt sad for him and Juliet. Otherwise the shooting scene was rushed and I wished the writers planned something less hasty.

Let's hope Lost will get back to its roots and not become a parody of Far Cry, the video game. Overall it was quite disappointing and felt unbalanced, like if they tried to merge too many elements and edit too many scenes into a single episode.

Finally

[abortamir · 1/10 · 10 March 2021]

Enough of annoying daniel. Hate his character. Useless.