Foreword
For the second week in a row, my recap veers off my usual off-island first/ on-island second format. Last week I reversed the order; this week, I combine the two into one stream-of-consciousness passage, as "The Constant" seems to require. The story, a uniquely linear narrative that nevertheless bounces back and forth through time, seems to owe a great deal of literary debt to Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 (strangely, not a book I recall seeing on Lost - and, yes, I thought of this before reading Doc Jensen's recap on ew.com). So, without further ado, on with the recap of the latest Desmond-centric episode...
Last week we were left with Jack questioning why they had not yet heard from the helicopter. This week, we open with Frank, still piloting Sayid and Desmond out to see. Sayid sees Frank refer to a "cheat sheet" given to him by Daniel, and wonders why he does not know where the boat is?
He also wonders why they're flying directly into a thunderhead. Desmond, clutching the picture of Penny, says he expects to find answers on the boat. As they enter the cloud, the chopper slips a bit off its bearing ......and suddenly Desmond is back in the army. 
He tells his drill sargeant he is late to wake up because of a dream - of the helicopter, in the storm....and suddenly he flashes back to chopper, but now he's disoriented and frightened, and doesn't know who Sayid is, or how Sayid knows his name.
He tells his drill sargeant he is late to wake up because of a dream - of the helicopter, in the storm....and suddenly he flashes back to chopper, but now he's disoriented and frightened, and doesn't know who Sayid is, or how Sayid knows his name.Meanwhile, on the beach, morning has come and Jack is still worrying about the day that's elapsed since the chopper left. Juliet thinks Charlotte knows more than she's saying because she's not worried. Daniel says, "maybe we should just tell them." Charlotte, patronizingly, warns Daniel not to confuse anyone, but Juliet snarkily suggests that if Daniel speaks slowly, they should be able to follow along.
"Your perception of how long your friends have been gone, it's not necessarily how long they've actually been gone," explains Daniel. When this (shockingly) does nothing to improve Jack's mood, Daniel assures him "it will be fine as long as Frank stays on the bearings I gave him." If not? "There might be some side effects."Back on the chopper, the freighter, Kahana, comes into view as Sayid wrestles Des to calm him down. Des looks desperately at the picture of Penny. As they land, Sayid preps his gun.
After they land, the helicopter party is greated by two freighterites, Kamy and Omar, who are none too thrilled that Frank brought 815 survivors (well, really just one) to the boat. 
Keaney insists on taking the increasingly agitated Desmond to sick bay for a doctor to look at him. Desmond shouts "I'm not supposed to be...here?" 
Suddenly he is back in the army, standing up, while the rest of his squad is still doing crunches as punishment for Desmond's slow wake up. Desmond later tells a buddy what he experienced, and recalls the only familiar aspect of the boat "dream" was the photo of Penny. He goes to call her, drops his change, and when he goes to pick it up... he's back on the boat. Kamy and Omar lead him below deck.
They say they left from Fiji, so at least they know they're still in the Pacific. Kamy locks Desmond in a room, where he's greeted by...George Minkowski, strapped to a bunk.
"it's happening to you, too, isn't it?" asks George, sounding every bit as mad as Desmond appears. And why wouldn't he be? "Minkowski" gets his surname from the physicist who conceptualized that time is really the fourth dimension of space, a concept since referred to as "Minkowski Space-Time." Bear that in mind...
Keaney insists on taking the increasingly agitated Desmond to sick bay for a doctor to look at him. Desmond shouts "I'm not supposed to be...here?" Suddenly he is back in the army, standing up, while the rest of his squad is still doing crunches as punishment for Desmond's slow wake up. Desmond later tells a buddy what he experienced, and recalls the only familiar aspect of the boat "dream" was the photo of Penny. He goes to call her, drops his change, and when he goes to pick it up... he's back on the boat. Kamy and Omar lead him below deck.They say they left from Fiji, so at least they know they're still in the Pacific. Kamy locks Desmond in a room, where he's greeted by...George Minkowski, strapped to a bunk."it's happening to you, too, isn't it?" asks George, sounding every bit as mad as Desmond appears. And why wouldn't he be? "Minkowski" gets his surname from the physicist who conceptualized that time is really the fourth dimension of space, a concept since referred to as "Minkowski Space-Time." Bear that in mind...Later on the deck, Sayid sees Omar using binoculars, and Kamy yelling at Frank. Frank joins Sayid and says he doesn't know what's happened to Desmond, but he is trying to help. He trades the phone for Sayid's gun and says the phones only work with each other. They call Daniel, who lets Jack and company know their friends have arrived and asks, oddly enough, if Desmond was recently eposed to high levels of radiation or electromagnetism. (Purple sky hatch implosion, anyone?) He says some people get confused going to or coming from the island, but this is not amnesia.
In sick bay, Minkowski is locked in a catatonic blank stare, then awakens and tells Des he was just on a ferris wheel. As ship's doctor "Ray" comes in, Minkowski raves that "it's going to happen to everyone, once we start heading to that island again," until Ray injects Minkowski. 
Ray asks Desmond about the last thing he remembers...
Ray asks Desmond about the last thing he remembers......but Desmond is now back on the base, picking up his dropped change and calling Penny. Still smarting over getting dumped by Des just before he enlisted, she tells him to leave her alone. As he is about to plead that he needs her...
...he's back on the freighter. Sayid and Frank bust in and hand him the phone. Daniel asks where and when desmond thinks he is, and Desmond responds on the British base in 1996. Daniel tells Desmond, when he returns to 1996, get on a train and find him, Daniel Faraday, at Queens College in Oxford.
Daniel then rifles through his bag searching for his journal. He says that Desmond's side effects are unpredictable, a random effect, that sometimes moves an individual a few hours, sometimes days. Daniel tells Desmond to tell 1996 Daniel to set his device to 2.342 (gratuitous mention of the numbers - 23 and 42!), oscillating at 11 herz. If the numbers don't convince past Daniel, Desmond should say he knows about Eloise. Desmond jots these notes on his hand, but they are gone when he finds himself back in the 1996 phone booth. He goes to Oxford, and finds long-haired Daniel Faraday. 
Daniel, assuming it's a prank, wonders why he would put Desmond through the headache of time travel, and not help him in the future? Des relates the numbers, and says he knows about Eloise, and Daniel relents and takes him to his lab. Desmond asks if he's changing the future by having this discussion. Daniel puts on a radiation vest, which he says Desmond doesn't need because he does not have to worry about prolonged exposure. Eloise, we learn is a rat, who gets put in a maze. Using Desmond's settings, Daniel radiates Eloise with a purple light...
...and after she briefly goes catatonic (like Minkowski), he releases her into the maze, where she runs directly to the other side. The kicker? Daniel wasn't even going to teach Eloise how to navigate the maze until an hour later. Her mind, it seems, was sent to the future. So...let me get this straight...the purple-tinted radiation can blast your mind through time? And Desmond was at ground zero for such a radiation burst...but despite his prior flashes, it's happening more now? What's going on here? As past Daniel and Desmond contemplate the sketchy knowledge that they end up on some "bloody island"...
Daniel, assuming it's a prank, wonders why he would put Desmond through the headache of time travel, and not help him in the future? Des relates the numbers, and says he knows about Eloise, and Daniel relents and takes him to his lab. Desmond asks if he's changing the future by having this discussion. Daniel puts on a radiation vest, which he says Desmond doesn't need because he does not have to worry about prolonged exposure. Eloise, we learn is a rat, who gets put in a maze. Using Desmond's settings, Daniel radiates Eloise with a purple light......and after she briefly goes catatonic (like Minkowski), he releases her into the maze, where she runs directly to the other side. The kicker? Daniel wasn't even going to teach Eloise how to navigate the maze until an hour later. Her mind, it seems, was sent to the future. So...let me get this straight...the purple-tinted radiation can blast your mind through time? And Desmond was at ground zero for such a radiation burst...but despite his prior flashes, it's happening more now? What's going on here? As past Daniel and Desmond contemplate the sketchy knowledge that they end up on some "bloody island"......Desmond is suddenly back on the boat. Kamy is pissed for some reason that Frank let Desmond talk to Daniel. Sayid demands to talk to the captain, but he and Desmond are quickly locked in. Desmond desperately wants to get back in Oxford to learn what he's supposed to do next from Daniel. Minkowski hears the name, Desmond, and it sparks some awareness. He says he was the ship's communications officer, and every so often, he'd get a flashing light for an incoming call, with strict orders never to answer (orders he did not exactly follow). Those calls came from Penny...
...and with that, Desmond is back in Oxford, after being "out" for 75 minutes, though he only experienced 5 minutes on the freighter. Daniel guesses Desmond's progression is exponential, making it harder to jump back. Desmond looks at Eloise, who suddenly died from an aneurysm. 
Daniel postulates Eloise short-circuited because she had no anchors in time. He says, to avoid Eloise's fate, Desmond needs a constant, something in the future that he really cares about, that also exists back in 1996. The constant can be a person, but he has to make some kind of contact. But, of course, Penny's old number has been disconnected. Desmond falls over...
Daniel postulates Eloise short-circuited because she had no anchors in time. He says, to avoid Eloise's fate, Desmond needs a constant, something in the future that he really cares about, that also exists back in 1996. The constant can be a person, but he has to make some kind of contact. But, of course, Penny's old number has been disconnected. Desmond falls over... ...and finds himself on the boat. Minkowski says somebody sabotaged all communications equipment 2 days earlier, but he could fix it. Minkowski points out that the door has been opened. Looks like, as George says, they have a friend on the boat. Could this be Ben's spy? Could it be Frank, who assured Sayid he was trying to help? Could Frank be Ben's spy?
George develops a nose bleed. As Sayid is about to lead them out of the now-unlocked cabin...
...Desmond is again back in England in 1996. He goes to an auction, where lot 242 (!) is, of all things, the journal of the first mate of the Black Rock, being sold by the family of Tovar Hanso (who is this Tovar fella? We know Alvar and we know Magnus...).
...Desmond is again back in England in 1996. He goes to an auction, where lot 242 (!) is, of all things, the journal of the first mate of the Black Rock, being sold by the family of Tovar Hanso (who is this Tovar fella? We know Alvar and we know Magnus...).
According to the auctioneer, the journal is the only known remnant of the lost ship, and it turned up with some pirates in Madagascar...So to clarify...both Black Rock and Oceanic 815 ended up on an island. The freighter just off the coast of the island got there by traveling a short distance from Fiji, while the ship's journal found its way to Madagascar. Fiji and Madagascar are 8209 miles (13210 km) (7133 nautical miles) apart (I loves me the inernet). So where on Earth is this sodding island? Anyway, at the auction, Charles Widmore wins the journal for 380,000 pounds. Desmond approaches him after the bidding. Charles tells Desmond to follow him...
...to the men's room. Widmore snidely gives Desmond Penny's address and leaves, with the sink he used still running.
...to the men's room. Widmore snidely gives Desmond Penny's address and leaves, with the sink he used still running. Lots to unpack here. First of all, presumably, with this journal, Charles Widmore can learn all about the island. On the other hand, if he already knows about it, his purchase of the journal would prevent others from learning about it. In either scenario, eight years later, I'd say Charles is a good candidate for being the puppet master behind the forces Ben wants so desperately to oppose. This would also explain, or at least suggest, how it was that Naomi got that picture of Penny and Desmond. The other interesting thing about this sequence is why Charles gave Desmond Penny's address if he seems so hellbent on keeping them apart...
Desmond reaches to turn off the sink that Charles left running...
...and finds himself back on the boat. George knows it's getting harder for Desmond to stay in one time or the other, and says the jumps will start happening faster. George tells how he and someone named Brandon took off towards the island, but now Brandon is dead. They get to the com room, and George passes out. Sayid asks if Desmond knows the number he's supposed to call, but Desmond doesn't. He sees the 2004 calendar, and starts to bleed out his nose. Suddenly, Minkowski goes into convulsions and dies, just like Eloise! RIP George Minkowski - we hardly knew ye...Desmond knows the same thing going to happen to him if he can't contact his constant....
...Back in the men's room, the faucet never turned off, and the runoff awakens Desmond. He takes the address, 423 (the nubmers again!!!) Cheyne Walk and finds Penny. He begs and pleads for her to listen to him. He tells her in 8 years he will need a number to call to reach her. "I won't call for eight years, until December 24, 2004." She reluctantly gives him the number and, after she shoves him out the door...
...he is back in the com room, where he gives Sayid the number. 
Sayid makes the call, and it rings and rings, until, finally, Penny picks up. She can't believe it's really Desmond! 
Desmond suddenly remembers the island, and tells Penny he's been there. Penny says she's been looking for him for the past three years. She said she'd been researching the island and finally knew she wasn't crazy to do so when she talked to Charlie. They say they love each other and promise to find each other, even as the call fades out. And Desmond stays put on the freighter. Apparently, the contact stopped the jumps.
Sayid makes the call, and it rings and rings, until, finally, Penny picks up. She can't believe it's really Desmond! Desmond suddenly remembers the island, and tells Penny he's been there. Penny says she's been looking for him for the past three years. She said she'd been researching the island and finally knew she wasn't crazy to do so when she talked to Charlie. They say they love each other and promise to find each other, even as the call fades out. And Desmond stays put on the freighter. Apparently, the contact stopped the jumps.Ok...so why did Charles lead Desmond to Penny's place? I expected him to find her with another man, but that didn't happen. Given that Desmond, five years later, would try to win back Penny's heart and his own honor by winning Charles' foundation's race, the act that would lead him to the island, has Charles been manipulating Desmond all this time? Is Penny in on it? I mean, why would she have been researching the island for three years before Desmond ever told her he was there? Even if she finds Hanso's journal in her dad's things, it would only tell her the island exists, not that Desmond is on it. This leads me to the conclusion there are only three possibilities. 1) Charles and Penny are in cahoots, perhaps to find and exploit the island, and Desmond should not be trusting her; 2) Penny learned about the island and made the wild leap to assuming, since she couldn't find Desmond, he must be there, or 3) Charles intended that Desmond end up on the island, but Penny uncovered this plan and sought to rescue Desmond. Personally, I think only 1 and 3 are truly likely, and I sure hope it's 3...
We end on the beach, where Daniel keeps looking through his easter-egg-laden journal. Check out this diagram, with vectors corresponding to "real time", "real space," "imaginary time" and "space-time." What is that all about? 
Finally, Daniel finds that he wrote - "if anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."
Finally, Daniel finds that he wrote - "if anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."Okaaaaaaaay. So, last week, Daniel struggled to "remember" three hidden playing cards, improving to remembering two out of three. This week, Daniel tells us what Desmond experienced was akin to his consciousness traveling through time, and that a side effect is amnesia. Daniel told Desmond the only cure would be to find a constant in both time frames he bounces between. And now it seems Daniel anticipates he will need a constant, and that Desmond will be that constant for him. So has Daniel already started traveling through time? Did he come to the island intending to do so? Is this time travel his unique goal, or is it tied to what the freighterites are all after?
Well, that's it for this week. Tune in next week for "The Other Woman." In the meantime, head on over to the spoilers blog for some teases regarding next week and the remaining two and a half seasons of Lost by clicking here.
Ben, always ready to play the part of the chorus, asks why $3.2 million, and not 3.3 or 3.4? Miles brushes off this question but says he would take care of Charlotte's having seen Ben. Ben negotiates a week to make it happen. Miles tells Kate everything there is to know about her and suggests she stay on the island rather than face justice. Locke, none too pleased, arrives and sends Kate home. 
He struggles, and she, interestingly, asks what he remembers. He ends up getting two out of three (correctly 
Who was the strange bearded man shouting at her outside? Somehow I'm sure we'll find out later. Kate's charges were read to her - murder, arson, assaulting officers, grand theft, yadda yadda. She pled "not guilty." Kate's lawyer told the Court she could not flee since she was one of the most recognizable faces in America, (in other words, we just established, in case there was any doubt, that this is a flash-forward) but the judge ordered her remanded without bail through the duration of the trial (as if Kate ever fled anything in the past, eh?). 
Jack told the jury a skewed version of events, including the marshall dying in the crash. According to Jack's sworn (and perjured) testimony, he never asked if Kate was guilty because she pulled the only eight survivors of the crash out of the water, and cared for all of them, even though two later died. (Umm...I'm pretty sure Jack is about 40 survivors short on that count. Any guesses as to who the two who died later are under the O6 story?) The DA asked if Jack loved Kate, and he testified "no, not anymore." 
As if the importance of Daniel's card "guessing" game weren't hidden enough before, now one of the very cards he correctly guessed is painted on Aaron's wall? What's the deal with the Six of clubs? Is there a greater meaning to the number 6 than the number of survivors who got off the island? Or did Daniel somehow predict there would be six survivors?
They later had a dinner and ultimately started a fling. For some reason, Elsa's boss never paged her during this relationship (a supposed break from routine), and before long it became apparent (to us, anyway) that Sayid was tailing Elsa for access to this Economist.
As he loomed over her body, he took exceptional note of her bracelet, one very similar to another we saw earlier in the episode (but more on that later).
In typical Ben style, he then continued, "why are you crying, because it hurts, or because you were stupid enough to care for her? These people don't deserve your sympathies. Need I remind you what they did the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun?" Sayid responded, "you used her to recruit me into killing for you." Ben's response - "Do you want to protect your friends, or not, Sayid? I have another name for you." Sayid, concerned, responded. "but they'll know I'm after them now." Ben ended the episode with one word - "Good."
It is the design of this bracelet that Sayid would later recognize on Elsa's dead wrist. What is the connection? Is RC the "economist?" Given Ben's aversion to Naomi and her crew now, and his assigning Sayid to kill the economist (and others) later, are Sayid's future victims connected to our mysterious newcomers?
Miles also gets in a quip calling Hurley "tubby" while demanding to know where Ben is, and Hurley responds, in classic fashion, "great, they sent us another Sawyer."
Finally, a TV show written by and for theoretical physicists! Huzah! But seriously, any thoughts on what this is all about? Please send them my way. Desmond arrives with Juliet and smiles when he sees the helicopter, as though it actually had Penny's face painted on it (perhaps Des shouldn't expect to see her too soon, given that actress Sonya Walger has been appearing on "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" as the eventual wife of the man Sarah Connor left following a marriage proposal...)
Perhaps a tease to their future connection? Sayid discovers, behind the bookcase, a secret room, filled with suits, cases, and lots of international currency, as well as a number of passports. The Swiss passport Sayid inspects shows Ben's picture with the name, Dean Moriarty. 
Suddenly, Kate is greeted by Sawyer and Sayid is surprised by Locke. Hurley sheepishly avoids eye contact and says, "sorry, dude." Sayid is marched over to where team Locke is keeping Ben (the game room), and tells Hurley he doesn't have to fear him. Hurley's response (does he get all the best lines, or what?), was that he's seen Sayid do that "break dancing thing" with his legs, so he'll just hang back. Locked in with Ben, Sayid starts falling victim to the master manipulator's taunts. Ben says he bets Locke would not be stupid enough to fall for Hurley's ruse, and when Sayid suggests he's better off since he has actual friends, Ben points out there is no use having friends he can't trust.
She asks how long the two of them could play house in New Otheron, and Sawyer asks her back, "why not find out?" What made this scene so great for me was not just the just-shy-of-tender moment between these two, but the fact that, for all his claims last week that he wouldn't listen to Ben lest he be subject to manipulation, he basically quoted Ben's words while arguing that he and Kate should stay on the island and she should let goody-goody Jack leave without her.
He then assures John he never intended to take Charlotte from him without leaving something in exchange...
Parting Thoughts
Daniel got very upset by the news that all aboard were now confirmed dead, though he himself seemed unable to figure out why.
Miles trembled, then began to speak to nobody we could see, demanding to be told where "it" is. A sound behind a cabinet prompted Miles to check behind a vent, where he found a wad of cash and a stash of drugs. He turned off the device, then told the ghost it can go now, that it was at peace. Happy to score the hidden loot, Miles even gave a refund of $100 to Mrs. Gardner on the way out the door.
She saw a French language newspaper on the ground reporting that 815 was found, with no known survivors, but for some reason continued to doubt these reports. After bribing her way into the dig, she found a skeleton...of a polar bear...with a DHARMA Initiative Hydra Station leather collar! 
And the strangest thing about this scene? She didn't seem the least bit surprised by this...
As Frank let a toy plane sink in a fish tank, he watched yet another report on the recovery of flight 815. According to the news, which depicted the graphic footage of a decomposing body in the pilot's chair, the body was confirmed as the pilot on flight 815 (which, of course, is odd, given that we all know the pilot was killed by the smoke monster and left, broken, in the treetops). The news report continued that recovering bodies would be next to impossible, but it was hoped that confirmation that all 324 passengers were accounted for would provide closure. Frank called the family and friends hotline on the bottom of the screen - 888-548-0034 (try it - it works), and reports that the pilot in the footage is not Seth Norris (Gregg Grunberg from "Heroes," who you'll remember from the aforementioned monster-chomping scene in the pilot episode, no pun intended). 
Frank knew this because the left hand, clearly visible on the screen, had no wedding ring. And the reason Frank knew that Seth always wore his wedding ring? Frank was supposed to be the pilot of flight 815.
It seems, not that surprisingly, that Abaddon was not a lawyer for Oceanic Airlines as he would go on to tell Hurley in last week's flash-forward. Naomi was not pleased about shepherding an archaelogist, a physicist, a ghostbuster, and a drunk pilot for a mission "like this" - which we would later learn was a mission to find and snatch Ben - since none of them had military training. Naomi and Abaddon argued over whether she and her team,would find survivors of flight 815. Abaddon, insisting she would not, as though repeating a media buzz word, told her that every member of the team was selected for a specific purpose, and that everything relies on you getting the team in, getting them out, and preventing them from getting killed.
John tells the still-skeptical Sawyer that he got his orders - to go to the cabin and to kill Naomi - from Walt (only taller).
Jack, getting suspicous, asks Daniel about the gun. He says it's a precaution. When Jack asks, "against what?" Daniel "Ok, see, umm, rescuing you and your people? Can't really say it's our primary objective." Then what is, inquires Jack? Saved by the bell, Daniel gets the signal from Miles' transponder.
He sees Kate move for Daniel's gun, and demands to know where Naomi is - "the woman you killed, where is she?" Miles chastises Daniel for being too trusing, confirming that Naomi used the code - "tell my sister I love her." Kate, guns pointed at her, again rats out Locke. Miles swears he would know what happened if he saw the body (you know, because he's a ghost whisperer).
"Only a matter of time before he gets us, Johnny," snorts Sawyer, "and I bet he already figured out how he's going to do it. So you walk him."
It's Sayid and Juliet to the rescue! Miles and Daniel are disarmed...
Jack knows what this means - Locke's got her.
With a bell? He pulls out his phone, but it's smashed. He has a flare, which he shoots off.
...but she's okay - she's wearing a vest?! 
Seems like an unlikely precaution, eh? 
Jack, Sayid and Kate give incredible looks of relief.
But it seems like a Ben from years ago. Miles calls the freighter and gets someone named Regina. He then asks for Minkowski, but George can't come to the phone...Frank knows that Juliet was not on the plane, since he thoroughly memorized the manifest after it went down. 
Franks seems intrigued by finding a "native."
Ben tempts John to release him in exchange for answers. Locke calls his bluff, demanding to know what the black smoke is. Ben says he doesn't know (and, to me, Ben sells this one - but his lack of knowledge about Smokey is a topic for another day). About to get shot, Ben spurts out that he knows the woman they found is Charlotte Staples Lewis, and rattles off her whole biography, and the names of her team. Ben knows what they're doing here. "I know what they want," he tells Sawyer. "Me, James, they want me." He says he knows this because...he has a man on their boat!
