Alright, let’s talk about the show, because the opening was a WHOPPER and the rest of it was so crazy, I’m glad I write this thing as I watch it.

They’ve all been great episodes this season, but this one may have been the best yet.

Desmond and Sayid

We return to Sayid and Desmond being flown by Frank in the helicopter to the supposed freighter. The ride gets bumpy and they end up flying into a storm of some sort. Frank tries to hold his bearing, but it’s tough.

Yet on the way there, Desmond flashes back to a time when he was in the Royal Scots Regime, being woken at the start of the day. The sarge is yelling at him for not waking up on time, and when he tries to explain what is going on, he says it was a dream he was having about being in a helicopter.

And the next moment he’s back in the chopper, only this time…he’s the Desmond from the past, with no clue where he is or who he’s with. And we are clueless as well.

I did not see that coming, this was some mind-blowing shiznit!

Jack and Juliette

Back on the island, we get a brief scene with Daniel, Charlotte, Jack and Juliette. Of course our two Flight 815 survivors are worried about their friends not having called in yet, and Daniel offers an explanation, despite protests from Charlotte.

He basically says, “Your perception of how long they’ve been gone isn’t necessarily how long they’ve been gone.”

We’ve kind of seen something like this coming, what with the 31 minute payload thing earlier. Except this time, on the way out, A LOT more time passes.

Desmond and Sayid land on boat

Back on the helicopter, Frank, Sayid and Desmond land on the freighter and are met by men who really wished Frank hadn’t brought anyone. They were surprised he was even back.

They take Desmond to see “the doctor.”

Desmond in the past

Back in the past, Desmond is once again in the middle of military drills and causes extra work for his squadmates. But the big clue is that he suddenly feels the urge to call Penny.

In the previous past, we know he went into the army and didn’t really speak with her again because her father wanted him out of the picture. Yet this time, he has mixed memories from his future, and part of what he brings back is his love for Penny.

Desmond in the present

Two dudes named Omar and Keman go grab the doctor while they lock Desmond in a room. You think he’s alone until a freaky little man opens his mouth and says, “Is it happening to you too?”

Back on the deck, Sayid has some questions for Frank, the big one that we kind of miss if you aren’t paying attention to the scenery, was that they took off at dusk, and landed during the daytime.

Sayid trades his hidden gun to Frank for a phone, and calls the Island and tells Jackthey are alright. He tells them on speakerphone that something is wrong with Desmond and Daniel perks up, saying “oh no.”

Desmond sees the guy in bed go limp for a few, then he’s back and says he was on a ferris wheel. The doctor comes in at that time and hits the guy with a tranqilizer or something.

Desmond in the Past

Back in the past, Desmond tries to call Penny, she answers, but wants nothing to do with him. She’s moving on.

Present

Sayid and Frank bust into the room where Desmond is in, and gives the phone to him while the doctor sounds an alarm.

Daniel talks to Desmond and asks him what year he is in during his flashs. We find out it’s 1996. Trying to think fast, Daniel tells him to get to Oxford and to find…himself.

Wow.

And in order to prove it to himself in the past, he needs to give him some information: 2.342 and that it oscillates at 11 hertz. And that he knows about Eloise.

WTF?

They get locked in the room by the crew.

Past

He finds Daniel Faraday at Oxford and has to use both devices to get him to believe his story.

Eloise is a rat…and is in a maze, Daniel does something to it with a beam using the info Desmond brings back. The rat is asleep and then wakes up, much like Desmond is doing. The rat races through the maze and makes no mistakes.

Why was that important? The rat was going to be taught the maze AN HOUR from then, meaning Daniel somehow sent his mind forward and back, where he learned how to make it through.

Daniel has invented some sort of time mechanism. But he says the future cannot be changed.

This episode just gets better and better.

Present

We discover that the guy in the bed next to Desmond is George Mankowski. He was the communications guy, and the one the people on the Island kept saying they couldn’t talk to.

He finds out who Desmond is and breaks the news that Penny has been trying to contact the boat, but he has strict orders to not answer it.

I’m starting to really think at this point that Penny’s dad is involved in all this, something I’ve thought since season 2.

Past – The Constant

We find out a big key to this time travel paradox Desmond is in. The rat dies from the trauma of going back and forth, and the same could happen to him.

Daniel says he needs to find a constant…something that he can hold onto in both places, that exists in both places.

Desmond realizes he needs to call Penny in the future, since he can contact her in the past. She’s his constant. Nice.

Too bad her number is suddenly disconnected.

Present

Another huge clue, which continues to make me agree with others that it will be Michael, is that someone sabotaged the communications equipment and then opens the locked door for them to escape.

Desmond asks Sayid for help in contacting Penny, and Mankowski tells them it’s only a deck above, but everything is trashed. They head upstairs.

Past

Such a sweet moment here. We appear at some auction where a ledger from a ship called The Black Rock that set sail from Portsmouth, England, March 22nd, 1845 and was lost at sea is being auctioned off for 150,000 pounds. Guess who was in possession of it before?

Tovard Hanso!

And guess who bid on it and won? Penny’s father! OMG! Bidder 755. For 380,000 pounds.

Desmond arrives and asks for Penny’s number. You’d think he hates him, but it wasn’t until later when Desmond gets out of the service that he tells him he can’t see her. So this time he gives in, but gives him her her new address instead, no number.

Present

Desmond sees a calendar…it’s December 24th, 2004.

We find out that Mankowski just had this start happening to him a day or two earlier, and someone else named Brandon also was affected and he’s now dead.

Mankowski disappears again in the past, but this time he cannot return and dies with blood coming out of his nose and mouth.

Blood starts dripping from Desmond’s nose and he realizes he doesn’t have much time left.

Past

He goes to Penny’s house and this is where the episode just came together with such an awesome ending.

Penny wants him to leave, but he gets insistent, yet also very calm. Henry Ian Cusick, who plays Desmond, is just a frakkin’ good actor.

“I need you to listen to me.”

He begs her and says if there is anything left in her that loves him, she’ll give him her number and wait for him to call on December 24th, 2004…in 8 years.

Her eyes are filled with tears as she gives it to him, but there is barely a hint of belief in her eyes.

The Phone Call

Sayid has the phone fixed and Desmond knows the number now. He dials and it rings for a long time.

This moment in the episode was about as tense as any so far this season. Would she answer?

OF COURSE she answered and the sap that I am got all teary-eyed over it. I mean, if you think about it, Desmond has been on this island for so long and Penny has been searching for him the last three years. Desmond is one of my favorite characters and I have been totally invested in their story.

And finally they talk. It was such a beautiful moment, the relief and love in their voices.

The battery dies, but not before they say they love each other and that Penny will find him. And she tells him she spoke to Charlie. Wow.

The scene was just so powerful and moving. Damn you Lost for yet another brilliant job writing and bringing everything together.

What made it complete was seeing both his past self and present self relax and realize that they found their Constant. Desmond was done jumping back and forth.

And his memory returned.

Back on The Island

Of course no episode would be over without a little last second tease, and this time we get Daniel Faraday searching his notes for what his past self may have written in them regarding Desmond.

The page comes up and we see just an erie, amazing sentence.

“If something happens to me, Desmond Hume is my constant.”

BOOM.

Putting it All Together

There is some interesting stuff going on. Like I said above, I’m starting to think this saboteur on the freighter is Michael, because they are just building up the reveal.

We know Desmond has had time travel stuff happen to him after the hatch exploded in an electromagnetic blast, and Daniel seems to believe that the two are related.

But how does that explain Mankowski and Brandon?

And again, Penny’s dad is some big shot behind all this. I just know it. He’s buying something related to the island and we already think that he was the reason Desmond went on the boat race that he did.

Finally

This is why the show is so good. Jina and I talked about it afterwards and this episode was a microcosm of why the series is frakking awesome. You have the island mysteries, tense moments, amazing characters, awesome guest stars and twists and turns.

I may be a sap, but these guys are so good at developing characters, you cannot help but be attached to them. Seeing two people suddenly reconnect, even if it was via phone, was just one of those awesome touches that only the writers on Lost seem to be able to pull off.

On a side note, I just want to say that Daniel Farady is a great character and such a great addition to this show. His strange behavior and weird delivery is so refreshing. So far, you can almost compare him to the impact Ben made when he first arrived.

And lastly, the machine that Daniel created that sends the rat forward…how does that play into all this?

What did you guys think? Awesome episode? What did I miss?