page_title: The Variable
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: The Variable / Production
caption_attribution_description: Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof at the Comic-con 2007 LOST Panel.
context_page_description: "The Variable" is the 14th television episode of the fifth season of Lost, and the 100th episode overall. It originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company in the United States on April 29, 2009. The hundredth episode milestone was celebrated by cast and crew on location in Hawaii. In the episode, Daniel Faraday returns to the island in order to warn its inhabitants of a catastrophe involving the Dharma Initiative research station, The Swan. Jack, Kate and Daniel begin a gun fight with Dharma, leading Dharma to go after Sawyer and Juliet. In flashbacks, Daniel's relationship with his parents, Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore, is shown.
  The episode was written by executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by Paul Edwards. It serves as a companion piece to the season four episode "The Constant", another episode that heavily features the character Daniel, and the third Lost episode to deal directly with the concept of time travel. Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from television critics, mostly complimenting Davies's performance.
context_section_description: "The Variable" was written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by Paul Edwards. Like most season five episodes, it features elements of time travel. It serves as a companion piece to the season four episode "The Constant", another episode that heavily features the character Daniel, and the third Lost episode to deal directly with the concept of time travel after "Flashes Before Your Eyes" from the third season and 
  The Constant" from the fourth season. In "The Constant", Desmond and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) are on their way off the island when their helicopter hits turbulence, causing Desmond's 1996 consciousness to take over his 2004 body and switch uncontrollably between 1996 and 2004. Lost show runner Damon Lindelof said the fifth season of the show has "flung major characters across decades, leaving them — and the audience — feverishly attempting to keep events straight and the end game in sight." In "The Variable", the viewers would get a few more pieces of the puzzle, Lindelof said, and added: "We're not promising any big whiz-bang flash pyrotechnics, but it does serve as a companion piece to another memorable episode, last season's 'The Constant', in which Desmond endured vicious, turbulence-caused side effects from traveling in time." Lindelof also commented that the fifth season is about the rules of time travel as explained by Daniel, and said, "We've never done a flashback story for Daniel, so he's very mysterious. Some of those mysteries will be answered in this episode." Since Lindelof and his show runner partner Carlton Cuse wrote "The Constant", they thought the "sister episode" should be written by someone other than them, which led to Kitsis and Horowitz writing it. The two show runners were pleased with the outcome of the episode. Cuse thought it was one of the best episodes of the season.
  The episode features the death of Jeremy Davies character Daniel Faraday. Daniel was introduced in the fourth season and was originally intended to be a minor character only. However, his quiet demeanor and seemingly good heart made him a favorite with the fans, so Lindelof and Cuse decided to expand Daniel's role, which has led to him being a key player in Lost's eventual resolution. In response to Daniel's death, Cuse said, "It was an incredibly painful thing to kill this beloved character, but we feel that’s what this show has to do. His death is kind of the culminating event in the entire season. It really ends one chapter and commences the start of the final chapter of the entire series." Once the show runners explained that to Davies, he was saddened that his full-time status on Lost was coming to an end, but put the story "above his own personal self". Damon seconded Carlton's emotions, adding that Jeremy took the news well: "When Carlton and I called Jeremy to explain what was going to be happening with Daniel, we’ve never had a more awesome exit interview with somebody on the show. For us, Daniel really was the cornerstone of the fifth season – he really shined. I can’t imagine what Season 5 would have looked like without Jeremy Davies. When you think about all the crazy stuff that had to come out of that guy’s mouth, for him to be as interesting and emotional and poetic as he was is really extraordinary." The cast of the show said Davies would be missed, though he may not be done with Lost — Carlton commented that Jeremy's "full-time" status was over, but dead characters have been known to reappear on the show. Michael Emerson, who plays Ben, said Davies was "a great sensitive guy who got deep into his character, he really lived it."
  "The Variable" was the hundredth episode of the show to be produced and aired on television. Josh Holloway, who plays the role of Sawyer, said, "Just statistically speaking, to hit a hundred episodes doesn't happen very often, especially on a show where everyone is saying 'Lost on an island? What are you gonna do after a season or two?', so the fact that we've lasted not only a season or two but flourishing still at this time... it's shocking... it's amazing to me." In
caption: Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the show runners of Lost
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