Lost (2004-2009)

The Constant

Anthony Azizi and Henry Ian Cusick on Lost. (Photo: ABC)

Episode 5 of Season 4 (2007-2008)
Originally aired Feb 28, 2008

Lapidus, Sayid, and Desmond are flying in the helicopter through some bad weather when Desmond flashes to a time when he was in military boot camp. He thinks his time in the helicopter was a dream. When he flashes back to the copter, he has no idea where he is or who he is with. Back on the beach, Jack is still concerned as to why they haven't heard from Sayid. Faraday explains that Jack's perception of the amount of time the helicopter has been gone may not match up with how long it actually has been gone. The helicopter lands on the freighter as Desmond keeps flashing back and forth, more confused than ever. The nervous people on the freighter notice this and take him to the sick bay, where he is locked in with Minkowski, who appears to be going through the same thing. Sayid finally calls the island and explains Desmond's issue. Faraday explains that people exposed to radiation/electromagnetism can get "side effects" when traveling to and from the island. Sayid and Lapidus head to the sick bay with the phone, and Faraday asks Desmond what year it is. He says 1996. Faraday makes Desmond visit Faraday in 1996 during his next flash and give him a message. Desmond does this, and 1996 Faraday uses the message to make some calculations in his time travel/radiation experiments with a rat. On the freighter, Minkowski reveals that had received calls they were forbidden to answer - from Penny Widmore. In 1996, Desmond watches Faraday's rat die and asks him how he can escape this fate. Faraday tells him to find an anchor, something or someone that ties him to both realities. Desmond knows this is Penny, and seeks her out through her dad. He asks for her phone number, promising that he will call her on December 24, 2004. Back on the freighter, Minkowski dies like the rat did. Sayid puts a phone together for him, and Desmond calls the number. A shocked and elated Penny answers, saying she's been searching for him for the past three years. As the phone goes dead, she says she won't give up searching for him and they both confirm their love for each other. Desmond's constant is set and his memory and sanity return. Back on the beach, Faraday flips through his journal, stopping on a page that says "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."