So much of Lost is about destiny: the impact our decisions have on our lives, the lives of those around us, and the lives of people we’ve never met. And we’ve known from her past interactions with Desmond that Eloise has some kind of connection with the little incidents of fate. So the revelation that she drove her son Daniel hard his entire life toward the studies and events that lead him to the island isn’t really surprising. What’s surprising is that the discovery that Eloise shot Daniel through the gut in 1977.

Yes, that is surprising. It wasn’t really surprising in the moment, mind you. Daniel is quickly established as a weapons naif, so when he’s standing in the Others’ camp pointing a gun at Richard — and surrounded by a bunch of people holding rifles — as a viewer you know it’s only a matter of time before someone realizes he’s taken his eyes off every other dangerous person in the camp and puts a bullet in him. But on a larger level, it’s surprising.

And yet … so what? I mean, I don’t get it. Eloise lives with the knowledge for thirty years that her son will die (in the past) by her own hand, and does everything she can to ensure it happens that way. Why? What purpose does Daniel’s death serve (assuming he’s actually dead — if the island can save Ben and resurrect Locke, maybe Daniel’s not food for worms just yet)? We know he planned to blow up the nuke, but surely he could have been stopped from doing that without killing him. I don’t see yet why Daniel matters. Up until now, he’s been an expository vehicle for the writers to transmit necessary time travel information to the audience. But I can’t figure out any larger rationale for his presence on the island — certainly not a reason for Eloise to send him in a crazy haze onto Charles Widmore’s freighter.

Oh, yeah. Widmore is Daniel’s father. Big whoop.

I was digging this episode, because it felt like we were going to get something really meaty out of it. Alas, that didn’t happen at all! It was a tease. And worst of all, Daniel’s plan to change history by blowing up the nuke doesn’t even make sense. Not to get too hung up on science fiction nonsense, but if Daniel successfully stopped all of the previous events of the series from happening, then he never would have been in a position to be transported back in time. And if that never happens, then he’s not around in 1977 to blow up the nuke. Hello, Dan, anyone home? You’re the guy that’s supposed to understand this stuff!

In other news, Radzinsky and his band of goons get into a shootout with Jack, Kate, and Daniel, and then discover Jimmy Barrett tied up in Sawyer’s house. The best Sawyer can muster is to suggest that the noise of a person yelling for help in the closet is actually coming from outside. Sawyer’s an idiot. And Juliet’s an idiot for letting Sawyer be an idiot.

Desmond’s going to survive, it appears. Then again, Henry Ian Cusick just got hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit, so … we’ll see how that goes. I have enjoyed the additions of both Desmond and Juliet, and I hope they continue to advance those characters. But I suspect at least one of them is doomed.

The episode did introduce a “ticking clock” in the form of the energy that’s going to be released and lead to the Swan station to become “the hatch”. One has to assume that people are going to die when that happens, and that it will cause infant Miles and child Charlotte to leave the island. Hmm… I wonder if that’s the source of Miles’ ability to talk to the dead. And maybe Dr. Chang will do something heroic in the process. But the apparent death of Daniel makes me feel a little like we’re on a snipe hunt. Something meaningful better happen next week or I’m going to be pissed.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

This was a fairly solid episode until the end. Ultimately, though, all bark and no bite.

Comment away, but please no spoilers for future episodes.