The Constant
Encyclopedia
"The Constant" is the fifth episode of the fourth season
of the American Broadcasting Company
's (ABC) serial
drama
television series
Lost
, and the 77th episode overall. It was aired on February 28, 2008, on ABC in the United States and on CTV
in Canada. It was written by executive producer Carlton Cuse
and co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof
and directed by executive producer Jack Bender
in late October 2007. "The Constant" was watched by 15 million American viewers and is widely regarded as one of Lost' s best episodes. It was nominated for three Emmy Awards, a Directors Guild of America Award, and a Hugo Award
.
In the episode, Desmond Hume
(played by Henry Ian Cusick
) and Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
) are on their way to a freighter, in a helicopter piloted by Frank Lapidus
(Jeff Fahey
). After going through turbulence, Desmond experiences unexpected side effects, as his consciousness travels through time between 1996 and 2004. The helicopter reaches the freighter and Sayid and Desmond are introduced to communications officer George Minkowski (Fisher Stevens
), who is "unstuck in time" like Desmond. The writers took twice the normal time to develop the episode's script, with the biggest concern being on how not to create a temporal paradox
when dealing with time travel
.
(Jeff Fahey
) experience turbulence flying from the island in a helicopter to the freighter 130 kilometres (about 80 miles) offshore. Desmond flashes back to 1996 where he is serving for the British Army
's Royal Scots Regiment. Moments later, when his mind returns to the helicopter, he neither knows where he is nor recognizes his companions; he has no memory of his life since 1996. After the helicopter lands, Desmond continues to jump between 1996 and December 2004. Desmond is taken to the sick bay, where a man named Minkowski is strapped to a bed because he is experiencing similar problems. Minkowski explains that someone sabotaged the radio room a couple of days ago and that Desmond's ex-girlfriend Penny Widmore (Sonya Walger
) has been trying to call the freighter. Sayid uses the satellite phone to contact Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
) on the beach and explains that Desmond appears to have amnesia. Daniel Faraday
(Jeremy Davies
), a physicist from the freighter, asks Jack if Desmond has recently been exposed to a high level of radiation
or electromagnetism
. Jack is unsure, and so Daniel speaks to Desmond and asks him about his situation. Desmond responds that he believes that he is in 1996 and is serving for the Royal Scots. Faraday understands and tells Desmond that he needs to take a train to the physics department of The Queen's College
, Oxford University
in England to find Daniel the next time that he flashes back to 1996: most saliently, he tells Desmond that he must remember to tell Faraday, back in 1996, to set his electromagnetic device with the numbers 2.342 oscillating at 11 hertz
.
Desmond's flashes become more frequent and longer. In 1996, Desmond tracks down a younger Faraday at Oxford University, who takes Desmond into his laboratory where he is experimenting with a time machine
. Setting his electromagnetic device with the settings that Desmond has given him, Daniel places his laboratory rat
, Eloise, in a maze and exposes her to purplish electromagnetic energy. The rat appears to go comatose, then awakens and runs the maze. Daniel becomes excited because he had just built the maze and had not yet taught Eloise how to navigate through it. Desmond realizes that, like the rat, he is caught in a time warp that is toggling his consciousness between two different bodies at two different points in time and space. Eloise dies of a probable brain aneurysm brought on by the exposure to the time lapse. Desmond becomes worried that he will end up like Eloise and Daniel instructs him to find something or someone— a constant —who is present in both times and can serve as an anchor for his mental stability. Desmond decides that Penny can be that constant; however, he must make contact with her in 2004. To find out where she lives, Desmond finds her father Charles
(Alan Dale
) at an auction buying a journal owned by Tovard Hanso written by a crew member of the 19th century ship called the Black Rock
. Widmore gives Desmond Penny's address.
In 1996, Desmond finds Penny, who is distraught over their break-up and not willing to see him. However, he gets her phone number eventually and tells her not to change it because he will call her on Christmas Eve 2004. In 2004, Sayid, Desmond, and Minkowski escape the sick bay and begin to repair the broken communications equipment. Meanwhile, Minkowski enters into another flash, and dies. Showing signs of suffering the same fate as Minkowski, Desmond calls Penny. Penny tells Desmond that she has been searching for him for the past three years and they reconcile before the power cuts off. Having made contact with his "constant", Desmond stops toggling between 1996 and 2004. Back on the island, Daniel flips through his journal and discovers a note that he had written, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."
"The Constant" is the second Lost episode to deal directly with the concept of time travel after "Flashes Before Your Eyes
" from the third season. While promoting that episode, Lindelof said that it uses the flashback device "in a way we never have before and never will again" and while promoting "The Constant", he said that it "upholds that pledge, unpledges it, then repledges it." Lost' s writer-producers enjoy science fiction
themes such as time travel; however, they were careful not to create a paradox. The ground rules for time-travel in the series are outlined in "Flashes Before Your Eyes"—although, Lindelof has said that "The Constant" is a more important episode in terms of explaining time travel on the show—by Ms. Hawking (Fionnula Flanagan), who explains that certain events are inevitable and the universe will eventually course-correct errors. Had these rules not been established, the writers feared that viewers would lose interest because the stakes of the characters would be lessened. The writers hoped that "The Constant" would further establish that there are no parallel universes or alternate realities. Lindelof reminisced that "just breaking that episode was such a massive headache" and Cuse added that "it was definitely like doing the hardest New York Times
crossword puzzle
for the week". Cuse and Lindelof admitted they took some inspiration from the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
, "All Good Things...", where Captain Picard
also keeps on jumping between two time frames. The writers even compared Minkowski's role to Q
, as "someone who is undergoing and understands the same events as our protagonist". Faraday, on the other hand, was the expert that always appears in time travel fiction - as Lindelof put it, "He's our Doc Brown here, who basically is gonna tell the protagonist to go and find him in the past". Whereas the average Lost episode takes two weeks to plan and write, "The Constant" took five because the writers experienced difficulty when determining its effect on future stories. Popular Mechanics
analyzed the possibility of time travel using Lost' s rules. Michio Kaku
claimed that "the show's producers did their homework". According to Kaku, "there's no law of physics preventing this kind of time travel—just a lack of know-how … [but] it would take a very advanced civilization to really do this". Cuse stated that "we [the writers] try to use enough science to give a sense of credibility". "The Constant" was the first episode on the Kahana, but the writers decided to avoid using the new setting just to give new information - Lindelof has declared that "you would have mindless exposition
unless the characters were in a constant state of crisis". According to Lindelof, Desmond's confusion prevents the characters who arrived from the island from asking questions to the freighter's crew.
Shooting occurred in the second half of October 2007. The scenes on the freighter in this episode and later episodes were filmed for several days on an actual freighter ten to fifteen minutes offshore the west coast of Oahu
, Hawaii
, where Lost is filmed. Instead of docking the ship and returning to the middle of the ocean each day, the actors and crew slept on the freighter in parts that were not being used for filming. The Oxford scenes were shot at St. Andrew's Cathedral
in Honolulu. In 1996, Desmond has short hair and no facial hair and in 2004, Desmond sports long and untamed hair with a full beard. Cusick did not cut his hair; it was hidden underneath a short-haired wig by "really talented hair and makeup folks", according to Carlton Cuse. All freighter scenes were shot before Cusick shaved most of his beard for the 1996 scenes. A fake beard was glued onto Cusick for the episodes "Ji Yeon
" and "Meet Kevin Johnson
" while his beard grew back. The equations on Faraday's chalkboard were written by an actual physicist who was hired by the producers as a consultant. The way the transition between the 1996 and 2004 scenes would take place was frequently discussed during production. Eventually the producers took the advice of editor Mark Goldman, who suggested sudden cuts with "no fancy effect, and in some cases, no sound cut", similar to the way "All Good Things..." was edited. The original ending would set up the following episode
by having Charlotte
(Rebecca Mader
) drop a bag with a gas mask at Faraday's feet. But the producers thought it did not work after the emotional scenes between Desmond and Penny, and decided to finish with Faraday reading his diary.
named "The Constant" the best television episode of 2008, and according to Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV
, "lots of people" referred to it as "the best Lost episode ever". It was listed as the best episode of Lost by IGN
, Los Angeles Times
, and ABC2
, and was also featured in similar lists by TV Guide
, and National Post
.
In Entertainment Weekly
, Alejandro Garay wrote, "One of my favorite episodes of 2008 was Lost’s 'The Constant.' It was a beautiful episode that made us fans fall in love with the show even more. The creators managed to build momentum with smart narrative, by using the romance card to develop such a complicated topic as time traveling. It was exquisite, mind-blowing, impeccably done, and unforgettable." Bill Keveney of USA Today
wrote that it is "arguably the most highly praised episode of [the] well-received fourth season", while his colleague Robert Bianco deemed Henry Ian Cusick worthy of a Emmy Award
nomination. Patrick Day of the Los Angeles Times
called the episode a "mind-blowing tour de force". Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune called it a "for-the-ages episode" with "a classic Lost moment" in Desmond and Penny's phone call and "an especially spine-tingling performance" by Cusick. Verne Gay of Newsday
raved that "last night's forty-four minutes of Lost were among the most satisfying forty-four minutes in front of the tube in my life." He went on to write that "it wasn't merely a brilliant episode, which pushed the mythology
forward more rapidly and richly than any episode in my memory, but it was an emotional release … I actually cried when Penny and Desmond finally … connected" and "there wasn't one, single, solitary false note". Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger
said that "it was brilliantly executed, as both a brain-twister and as a love story" with an "outstanding" performance by Jeremy Davies. Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly
described the episode as "the best single outing since season 1's 'Walkabout
'" and named the phone call between Desmond and Penny the best moment of the season excluding any moments from the then yet-to-air season finale
. Nikki Stafford of Wizard
described "The Constant" as "mindblowing" and cited it as "the reason the hardcore fans love Lost." Matt Roush of TV Guide
said that "the time-tripping went into overdrive with this week's brilliant episode … [which] worked beautifully as a showcase for Henry Ian Cusick as the tormented Desmond. It was almost a stand-alone episode, a Twilight Zone
/X-Files
-style adventure with a start, middle and killer finish."
Kristin Dos Santos of E!
"loved every minute" and admitted that "this was one of [her] all-time favorite episodes, what with the undying love business and this indisputable fact: Henry Ian Cusick can frakking act". "The Constant" received high praise from IGN
reviewer Chris Carabott calling it "a brilliantly executed hour of television " and "one of the finest episodes in the series". He gave it 10/10, tying it with "Pilot – Part One
" and "Through the Looking Glass
" as the best reviewed episode of Lost. LTG of Television Without Pity gave the episode an "A+"—the highest grade for any Lost episode. Erin Martell of AOL
's TV Squad loved the episode and its unique flashback structure. "The Constant" strengthened her love for Desmond and Penny's story, saying "my heart won't break if none of [Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet] end up together [but] if Desmond and Penny don't reunite, I will be devastated." Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV
gave "The Constant" an excellent review, saying that "my mind has never spun this fast after a Lost episode" and the writers have "really outdone themselves" and "do not get enough credit for constantly tinkering with their story structure". Jay Glatfelter of The Huffington Post
said that this "episode of Lost not only continued this season's thrilling momentum; it proved to fans that even in its fourth season, it still leaves us with our jaws hanging open … this was the make of possibly one of my favorite Lost episodes ever." Glatfelter also praised the characters, Daniel "more and more becoming one of [his] favorite characters" and calling Desmond "the most intriguing character on Lost [with] the best love story on the show and dare I say on television today". Daniel of TMZ
graded the episode as an "A+", considering it to be one of the best Lost episodes. In his review, he compared television to film—specifically "The Constant" to No Country for Old Men
, the 2007
Academy Award winner for Best Picture
—and decided that television is far superior. Chris Carabott of IGN
gave "The Constant" a perfect 10 out of 10 -
Karla Peterson of The San Diego Union-Tribune
wrote that "[I was] almost as touched and relieved by the[ir] reunion as Desmond and Penny are"; however, she did not review "The Constant" as favorably as other critics, giving it an "A–". Dan Compora of SyFy Portal
gave "The Constant" a mixed review. He described it as "an entertaining episode [with] a fine acting performance by Henry Ian Cusick", but criticized Desmond's character for his repetitive story arc, criticized Frank's character, saying that "Jeff Fahey is a fine actor, but so far, his character just hasn't really evolved enough for me to care yet" and Compora concluded his analysis with "this episode didn't seem to really raise or answer anything of major importance, so I can't help but feel that it was nothing more than mid-season filler." Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy
graded it with four out of five stars, writing that "a refreshing shift in Lost's tone enabled loyal viewers to have their hearts warmed by the long distance smoochfest between Desmond and his beloved Penny".
. It was Losts representative episode in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
category, losing to Mad Men
. Jeremy Davies
and Henry Ian Cusick
both submitted the episode on their behalves for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series
. The episode was also given up for consideration in the category Outstanding Directing - Drama Series along with "The Shape of Things to Come
" on Jack Bender
's behalf. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof submitted the episode for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
. "The Constant" was nominated for the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, and Jack Bender was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award in the category Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series – Night.
Lost (season 4)
The fourth season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing on the American Broadcasting Company Network in the United States, and on CTV in Canada on January 31, 2008 and concluded on May 29, 2008...
of the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's (ABC) serial
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
drama
Dramatic programming
Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, and the 77th episode overall. It was aired on February 28, 2008, on ABC in the United States and on CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
in Canada. It was written by executive producer Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
and co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and directed by executive producer Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
in late October 2007. "The Constant" was watched by 15 million American viewers and is widely regarded as one of Lost
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
.
In the episode, Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
(played by Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
) and Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
) are on their way to a freighter, in a helicopter piloted by Frank Lapidus
Frank Lapidus
Frank J. Lapidus is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Jeff Fahey. Frank is introduced in the second episode of season four as a pilot hired on a mission to the island where Oceanic Flight 815 crashed. He aids the survivors of the crash against mercenary Martin Keamy ...
(Jeff Fahey
Jeff Fahey
Jeffrey David "Jeff" Fahey is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on The Marshal.-Early life:...
). After going through turbulence, Desmond experiences unexpected side effects, as his consciousness travels through time between 1996 and 2004. The helicopter reaches the freighter and Sayid and Desmond are introduced to communications officer George Minkowski (Fisher Stevens
Fisher Stevens
Fisher Stevens is an American actor, director and producer. His most recent successes include the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film The Cove and 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film Crazy Love...
), who is "unstuck in time" like Desmond. The writers took twice the normal time to develop the episode's script, with the biggest concern being on how not to create a temporal paradox
Temporal paradox
Temporal paradox is a theoretical paradoxical situation that happens because of time travel. A time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place...
when dealing with time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
.
Plot
Desmond, Sayid and Frank LapidusFrank Lapidus
Frank J. Lapidus is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Jeff Fahey. Frank is introduced in the second episode of season four as a pilot hired on a mission to the island where Oceanic Flight 815 crashed. He aids the survivors of the crash against mercenary Martin Keamy ...
(Jeff Fahey
Jeff Fahey
Jeffrey David "Jeff" Fahey is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on The Marshal.-Early life:...
) experience turbulence flying from the island in a helicopter to the freighter 130 kilometres (about 80 miles) offshore. Desmond flashes back to 1996 where he is serving for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's Royal Scots Regiment. Moments later, when his mind returns to the helicopter, he neither knows where he is nor recognizes his companions; he has no memory of his life since 1996. After the helicopter lands, Desmond continues to jump between 1996 and December 2004. Desmond is taken to the sick bay, where a man named Minkowski is strapped to a bed because he is experiencing similar problems. Minkowski explains that someone sabotaged the radio room a couple of days ago and that Desmond's ex-girlfriend Penny Widmore (Sonya Walger
Sonya Walger
Sonya Walger is an English actress known for her roles in the ABC series Lost as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, and as Olivia Benford on ABC's FlashForward.-Education:...
) has been trying to call the freighter. Sayid uses the satellite phone to contact Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
) on the beach and explains that Desmond appears to have amnesia. Daniel Faraday
Daniel Faraday
Dr. Daniel Faraday, often referred to as Dan or simply by his surname, Faraday, is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday is introduced in the season four premiere as a physicist, suffering from memory loss, and is part of the team aboard the ...
(Jeremy Davies
Jeremy Davies (actor)
Jeremy Davies is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying the interpreter Cpl. Timothy E. Upham in the film Saving Private Ryan and the physicist Daniel Faraday on the television series Lost. He most recently appeared in the FX series, Justified, as Dickie Bennett.-Early...
), a physicist from the freighter, asks Jack if Desmond has recently been exposed to a high level of radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
or electromagnetism
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
. Jack is unsure, and so Daniel speaks to Desmond and asks him about his situation. Desmond responds that he believes that he is in 1996 and is serving for the Royal Scots. Faraday understands and tells Desmond that he needs to take a train to the physics department of The Queen's College
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
, Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in England to find Daniel the next time that he flashes back to 1996: most saliently, he tells Desmond that he must remember to tell Faraday, back in 1996, to set his electromagnetic device with the numbers 2.342 oscillating at 11 hertz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
.
Desmond's flashes become more frequent and longer. In 1996, Desmond tracks down a younger Faraday at Oxford University, who takes Desmond into his laboratory where he is experimenting with a time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. Setting his electromagnetic device with the settings that Desmond has given him, Daniel places his laboratory rat
Laboratory rat
A laboratory rat is a rat of the species Rattus norvegicus which is bred and kept for scientific research. Laboratory rats have served as an important animal model for research in psychology, medicine, and other fields.- Origins :...
, Eloise, in a maze and exposes her to purplish electromagnetic energy. The rat appears to go comatose, then awakens and runs the maze. Daniel becomes excited because he had just built the maze and had not yet taught Eloise how to navigate through it. Desmond realizes that, like the rat, he is caught in a time warp that is toggling his consciousness between two different bodies at two different points in time and space. Eloise dies of a probable brain aneurysm brought on by the exposure to the time lapse. Desmond becomes worried that he will end up like Eloise and Daniel instructs him to find something or someone— a constant —who is present in both times and can serve as an anchor for his mental stability. Desmond decides that Penny can be that constant; however, he must make contact with her in 2004. To find out where she lives, Desmond finds her father Charles
Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific. He is primarily portrayed as an older man by Alan Dale; Tom Connolly and David S...
(Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale developed a love of theatre and also became a rugby player. After retiring from the sport he took on a number of professions to support his family, before deciding to become a professional actor at the age of 27. With work limited in New...
) at an auction buying a journal owned by Tovard Hanso written by a crew member of the 19th century ship called the Black Rock
Exodus (Lost)
"Exodus" is the first season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 23rd through 25th episodes of the first season and the show overall. The episodes were directed by Jack Bender, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. "Part 1" first aired on May 18, 2005 and "Part 2"...
. Widmore gives Desmond Penny's address.
In 1996, Desmond finds Penny, who is distraught over their break-up and not willing to see him. However, he gets her phone number eventually and tells her not to change it because he will call her on Christmas Eve 2004. In 2004, Sayid, Desmond, and Minkowski escape the sick bay and begin to repair the broken communications equipment. Meanwhile, Minkowski enters into another flash, and dies. Showing signs of suffering the same fate as Minkowski, Desmond calls Penny. Penny tells Desmond that she has been searching for him for the past three years and they reconcile before the power cuts off. Having made contact with his "constant", Desmond stops toggling between 1996 and 2004. Back on the island, Daniel flips through his journal and discovers a note that he had written, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."
Production
Flashes Before Your Eyes
"Flashes Before Your Eyes" is the 8th episode of the third season of the American drama television series Lost, and the show's 57th episode overall. The episode was written by the series co-creator, show runner and executive producer Damon Lindelof and supervising producer Drew Goddard, and...
" from the third season. While promoting that episode, Lindelof said that it uses the flashback device "in a way we never have before and never will again" and while promoting "The Constant", he said that it "upholds that pledge, unpledges it, then repledges it." Lost
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
themes such as time travel; however, they were careful not to create a paradox. The ground rules for time-travel in the series are outlined in "Flashes Before Your Eyes"—although, Lindelof has said that "The Constant" is a more important episode in terms of explaining time travel on the show—by Ms. Hawking (Fionnula Flanagan), who explains that certain events are inevitable and the universe will eventually course-correct errors. Had these rules not been established, the writers feared that viewers would lose interest because the stakes of the characters would be lessened. The writers hoped that "The Constant" would further establish that there are no parallel universes or alternate realities. Lindelof reminisced that "just breaking that episode was such a massive headache" and Cuse added that "it was definitely like doing the hardest New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
crossword puzzle
The New York Times crossword puzzle
The New York Times crossword puzzle is a daily puzzle found in The New York Times and online at the paper's website. It is also syndicated to more than 300 other newspapers and journals. The puzzle is created by various freelance constructors and is edited by Will Shortz...
for the week". Cuse and Lindelof admitted they took some inspiration from the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, "All Good Things...", where Captain Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
also keeps on jumping between two time frames. The writers even compared Minkowski's role to Q
Q (Star Trek)
Q is a fictional character who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, as well as in related products. In all of these programs, he is played by John de Lancie....
, as "someone who is undergoing and understands the same events as our protagonist". Faraday, on the other hand, was the expert that always appears in time travel fiction - as Lindelof put it, "He's our Doc Brown here, who basically is gonna tell the protagonist to go and find him in the past". Whereas the average Lost episode takes two weeks to plan and write, "The Constant" took five because the writers experienced difficulty when determining its effect on future stories. Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
analyzed the possibility of time travel using Lost
Michio Kaku
is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science...
claimed that "the show's producers did their homework". According to Kaku, "there's no law of physics preventing this kind of time travel—just a lack of know-how … [but] it would take a very advanced civilization to really do this". Cuse stated that "we [the writers] try to use enough science to give a sense of credibility". "The Constant" was the first episode on the Kahana, but the writers decided to avoid using the new setting just to give new information - Lindelof has declared that "you would have mindless exposition
Exposition (literary technique)
At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration...
unless the characters were in a constant state of crisis". According to Lindelof, Desmond's confusion prevents the characters who arrived from the island from asking questions to the freighter's crew.
Shooting occurred in the second half of October 2007. The scenes on the freighter in this episode and later episodes were filmed for several days on an actual freighter ten to fifteen minutes offshore the west coast of Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, where Lost is filmed. Instead of docking the ship and returning to the middle of the ocean each day, the actors and crew slept on the freighter in parts that were not being used for filming. The Oxford scenes were shot at St. Andrew's Cathedral
Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, Honolulu
The Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, also commonly known as St. Andrew's Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States located in the State of Hawaii...
in Honolulu. In 1996, Desmond has short hair and no facial hair and in 2004, Desmond sports long and untamed hair with a full beard. Cusick did not cut his hair; it was hidden underneath a short-haired wig by "really talented hair and makeup folks", according to Carlton Cuse. All freighter scenes were shot before Cusick shaved most of his beard for the 1996 scenes. A fake beard was glued onto Cusick for the episodes "Ji Yeon
Ji Yeon
"Ji Yeon" is the seventh episode of the American Broadcasting Company's fourth season of Lost and 79th episode overall. The episode was written by co-executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and directed by regular Lost editor Stephen Semel. It was first aired in the United States and...
" and "Meet Kevin Johnson
Meet Kevin Johnson
"Meet Kevin Johnson" is the 80th television episode of the American Broadcasting Company's Lost and the eighth episode of the fourth season. It was written in October and November 2007 by supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff and co-producer Brian K. Vaughan, and directed in November by...
" while his beard grew back. The equations on Faraday's chalkboard were written by an actual physicist who was hired by the producers as a consultant. The way the transition between the 1996 and 2004 scenes would take place was frequently discussed during production. Eventually the producers took the advice of editor Mark Goldman, who suggested sudden cuts with "no fancy effect, and in some cases, no sound cut", similar to the way "All Good Things..." was edited. The original ending would set up the following episode
The Other Woman
The Other Woman , is a 1995 made-for-TV movie that follows dying mother Tessa Bryan's attempts to gain the acceptance of her two young daughters Lara and Kate of her husband Michael's second wife Carolyn. To do so, she takes them on a trip across the country to their father's ranch...
by having Charlotte
Charlotte Lewis (Lost)
Dr. Charlotte Staples Lewis is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company television series Lost, played by Rebecca Mader. Charlotte is introduced in the second episode of season four and is a cultural anthropologist on a mission to the island where Oceanic Flight 815 crashed...
(Rebecca Mader
Rebecca Mader
Rebecca Leigh Mader is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Morgan Gordon on All My Children and Charlotte Lewis on Lost.-Career:...
) drop a bag with a gas mask at Faraday's feet. But the producers thought it did not work after the emotional scenes between Desmond and Penny, and decided to finish with Faraday reading his diary.
Reception
Ratings
In its original American broadcast, "The Constant" was watched by 12.893 million viewers, ranking Lost eighth in weekly ratings. The episode was watched by a total of 14.998 million viewers, including those who watched within seven days of broadcast, making it the most recorded show of the week; this number went toward the year-end season average. It received 5.4/13 in the key adults 18–49 demographic. The Canadian broadcast was watched by 1.529 million people, making it the sixth most watched show of the week. In the United Kingdom, "The Constant" was watched by 911,000 viewers. 770,000 Australians tuned into Lost, placing it seventy-fifth in the weekly ratings chart.Critical reaction
This episode was critically praised. TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
named "The Constant" the best television episode of 2008, and according to Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
, "lots of people" referred to it as "the best Lost episode ever". It was listed as the best episode of Lost by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, and ABC2
WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV, channel 2, is the ABC affiliate television station in Baltimore, Maryland, owned by the broadcasting division of the E.W. Scripps Company...
, and was also featured in similar lists by TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, and National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
.
In Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Alejandro Garay wrote, "One of my favorite episodes of 2008 was Lost’s 'The Constant.' It was a beautiful episode that made us fans fall in love with the show even more. The creators managed to build momentum with smart narrative, by using the romance card to develop such a complicated topic as time traveling. It was exquisite, mind-blowing, impeccably done, and unforgettable." Bill Keveney of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote that it is "arguably the most highly praised episode of [the] well-received fourth season", while his colleague Robert Bianco deemed Henry Ian Cusick worthy of a Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination. Patrick Day of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called the episode a "mind-blowing tour de force". Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune called it a "for-the-ages episode" with "a classic Lost moment" in Desmond and Penny's phone call and "an especially spine-tingling performance" by Cusick. Verne Gay of Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
raved that "last night's forty-four minutes of Lost were among the most satisfying forty-four minutes in front of the tube in my life." He went on to write that "it wasn't merely a brilliant episode, which pushed the mythology
Mythology of Lost
The television show Lost includes a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena, usually concerning coincidences, synchronicity, déjà vu, temporal and spatial anomalies, paradoxes, and other puzzling phenomena...
forward more rapidly and richly than any episode in my memory, but it was an emotional release … I actually cried when Penny and Desmond finally … connected" and "there wasn't one, single, solitary false note". Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
said that "it was brilliantly executed, as both a brain-twister and as a love story" with an "outstanding" performance by Jeremy Davies. Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
described the episode as "the best single outing since season 1's 'Walkabout
Walkabout (Lost)
"Walkabout" is the fourth episode of the first season of Lost. The episode was directed by Jack Bender and written by David Fury. It first aired on October 13, 2004, on ABC. In the episode, flashbacks reveal John Locke's plans to get to Australia and participate in a walkabout tour...
'" and named the phone call between Desmond and Penny the best moment of the season excluding any moments from the then yet-to-air season finale
There's No Place Like Home
"There's No Place Like Home, Parts 1, 2 & 3" is the season finale of the American Broadcasting Company's fourth season of the serial drama television series Lost, consisting of the 12th through 14th episodes. They are also the 84th through 86th episodes of the show overall...
. Nikki Stafford of Wizard
Wizard (magazine)
Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011...
described "The Constant" as "mindblowing" and cited it as "the reason the hardcore fans love Lost." Matt Roush of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
said that "the time-tripping went into overdrive with this week's brilliant episode … [which] worked beautifully as a showcase for Henry Ian Cusick as the tormented Desmond. It was almost a stand-alone episode, a Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
/X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
-style adventure with a start, middle and killer finish."
Kristin Dos Santos of E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
"loved every minute" and admitted that "this was one of [her] all-time favorite episodes, what with the undying love business and this indisputable fact: Henry Ian Cusick can frakking act". "The Constant" received high praise from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
reviewer Chris Carabott calling it "a brilliantly executed hour of television " and "one of the finest episodes in the series". He gave it 10/10, tying it with "Pilot – Part One
Pilot (Lost)
"Pilot" constitutes the first and second episodes of the first season of ABC television series Lost, with "Part 1" premiering on September 22, 2004 and Part 2 on September 29, 2004. The episodes were directed by J.J. Abrams, and written by him along with Damon Lindelof, based on a story by them and...
" and "Through the Looking Glass
Through the Looking Glass (Lost)
"Through the Looking Glass" is the third season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 22nd and 23rd episodes of the third season. It is also the 71st and 72nd episodes overall. It was written by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse,...
" as the best reviewed episode of Lost. LTG of Television Without Pity gave the episode an "A+"—the highest grade for any Lost episode. Erin Martell of AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's TV Squad loved the episode and its unique flashback structure. "The Constant" strengthened her love for Desmond and Penny's story, saying "my heart won't break if none of [Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet] end up together [but] if Desmond and Penny don't reunite, I will be devastated." Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
gave "The Constant" an excellent review, saying that "my mind has never spun this fast after a Lost episode" and the writers have "really outdone themselves" and "do not get enough credit for constantly tinkering with their story structure". Jay Glatfelter of The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
said that this "episode of Lost not only continued this season's thrilling momentum; it proved to fans that even in its fourth season, it still leaves us with our jaws hanging open … this was the make of possibly one of my favorite Lost episodes ever." Glatfelter also praised the characters, Daniel "more and more becoming one of [his] favorite characters" and calling Desmond "the most intriguing character on Lost [with] the best love story on the show and dare I say on television today". Daniel of TMZ
TMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...
graded the episode as an "A+", considering it to be one of the best Lost episodes. In his review, he compared television to film—specifically "The Constant" to No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men (film)
No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The film was adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name...
, the 2007
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
Academy Award winner for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
—and decided that television is far superior. Chris Carabott of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave "The Constant" a perfect 10 out of 10 -
Karla Peterson of The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
wrote that "[I was] almost as touched and relieved by the[ir] reunion as Desmond and Penny are"; however, she did not review "The Constant" as favorably as other critics, giving it an "A–". Dan Compora of SyFy Portal
Airlock Alpha
Airlock Alpha, formerly SyFy Portal, is an entertainment news website focusing on science-fiction, fantasy and comic book television series and films.-History:...
gave "The Constant" a mixed review. He described it as "an entertaining episode [with] a fine acting performance by Henry Ian Cusick", but criticized Desmond's character for his repetitive story arc, criticized Frank's character, saying that "Jeff Fahey is a fine actor, but so far, his character just hasn't really evolved enough for me to care yet" and Compora concluded his analysis with "this episode didn't seem to really raise or answer anything of major importance, so I can't help but feel that it was nothing more than mid-season filler." Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
graded it with four out of five stars, writing that "a refreshing shift in Lost's tone enabled loyal viewers to have their hearts warmed by the long distance smoochfest between Desmond and his beloved Penny".
Awards
The episode was nominated in the categories of "Outstanding Cinematography for a One Hour Series" and "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (original Dramatic Score)" for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards60th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards was held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest and televised in the United States on ABC.The Creative Arts Awards...
. It was Losts representative episode in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
This page lists the winners and nominees for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, since its institution in 1951. The award is often cited as one of the "main awards" at the Emmys ceremonies, and has changed names many times in its history. It was first called Best Dramatic Show...
category, losing to Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
. Jeremy Davies
Jeremy Davies
Father Jeremy Davies , an English Roman Catholic priest whose parish is based around Old Hall Green, is a former doctor and also a leading exorcist....
and Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
both submitted the episode on their behalves for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series
This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.-1960s:*1960: no award*1961: Roddy McDowall – Not Without Honor*1962: no award*1963: no award...
. The episode was also given up for consideration in the category Outstanding Directing - Drama Series along with "The Shape of Things to Come
The Shape of Things to Come (Lost)
"The Shape of Things to Come" is the 81st episode of the American Broadcasting Company's Lost and is the ninth episode of the fourth season. It aired on April 24, 2008 on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada. The episode was written by co-executive producer Drew Goddard and...
" on Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
's behalf. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof submitted the episode for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
The Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is awarded to one television episode each year at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Often regarded as the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an individual episode of television, the nominees and winners often reflect outstanding achievement in...
. "The Constant" was nominated for the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, and Jack Bender was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award in the category Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series – Night.
External links
- Episode guide and photos at ABC.com
- Overview at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...