Lost - "The Constant"

What Aaron Liked: Anytime we get a minimum of Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Locke and a maximum of pretty much anyone else, I approve. After last week's stinkbomb, Henry Ian Cusick's performance this week was an absolute joy to watch. I was pretty ambivalent towards the "sees-the-future Desmond" of last season (and I abhorred "hatch Desmond" from season two), but Cusick's back-and-forth between the past and the present actually had me rooting for a character on this show for the first time in forever. Favorite scene: Desmond trying to convince 1996 Penny (Sonya Walger, who was phenomenal in her short amount of screen time) to wait for his phone call. And, whaddaya know…some forward storyline progression on the island, too.

What Aaron Didn't Like: Time travel stories like this one rely heavily on the viewer to look the other way and not think too hard. Back to the Future and Terminator immediately spring to mind as movies that, with a few minutes of thought, completely fall apart at their premise. That said, the ridiculous "You can't change the future!" explanation used last night was weak. And, maybe I'm in the minority on this one, but stereotypically squirrelly scientist Daniel Faraday (played by Jeremy Davies) was an anchor whenever he was on-screen this week. Nervous tics and bed-head = unappreciated genius? Still? In 2008? Also wasn't feeling Fisher Stevens' "communications guy-gone-cuckoo" character, but his wild-eyed exposition was appreciated.

Verdict: Nitpickery aside, this was easily the best episode of the season. I can't squeal enough over Henry Ian Cusick's performance last night – just a superb turn that really puts Sawyer's troglodyte grunts and Kate's buck-toothed bravado in proper perspective. I kept waiting for Harold Perrineau's "Michael" to return as Ben's mole on the boat or the radio saboteur, but I'm happy to be wrong when the good is this good.