Lost Episode 611Happily Ever AfterI sometimes feel like my brain is oozing out of my ears after watching an episode of Lost that is
this good! I am now more lost than ever.
Onto our recap.
When Desmond is awakened by Zoe, he is terribly upset when he’s told that Penny and Charlie are not there. He attacks Widmore when Widmore informs him that he’s back on the island. Widmore tells him that the island is not done with him yet.
Jin wants to know what Des is doing back on the island, so Widmore opts to show him rather than tell him. Zoe is told to take Jin to the generator room and on their way there they pass generators and cables and something that looks like a shipping container. In the control room, Zoe is told that they are not even close to being ready but they test it out anyway.
When it fails to start up, one of Widmore’s men goes to check what the problem is. When he’s inside the container/room, the fault is fixed and the thing is switched on accidently. They realise that Widmore’s man is still in the room being shocked by waves created by the giant solenoids. They switch it off and run to him, but he‘s dead.
Desmond is taken to the room and bound to a chair. Widmore tells him that if what he hears about Des is true, then Des will be fine. He also tells Des that once the experiment is over, he will ask Des to make a sacrifice - because everything they know and love will be destroyed if he doesn’t.
In the control room, Jin demands to know what is going on. Widmore tells him that Desmond is the only known person to survive a catastrophic electromagnetic event. He also says that Des has to do it again or they will all die. He flips the switch on and Des (who is now free from the binds that held him) is surrounded by the waves.
We’re taken to the alternate timeline where Des is looking for his luggage from Flight 815. Hurley tells him where to find the carousel. Des helps Claire with her luggage and leaves. Minkowski – who is now Des’s driver in LA – takes him to the office. Des is now working for Widmore and they are very friendly and fond of each other it seems. Widmore asks Des to assist getting the bass player of Driveshaft out of prison, as his wife is having a charity event and his son wants to play with Driveshaft at the event.
So Des goes to free Charlie. Charlie is totally unconcerned and walks into a bar where he and Des proceed to have a conversation about love. Des admits to not ever being completely in love while Charlie recounts seeing a woman while he was choking on his bag of heroin. Des convinces him to go to the charity event.
On the way there, Charlie grabs a hold of the steering wheel and they crash into the ocean and the car starts sinking. Des gets free but can’t free Charlie. He swims around to Charlie’s window. Charlie opens his eyes and lifts up his hand. Suddenly, an image on Charlie holding up his hand with the words “not Penny’s boat” flashes through Des’s mind. He manages to save Charlie and they’re taken to the hospital.
He’s forced to take an MRI scan at the hospital, despite his desperation to find Charlie. During the MRI, various images either flash before Des or through his mind – Penny, Penny giving birth... Charlie their son. He hits the panic button and insists that he needs to find Charlie. When hospital staff are unwilling to provide details, he bumps into Jack who recognises him from the plane.
Charlie runs down the passage and Des chases him. Charlie says that he wasn’t trying to kill Des, but wanted to show him something. When Des demands to see Charlie’s hand, Charlie realises that Des must have seen something. Des asks him who Penny is. Charlie now refuses to perform because he says that none of that is important. He tells Des he needs to go look for Penny.
Widmore sends Des to Mrs Widmore to explain why Driveshaft won’t be performing. From everything being said, one would assume that Mrs Widmore is a very difficult woman, but she’s kind and charming to Des. She introduces herself as Eloise. Des explains and she’s happy enough with the explanation.
As Des leaves, he overhears staff read the name Penny from a list and asks to see the guest list. Eloise intervenes and takes him aside. She tells him that he should stop looking for whatever he’s looking for, and that he has the perfect life. She tells him he is not ready to see the list as yet.
Back at the car, Daniel approaches Des and tells him about a woman at the museum. He says that he feels like he’s already loved her. He also shows Des his notebook where he’s written something. He explains that mathematician friend said that what he’d been writing was advanced quantum physics. He further explains that he feels something catastrophic is going to happen and that the only way to stop it is to release a huge amount of energy – like a nuclear bomb.
When Des asks him if he wants to set off a bomb, Daniel replies that he thinks he may have already. Daniel also informs Des where his half-sister – Penny – can be found. Des goes to find her – at the same stadium he meets Jack initially. They chat and he introduces himself. She holds out her hand for a handshake.
Back in the original timeline, Des regains consciousness and is told that he’s only been out for a few seconds. Des seems unbelievably calm and he tells Widmore that he understands and that Widmore just needs to tell him what to do.
Later, he, Zoe and 2 others are walking in the jungle when they’re attacked by Sayid. Sayid informs Des that these people are dangerous and that they need to go. Des agrees.
Meanwhile, back in the alternate reality, Des seems to have fainted. When he awakens, he asks Penny for a date and she agrees. He’s grinning stupidly and gets back to the car. He asks George (the driver ie Minkowski) to get him a manifest of Flight 815. He says that he has something to show the passengers.
Wow. How awesome was that!?!
Well, the
key point for this episode is
• Desmond! Where do I even start with Desmond? Desmond was, at some stage, one of my choices for Jacob (before we knew who Jacob was obviously) and I’ve always thought that Des is a lot more than just a pretty face and a sexy accent. But exactly what makes him so important, I can’t tell you.
We’ve been under the assumption (some of us anyway) that when the bomb went off, an alternate reality was created in which the losties landed safely in LA. So, now we need to ask ourselves if that is true. Was that really an alternate reality? And if it’s not, then what exactly is it? And how is it that Des “sees” his other life??
What if Desmond somehow travels to this alternate reality when he’s exposed to the electromagnetic pulse? Maybe not physically, but his consciousness travels. How else do we explain that he can suddenly see flashes of his “other” life and seems to know exactly what to do at the end of the episode?
If you look back at the 3 Desmond centric episodes we’ve had up to this point in time (Flashes before your eyes, The Constant and now this one – Happily ever after) all show Desmond “flashing” between times. In Flashes before your eyes, when Des turns the failsafe key he apparently “flashes” back to his life and it’s also where he first meets Mrs Hawking/Widmore. She also attempts to guide him along a path that leads him to the island...
Who is this woman? And why is it that she seems to know what is going on? This is twice now that she’s appeared in one of Des’s flashes and has guided him to the island.
Furthermore, both his previous flashbacks featured Charlie and Daniel heavily... so, of all this I can deduce that Daniel, Charlie and Desmond’s destinies are not only intertwined, but dependant on each other.
I don’t really know where I am going with this one. All I know is that it’s important that we look back at Des’s episodes again. Des is THE key.
Anyway, I was incredibly happy to see Charlie again. I like that it was him that “helps” Des see his “other” life. I miss Charlie. I miss Daniel too.
I can’t believe we’re almost at the end of the journey. I love this show, but I want answers. And I hope they will blow me away.
New questions this week• Why Desmond? What’s with the electromagnetical stuff they’re doing to him? Is he time-travelling? Conscious travelling?? Just what is his story?
• Who is Eloise Hawking and why does she seem to know everything?
• How are the two “realities” linked?
I don’t think we have any new answered questions this week.
Interesting Trivia (from
this site)
• Charlie tells Desmond that Kate and Edward Mars were sitting two rows in front of him. However, Charlie was sitting two rows behind Jack, just as he was in the original timeline and it's not until after Charlie is arrested that he is moved to the same area of the plane as Kate and even then it was much further than two rows.
• There is a painting of balanced scales in Charles Widmore's office featuring something white on one scale and something black on the other.
• John Milton: Penny's last name is Milton in the flash-sideways timeline, which is likely a (recurring) reference to John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, a 15th Century poem which deals with themes of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It further touches on fate and predestination.
• Harold C. "Rabbit" Angstrom: The white rabbit's name is Angstrom. Harold C. "Rabbit" Angstrom is the main character in five of John Updike's novels (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit at Rest; Rabbit Remembered). The novels follow the human themes of life, death, and redemption.
Interesting Screencaps (from
this site)
Making a date with Penny
Mrs Widmore
Daniel's notebook
Getting an MRI