Twice Upon a Time

Talk about making one’s presence felt…

It took more than half the season for the writers to get Desmond back to the island, but once he got there, wow, they didn’t waste any time…

I’m guessing most of you loved this episode. I know I did…and I didn’t. Even though we got quite a few answers (or hints of answers soon to come), whenever the drama unfolds away from the island—and we leave our Losties in the lurch—it bothers me just a little bit. But much like “Dr. Linus,” the Sideways story was interesting enough to make up for it.

It was also nice, I must admit, to have a seamless episode—one not broken by flashbacks or sideways jumps. Sure, Desmond’s storyline was divided between the Sideways reality and the island, but in Desmond’s case, the two storylines are clearly connected—through his consciousness, anyway.

Even though part of me was reluctant to see the storyline veer away (albeit temporarily) from our Losties on the island, I think when the series is all said and done, “Happily Ever After” will be remembered as one of the greatest Lost episodes. And the greatest part about it, in my opinion, is that it can almost stand alone—much like another Desmond-centric episode, “The Constant” (which, I think, “Happily Ever After” imitates in many ways).

But before I get to all the good stuff, I want to briefly address what I didn’t like.

Zoe and the rest of Widmore’s team have constructed a electromagnetism microwave (I don’t know what it is, so that’s what I’m calling it), and to show us how powerful and dangerous it is, they show an innocent guy getting cooked. What was the point of this? To show us that this experiment is dangerous? To suggest that Desmond could (and probably should) be killed? To suggest, once again, that Widmore is heartless and concerned only with his own ambitions?

Whatever the reasoning, it was unnecessary. Because we know Desmond isn’t going to get zapped. He just isn’t. And it just felt forced to me.

Speaking of being forced, this episode had one of the worst lines in Lost history. I get that the writers were trying to emphasize the difference between Desmond’s relationship with Widmore in the Sideways reality. So when Desmond realized that Widmore was offering him a “60-year-old scotch” (MacCutcheon, of course), I get that they wanted to contrast the previous experience, when Widmore refused to share his expensive whiskey with him…but this line from Widmore, “Nothing is too good for you.” was about the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard. I mean, if he was hitting on Desmond, it would still be cheesy, but as an employer speaking to his employee, it was just terrible. Say “You deserve it” or “You’ve earned it,” or just shrug off Desmond’s comment and pour him a drink. But don’t, I repeat, don’t say “Nothing is too good for you.”

In fact, that line should probably never be used for anything ever. It’s like something straight out of a Kay Jewelers commercial. (But now I’m being redundant, since I’ve already called it one of the cheesiest things I’ve ever heard.)

Anyway, now that I got that rant out of my system, let’s get to all the good stuff.

You All Everybody!
This episode had so many allusions to previous episodes, and a plethora of connections to be made in the Sideways World. Forgetting the Widmore scene mentioned above (but I can’t forget it, because it bothered me that much), some of the writers’ juxtapositions worked well. For example, George Minkowski. I love that he was Desmond’s driver. And it’s fitting, too, since in the Island reality, he was on the freighter, working for Widmore. So why shouldn’t he be working for Widmore in Sideways reality.

In “The Constant,” if you’ve forgotten, Minkowski was experiencing consciousness-jumps like Desmond, but like Daniel’s rat, Eloise, Minkowski had a brain aneurysm and died. And Desmond would have died had it not been for his constant (Penny) and the man who helped him find her (Daniel). So who better to ferry him around Los Angeles than Minkowski?

And George was just one of Desmond’s many Sideways encounters. The others include:

Charlie Pace
Charles Widmore
Eloise Widmore/Hawking
Hurley
Claire
Jack
Daniel
Penny
Kate and the marshal (he heard Charlie talking about them, anyway)
Charlotte (heard Daniel talking about her, or at least I assume it was her)

Also in Sideways World, Widmore’s office had at least two noteworthy things on the wall. A painting of…a scale (interesting). And a ship.

There are too many connections to mention them all, but it was interesting that Desmond found Penny running the same stadium steps he (and Jack) ran in the original reality. And, if I’m not mistaken, Penny came in a limo and met him outside that stadium in the original reality, when Desmond told her that he was training for her father’s boat race around the world.

And the icing on the Sideways Reality cake was hearing Driveshaft’s “You All Everybody” playing on Desmond’s car radio. And speaking of the drug-addicted rocker turned trippy lovesick spiritual guru…

Charlie Pace Feels “It”
Desmond was sent by Widmore to fetch Charlie Pace, because Driveshaft is supposed to be playing at a benefit dinner hosted by Mrs. Widmore (and during which, Widmore’s son is supposed to play alongside the British rock group). Charlie is released from the jail where he had been kept, and instead of going with Desmond…he walks blindly through traffic—straight to a bar.

At first glance, it seems Charlie feels he has nothing for which to live…but once Desmond sits down to chat with the careless rocker boy, Charlie reveals that he has everything to live for….only, it just isn’t part of this life. Or not exactly, anyway. During his near-death experience on the plane, Charlie saw a blond woman whom he knows he is in love with…(Claire, anyone?)…and this experience has changed him.

Charlie insists that he felt “it,” but whatever “it” is, Desmond isn’t buying any of it.

So when they leave the bar, Charlie decides to give Desmond an experience of his own…grabbing the steering wheel and careening the car off the road and into the ocean (any chance it’s the same pier where Ben shot Desmond and Desmond recovered and knocked Ben into the water?).

The car goes under, Desmond frees himself, swims up to gain his breath, and then he goes back down to free Charlie (Charlie can hold his breath for 4 minutes, remember?)…and that’s when things get trippy. Charlie looks up, puts his hand on the window—and something flashes for Desmond, and suddenly he sees words on Charlie’s hand: Not Penny’s Boat.

Desmond is freaked out, but he still manages to save Charlie. (“I’ve tried, brother. I’ve tried twice to save you, but the universe has a way of course correcting and—and I can’t stop it forever. I’m sorry. I’m sorry because no matter what I try to do you’re going to die, Charlie.”)

Desmond and Charlie are taken to St. Sebastian’s (of course), and I love Desmond’s conversation with Jack. Naturally, I assumed that this was going to be important, that Jack was going to be sucked into this Sideways story, but no, the writers duped me…instead, Charlie goes running down the hall half-naked in his hospital gown and Desmond chases after him.

When Desmond catches him, he demands to see Charlie’s hand. Nothing. He asks about Penny, but Charlie has no idea who she is.

Charlie realizes that Desmond has “felt it”…

The following isn’t transcribed perfectly, but it gets the point across.

Charlie: You think I’m going to play a rock concert after this? None of this matters. What matters is that we felt it.
Desmond: What are you going to do?
Charlie: If I were you, I’d stop worrying me, and I’d start looking for Penny.

Presumably, Charlie goes looking for the blond woman he saw during his near-death experience, and Desmond, shaken by his visions, lets Charlie walk away. And then he has to answer to his boss.

Eloise and Desmond Meet—Again
Upon hearing that Desmond lost Charlie, Widmore sends Desmond to inform his better half (who, not surprisingly, is Eloise) that Driveshaft won’t be playing at the benefit with their son. Minkowski warns Desmond about Mrs. Widmore, suggesting that she is a terror.

Mrs. Widmore (“Please, call me Eloise”), however, greeted Desmond warmly.

Desmond: I’m terribly sorry, but it appears Driveshaft won’t be able to perform along with your son. I take full responsibility.
Eloise: Don’t worry about it. My son will understand. …
Desmond: You’re not angry?
Eloise: Oh, not at all. Whatever happened, happened. Thanks for coming to tell me in person.

Desmond prepares to leave, somewhat surprised (I’m sure) at how amiable Eloise has been…when he overhears two men reviewing the guest list. The name “Penny Milton” stops him in his tracks.

Desmond asks to see the guest list, and suddenly we see a different side of Mrs. Eloise Widmore. She hustles into the picture and informs him that it’s confidential. Desmond argues and Eloise sends everyone away.

Once they’re alone, Desmond begins to apologize.

Eloise: Stop talking, Hume. I’ve heard what you had to say, and now you listen to me. I want you to stop.
Desmond: Stop what?
Eloise: Someone has clearly affected the way you see things. This is a serious problem; it is, in fact, a violation. So whatever it is you think you’re doing, or whatever it is you think you’re looking for, you need to stop doing it.
Desmond: Do you know what I’m looking for?
Eloise: I don’t know what you’re looking for. You have the perfect life. You have everything you could want, including the thing you’ve always wanted most: the approval of my husband.
Desmond: How do you know what I want?
Eloise: Because I bloody do.
Desmond: I need to see that list, or you need to tell me why not.
Eloise: Because you’re not ready yet, Desmond.

A couple things about this:

1) Eloise Widmore clearly knows some things. She knows someone has affected Desmond’s thinking. It appears she knows something about the other reality, because she mentions that Desmond has what he’s always wanted most, the approval of Charles Widmore.

2) Eloise Widmore’s last line has an interesting word in it. “Because you’re not ready yet.” So, in other words, there will be a time when Desmond is ready? Ready for what?

The Notebook
Desmond is prepared to leave Mrs. Widmore when Daniel Fara–, er, Widmore, intervenes—knocking on the window and telling Desmond, “We need to talk.”

Just me, or does Daniel look Amish here?

If Eloise had any idea what her son was up to right then, she probably would have shot him again. But since she apparently didn’t know, this conversation happened:

Desmond: If this is about Charlie Pace not being able to perform with you, then I’m sorry.
Daniel: Do you believe in love at first sight?
Desmond: Excuse me…
Daniel starts telling him about the redheaded woman he saw…
Daniel: Right when I saw her, it was like I already loved her…and that’s when things got weird. The same night after I saw that woman, I woke up and I wrote this…”
Daniel shows Desmond his notebook, in which he has drawn a diagram that says something about “light speed” and other stuff…
Desmond: What is it?
Daniel: I’m a musician…so I have no idea.

But Daniel has a friend who is a math nerd (for lack of his official title), and he identified these diagrams as quantum physics equations that very few people in the world would understand, saying that someone would have needed to study physics their entire life to come up with those equations…

While Desmond is still trying to process this, Daniel drops the “nuclear bomb” on him (in a way):

Desmond: You want to set off a nuclear bomb?
Daniel: Just listen. What if this, all this, wasn’t supposed to be our life. What if we had some other life, and for some reason, we changed things. I don’t want to set off a nuclear bomb…but I think I already did.
Desmond: Listen, mate. I don’t know what any of this has to do with me.
Daniel: Why did you ask my mother about a woman named Penny? It happened to you, too, didn’t it? You felt it…
Desmond: I don’t know…I don’t know what I felt.
Daniel: Yes, you do. You felt love.
Desmond: That’s impossible, because I don’t know anything about this woman. I don’t even know if she exists. She is…she is an idea.
Daniel: No, Mr. Hume. She’s my half-sister. And I can tell you exactly where and when you’re going to find her…

See, this is why Daniel is lucky Eloise doesn’t know about this conversation. Because she doesn’t tolerate people affecting the way Desmond Hume thinks…

And this is also further evidence that, when you combine Desmond and Daniel, you get pure magic. Seriously, find a scene with these two together that wasn’t sweet. I dare you.

When Desmond Met Penny
As I mentioned above, Desmond found Penny running the steps of the stadium. This scene was cute. I mean, how else do you describe a guy fainting after he shakes a woman’s hand? And after coming to, he asks her if she wants to get “a coffee”…how adorable is that?

But seriously, Penny, didn’t you wonder who this guy was and how he knew your name? You’re alone in a stadium at night, and a strange man comes up to you and says, “Penny?” and you just smile? Asking “Have we met?” is a start, but if the answer is “no,” then maybe a follow-up question is in order…just saying. Sure, we know Desmond isn’t a creepster, but how do you know that?

But oh yeah, about that fainting thing…when he fainted, he woke up on the island in Widmore’s electromagnetic microwave. Or so we’re led to believe, since that’s what we saw next…

There are two on-island developments that I want to review, but first, I think we need to ask ourselves what’s happening here.

In “The Constant,” Desmond would pass out (or faint) whenever his consciousness jumped to the other time/place. He could only be conscious in one place at a time. In “Happily Ever After,” the writers gave us this same impression since Widmore’s test knocked him unconscious in the aforementioned electromagnetism microwave, and since he fainted at Penny’s feet when he came to on the island. But the episode ended with Desmond waking up in Sideways World, arranging a date with Penny, and then getting in his limo…so does that mean he fainted or passed out again on the island? That would be the logical explanation, I suppose. But I wonder if he hasn’t found a way to transfer his consciousness without the loss of consciousness in the world he currently inhabits… after all, he had a plan when he got in that limo (the Flight 815 manifest).

“If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant”
Daniel wrote these words in his notebook in the original reality. And now I wonder, is Desmond going to be everyone’s constant? Is that why he asked George Minkowski to get him the Flight 815 manifest? Why does he tell Minkowski that he wants to show the passengers something? And how does he know Flight 815 is the key? Is he retaining (or regaining) knowledge from the island reality in his Sideways brain? Will he know which passengers are important?

So many questions…

And now on to the final two noteworthy developments on the island

Desmond’s Change of Heart (Real or Fake?)
Before Widmore had his henchmen zap Desmond in the microwave, he told Jin, “That man is the only person I’m aware of in the world who has survived a catastrophic electromagnetic event. I need to know if he can do it again, or we all die.”

So Widmore claims to have a good reason for this test, but Desmond is not a willing participant. He breaks his chair, yells, slams into the wall…and then he gets fried until he’s unconscious…but when he wakes up, Desmond is different.

Widmore: I’m really sorry we had to do this to you, Desmond. But as I told you, your talent is vital to our mission. So if you just let me explain.
Desmond: It’s alright, I understand.
Charles: What?
Desmond: I understand. You told me you brought me here to do something very important. When do we start?

Did his Sideways experience change something in Desmond? Or did he just decide to play along, to pretend to be cooperative so as to earn himself some more leeway? I don’t know why his Sideways experience would change him so completely. Sure, he met Penny…but in this life, he and Penny are together (although not currently), and they have a son together…so it’s not like the other life is preferable to him, right?

Or did he just buy Widmore’s claim that all of this was necessary to save all their lives?

Before this test, Widmore also said this:

WIdmore: I know how this looks, Desmond. But if everything I’ve been told is correct, you’ll be fine… I hate to resort to forcing this upon you, Desmond. But once it’s over, I’m going to ask you to make a sacrifice, and I hope for all our sakes, you’ll help me.

I wish Desmond would have at least asked Widmore to elaborate on all of this…

But I’m not the only one questioning Desmond’s change of heart. Zoe has a few questions of her own:

Zoe: What happened to you? 20 minutes you were beating Mr. Widmore with an IV stand, and now you’re Mr. Cooperative.
Desmond: A lot can change in 20 minutes.

Sure, a lot can change in 20 minutes, but did it? Maybe we would have found out more, if not for an untimely interruption from….

Sayid?
The Lost writers enjoy ending episodes with a sudden twist that sort of spoils the mood. A couple weeks ago it was Widmore’s sub spotting the reunion at the beach camp, and last week it was Sayid swimming up to the dock to see Desmond escorted off the sub. This week, it’s Sayid again. Only this time, he attacked a couple of Widmore’s henchmen and took control of their charge, Desmond.

But apparently Sayid isn’t completely evil. After all, he let Zoe run away instead of hurting her. Then there’s this:

Sayid: Desmond, I don’t have time to explain, but these people are extremely dangerous. We need to go now.
Desmond: Aye, of course. Lead the way…

He sounded sincere, like he genuinely cares about Desmond, but I suppose he could have just been trying to deceive him—saying what Locke Monster told him.

I don’t trust Widmore, but I trust Locke Monster even less. So if Sayid takes Desmond back to Locke Monster’s camp…I think that’s bad news.

Happily Ever After, huh?
The title of the episode alludes to the way fairy tales conclude. And fairy tales, as we all know, almost always involve a love story. So it’s no surprise that the characters who “felt it” were feeling the love that was so real to them in the other reality.

But is that the key? Love?

Of the characters left on the island, Sawyer loved Juliet. Jack loved Kate. Jin and Sun still love one another. Sayid loved Nadia. Claire loved…Aaron? (Did she love Charlie? I don’t think so.) Kate loved…well, who knows? Hurley loved…Mr. Cluck’s Chicken? I guess you could say he loved Libby, but that seems a little unlikely considering they had like half of a date.

I don’t know if any of this is significant, but for Daniel, it was the redheaded woman (Charlotte?) and for Charlie, it was the blond woman (Claire?), and for Desmond, it was “Penny.” But is there any other way to “feel it”—to connect with this other reality? For example, in Sideways World, Locke is married to the woman he loved. So he wouldn’t need to “feel it” to remember her, and he would have no reason to search for anything.

I don’t know if that makes sense or not. But I guess I’m just wondering if it’s possible for someone to feel “it” if they never fell in love in the other reality. Someone like Miles, or Frank Lapidus, or Ben Linus.

Snippets:

When did they build that electromagnetic chamber, or whatever it’s called?

In the airport, was Desmond trying to hit on Claire? Something about that felt odd.

Also, when Hurley told Desmond which luggage carousel had their luggage…was it just me, or did Desmond appear to be looking for something else?

In the original casting call for George Minkowski’s character, he was described as “Mid 40s, any ethnicity, narcoleptic, can fall asleep at the drop of a hat…” I’m not in my mid 40s, but other than that, I would have been perfect!

You know, I don’t watch Flash Forward, but I do think it’s interesting that both Charlie and Penny are currently appearing in two different shows that involve flashing forward (or sideways) in time. And Minkowski was in Early Edition back in the day, which dealt with the future in its own way (but that’s two Early Edition references I’ve made in the last few weeks, and surely that’s a violation of some kind…so I’ll move on now).

When I saw Charlie Pace running through the hospital in that gown, for some reason, he seemed like a hobbit again…(maybe I just caught a flash of another reality or something; I don’t know)

Questions:

1 ) When Desmond hears Penny’s name read on the guest list, why is her last name Milton? And if she’s Daniel’s half-sister, then which parent do they share? We assume Widmore, but that’s not her last name…so who is her other parent?

2 ) Eloise seems to know what’s going on in Desmond’s life, but does Charles know? Are Sideways Charles and Island Charles working toward the same objective? Are they aware of the other? Widmore is the one who tested Desmond, but does he have any idea what Desmond is experiencing in Sideways World?

3 ) Why did Desmond tell Claire that he bets the baby is a boy? Was that based on a memory of his, or were the writers just playing games with us?

4 ) Widmore says if everything he’s been “told” is correct, Desmond will be fine? Told by whom? Daniel’s notebook, maybe?

5 ) And what is this “sacrifice” Widmore is going to ask Desmond to make?

6 ) What is Desmond going to do with that Flight manifest?

7 ) What do you think of Eloise’s use of the word “violation”? Doesn’t that suggest there’s some sort of agreement or guidelines? A “violation” of what?

8 ) When Desmond survived his first electromagnetic overdose, he woke up in the jungle—naked. I know that was a long time ago, but I’m still wondering: why? He didn’t wake up naked after getting zapped in Widmore’s microwave, so why did he end up naked the first time?