Sunday, April 11, 2010

LOST: more on "Happily Ever After"

6.11: "Happily Ever After"

High points and bits of theory from this week's episode of Desmond Fever...
WIDMORE: I brought you back to the Island. I can't imagine how you must be feeling. But if you'll give me a chance to explain—
I love that Desmond takes a couple of seconds to let those first few words sink in and then, automatically, instinctively, he begins whaling on Charles with his IV stand— *love* that!

And once Desmond's subdued by Widmore's AIM agents...
WIDMORE: I can't take you back. The Island isn't done with you yet...
In previous posts, I riffed on that second sentence, but neglected the first. Did anyone else feel something... final, perhaps, about the way Charles delivers that? Almost as if its meaning isn't necessarily connected or relevant to the following statement? To me, it sounds like Charles may know that the reality outside of the showglobe is, at that moment, in flux, or perhaps, Wrong, aka LOST2.

In Widmore's office, we see a painting on the wall featuring a scale. In one pan, a black something or other, in the other, a white, a still life we've seen before, in the cliffside cave.

I like that Charlie feels the need to enlighten Desmond on just what consciousness-altering love looks like, but in fact, only hours earlier, Desmond spoke to this vision of love that Charlie speaks of. Classic LOST-ness, of course.

A few seconds before Charlie gives Desmond the choice of seeing what he's talking about or getting out of the car, they pass the marina, and the camera lingers for a moment after their car passes. I think this is the marina, and the view of it, that Desmond and Penny choose for their backdrop in the photo they took way back when in London. The photo that Desmond keeps with him on the Island. The photo found on Naomi when she parachutes in.

And I really like the way Charlie phrases his ultimatum to Desmond...
CHARLIE: I feel sorry for you, mate. [Desmond chuckles.] You think you're happy. You think you've got it all--this, your life. But, you don't.
DESMOND: Why, because none of it's real?
CHARLIE: All right, Mr. Hume. How about I offer you a choice?
DESMOND: What's that?
CHARLIE: I can either show you what I'm talking about, or you can get out of the car.
DESMOND: Why in God's name would I want to get out of the car?
Gotta say, I've never been happy with Charlie's death. It was, y'know, heroic, and undeniably heart-punching, but it was also just so frickin needless. He could've gotten outside the comm room and he and Des could've sealed it from outside. Or, once the room flooded, I think he could've wriggled out the porthole and floated up thru Mikhail's guts to the surface.

BTW, I'm really hoping we'll see a really messed-up-lookin regenerated Mikhail show up in the 11th hour. Hrmmm... whose side would he be on, eh?

Anyhow, despite my problems with Charlie's death, I hafta say, the car crash (no airbag deployment?) into the water triggering Desmond's flashovers to Charlie's last moments... that was Good. I mean, really button-pushing, powerful, moving. So much of this episode is great payoff on so many things that have come before it.

Desmond rules. =)

I wonder how many more times Jack will get to ask, "Wait, he was on our plane, and now he's here in the hospital?" That is, how many more fellow passengers will end up at St. Sebatian's. Would be fun for that fact to clue Jack in to fate, purpose, and destiny regarding the Losties in LOST2.

When Desmond lets Charlie leave from the hospital (after he tells Des he should be looking for Penny), where exactly do we think Charlie goes?

Eloise's double-brooch — two stars, one larger than the other.

Penny Milton. Have we ever met a Milton in LOST-dom? I'm thinking not, as the name would've sparked all manner of riffing on John Milton's PARADISE LOST and PARADISE REGAINED, which, of course, it sparks now. =)

I like Daniel's Michael Jackson hat.

I like how Eloise takes Desmond aside to straighten him out, as she did when Desmond bought the engagement ring at her pawn shop in LOST1. She refers to his behavior, his way of looking at/for things, as a "violation." How does Eloise get to know these things in LOST2? Her ability? Daniel's LOST1 journal? Is she in on the Rules, aware of a/the "reason" behind the existence of LOST2?

What does she mean when she says that Desmond is not ready? Is Desmond fated to meet Penny in LOST2 as well, just not as soon as this? Why would Desmond meeting Penny Milton later be "better?"

Interesting that it seems like Eloise has been granted backstage access, but not Charles. He seems to be dealing with everything and everyone on a surface level, workaday, matter-of-factly, concerned with his wife's fundraiser, his son's kooky musician, and Desmond getting the job done.

I dig Desmond's enlightened demeanor upon his return from LOST2. Tina is sharp enough to question his change in attitude, but Desmond doesn't offer any details, letting her believe that the super-sized electromagnets fried his brain good. I also dig how he rolls with Sayid's "rescue," too. I wonder how Desmond will react to and interact with undead Locke (Desmond wouldn't know or care that Locke died, right?), Sawyer, and Kate, assuming Sayid gets him safely back to Camp Esau.

I wonder what Ilana, Richard, and Ben would make of Des's presence on the Island, eh?

I love that Charlie and George play Desmond's guides on his LOST2 journey, tag-teaming Virgils in Desmond's INFERNO. That's more Charlie than George, really, I suppose. In any case, cool to have Desmond's adventure feature all of the LOST2ers who were spacetimey in LOST1. Timesick George. FINAL DESTINATION Charlie. Watcher Eloise. Time-maker Daniel. Constant Penny.

I really don't think it's important, but it would be a nice bonus if Desmond's pedigree was revealed as connected to the Island somehow. What my brain would be happy to discover is that Desmond is Jack's half-brother. =)

But, like I said, not important, not necessary. Cuz I also like that Desmond is NOT connected, except as Penny's star-crossed love and a thorn in Widmore's side. Fits and reinforces his true x-factor status.

FLASHBACK.

Ben is surprised to hear that there's a sailboat on the Island. That tells me that Ben's Others have no idea that Desmond is on the Island. They just know that there are supposed to be a couple of Dharma operatives in the Swan pushing the button, preventing EM events that suck more people into the snowglobe. Widmore knows Desmond's there, tho. Perhaps because he engineered his abduction by the Island, and definitely thanks to Eloise and their son's journal.

POSSIBLE ENDGAME...

This is a stretch, even for me. I make some wild LOST-science suppositions, inconsistent ones, too, if I think about it, but I like the crux of it, cuz it hinges on the notion that Esau's being "stuck" in Locke's form is a weakness to be exploited.

What if Locke was somehow revived? Maybe thru Jacobean Island magic, but maybe thru the injection of Locke2's life force from LOST2, part of the save-the-world operation that Desmond jump starts with the other 815ers. The life force and memories of the other LOST2ers would also be assimilated by the LOST1ers.

So, Locke is revived in his doppelganger body. What happens to Esau, who's "stuck" in Locke's form, a form he's allowed to assume because Locke's actual, deceased, body, is somewhere on the Island? My best science tells me that the vessel of Locke's form could only accommodate one sentience, so I think that such a scenario would short circuit the Monster, ejecting his consciousness from the Locke shell, possibly killing him, but maybe possibly* bumping him across realities to LOST2, where Locke2 would be dead, so his form could safely host the Monster. But, with Locke2 and the other Losties2 transmigrating, and likely dead, what's happening to LOST2 at that moment? Why, it's collapsing, blinking out of existence in favor of the "return" of LOST1, perhaps rewound three years. So, the Monster is beamed over to LOST2, where he's free from the Island, but trapped in a reality that's about to die. Win!

* Note that the Smoke Monster body would be trapped or separated from Esau in Locke's form, either by a body of water (if that's an actual restriction on the Monster) or a sonic barrier. This would prevent Esau from becoming the Monster once he's forced out of his Locke doppelganger.

Keep on keepin on~

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