“Don’t you want somebody to love? Oh, don’t you need somebody to love?”
– Jefferson Airplane
The end is near. You can always tell with Lost. It happens when you reach a point in the season where the drama starts kicking into high gear, every episode kicks your ass, and the scope of the entire season starts to come into focus. Except this year it’s not just the scope of the season but of the whole series. I expect nothing but awesomeness from here on out.
“Awesome” is probably the best way to describe “Everybody Loves Hugo”, not just because of the stomach-turning confrontations, heartwarming interactions, face-cringing expressions, the jaw-dropping cliffhanger, or the soul-satisfying answers to mysteries long-pondered. It’s also the word the title character would use. As usual, there’s a lot to get to. Let’s get started.
On the Island, we join Hurley as he’s kneeling next to Libby’s grave, similar to the start of another episode that I can’t remember off the top of my head. No matter. Hurley tells Libby that things are really getting crazy and that he wishes she were there to help him through it. He wonders why she hasn’t come to see him like so many other dead people have. No sooner had he said it and out pops Ghost Michael. He comes with a warning – unless you want to get everyone killed, you won’t let Ilana carry out her plan to blow up the plane.
Hurley returns to the beach camp and finds Ilana and Richard gearing up for their mission to Hydra Island. Ilana shows Hurley her sack full of extra-frothy dynamite sticks. Remember the dynamite they used to booby-trap the camp for the Others? Clean as a whistle. The stuff that exploded poor Dr. Arzt? Just oozing with nitroglycerin. Well, that nicely foreshadowed what happened next. After a little speech about how she’s been training her whole life to protect them, Hurley, Jack and the rest watch as Ilana casually drops her bag of dynamite and blows to smithereens. Nice knowing ya, hon.
Undeterred, Richard rallies the group to press on with Operation: Blow Up Ajira 316. Hurley reluctantly agrees to go along, convinces Jack, and the group heads out to the Black Rock. On the way, Ben, always the chatty-Cathy, says to Jack, “Kinda makes you think doesn’t it?” Maybe a little off-guard, Jack responds, “What’s that?” “Ilana. There she was - handpicked by Jacob, trained to come and protect you candidates, no sooner does she tell you who you are, then she blows up. The Island was done with her. Makes me wonder what's gonna happen when it's done with us,” Ben answers.
Two things here. One, stuff like this always cracks me up. Here’s Ben, who had Jack locked up, who launched assault after assault against Jack and his people, who has messed with Jack’s head every chance he could get, and he has no problem trying to have a nice little chat as if none of that ever happened. No hard feelings, right Ben? Second thing, I wonder why they chose to have Ben ask that question. He was clearly jealous of Jack and the rest the way he said “you candidates”. Also, hasn’t Ben felt like the Island cast him aside long ago? Or is this further evidence that darkens the line between Jacob and the Island a little bit more? Sure, Ben has given up on Jacob’s purpose for him, but maybe the Island still has use for him. Something to ponder.
The group arrives at the Black Rock only to see it explode right in front of them in a spectacular ball of fire. Somehow Hurley snuck ahead and triggered the dynamite, eviscerating a major Island landmark and sending Richard with one flick of a match. The rest of the group takes it a little better, but Miles presses Hurley on why he would do such a thing. He confesses that Michael told him to, and he’s just one of the dead people who comes back and yells at him. Miles, knowing a little something about dead people, asks “And you just listen to whatever they say?” “Dead people are more reliable than alive people,” he responds.
Does Hurley really believe that? He’s always been a super-trusting person, almost to a fault. But I actually don’t think that’s the important question. We should be asking why Hurley made this decision at all. Hurley has always been the guy who “you can just hop in [his] cab and tell him what he’s supposed to do”. He knows this. He hates being the one making the decisions, being the one with all the responsibility. Remember how he poorly he handled the duty of rationing out the hatch food? The stakes are a million times higher now. That’s why he’s scared. But he accepts the responsibility because he trusts his gut that it’s the right thing to do. Hurley’s learning to have faith in himself.
Richard ain’t too happy about all this all this. His patience has run out. He’s going to the barracks to get whatever grenades and explosives he can find. Hurley has a different idea: he wants to go talk to Locke. He says Jacob’s standing right behind Richard and that’s what he told him to do. Richard calls his bluff, announces that he’s leaving right now and anyone who wants to help him destroy the plane should go with him. Ben and Miles decide to join. They take off into the jungle, leaving Frank, Sun Jack and Hurley behind. All original (or supposed to be original) 815ers. Interesting.
As the gang treks across the Island to meet up with Locke (why do they have to call it that?), Sun and Frank express their doubts about the decision they just made. But Jack does not. When Hurley confesses to him that he didn’t really see Jacob back there, that it was his decision to go meet up with the Monster, Jack admits that he knew that all along. Then he tells Hurley this – “Ever since Juliet died - ever since I got her killed - all I've wanted was to fix it. But I can't. I can't ever fix it. You've no idea how hard it is for me to sit back and listen to other people tell me what I should do...but I think maybe that's the point...maybe I'm supposed to let go.”
I’ve gotta admit, the room got a little dusty for me during this scene. The Island’s been waiting to hear Jack say those words for years now. As he did earlier this season, he admits that it was his fault that Juliet died and he knows that there’s nothing he can do about it, but unlike before, those aren’t just words. Deep down, Jack has accepted that there’s nothing he can do about Juliet’s death, and probably the same about losing Kate, pushing his father away, and not listening to Locke too. I would venture a guess that before the season’s out, we will see Jack confront each of these people directly. More on that last one in a bit.
Seconds later, the group finds themselves in the middle of a storm of Whispers. “Wait. It's cool, I think I know what these things are,” Hurley tells them. He walks a little deeper into the jungle to once again find himself once again face-to-face with Michael. Hurley tells him that he knows that’s he’s stuck on the Island, and it’s because of what he did to Libby and Ana Lucia. The Whispers are those lost souls like Michael who are reaching out to the living from the other side. (Guess I was wrong when I called that one “answered” in the mid-season wish list. Whoops.) When Hurley asks if there’s anything he can do to help him, Michael responds, “Don’t get yourself killed”. You know who else wants to see Hurley alive? The MIB. If Hurley gets himself killed, then the MIB can’t use him to get off the Island, and from Michael’s little comment their, I’d say the MIB’s planning on taking all those whispering dead people with him.
Across the Island, we pick up where we left off last week with Desmond, Sayid and the rest of team MIB. Sayid alerts the Incarnation of Evil that he has Desmond tied to a tree a short distance from camp. The MIB heads over to ask Des a few questions, but Des is having none of it. He’s as calmly defiant as he was when Sayid had a gun pointed at his face last week. The MIB, unsettled by Desmond’s demeanor, dismisses Sayid so he can get some one-on-one time with Des. The two go for a walk.
The rest of the scenes between the MIB and Des had a ring of Ben leading Locke through the jungle in “The Man Behind the Curtain”. We have one character (the main bad guy on the show) leading another (the good guy) through the jungle to an unknown destination with the good guy about to meet an unfortunate end. On the way, they encounter something the audience believes to be Jacob (invisible guy/blonde-haired boy) and by then end, the bad guy’s telling a story about Island history that ends with the good guy facing certain death. But like when Locke was left in the Dharma grave with a bullet in his gut, I don’t think Desmond’s dead. You don’t just throw a beloved character down a well, cut away quickly to another scene and have that be our last image of the guy. Oh no, there’s more story for Des yet.
The MIB makes it back to camp just in time for Hurley to emerge from the jungle. Sheepishly, he asks for the Monster’s word that he won’t hurt any of his friends. The MIB obliges and hands over his knife to Hurley. Yeah, like a knife is the biggest of their concerns when dealing with something that can turn into a huge pillar of smoke at any moment. Hurley calls to his friends that the coast is clear, leading to one of my favorite moments of the episode: Jack walks out of the jungle. He locks eyes with the MIB – John Locke – and gives an absolutely classic look, the perfect mix of anger, fear, and “shit, I’m about to throw up”.
Let’s get to the Sideways world real quick. Loved the Pierre Chang intro. That had me cracking up, especially the part about Hurley’s “lifelong love affair with chicken”. I hope I never have my relationship with food described in such a way. I also thought Carmen Reyes’ little speech to her son was funny, but also critical to the larger theme of the episode. She tells Hurley that he needs a woman in his life and the only reason he doesn’t have one already is because he’s too scared. Fear.
Fear. Often times it’s the strongest motivator in the lives of our characters. Desmond was afraid he could never live up to what he felt Penny deserved. In “Everybody Hates Hugo”, Hurley feared change and that money would isolate him from the people he cared about. We see it again here. Hurley has insecurities about being fat and it prevents him from even trying to talk to women for fear of rejection.
Because he won’t do it himself, Carmen sets up a little date for Hurley. He’s supposed to meet Rosalita at Spanish Johnny’s, a situation that doubles up on references to the Springsteen album, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle but I’ll leave the dissection of all that to Doc Jensen. I’ll just say I was upset I didn’t pick up on all that myself. But instead of Rosalita, Hurley meets an uber-cute blonde girl named Libby. She says something about believing in soul mates and that she remembers him, but before Hurley can say much, she’s whisked away by Dr. Brooks (who looks like he’s aged about ten years since Season 1, but at least he lost all that Season 4 weight).
Confused and sad, Hurley does what he always does to cheer himself up: he dives headfirst into a family-sized bucket of chicken. He’s lost in that bucket when who comes up to him but the man with order number 42 – Desmond David Hume. Hurley tells him about the crazy girl who told him she remembered him and how she said he should remember her. Well, isn’t that convenient for Des? He tells Hurley that he should try to figure out what she knows him from before giving up on her. That’s just the push Hurley needs. Off to Santa Rosa!
After bribing Dr. Brooks, Hurley gets a little time with Libby at the table next to the Connect Four board. I was hoping for some Leonard action there, but alas, he must have found his sanity in the Sideways world. (Quick tangent: if the Island doesn’t exist in the Sideways world, how did the Numbers drive Leonard crazy? And if they didn’t drive him crazy, how did Hurley play them in the lottery and get rich? I’m not holding my breath on an answer to this one). Hurley confesses to Libby that he doesn’t remember her, but he’s impressed that she had the guts to even come up to him like that. He gets scared just saying hi to a girl. He takes those pity points straight to the bank and asks Libby out. She says yes.
Everyone’s favorite mismatched coupled finally get to have their picnic date! Awwww. And this time he didn’t forget the blankets. Some pleasant conversation, a little cheese, and the two kiss, just like they did at cliff’s edge on the other side. With that, Hurley’s Island memories come rushing back to him. Des watches from his car, smirks, and drives away. Job well done. Onto the next 815er.
With this scene, we see the convergence of fear and love, the two big themes of the episode. Hurley was terrified to go out and meet girls and it was keeping him from being truly happy. Once he overcame that fear, he re-experienced the love that he felt for Libby on the Island and with it came enlightenment. Much like Des and Charlie and Faraday, Hurley’s experience with his loved one, his “constant” if you will, helps him understand himself and his world in a more complete way. That togetherness will allow him to change it and save himself. “Live together, die alone” right? Desmond (Island and Sideways versions) felt this same thing. He was together with Penny, at least in spirit, in both worlds. Armed with the power of love (Huey Lewis and the News, thank you Doc Jensen), he had the confidence and peace of mind to stare down the most terrifying thing of all – John Locke. And he was not afraid. We will see how Jack reacts when confronted with the same man soon enough.
We know how Sideways Des reacts too – he plows into the poor wheelchair-bound bastard at full-speed and leaves him looking as if Anthony Cooper just threw him out of an eighth-floor window. Ben thought he was creeping on the kids, but instead Des was out for blood. Why would he want to take out John Locke in such a crude and painful way? Payback for throwing him down the well on the Island? Was it not really Locke in the first place, but rather the MIB? Or is he carrying on with his mission of “showing something” to all the 815ers, and smearing him all over his windshield was just a means to that end? I like option two the most in terms of shock value, but I’d say option three is the most likely. Either way, it was probably the best cliffhanger since “I’m going to kill Jacob”. I just loved it.
Here’s to an awesome stretch run of episodes. Until next week…
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Happily Ever After
“Please don't give up, Des. Because all we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us. And you have her.” – Penny, “Live Together, Die Alone”
After a few weeks of shoddy recaps, I am determined to make this one good. And long. Bullet points are a thing of the past from here on out. Nothing but hard-hitting analysis and cockamamie theories the rest of the way. To kick off the stretch run of recaps for the final season, here comes more than 3000 words on “Happily Ever After”, a truly great episode and a real game-changer to boot. For the first time I can see the endgame coming into focus and can sense the finish line just out of view. Oh, did I mention Des? And Des? And, oh yeah, Des? Buckle your seatbelts. Here we go.
Desmond David Hume has come a long way since Locke, Jack and Kate stumbled upon him in the hatch three Island years ago. His story was defined by the separation between him and his true love, the beautiful Penelope Widmore. Desmond’s cowardice drove him away from Penny. Charles Widmore kept them apart. The story that followed showed how Desmond focused his insecurities about his botched relationship with Penny toward winning Charles’s approval and how he came to realize being with Penny was the only thing that could make him truly happy.
In “Flashes Before Your Eyes” we learn that Desmond once planned on proposing to Penny only to have Charles Widmore reject his request while rubbing a little salt in the wound in the process. He refused to share his expensive MacCutcheon Scotch, instead saying “To share it with you would be a waste, and a disgrace to the great man who made it – because you, Hume, will never be a great man.” Des may or may not have taken Charles’ criticisms to heart, but either way he used them as an excuse to dump Penny and run away.
Des spent the next five years trying to get his honor back. He’d lost the woman he’d loved and he needed to make up for what he’d done. But because he couldn’t have her back, he set out to prove each of her father’s criticisms wrong. He joined the military, where he was slapped with a dishonorable discharge. Next he set out to win Charles’ favorite race, a solo sailing race around the world, but all that did was take him to the Island. There he spent three long, lonely years thinking about how badly he’d messed up, how much he loved Penny, and how she was the only thing that could make him happy. He would do anything to see her again, and if he couldn’t, he would do anything to keep her safe. She inspired him to perform a truly heroic act: he turned the failsafe key and saved the world. Eventually, after many more trials and tribulations, he and Penny found their way back to each other, settled down and started a family. Desmond found the happiness he’d always wanted.
In the Sideways world, we watch Desmond grappling with what it means to be happy once again. In that world, he has already lived up to Charles Widmore’s loftily expectations. McCutchons is no longer too good for him, but rather the type of luxury the he deserves. Slowly, we start to get the sense that even with the job, the world-travels, and all the money, Desmond still feels something’s missing in his life. With a little help from some dead friends and his Island self, Des figures out what that something is.
Let’s get to the story. Last week, Charles Widmore suggested that Desmond was the key to preventing the MIB from accomplishing his goal of leaving the Island. This week starts off with Des waking up in a bed on Hydra Island. He demands to see Penny. Charles tells him that she’s not here, that he’s actually back on the Island. He tells Desmond that the Island isn’t done with him yet, then instructs Zoe and the rest of his dopey crew to get ready to run “the test”. The sight of white bunnies cued me in right away to what was happening – they were going to try to send Des to the Sideways world. Gaah!
Even after the first dope gets fried in the generator room, they throw Des right in and strap him to a chair. Charles tells Desmond that after all this is over, he’s going to have to make a sacrifice. Incensed, Des asks Charles, “Sacrifice? What the bloody hell do you know about sacrifice?” Charles responds with this –
“My son died here for the sake of this island. Your wife - my own daughter - hates me. And I've never even met my grandson. But if you won't help me, Desmond, all of it will be for nothing. Penny, your son, and everyone else, will be gone forever.”
Now, I’m not sure how much of this Charles can chalk up to a voluntary sacrifice. Yes, he sent Daniel to the Island on the freighter, so the first part of his claim certainly has merit. But the part about Penny hating him? Was that really a choice Charles made for the sake of the Island, or is that just a product his general jackass-ery? I’m not sure I know the answer to that question. I will give him this - I did always get the sense that Charles and Eloise were manipulating more of Desmond and Penny’s lives then we were really let onto. Charles might have thought Des was a perfectly suitable husband for Penny but he knew that he had to push just the right buttons to get him to go to the Island and “do the only truly great thing he will ever do”. So Charles had to keep them apart for the sake of everyone, knowing that if Desmond and Penny ever found their way back to each other, he would lose his daughter forever.
So have I had Charles Widmore all wrong? Is he one of the good guys? Before this season, I firmly believed that Charles had been working with the MIB all along, allying with him against Jacob in order to resume his position of power on the Island. Exhibit A: “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” when he told Locke that if the Box Man didn’t get back to the Island “the wrong side is going to win”. Today that all sounds like a bunch of poppycock. Locke getting back to the Island allowed the MIB to assume his identity and kill Jacob. Now Charles is fully committed to taking down the MIB and preventing the end of the world. Something’s missing. Either Charles is just a two-timer, or his usually keen prognosticating abilities failed him big-time. I’m going to side with the latter for right now, but I’m very open to arguments for the former. After all, I’ve always thought Charles was just a selfish ass, so if he’s just playing opportunist now to take back the Island, I really wouldn’t be surprised.
Back to the story. The Dope Brigade turns on the generator, sending Desmond to the Sideways world. Much like with his previous travels through space-time, Sideways Desmond recalls nothing of his other life. He “wakes up” at LAX, exchanges pleasantries with Hurley and Claire, and then gets into his limo. The driver of that limo? None other than 2010 Oscar-winner George Minkowski! Des declines an offer of female “companionship” for the evening, but not before Minkowski points out Desmond isn’t wearing a wedding band. Which was strange, because as the fanatics on the boards can tell you after hours of dissecting “LA X” footage, Des certainly was wearing a ring when we saw him on Flight 815. Seems strange that they would draw attention to this if something bigger isn't going on there. However, I don’t have the slightest idea what that could be. Let’s just make a note of it and move on.
Desmond arrives at his boss’s office and we find out his boss is none other than Charles Widmore. Not a huge surprise there. Charles tells Des that his son the musician has put together a concert combining jazz and rock music for one of his wife’s charity events. It’s Desmond’s job to escort one of the rock stars from jail to the concert. Charles acknowledges that such babysitting is probably beneath the esteemed position that Desmond holds, but he needs a man he can trust to get the job done right. They toast over some MacCutcheon, with Charles telling Desmond that even 60-year Scotch isn’t too good for him.
Cool parallels and stark contrasts abound in that scene! Let’s start with the Scotch. Go back to “Flashes Before Your Eyes”, when Desmond visits Widmore’s office to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. After Des asked the big question, Widmore sauntered over to his liquor bar, grabs two glasses and the bottle of MacCutcheon, asks Des if he knows anything about whiskey. “No, I’m afraid not, sir”, he replies. Widmore proceeds to tell the story of Andrew MacCutcheon, an esteemed Admiral in the Royal Navy, a great man in every respect. His Scotch was his crowing achievement. To share it with Desmond would be a waste because Desmond, you see, will never be a great man. Stefan’s favorite line in the series “It’s worth more than your life, Hume” fits nicely right here (even though Widmore never actually says that).
Flash back to the “today”. Charles shares his whiskey with Des. He’s entrusted with important work for Charles’ wife and his son. The Jack question would be, “How are these things so different?” But I answer that as Locke: it’s not how, but why? I’m sticking with the theory that Island Charles knew what he was doing when he rejected Desmond’s request for Penny’s hand in marriage in order to get him to the Island. Couldn’t Sideways Charles be acting in a similar fashion? Maybe Charles knows that he needs to keep Des close so one day he would meet is son Daniel, and so Daniel will tell him about his adventures with nuclear bombs, and so Sideways Desmond will know how to save everyone in the Island world. I think I’m on to something here. More on that later.
Des heads over to the jailhouse to pick up the rock star. Nope, it’s not the lead singer of Geronimo Jackson. Ever heard of a band called Driveshaft? It’s Charlie Pace, and once again Des is tasked with taking care of him as he walks straight toward death’s door. This time Des has to save Charlie not from a universe bent on snuffing him out anyway possible, but from Charlie himself. The first thing he did after getting out of jail was wander straight into traffic. Des reels him back in and the two head to a local pub like two good British dudes would.
Charlie starts grilling Des on his job, his life and his happiness. Des tells Charlie, “I've got a great job, lots of money, get to travel the world. Why wouldn't I be happy?” But he said it in a way that sounded rehearsed, like he’d said the same thing to dozens of other people who’d asked him the same question. And really, nobody wants to hear about the misery of a good-looking rich dude, so that’s how Des probably thinks he’s supposed to answer. Charlie pressed him further. “Have you ever been in love?” “Thousands of times,” Des jokes. “That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about spectacular, consciousness-altering love. Do you know what that looks like?” After a few more jokes, it’s clear Sideways Desmond does not know what that looks like. So Charlie tells him.
Charlie tells him about how he died onboard Flight 815. Choked to death. But when he slipped into the darkness, he saw a woman. She was blonde and beautiful. They were together and always would be. Just when he’s about to…something…some idiot pulled him back from it. He’s alive again, but what he saw in that dark place stayed with him. It was real. It was the truth. And he desperately wants to get it back.
Des more or less brushes him off. He just wants to do his job and get Charlie to the benefit. They get in the car. The radio’s on. “You All, Everybody” blares. Charlie tells Des that it was his band’s first single, describes it as the start of everything great. He badgers him some more about his happiness. And then he jerks the wheel, taking the car and Des with him into the marina. Des manages to wiggle himself free, comes up for air, then dives back down to save Charlie. As he approaches the car, Charlie puts his hand against the window just like he did in the Looking Glass hatch. Des flashes to the Island – “Not Penny’s Boat” – then back to the Sideways world. It’s happening. He’s feeling it too.
The next we see Des he’s in a doctor’s office, ready for an MRI. The doctor tells him that if he needs to stop, just push the button. This stirs something in Des. “The panic button,” the doctor replies. The MRI machine fires up and Des flashes to Island – Charlie drowning, Penny, his son. Freaked out, Des pushes the button, yells how he has to find Charlie, and runs out of the room.
He finds Charlie running through the halls in his robe (which looked every bit as ridiculous as it sounds on paper), crying out “None of this matters!” like a crazy man. But this crazy man is right! And part of Desmond knows it. “Who’s Penny?” he asks Charlie, but Charlie doesn’t know. He does know that Des felt something, the same thing he felt. That something will be key as we head toward the finale. More on that after I talk about the geek in the skinny tie.
Desmond heads to the benefit to break the news to Mrs. Widmore (or Ms. Hawking or whatever) that Driveshaft will not be attending the event. She’s fine with it. Pleasure meeting you, she says, and ushers him away. As Desmond turns to go, he hears the man with the guest list say, “Milton, Penny”. This sure gets his attention. Before he can press the man any further, Eloise pulls Desmond aside and tells him that he has to let that go. She instructs him that he has the one thing he has always wanted – the approval of Charles Widmore. He’s not ready for where this road leads him.
Confused and angry, Desmond leaves. Just as he’s about to hop into the limo, Daniel Faraday (now Widmore) calls out to him, says the two need to have a talk. Daniel tells him a story about this woman he saw with the most incredible blue eyes, beautiful red hair. When he saw her, he said, he felt like he already loved her. That night he woke up in the middle of the night and wrote down some super-complicated physics formula. He had no idea what it meant. But Daniel’s a bright guy. He put all this together and figured out that – somewhere – he’d done something wrong, that he’d created something that wasn’t supposed to exist. That red-haired woman made him feel something that gave him hope. Now Desmond was feeling it too. He’d tell Desmond where Penny was. And he better go find her.
Wow. That’s a lot to process. What I take from it is this – this Sideways world is bad. The Island world is good. It’s something real. It’s the truth. And now the Sideways characters are starting to experience that truth. Jack looking at his appendix scar, Claire knowing Aaron’s name, Kate and that stuffed whale – those were just the beginning. Those things are all there to jog their memories of their Island lives. It felt like a fantasy world because it was. The Sideways world shouldn’t exist, and the universe is bringing everyone back together to help take it down. It’s not coincidence – it’s fate. Now Des is taking the next step. With the help of Faraday (like always), he’s going to crack the code and eliminate the Sideways world once and for all.
Back on the Island, Des wakes up from his flash. He asks Zoe when they’re going to get started on that important thing they need him for. She and a couple of the other dopes walk Desmond out into the jungle where Sayid quickly confronts them. He tells Zoe to run, but not before killing the other two escorts. (They didn’t even have nametags. They had no chance!) He tells Desmond that Widmore and his people are dangerous and that he needs to come with him. “Aye” Des responds, a little too calm considering he just had a gun pointed at his face. Something is definitely up with Island Des.
Here’s my theory – I think Island Desmond experienced the entirety of his Sideways timeline and is now armed with the knowledge of exactly how it all turns out. He knows that Sideways Des is going to rally all the 815ers so that they feel the same thing that he felt, that Charlie felt, that Daniel felt. But that’s only half the equation.
I’m still of the belief that the MIB has a hand in the Sideways world or somehow caused it’s very existence. There have been too many instances where the MIB has promised our characters one of their deepest desires only to have that very thing show up the in Sideways world (see, Sayid and Nadia, Sun and Jin, possibly Claire with Aaron). His malevolent influences and the absence of the Island have convinced me that Charlie and Faraday are right – the Sideways world isn’t real, it’s bad, and it was never supposed to be. I refuse to accept that a world without the Island is somehow a better one. It’s a special place dammit!
So Sideways Des is going to rally all the Sideways characters so they can see their (yet to be determined) Island destinies. Island Des, enlightened with knowledge of the Sideways timeline, infiltrates the MIB’s camp. He bides his time until he has to make one specific move in order to bring the whole MIB operation down (maybe the sacrifice Widmore spoke of?). The combination of this move (I don’t know what that is yet, but stay with me) and all the Sideways character seeing their Island destinies will somehow disrupt the balance between the two worlds, thereby destroying the Sideways world and, with it, the MIB. Jack becomes the new Jacob and peace is restored on the Island. Happily ever after. The end.
“But wait! You forgot the only happy scene of the episode!” Ah yes, how could I forget? Desmond drives to Aloha Stadium (or whatever the LA equivalent is), and we get a nice mirror image of the scene in “Live Together, Die Alone”, this time with Penny running the stairs and Des is asking her out. It was sweet, and it gives me hope that even if the Sideways world ends up sticking around, Des and Penny still end up together.
The sacrifice hangs over all this like a dark cloud. I see it playing out much like it did in down in the hatch when Desmond turned the key and saved the world. He didn’t know what would happen, but he took a leap of faith with the chance that he could save the one person that he truly loved. It was heroic in every sense of the word. I’m afraid he will have to do the same thing again, taking the chance that he dies in hopes that he saves the world. But what if this one doesn’t just strip him naked and send him on a short little daytrip back in time? What if he dies?
Aside from maybe Hurley, I can’t think of another character that deserves a happy ending more than Des. He kind, genuine, and has a good heart. He’s one of the few characters whose ending I’ve made up my mind about and would be very upset if it ended up differently. Des needs to end up with Penny. Happily ever after, indeed.
Until next week…
After a few weeks of shoddy recaps, I am determined to make this one good. And long. Bullet points are a thing of the past from here on out. Nothing but hard-hitting analysis and cockamamie theories the rest of the way. To kick off the stretch run of recaps for the final season, here comes more than 3000 words on “Happily Ever After”, a truly great episode and a real game-changer to boot. For the first time I can see the endgame coming into focus and can sense the finish line just out of view. Oh, did I mention Des? And Des? And, oh yeah, Des? Buckle your seatbelts. Here we go.
Desmond David Hume has come a long way since Locke, Jack and Kate stumbled upon him in the hatch three Island years ago. His story was defined by the separation between him and his true love, the beautiful Penelope Widmore. Desmond’s cowardice drove him away from Penny. Charles Widmore kept them apart. The story that followed showed how Desmond focused his insecurities about his botched relationship with Penny toward winning Charles’s approval and how he came to realize being with Penny was the only thing that could make him truly happy.
In “Flashes Before Your Eyes” we learn that Desmond once planned on proposing to Penny only to have Charles Widmore reject his request while rubbing a little salt in the wound in the process. He refused to share his expensive MacCutcheon Scotch, instead saying “To share it with you would be a waste, and a disgrace to the great man who made it – because you, Hume, will never be a great man.” Des may or may not have taken Charles’ criticisms to heart, but either way he used them as an excuse to dump Penny and run away.
Des spent the next five years trying to get his honor back. He’d lost the woman he’d loved and he needed to make up for what he’d done. But because he couldn’t have her back, he set out to prove each of her father’s criticisms wrong. He joined the military, where he was slapped with a dishonorable discharge. Next he set out to win Charles’ favorite race, a solo sailing race around the world, but all that did was take him to the Island. There he spent three long, lonely years thinking about how badly he’d messed up, how much he loved Penny, and how she was the only thing that could make him happy. He would do anything to see her again, and if he couldn’t, he would do anything to keep her safe. She inspired him to perform a truly heroic act: he turned the failsafe key and saved the world. Eventually, after many more trials and tribulations, he and Penny found their way back to each other, settled down and started a family. Desmond found the happiness he’d always wanted.
In the Sideways world, we watch Desmond grappling with what it means to be happy once again. In that world, he has already lived up to Charles Widmore’s loftily expectations. McCutchons is no longer too good for him, but rather the type of luxury the he deserves. Slowly, we start to get the sense that even with the job, the world-travels, and all the money, Desmond still feels something’s missing in his life. With a little help from some dead friends and his Island self, Des figures out what that something is.
Let’s get to the story. Last week, Charles Widmore suggested that Desmond was the key to preventing the MIB from accomplishing his goal of leaving the Island. This week starts off with Des waking up in a bed on Hydra Island. He demands to see Penny. Charles tells him that she’s not here, that he’s actually back on the Island. He tells Desmond that the Island isn’t done with him yet, then instructs Zoe and the rest of his dopey crew to get ready to run “the test”. The sight of white bunnies cued me in right away to what was happening – they were going to try to send Des to the Sideways world. Gaah!
Even after the first dope gets fried in the generator room, they throw Des right in and strap him to a chair. Charles tells Desmond that after all this is over, he’s going to have to make a sacrifice. Incensed, Des asks Charles, “Sacrifice? What the bloody hell do you know about sacrifice?” Charles responds with this –
“My son died here for the sake of this island. Your wife - my own daughter - hates me. And I've never even met my grandson. But if you won't help me, Desmond, all of it will be for nothing. Penny, your son, and everyone else, will be gone forever.”
Now, I’m not sure how much of this Charles can chalk up to a voluntary sacrifice. Yes, he sent Daniel to the Island on the freighter, so the first part of his claim certainly has merit. But the part about Penny hating him? Was that really a choice Charles made for the sake of the Island, or is that just a product his general jackass-ery? I’m not sure I know the answer to that question. I will give him this - I did always get the sense that Charles and Eloise were manipulating more of Desmond and Penny’s lives then we were really let onto. Charles might have thought Des was a perfectly suitable husband for Penny but he knew that he had to push just the right buttons to get him to go to the Island and “do the only truly great thing he will ever do”. So Charles had to keep them apart for the sake of everyone, knowing that if Desmond and Penny ever found their way back to each other, he would lose his daughter forever.
So have I had Charles Widmore all wrong? Is he one of the good guys? Before this season, I firmly believed that Charles had been working with the MIB all along, allying with him against Jacob in order to resume his position of power on the Island. Exhibit A: “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” when he told Locke that if the Box Man didn’t get back to the Island “the wrong side is going to win”. Today that all sounds like a bunch of poppycock. Locke getting back to the Island allowed the MIB to assume his identity and kill Jacob. Now Charles is fully committed to taking down the MIB and preventing the end of the world. Something’s missing. Either Charles is just a two-timer, or his usually keen prognosticating abilities failed him big-time. I’m going to side with the latter for right now, but I’m very open to arguments for the former. After all, I’ve always thought Charles was just a selfish ass, so if he’s just playing opportunist now to take back the Island, I really wouldn’t be surprised.
Back to the story. The Dope Brigade turns on the generator, sending Desmond to the Sideways world. Much like with his previous travels through space-time, Sideways Desmond recalls nothing of his other life. He “wakes up” at LAX, exchanges pleasantries with Hurley and Claire, and then gets into his limo. The driver of that limo? None other than 2010 Oscar-winner George Minkowski! Des declines an offer of female “companionship” for the evening, but not before Minkowski points out Desmond isn’t wearing a wedding band. Which was strange, because as the fanatics on the boards can tell you after hours of dissecting “LA X” footage, Des certainly was wearing a ring when we saw him on Flight 815. Seems strange that they would draw attention to this if something bigger isn't going on there. However, I don’t have the slightest idea what that could be. Let’s just make a note of it and move on.
Desmond arrives at his boss’s office and we find out his boss is none other than Charles Widmore. Not a huge surprise there. Charles tells Des that his son the musician has put together a concert combining jazz and rock music for one of his wife’s charity events. It’s Desmond’s job to escort one of the rock stars from jail to the concert. Charles acknowledges that such babysitting is probably beneath the esteemed position that Desmond holds, but he needs a man he can trust to get the job done right. They toast over some MacCutcheon, with Charles telling Desmond that even 60-year Scotch isn’t too good for him.
Cool parallels and stark contrasts abound in that scene! Let’s start with the Scotch. Go back to “Flashes Before Your Eyes”, when Desmond visits Widmore’s office to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. After Des asked the big question, Widmore sauntered over to his liquor bar, grabs two glasses and the bottle of MacCutcheon, asks Des if he knows anything about whiskey. “No, I’m afraid not, sir”, he replies. Widmore proceeds to tell the story of Andrew MacCutcheon, an esteemed Admiral in the Royal Navy, a great man in every respect. His Scotch was his crowing achievement. To share it with Desmond would be a waste because Desmond, you see, will never be a great man. Stefan’s favorite line in the series “It’s worth more than your life, Hume” fits nicely right here (even though Widmore never actually says that).
Flash back to the “today”. Charles shares his whiskey with Des. He’s entrusted with important work for Charles’ wife and his son. The Jack question would be, “How are these things so different?” But I answer that as Locke: it’s not how, but why? I’m sticking with the theory that Island Charles knew what he was doing when he rejected Desmond’s request for Penny’s hand in marriage in order to get him to the Island. Couldn’t Sideways Charles be acting in a similar fashion? Maybe Charles knows that he needs to keep Des close so one day he would meet is son Daniel, and so Daniel will tell him about his adventures with nuclear bombs, and so Sideways Desmond will know how to save everyone in the Island world. I think I’m on to something here. More on that later.
Des heads over to the jailhouse to pick up the rock star. Nope, it’s not the lead singer of Geronimo Jackson. Ever heard of a band called Driveshaft? It’s Charlie Pace, and once again Des is tasked with taking care of him as he walks straight toward death’s door. This time Des has to save Charlie not from a universe bent on snuffing him out anyway possible, but from Charlie himself. The first thing he did after getting out of jail was wander straight into traffic. Des reels him back in and the two head to a local pub like two good British dudes would.
Charlie starts grilling Des on his job, his life and his happiness. Des tells Charlie, “I've got a great job, lots of money, get to travel the world. Why wouldn't I be happy?” But he said it in a way that sounded rehearsed, like he’d said the same thing to dozens of other people who’d asked him the same question. And really, nobody wants to hear about the misery of a good-looking rich dude, so that’s how Des probably thinks he’s supposed to answer. Charlie pressed him further. “Have you ever been in love?” “Thousands of times,” Des jokes. “That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about spectacular, consciousness-altering love. Do you know what that looks like?” After a few more jokes, it’s clear Sideways Desmond does not know what that looks like. So Charlie tells him.
Charlie tells him about how he died onboard Flight 815. Choked to death. But when he slipped into the darkness, he saw a woman. She was blonde and beautiful. They were together and always would be. Just when he’s about to…something…some idiot pulled him back from it. He’s alive again, but what he saw in that dark place stayed with him. It was real. It was the truth. And he desperately wants to get it back.
Des more or less brushes him off. He just wants to do his job and get Charlie to the benefit. They get in the car. The radio’s on. “You All, Everybody” blares. Charlie tells Des that it was his band’s first single, describes it as the start of everything great. He badgers him some more about his happiness. And then he jerks the wheel, taking the car and Des with him into the marina. Des manages to wiggle himself free, comes up for air, then dives back down to save Charlie. As he approaches the car, Charlie puts his hand against the window just like he did in the Looking Glass hatch. Des flashes to the Island – “Not Penny’s Boat” – then back to the Sideways world. It’s happening. He’s feeling it too.
The next we see Des he’s in a doctor’s office, ready for an MRI. The doctor tells him that if he needs to stop, just push the button. This stirs something in Des. “The panic button,” the doctor replies. The MRI machine fires up and Des flashes to Island – Charlie drowning, Penny, his son. Freaked out, Des pushes the button, yells how he has to find Charlie, and runs out of the room.
He finds Charlie running through the halls in his robe (which looked every bit as ridiculous as it sounds on paper), crying out “None of this matters!” like a crazy man. But this crazy man is right! And part of Desmond knows it. “Who’s Penny?” he asks Charlie, but Charlie doesn’t know. He does know that Des felt something, the same thing he felt. That something will be key as we head toward the finale. More on that after I talk about the geek in the skinny tie.
Desmond heads to the benefit to break the news to Mrs. Widmore (or Ms. Hawking or whatever) that Driveshaft will not be attending the event. She’s fine with it. Pleasure meeting you, she says, and ushers him away. As Desmond turns to go, he hears the man with the guest list say, “Milton, Penny”. This sure gets his attention. Before he can press the man any further, Eloise pulls Desmond aside and tells him that he has to let that go. She instructs him that he has the one thing he has always wanted – the approval of Charles Widmore. He’s not ready for where this road leads him.
Confused and angry, Desmond leaves. Just as he’s about to hop into the limo, Daniel Faraday (now Widmore) calls out to him, says the two need to have a talk. Daniel tells him a story about this woman he saw with the most incredible blue eyes, beautiful red hair. When he saw her, he said, he felt like he already loved her. That night he woke up in the middle of the night and wrote down some super-complicated physics formula. He had no idea what it meant. But Daniel’s a bright guy. He put all this together and figured out that – somewhere – he’d done something wrong, that he’d created something that wasn’t supposed to exist. That red-haired woman made him feel something that gave him hope. Now Desmond was feeling it too. He’d tell Desmond where Penny was. And he better go find her.
Wow. That’s a lot to process. What I take from it is this – this Sideways world is bad. The Island world is good. It’s something real. It’s the truth. And now the Sideways characters are starting to experience that truth. Jack looking at his appendix scar, Claire knowing Aaron’s name, Kate and that stuffed whale – those were just the beginning. Those things are all there to jog their memories of their Island lives. It felt like a fantasy world because it was. The Sideways world shouldn’t exist, and the universe is bringing everyone back together to help take it down. It’s not coincidence – it’s fate. Now Des is taking the next step. With the help of Faraday (like always), he’s going to crack the code and eliminate the Sideways world once and for all.
Back on the Island, Des wakes up from his flash. He asks Zoe when they’re going to get started on that important thing they need him for. She and a couple of the other dopes walk Desmond out into the jungle where Sayid quickly confronts them. He tells Zoe to run, but not before killing the other two escorts. (They didn’t even have nametags. They had no chance!) He tells Desmond that Widmore and his people are dangerous and that he needs to come with him. “Aye” Des responds, a little too calm considering he just had a gun pointed at his face. Something is definitely up with Island Des.
Here’s my theory – I think Island Desmond experienced the entirety of his Sideways timeline and is now armed with the knowledge of exactly how it all turns out. He knows that Sideways Des is going to rally all the 815ers so that they feel the same thing that he felt, that Charlie felt, that Daniel felt. But that’s only half the equation.
I’m still of the belief that the MIB has a hand in the Sideways world or somehow caused it’s very existence. There have been too many instances where the MIB has promised our characters one of their deepest desires only to have that very thing show up the in Sideways world (see, Sayid and Nadia, Sun and Jin, possibly Claire with Aaron). His malevolent influences and the absence of the Island have convinced me that Charlie and Faraday are right – the Sideways world isn’t real, it’s bad, and it was never supposed to be. I refuse to accept that a world without the Island is somehow a better one. It’s a special place dammit!
So Sideways Des is going to rally all the Sideways characters so they can see their (yet to be determined) Island destinies. Island Des, enlightened with knowledge of the Sideways timeline, infiltrates the MIB’s camp. He bides his time until he has to make one specific move in order to bring the whole MIB operation down (maybe the sacrifice Widmore spoke of?). The combination of this move (I don’t know what that is yet, but stay with me) and all the Sideways character seeing their Island destinies will somehow disrupt the balance between the two worlds, thereby destroying the Sideways world and, with it, the MIB. Jack becomes the new Jacob and peace is restored on the Island. Happily ever after. The end.
“But wait! You forgot the only happy scene of the episode!” Ah yes, how could I forget? Desmond drives to Aloha Stadium (or whatever the LA equivalent is), and we get a nice mirror image of the scene in “Live Together, Die Alone”, this time with Penny running the stairs and Des is asking her out. It was sweet, and it gives me hope that even if the Sideways world ends up sticking around, Des and Penny still end up together.
The sacrifice hangs over all this like a dark cloud. I see it playing out much like it did in down in the hatch when Desmond turned the key and saved the world. He didn’t know what would happen, but he took a leap of faith with the chance that he could save the one person that he truly loved. It was heroic in every sense of the word. I’m afraid he will have to do the same thing again, taking the chance that he dies in hopes that he saves the world. But what if this one doesn’t just strip him naked and send him on a short little daytrip back in time? What if he dies?
Aside from maybe Hurley, I can’t think of another character that deserves a happy ending more than Des. He kind, genuine, and has a good heart. He’s one of the few characters whose ending I’ve made up my mind about and would be very upset if it ended up differently. Des needs to end up with Penny. Happily ever after, indeed.
Until next week…
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Package
I liked "The Package" but there wasn't a ton that left me thinking this week (except for the Des-centric preview). It was a really good episode though. Definitely entertaining throughout. It going to be a short recap this week due to my travels to DC to check out GW, so lets get straight to the bullet points.
- The first of four highlights for me this week - Sun trusting Jack. It's been a long time since Jack's had the respect and trust of the group, so it was good to see Sun back on board the Jack train. The contrast between her reaction to the MIB and Jack could not have been more clear; they both reached their hand out to her, but she run from the MIB but grabbed hold of Jack. Loved it. Jack has his mojo back in full-force. I just want to see him driving some of the action once a gain.
- The second highlight was the less-than-triumphant return of Mikhial! I couldn't believe we saw that cycloptic bastard again and I was way more excited than I probably should have been. The bullet to his eye was just the icing on the cake. I let out a chuckle after that one. The universe course-correcting perhaps?
- The third highlight was the return of Room 23. When we first saw this place in "Not in Portland", it was like Easter egg porn for the boards. There was a ton to read into, but not really much in the way of substance or hints to any greater mystery. Still, it was awesome then and it remains awesome now. A nice trip down memory lane.
- The final highlight should be obvious - Des! Des! Des! It's been far too long since our favorite Scotsman treated us to an "aye" or a "brotha", but this week's episode "Happily Ever After" promises to fix that. I couldn't be more terrified of Sayid lurking in the water, ready to do the bidding of the MIB. He didn't try to put a stop to Claire as she attempted to plunge a knife into Kate's throat; I doubt he has any sympathy left in there for Desmond either. He said it himself: he feels nothing. But one big question remains - How is Des supposed to stop the MIB? We know he's "miraculously special" in some way that has to do with time, that the rules don't apply to him. So how does that apply here? I can't wait to find out.
- The Sideways world was interesting enough this week, but unlike the other flashes this year, I felt like it didn't tell a complete story. We're left totally hanging with what happens with pregnant and shot Sun. I can't imagine there's going to be another Jin/Sun episode this year, so we're going to have to find out the conclusion of that story from some other character's flash. I've been predicting for a while that all those sideways stories are going to converge and I believe that now more than ever.
- Poor Sun and Jin. Like Keamy said, they're just not meant to be together. But if we can listen to the newly sage-like Jack Shephard for a minute, his little tomato metaphor suggests there might be hope for them yet. They have been stubborn in their commitment to one another even though all the circumstances in the world have tried to tear them apart. And now they're closer than ever to reaching each other. If they can just hold out a little longer, if they can avoid the seductive persuasions of the MIB (whom both seem rather repulsed by), I think they're going to be okay.
- One last note, and it's just something that popped into my head when thinking about old episodes: We used to explain everything that happened on the Island in terms of the Island's own agency. Now, we almost assume that either Jacob or the MIB are the ones pulling the strings on all the mysterious stuff that happens (visions, etc.). Think back to "Further Instructions" - Locke lost his voice after the hatch explosion. It seems unlikely that either Jacob or the MIB was anywhere near him to make that happen. Same deal with when he landed on the Island in the first place and regained control of his legs. We used to explain these things as the Island's will. We haven't done that in a while. It's just interesting. Maybe we're right to drift away from these types of explanations. But maybe we're wrong. Jacob said the Island acts as a cork to keep evil from spreading around the world. Not him. The Island. I'll predict that by the end of the this story, we will have more clearly defined differences between Jacob, the Island, and the Monster. I just don't know what those differences are right now.
Here's to hoping I'm more inspired to write next week. My guess is Des will have that effect on me. Until then...
- The first of four highlights for me this week - Sun trusting Jack. It's been a long time since Jack's had the respect and trust of the group, so it was good to see Sun back on board the Jack train. The contrast between her reaction to the MIB and Jack could not have been more clear; they both reached their hand out to her, but she run from the MIB but grabbed hold of Jack. Loved it. Jack has his mojo back in full-force. I just want to see him driving some of the action once a gain.
- The second highlight was the less-than-triumphant return of Mikhial! I couldn't believe we saw that cycloptic bastard again and I was way more excited than I probably should have been. The bullet to his eye was just the icing on the cake. I let out a chuckle after that one. The universe course-correcting perhaps?
- The third highlight was the return of Room 23. When we first saw this place in "Not in Portland", it was like Easter egg porn for the boards. There was a ton to read into, but not really much in the way of substance or hints to any greater mystery. Still, it was awesome then and it remains awesome now. A nice trip down memory lane.
- The final highlight should be obvious - Des! Des! Des! It's been far too long since our favorite Scotsman treated us to an "aye" or a "brotha", but this week's episode "Happily Ever After" promises to fix that. I couldn't be more terrified of Sayid lurking in the water, ready to do the bidding of the MIB. He didn't try to put a stop to Claire as she attempted to plunge a knife into Kate's throat; I doubt he has any sympathy left in there for Desmond either. He said it himself: he feels nothing. But one big question remains - How is Des supposed to stop the MIB? We know he's "miraculously special" in some way that has to do with time, that the rules don't apply to him. So how does that apply here? I can't wait to find out.
- The Sideways world was interesting enough this week, but unlike the other flashes this year, I felt like it didn't tell a complete story. We're left totally hanging with what happens with pregnant and shot Sun. I can't imagine there's going to be another Jin/Sun episode this year, so we're going to have to find out the conclusion of that story from some other character's flash. I've been predicting for a while that all those sideways stories are going to converge and I believe that now more than ever.
- Poor Sun and Jin. Like Keamy said, they're just not meant to be together. But if we can listen to the newly sage-like Jack Shephard for a minute, his little tomato metaphor suggests there might be hope for them yet. They have been stubborn in their commitment to one another even though all the circumstances in the world have tried to tear them apart. And now they're closer than ever to reaching each other. If they can just hold out a little longer, if they can avoid the seductive persuasions of the MIB (whom both seem rather repulsed by), I think they're going to be okay.
- One last note, and it's just something that popped into my head when thinking about old episodes: We used to explain everything that happened on the Island in terms of the Island's own agency. Now, we almost assume that either Jacob or the MIB are the ones pulling the strings on all the mysterious stuff that happens (visions, etc.). Think back to "Further Instructions" - Locke lost his voice after the hatch explosion. It seems unlikely that either Jacob or the MIB was anywhere near him to make that happen. Same deal with when he landed on the Island in the first place and regained control of his legs. We used to explain these things as the Island's will. We haven't done that in a while. It's just interesting. Maybe we're right to drift away from these types of explanations. But maybe we're wrong. Jacob said the Island acts as a cork to keep evil from spreading around the world. Not him. The Island. I'll predict that by the end of the this story, we will have more clearly defined differences between Jacob, the Island, and the Monster. I just don't know what those differences are right now.
Here's to hoping I'm more inspired to write next week. My guess is Des will have that effect on me. Until then...
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