Brian's One Word Review: Outsmarted.
At the end of this episode, it was clear that Desmond - both on the Island in Reality #1 and in the Flash Sideways of Reality #2 had an epiphany about what was going on, what he needed to do, and why it was all so important. Clearly, Desmond David Hume is far smarter than me because my feeble brain isn't there yet.
What happened?
Special. We discovered what makes Desmond special is that he can survive exposure to a "catastrophic electromagnetic event", which is going to be critical in saving the world and all of existence. This seems to narrow down Desmond's "purpose" on the Island to getting really, really close to the electromagnetic core of the Island and doing... something - something which is going to cause another one of these "catastrophic events", that will result in the sinking of the Island. Widmore told Desmond that he's going to ask him to make a sacrifice, and I'm guessing it's going to be the ultimate sacrifice. Desmond is the only one who can do it, the only one who can forever trap Anti-Jacob underwater on the Island - he's special.
Love. Love is a many splendor thing. Love lift us up where we belong. All you need is love. Turns out that every songwriter in human history was correct - apparently it all comes down to love in teh end. Is it a coincidence that when Charlie experienced a near death experience in the Flash Sideways, he had a vision of Claire, a vision which brought him total happiness? Or that Desmond's meeting with Penny caused him to "jump" back to Reality #1, and be totally enlightened to everything that he needed to do... and not only that - but also calmly accepting of what might be a death mission? Or that Faraday saw Charlotte for only a minute, and it inspired him to subconsciously write a formula that mathematically explains the science behind these Flash Sideways? He told Desmond:
"Imagine something terrible was about to happen - and the only way to stop it was to release a huge amount of energy, like setting off a nuclear bomb. What if all this wasn't supposed to be our life? What if we had some other life, for some reason, we changed things? I don't want to set off a nuclear bomb Mr. Hume. I think I already did."
Based on everything we've seen this season, I've already determined that the Jughead didn't cause the creation of Reality #2 (due to all the events that took place before the Jughead went off that are totally unrelated to the Island), but maybe it simply caused the consciousness of the characters to jump from Reality #1 (where they were supposed to be) to Reality #2 - where they are seemingly happy... but without love.
Faraday (er... Daniel Widmore) also told Desmond:
"It happened to you too. You felt it. Love."
Earlier in the episode Charlie explained this sensation of "true love" to Desmond as being "what you've always been, and you always will be."
In a super sappy, totally head over heels romantic way (that I am totally a sucker for, by the way), it shows that love conquers all - including space, time, and alternate realities. Once a character interacts with their true love, the feelings come rushing back across space and time, linking their memories to those that took place in a different world.
At the end of the episode, Desmond told Minkowski to gather the manifest for Oceanic 815, telling him "I just need to show them something". What could this possibly be? How can Desmond "prove" the existence of Reality #1, a place that all our Survivors are supposed to be, using a concept as intangible as love? He seems pretty calm and confident about it, but I haven't a clue how this is all going to play out.
Eloise Hawking-Widmore. The curious thing about this episode is that it continued to paint Charles Widmore as the "good guy" on the Island - someone who was forced to kidnap Desmond and perform tests on him for the sake of all existence. On the other hand, in the Flash Sideways, Eloise Hawking-Widmore seemed very concerned that Desmond meeting up with Penny would be a very bad thing. She told him:
"Whatever you are looking for, you need to stop looking for it. You have the perfect life, and the one thing you wanted the most - the approval of Charles Widmore."
When Desmond asks how she knows all of this (a question I think most fans have about Eloise Hawking-Widmore's seeming omniscience), she replied with "because I bloody do." If that's the extent of the explanation behind how she knows so much, I'll be pretty upset.
But the bigger question is - why does she want to keep Desmond from finding his true love? Is there some negative repercussion to realizing that he is in Reality #2, a place where he doesn't belong? Will that somehow "reveal the secrets of the universe" and bring about the end of the world? From the start, more than any other character on the show, Eloise has been concerned with keeping order in the universe - although at the same time she's said that even if things changed, the universe would course correct. But yet again she seems to be getting herself involved in things (like Desmond's life) which seem totally unnecessary if this were really true.
Here's hoping this discovery of love in the Flash Sideways doesn't cause our characters to start skipping back and forth between realities, like a Desmond without a Constant - or else he might accidentally be bringing about the demise for all of them by "showing them" what he has learned.
Also - did you notice the painting in Widmore's office? With the balanced scale with white stones on one side and black stones on the other? I was disappointed the Namaste Polar Bear painting wasn't there, but this one was equally cool.
So in the end, I know it sounds like I understand this episode - but I really don't. At least not yet. Given what we saw, what Desmond experienced in the Flash Sideways, I don't understand how he suddenly understands and accepts what Widmore has requested of him on the Island. As I already said, I also don't understand how his knowledge about love and the existence of the alternate reality is going to help the Survivors in the Flash Sideways.
This is one of those episodes that makes me feel dumb, because we were clearly given enough information to figure out the Flash Forwards and where the storyline is heading... but I'm not there. I think we've got all the pieces to the puzzle. Now it's just a matter of putting them together in a way that makes sense and shows us the big picture.
It's time to get thinking.
60 comments:
You can tell this episode was written by two men, because no woman in her right mind would exercise alone at night in an empty stadium, and if approached by a stranger in that stadium, would keep her distance rather than shake this hand.
Soooo good! My brain is still mush over it all. Can't wait for next week. We're getting SO close to knowing more (I won't say all).
LOL Laura - I told my husband, "no she would have asked him how he knew her name and why he was looking for her as she reached for her mace!". He replied "not if he was charming" LOL, men! Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that one.
am i the only one really excited that we're finally getting a hurley episode next?
as great as this episode was, and my mind is still turning over and analyzing everything that happened, i think next week's episode will be a game changer. i can't wait to see what happens when unlocke finally meets hurley. unlocke clearly looked apprehensive, even afraid, after hurley intervened to save richard from switching sides.
i loved it. Des had an epiphany at the same time in both realities. i can't wait until we find out what it was.
i hope we are not done with charlie - he was so good in this episode.
maybe eloise doesn't want to go back to reality 1 because she her son dies in that reality. now she has a life with him. although she was the first one who told him the island wasn't done with him yet. makes me think she and widmore want to keep reality 2. others want to keep reality 1. just a thought that that is whaqt the war is about - the war over which reality becomes reality.
Best 1 hour of TV I've ever watched in my life. (And I have watched a hell of a lot of TV). When Charlie held his hand up with "Not Penny's Boat", I think this might have been the single best second of T.V. ever.
Desmond seemed lime such a different person when he woke back up in reality #1 that I wondered if he'd been claimed.
Yeah, at this point methinks Eloise is on Flocke's side, vying for reality #2.
Faraday definitely implied that reality #2 is a result of jughead going off... seems confusing, since things are clearly different pre-1977 in reality #2.
Finally the big reveal that Faraday is indeed Charles' son. So where did the last name come from? And who is Penny's mom, if not Eloise?
So, in reality #2, everyone gets "what they want" with a twise: Desmond gets Widmore's respect/No Penny; Sayid gets Nadia alive/but with his brother; Kate gets Aaron with a non-crazy mom/but she's not a part of his life & is still a fugitive; Jin & Sun are together/but on the run & Ji-Yeon is shot in utero.
Flocke is the evil genie who gives you what you want, but in a horrible way that ruins everything.
lol@Laura ...
I was thinking the same thing
timcourtis...
to continue.. faraday got to grow up playing music instead of being a physicist, but has no Charlotte.
Jacob is love.
Anti-Jacob is hate.
Sinking the island destroys both. So things aren't terrible, but they're sort of in a middle.
Eloise is worried that if Desmond (the only one who can seemingly jump back and forth between realities instead of simply seeing one or the other) realizes that he's meant to love Penny, he'll stop Widmore from sinking the Island.
Widmore wants to sink the island b/c he's well-intentioned, and thinks it'll only destroy anti-Jacob. He wants to destroy the greatest threat to the world--but in doing so will also destroy the greatest hope for the world: love.
" it shows that love conquers all - including space, time, and alternate realities." - Brian.
That is now my all time favourite quote! That’s just Awesome. Well ok, I have to admit I am completely wrong about so much... this show, I tell ya, it has a way of course correcting you! I'd say it's definitely clear that Desmond is now connected between both realities and they are indeed both “real” (I was so, so, so wrong). Back to speculation I would almost guess the Eloise is a gatekeeper of sorts but in the sideways she appeared to have fear behind her awareness as opposed to her more zen like “universe self-correcting” attitude in the original.
Also intesting difference in the broaches that Eloise wears. The original "snake eating it's tale" and the two star broach seperated on a black background. Perhaps a metaphore for Desmond and Penny.
Well here's to being wrong.
Desmond Episode are Still the Best!
Unless I'm missing something (which is a definate possibility!), I think we need to stop obsessing with the island sinking ... it is sunk in "reality #2" - not in "reality #1."
Even if I don't really understand it 100%, this is the first episode this season that has really gotten me excited for the show again. LOST is back.
I adored this episode and all the mushy love stuff that came with it. Also, I agree with Tim, Eloise's warning to Desmond reeked of Unlocke. It gave me the feeling that the Sideways reality is a very, very fragile, a boat that can't be rocked.
When he saw "Not Penny's Boat" on the hand it was pretty cool, but not the best second on t.v., or even Lost. I think it was far cooler when they revealed that they were showing flash forwards for the first time. Still a great episode though. I am hoping for no more "filler" episodes and only good ones from here on out.
Im kind of thinking what Sam said about a reality war
Eloise was the one that had Charlie's band come from Sydney to play at the party with her son Daniel, setting all of the events into motion. She didn't care that Desmond didn't get Charlie to perform.
Also, Charlie said something along the lines that none of this matters, referring to the second reality. It made me think that this reality was just an illusion and that Charlie's near death experience gave him the ability to see the truth.
I don't know, I may be totally off but wasn't Charles and Eloise married in the 70's time change episodes. I thought I rememebered that and this is why I was not shocked.
timcourtois - I think you are right on. The bomb "worked" and pushed them into reality #2, as Juliet told Sawyer...The details are all still very shaky to me about how all this worked out...
This was such an awesome episode. I love how many layers this show has. I also love how when Jack met Des, Des was running the steps, but now Penny runs them.
Desmond has something to "show" them. That's the same thing that Charlie said to him when he drove the car into the water. Does that mean that Desmond wants to give the rest of the passengers a near death experience to "show" them, too? Could be crazy...
@ magistra - i loved how Des finds penny running the steps as he did in the other reality i thought that was a very interesting way for them to meet.
another thing i picked up, after watching the episode for a 2nd time was when Des and Eloise were talking. After Des asks about Penny Eloise replies with something and then says "it's a violation". I'm not sure if she just meant it was a violation of privacy to look at the guest list, or maybe some deeper meaning. My first thought on that was the Des is given/makes a deal with Widmore/Eloise in Reality #1 that gives him what he always wanted (widmore's respect), but is not allowed to be with/interact with penny as a catch.
it could go back to what brian said about love, that keeping desmond from seeing penny and re-living those feelings of love will eventually "bring down" or "shed the light" on the alternate reality and what is really supposed to happen. which would be why Eloise trys to stop him from seeing her, as she seems happy enough with her life in it's current state.
Meadows - I noticed the choice comment, too. Interesting.
I loved all of the callbacks to old scenes, relationships, and even objects (like running steps, Daniel's journal, etc.) I am a little confused about the timing. Desmond left the airport, went straight to Widmore's office, then went straight to get Charlie, right? Isn't it a little weird that Jack was working at the hospital the day of the flight (especially after the ordeal of losing his father's casket)? Shouldn't he be at the funeral or preparing for it? Not that it's super important, just confusing.
Also, do you think Sawyer and Juliet are going to be at the coffee shop when Desmond and Penny meet there? Don't know how they'll get together yet, but I bet they'll be there!
Brian - You have obviously seen or listened to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack a few times with how your "Love" section begins. Great! :)
I watched The Constant episode after the new LOST and the page that says "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant" is on the same page (back side) of what Daniel showed to Desmond. Meaning that somewhere soon, Daniel will most likely be writing it in the Flash Sideways - possibly meaning that everyone from the island might start going back and forth like Desmond...could be wrong, but I thought it was worth noting.
Agree with Tim Courtois that Eloise in R2 is on Flockes team (or maybe some manifestation/projection of Flocke in this reality?).
The reference someone mentioned re "it is, in fact, a violation" by Eloise, brought to my mind the 'rules' of the island, and that she realised that the fact Desmond felt something was itself against the rules. So who managed to force this 'love-effect' to crossover and start blending realities?? I can see Jacobs smug smile already :-)
But could this episode point to Flocke not literally being 'pure evil' or hateful, but more a loveless-God? something that meant any couple we care about on the Lost would 'cease to be' if he escaped - meaning 'cease to be together' rather than the end of us indivdually?
Havent all references to the 'end of us all' been about loved ones plural, not any singular character? meaning not the end of the world, but maybe the end of love? (Ha! I see 80s song titles all over this post!)
Then again, what would you call someone/thing that could take away that which everyone loved most? I'd call that pretty damn evil!
Bobb said...
"I don't understand how Desmond knows that other people on the plane are in he same situation as he is. Besides Charlie of course. He wants the names of those in the plane, how does he know who to "show" something to out of all those names?"
I thought the same thing as you did upon first viewing. After rewatching it this morning I thought differently. I think the reason he knows that he needs to round up the 815 people is because the two timelines are "in sync" in his mind. What I mean is: Island Desmond has knowledge of the flashsideways world and flashsideways Desmond knows all about the island timeline. Does that make sense?
I am interested in Daniel's journal. The journal should exist in both realities, shouldn't it? Eloise had Dan's journal after he died on the island in 1977. I'm not sure if she ended up with it or if Jack and Sayid had it when Jughead detonated. If Eloise had it, she should have had it in this new flashsideways world. Perhaps that is why she knows so much in the alternate timeline.
I reality #2 was a "loveless" existence for the survivors, how come Sun and Jin are so much in Love in reality #2? Also, Jack has his son, who he loves.
But some of them do have love in the reality #2: think of Locke, right? He is happily married... then again, he doesn't seem to fit most of the typical themes...
re: Island sinking -- would love to hear more about your thoughts on why this is the result we're working towards. We saw it in Reality 2 and we know that many things (if not all?) aren't necessarily what will happen. I'm inclined to think that the island may indeed be sunk, but I'm not sure we can think that because we saw it in Reality 2.
I got a shiver down my spine when they crashed into the water, the phrase that came immediately to mind was "What happened, happened". This turned to goose pimples when Charlie put his hand up to the window (even before we got the "not Penny's boat" flash). I'm so glad Brian was wrong about the flash sideways, from the start I had a feeling that they were going to be just as important (if not more so) than what was happening on the island - to be honest from pretty early on in the series I was finding myself a little bored with the on island activities and have been more interested in what was going on off-island. I just felt that the off-island stuff was building up to something in a "what happened, happened" sort of way and have been getting very excited every time we get something bleeding through between the realities (I actually enjoyed Sun losing the ability to speak English). There just seems to be an air of destiny to the off-island stuff with the characters running into each other (like Kate and Clare, or the brief look of recognition in Jack's eyes when he sees Kate). I'm really looking forward to next week's episode - I wonder if Hurley is going to get a visit from Jacob?
@sawyer
Thank you! I was wondering how Eloise and Widmore know what's going on (or at least seem to have a better idea than everyone else) and it does just make sense that they both have Faraday's journal.
@Hobbes: The star-shaped pins that Eloise was wearing were an Easter egg and they do have a meaning in context of the Others and the Island. The same symbol was blazed into a tree on the Island, as an Others landmark. And the same shape was branded onto Juliet's back when the Others punished her for helping the Losties.
Dunno if anyone post this, but i think the flash side ways is the world where the island sank, smokey escaped into the world and now he controls what they see, giving them what they want in life, this is why Eloise was saying to Desmond isnt this what you wanted in life, widmores approval
Also im pretty sure the drive shaft lyrics mean something, charlie knows this sideways world isnt really, thats what he is trying to show desmond that everything around them is a lie & its just an illusion smokey has made to control the world
@Vidya and @Justine:
I agree -- the sideways timeline is hardly loveless. If you think of Juliet's death scene ("let's go dutch"), maybe her relationship with Sawyer was better realized/more fulfilling in the flash-sideways world than the island world, which is why she "flash-remembered" it as she died on the island.
I have the vague impression that Desmond has acquired the same sort of foresight that Eloise Hawking has -- that Desmond can see what's fated and not fated. So he knew what Widmore wanted before he spoke (damn you, Lost writers. Would one monologue have killed you?), and he was able to assess the Sayid situation as something he's supposed to go along with.
When Eloise Widmore told Desmond he wasn't supposed to meet Penny, I think it's the same sort of thing. He wasn't fated to meet Penny yet, and doing so was a "violation". If this is right, then I don't have high hopes for Penny-Desmond in the flash-sideways timeline.
This just occurred to me. May be it was obvious to others before, but I thought i'd share anyway. I think "The incident" was not the nuke blowing, but was the killing of Jacob. He was not supposed to be killed. That's what caused the flash sideways.
Something bothering me: According to Eloise, Des wanting info on Penny is a "violation." However, she had already arranged for Drive Shaft and so forth, aligning these folks from a former life, if you will. Why is she seeming to create situations she is acting like she wants to avoid?
Also, I love the ideas out there that this is the Flocke reality. She got her son back. Why not try and avoid any sort of change to that reality? She parallels the "crazed mother" motif we saw in Claire. All the details are still tricky, but I think this is a good possibility!
I certainly don't think we've been given enough info to figure out what's going on. I also don't think that the end result is that the island needs to sink. That happened in Reality #2 and things are "wrong" there apparently.
I think the island needs to stay there, with a new Jacob, to keep the universe running smoothly. And I don't think Widmore intends to sink the island.
Honestly I'm more confused after each episode this season than in previous seasons. In past seasons each episode would set off a ton of new theories and ideas. This season I'm just not sure where its going. I expect the last episode is going to tie things together with one single main explanation. What that may be I have no clue.
Could Eloise be the 'crazy mother' Flocke was talking about? In "Ab Aeterno', I felt like Jacob and Flocke could be brothers. Remember when Flocke said on the beach, couldn't you just let me go? it was almost like an affectionate pleading - as if there was a time they got along. I also think it is possible that Jacob hopes in some way to 'save' Flocke - Jacob believes any one can choose good in the end - maybe even Flocke, his brother? I just want to know who these two are!!!
Remember in one of the time shift episodes when someone asked about Eloise and Charles' relationship - Richard said, "it's complicated". My guess is that is an understatement!
Remember that the sunken island had the whole statue, so the Black Rock never hit it, which I think means it never came to the island. However, the Dharma camp was still there, I wonder what that indicates>
I think the sacrifice of Desmond is not gonna be killing himself to sink the island. His sacrifice would be being the new Jacob and staying at the island without Penny
Anyone else think the death of Simmons was pretty dumb? It reminded me of Arzt: "Hmm... we need to show the audience that this dynamit/electromagnetic shack is really dangerous; how can we do that? I guess the best way is to create a character just so he can be killed to demonstrate how dangerous it is."
Sherilyn:
Only the foot remained even on the sunken island....
Someone mentioned the jewellery that Eloise was wearing, I didnt notice in the episode but i think Ive heard of it before.
The snake eating its own tale is an old symbol called "Ouroboros", it symbolizes everlasting life.
I only know this because it featured heavily in an episode of Red Dwarf. A brilliant british sci fi comedy that started in the 80's.
@Gib, Eloise did wear the ouroboros brooch in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" (the episode that introduced her). But in "Happily Ever After," alt-Eloise wore two starlike brooches shaped like an Others symbol that we do not yet know the meaning of.
It wouldn't surprise me if Desmond's new mission involved returning to the Hatch and the Failsafe solution. It would make sense thematically, since Season 6 has been so full of callbacks to previous seasons.
Plus, that failsafe solution always struck me as a little odd. I mean, why did they continuously press a button when they could have just turned the key just once? Perhaps there's long-term repercussions to the failsafe, which Desmond now has to address.
OK so Island life is Reality #1 including 1977 Island Life correct? and Reality #2 is that the island is sunk and FLocke is out and gave all the people what they wanted??? Brian's comment was that Desmond has to sink the island to trap FLocke. or does Flocke want to sink island so he can escape? cracking the bottle.
If those are the 2 realities is the reality in which the Oceanic Six survived reality #1? I like the idea of Jacob as love and FLocke as hate and selfishness. I have a feeling we are gonna see Juliet soon in reality #2.
I also loved all the callbacks from past eps. Very cool.
I'm new to this board. I am in the process of drafting a comprehensive theory of what's going on, and what's likely to happen -- but I wanted to first check and see if there's a word limit for posts/comments here. Can someone let me know if there is?
I'll post my theories as soon as I've finished polishing them up -- and fingers crossed, I think I've cracked most of the puzzle . . .
Thanks.
if you cracked it your a better person then me.
I have a hard time thinking Sacrifice means something other than dieing or having to stay away from penny. What else would be a sacrifice.
Going back to something i was thinking a few weeks ago, it seems like the Swan pushing the button was preventing the end of the world. That broke. Now we are threatened by the end of the world and the electromagnetic properties seem to be relevant to keeping the smoke monster contained. I wonder if them breaking the swan in season 2 was the beginning of the process of the smoke monster breaking free. So while he isn't free yet, that particular constraint isn't there. Widmore seems intent on putting that back in place. (my deduction, why else are they studying electromagnetism and Desmond). The numbers were used with that as a part of the science. The numbers are also people and somehow the characters are going to have to replace the human side of keeping the smoke monster contained by replacing jacob. This puts an awful lot of stock in the importance of the numbers.
The problem i am having is that this season seems to have given more air time to the flash sideways universe then the on island stuff. It almost feels like this season is more about that world then the on island world. On island there really hasn't been too much action compared to what is happening off island. Somehow i think the solution is going to be enacted off island, not on island. Im guessing it is going to be desmond leading that charge.
-watch me change my mind next week.
Smokey's grand aspiration to get home is a metaphor for uniting, which love & hate cannot do without taking all of the world with it. The nature of the world is duality.
To: Rob Patterson
I'm not sure if I cracked it, but I wrote what turned out to be an extraordinarily lengthy analysis. Honestly, I think it's too long to post here, even if there are no limits on the length of posts.
However, I would like to bounce it off someone for consideration, comments, etc. So if you want to send me an email address, I'd be happy to email you the Word.doc I just finished writing. I'll keep an eye on the blog, but you can also email me directly at:
spence4815162342@gmail.com
Thanks,
Spence
p.s. I suppose I should extend this same offer to others. As noted, my essay is simply too long to post as a comment (7 pages in a Word document). But if you want to send me an email address, I'll attach my analysis/speculation for your comments (which I hope will be semi-constructive).
The biggest problem I have with this alt timeline is that it affects the whole world. The same secondary characters exist, Arzt, Minkowski, Keamey, etc. but as different versions of themselves. Some are the same (Arzt), some similar (Keamey) and others different (Minkowski). Not to mention the rest of the world population.
So an attempt by the main characters (Widmore, Hawking, Desmond, Daniel) to "select" one timeline over the other impacts more than just the Losties. In other words, there has got to be someone who has a better life in the alt timeline (maybe Tricia Tanaka isn't dead in the alt timeline) and wouldn't want it to change (not to mention all the people who landed safely on 815 in LA X).
So we have 2 options.
#1 - Alt-reality doesn't exist or isn't "real". Charlie: "none of this matters". Daniel: "what if this wasn't supposed to be our life".
#2 - The control Jacob and Flocke (good v. evil, love v. hate) have over the world is universal, undeniable, and so distinguishable (black and white) that there is no gray area.
@Dave - but that is the thing about time travel. All events that occur in the world are tied to every other event in some why or the other. If we change one of those events (how ever insignificant)...everything else will be affected.
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