After a near half-season absence, Desmond returns to the foreground this week, and not surprisingly, his story is once again a game changer. As the only person to survive a cataclysmic magnetic event, he is key to Widmore’s plan on the island. And in the flash-sideways, he gets a taste of “the truth” from Charlie, and will be the one to finally bring our wandering, disconnected survivors together. In this final chapter of “LOST,” the end game has never been in sharper focus. And yet we’re still confounded as to what happens next.
“You felt it, didn’t you?” So love is all you need… to see beyond the edges of the universe. Charlie, choking on his drugs, sees (presumably) Claire from the original timeline and realizes that nothing else matters, that nothing else is real. Desmond, after nearly drowning and getting zapped in an MRI machine, sees Penny and the birth of Charlie. Daniel falls in love at first sight with Charlotte, and he gets a brainload of quantum physics. I would guess that the intensity of premature labor and natural, maternal love is what connected Claire with the name Aaron earlier this season. And now Desmond wants to share his revelation with the rest of the passengers on Oceanic 815.
Forgetting for a moment that few people will be receptive to an invitation to have a near-death experience (breath-holding exercises? elective MRI scans?), it bears noting that not everyone in the flash-sideways world would give up their lives for the ones we know they had in the original timeline. If “redeemed dad” Jack somehow gets a glimpse of “Oceanic Six” Jack, for example, I don’t think he’ll be as convinced as Charlie and Desmond that the vision is “the truth.”
In fact, now that our flash-sideways characters are becoming aware of the original, island timeline, the question is whether the opposite will happen. Will Unlocke or Jacob show our LOSTies a glimpse of their sideways selves? Will the final sides in the war be determined by which timeline each character wants to win out?
And the fact that Desmond has a plan in the flash-sideways now suggests that the fate of our characters might not only be decided on the island. Widmore’s high-powered test tonight suggests that his final play involves another failsafe-level release of magnetic energy. But his insistence on a timeline, coupled with how things may soon unfold in the flash-sideways, make me think that something big will happen on both sides simultaneously.
Finally, Eloise. She still seems to be the most in-the-know in any timeline. Her shock at seeing Desmond, supposedly for the first time, was palpable. And the way she turned from surprisingly understanding to angry and frustrated was telling. Desmond is not ready. And for him to start asking questions is not just wrong, but a “violation.” A violation of rules? Of time and space? We shall see.
Notes and Notions:
- “Intense” is the word of the evening. Desmond enduring the energy test was as wild as any climactic moment in “LOST,” and could easily rank as an iconic image through all of science fiction. And Desmond’s claustrophobic MRI flash scene was also powerful.
- Seeing flashes of Charlie drowning once again still put a lump in my throat. But that’s an emotional card the writers probably can’t play much longer.
- The contrast between Desmond’s two lives — globetrotting businessman with no attachments versus loving husband and father — could have probably been drawn a little more subtly. Why would he want Charles Widmore’s approval more than anything else in the world, if there wasn’t a Penny to motivate him? Still, the moment where Widmore let him have a sip of MacCutcheon was great.
- On the other hand, was there something more to the fact that Desmond had no family to declare as an emergency contact? His lack of daddy issues, or even mommy issues, remains one of the biggest blank spots among our characters’ backstories.
- The MRI machine definitely had a little bit of smoke monster in it, at least in terms of sound design. And actually, the smoke monster probably has more in common with MRI machines than you’d initially think.
- I’m not entirely clear if sideways Daniel thinks setting off a bomb was a good idea or not, though he definitely doesn’t want to do it again. He does seem to know that Jughead did detonate, and that it was key to creating “some other life.”
- Daniel is a Widmore, and Penny is not (if she was, indeed, the “Penny Milton” of the mysterious guest list). And the two are half-siblings, as many suspected was the case in the original timeline. Presumably Penny is still Widmore’s first daughter by another woman, but the whole family seems to be pretty even keeled.
- Will we ever learn who Penny’s mother is? I’m not sure. I think giving her the name “Milton” is a way of saying it doesn’t matter. John Milton is the author of “Paradise Lost.”
- I’m not sure there’s much more to George Minkowski turning up as Desmond’s driver, either. But I’m a fan of the cameos.
- With Daniel now a musician, the number of likely suspects for the person who programmed the computer in The Looking Glass underwater station has doubled. It always seemed poetic that Charlie be somehow responsible for the “Good Vibrations” code, but Daniel works too.
- On the island, I’m not entirely sure why Desmond went with Sayid so willingly. Maybe you just don’t want to mess with a killer with a knife? But the way he was so at peace after the energy test makes me think he’s now absolutely convinced of his importance in the universe, and simply doesn’t see Sayid (or anyone) as a threat.
- Locations: So many! The baggage claim was at Honolulu International Airport. Widmore’s office was built inside King Kalakaua Plaza, also known as the former Niketown Honolulu building, in Waikiki. The Airport Courthouse was the State Attorney General’s Office building on Queen St. off Punchbowl St. The bar, “Jax,” was Anna Bananna’s near University Avenue. The marina where Charlie and Desmond drove into the water was the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor behind the Ilikai Hotel. The hospital where Desmond, Charlie, and Jack turned up was Hawaii Medical Center East on Liliha Street. The museum where Eloise was staging her concert was Bishop Museum. And the stadium where Desmond met Penny was Aloha Stadium.
But that’s just us. How did you like the episode? We’d love your feedback! Please share your reactions, theories, favorite moments and other thoughts from “Happily Ever After” below, and join in one of the best post-episode conversations you’ll find anywhere. You can also e-mail us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or leave a brief message on the LOSTLine at (815) 310-0808.
Actually scratch my last post on the end, knowing Lost, what we will likely see in the end is a Flash of White Light and maybe an Eye (Jack’s? Desmond’s?) CLOSING..then closing credits…my prediction…LOL
In the past I was really into Japanese animation. (The club I went to fell apart several years back, and after that I watched it far less regularly.) But this episode reminds me of something that a good number of science-fiction/fantasy anime did near the end of a season. Throughout the whole series, the characters have been in a fantastic situation that sometimes seemed like a burden. Whether they’re people from the normal world teleported to a fantasy world or people living in a world in which creatures for myth live openly among human beings, or the main character live in a house the periodically teleports to a different town somewhere in the world. Or whatever.
About two episodes before the end of a series, some of these shows take away that supernatural elements and give the characters a chance to live a normal life. Sometimes, the supernatural element is taken taken away without the past being changed, Other times, reality is altered (or the characters have a vision of an altered reality) so that the characters have new lives in which the supernatural element was always absent. Sometime one character has full memories of what originally happened. Sometimes none remember at first but one or a few have the equivalent of the “mirror moments” we’ve witnessed in the Sideways World.
Typically what happens is that the people in the altered reality are unhappy. Even those who hated the supernatural element throughout the series and appear to have happy lives without it are miserable at the core of their beings. Eventually they change things back to the way it was. Sometimes, the people remember the alternate experience afterwards, sometimes they don’t.
That’s what I think we have here.
There’s one other world from fiction the Sideways World remind me of. Similar to what I stated above but with a different twist. It reminds me of Nikos Kazantzakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ. In this work, Jesus on the Cross is tempted for a final time by the Devil. What he is tempted with is a vision of a normal life. A life of carpentry, marriage, and children. No adoring crowds but no crucifixion either. It’s a long and apparently happier life — though it includes many sad moments — but Jesus in his “Flash Sideways” in the end feels in the depth of his soul that its wrong, that its not what should be. Not what he should do. He rejects the temptation, accepting the cross.
So the Flash Sideways world could be a temptation — either literally offered by the MiB or an effective temptation if the Losties in either timeline have to chose one or the other — for a seemingly better but in the end deeply wrong life. It;’s true that some people we’ve seen have bad lives in the Sideways World. Sideways Sayid has arguably the worst life (so far) of any major character. But its still better than Sick Sayid’s life. So changing back may be a sacrifice even for him. (Sdeways Kate may end up with about as bad a life, but we can’t be sure. And it seems many people on this board might be glad if she did.) And as for people with fairly good lives like Dasmond, Hurley, or Jack, they would definitely need to sacrifice. Jack’s son. Hurley’s luck. They may need to be sacrificed to preserve the timeline. Hopefully not. (Desmond is apparently not so happy as he might appear. The same may be true for others.) I hope that there will be a merging of each pairs of minds. (Though that doesn’t do much for Charlie or Dan.) I still wonder if Sideways Locke could merge with MiB, giving the MiB some humanity back.
Of course, one big now question i, really how the two timelines relate to each other in time. Desmond’s time travel abilities don’t let us draw any conclusions from the fact that he crosses from Island Now (2007) to Sideways Now (2004). If only Widmore’s submarine could convincingly be said to be within the islands electromagnetic influence in time (whatever “in time” means in this context), I’d still like the outside world to be the 2007 version of the Sideways World. Ready for minds to be merged.
But what if, instead, the the Flash Sideways happened not after the On-Island bits of Season 6 but before them? What it the explosion did completely rewrite history, but with echoes in people’s minds? What if these people with mixed but arguably better lives without the Island decided that they must sacrifice their comfort (or more) and return history to the way it had been. That sunken island may be a Very Bad Thing. Then after they do whatever they must do to alter history back, that’s when On-Island Season 6 begins. I that if so, maybe their Sideways Memories now exist as Echoes and could be reawoken. (Though no on island “mirror moments” that I can recall argues against this.) So that the maturity some of them learned in those lives could utilized. Maybe Locke’s Sideways personality could be awoken in the MiB.
Anyway: Great episode.
Better to have loved and Lost then to never have loved at all?
First off, I loved having Desmond, Charlie, and Daniel back! How I’ve missed them! I actually clapped when Daniel came to Des! (I saw him playing the piano, so I knew he was going to show up at some point!)
I’ve always wondered if Daniel and Penny knew about each other on the Island Timeline, it was interesting seeing it here in the sideways timeline.
IT seems as though our timelines are starting to bleed together now and I don’t know that I have any more answers than I had before. I do have lots of questions, though!
– What does Eloise know? How is she different than anyone else? Especially because it seems like Charles is oblivious.
– When Charlie said, “This isn’t real.”… What does that mean? Will the sideways timeline simply disappear when the rest of the Losties find out that they were all on an island? And is that what he’s going to tell them?
-What the HECK is up with Sayid? While it was awesome to see him be his old badass Sayid self for a second, I still don’t trust him… is he snapping out of his trance? Why did Des go so easily with him?
-WHAT IS THE SACRIFICE?!?!
*sigh* So many NEW questions now. My head is spinning!
~Genevieve from CA.
@target, aside from your finale sequence prediction, I can completely agree with your Schrodinger’s Cat/Einstein’s Bomb scenario playing a vital part in this episode.
The box, in it’s most literal term, is the scientific reasoning we’ve been looking for to explain the dual realities. After observation, both realities, however, cannot exist and thus one must be destroyed by the extension of this theory.
So, I don’t think we are suppose to take the metaphor too literal…
Ryan, just read the blog and I think the birth Desmond ‘sees’ is his son, Charlie.
Lol @Bonita – I noticed that too – Pretty sure Desmond doesn’t see Aaron…
What a great episode. Now Flocke said there is going to be war on the Island. Did he mean physical or mental war. Like some other people said that Desmond is going to try to have all the passengers remember thier past lives. If this happens then Desmond is going to give them choices for which life they want to lead. This war will be inside of their heads. Or could it be both wars the physical and mental. Also the mental war could deciding who to choose between MIB or Jacobs people.
Not just Holy Freakin’ Crap –
BEST. EPISODE. EVER.
NUMBER ONE.
We already know the crisis that will determine the final outcome: will UnLocke be able to gather enough of The Chosen to achieve escape velocity and leave the island? Now, I believe we have been provided the competing outcomes of this crisis as well. It all boils down to a case of which reality will prevail. Jacob had preserved the island reality of loss and sacrifice. Freed darkness offers its own alternative.
We have been conceiving of the flash-sideways in terms of time. How does it fit in the overall sequence? How has it splintered from and how will it be reconciled with the other line? Perhaps we should look at it more in terms of wish fulfillment.
(Jack’s “I wish” , wishing for cocoa or peanut butter or a lottery ticket or a runaway bus)
Jack is healed and becomes the supportive father in the ATL. All of Ben’s good inclinations can be realized and are not contorted by the lies and treachery he does in another’s service. Sawyer chooses to uphold the law rather than repeat the path of his Moriarity. Even the preferred punching bag of Fate, John Locke, finds love and happiness. Desmond, Daniel, and Charlie all seem to have what they wished for in their fractured fairy tale, but Love is the constant that transcends quantum mechanics so they know something’s not quite right.
“All of this, all of this can be yours.
All of this, all of this can be yours.
Just give me what I want I want and no one gets hurt.” –Vertigo, U2
Pretty good episode. It seemed to me that the characters in the alternate universe became aware of the main timeline when they came close to death or came in conact with someone they cared for deeply in the main timeline (their constant?). Looking forward to seeing how this resolves.
@Ryan
Minkowski is far from a random nod to past seasons. He was the one who first underwent the same experience of mind-travelling as Desmond in “The Constant.” It should come as no surprise that he’s now his spirit guide in the flash side as well.
Great episode, but also scary for Des. He’s back to passing out as he moves from Island reality to the flash-sideways timeline as a result of the EM exposure. I think this is the ‘sacrifice’ to which Charles suggests: and we know from history that he’ll need his constant, Penny, in the island timeline, so as to avoid the fate we’ve seen others befall.
This was an awesome episode, LOVED it. Desmond centric episodes are always top on my list, they never disappoint us.
When we saw the scene with the car on the water, immediately I thought that Charlie was going to die. I didn’t see it coming, the hand with not Penny’s boat.
At first I was so sad that Desmond didn’t have Penny in his life. I admit that I’m a Skater, but Penny and Desmond are the only couple that truly had a future! So now that they met in the flash-sideways is good. I just really really really hope Des doesn’t die in the end, that whole thing when Widmore said that he needs to sacrifice something, doesn’t sound like he is going to get a happily ever after.
Great to see that Faraday, Charlie and Desmond are having that “feeling” of events related to the island timeline. Can’t wait to see what are Desmond’s plan with the manifest and looking for everyone that was on 815. Do the rest of the losties have had these “experiences” as Charlie and Faraday have? How will Desmond convince and prove to them about the other timeline?
If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my Constant
Desmond Centric Episodes = “game changers”
LOVED this episode. So many parallels, so happy to see Charlie, Faraday, Eloise again. I enjoyed seeing the concept of love being eternal through Desmond/Penny, and even through the descriptions from Charlie and Faraday of Claire and Charlotte.
So is it an alternate timeline or not? Cuse and Lindeloff say that its not an alternate universe. But is it the same thing?
Des is calm as he goes with Sayid, I think, because he knows it will lead to the Man in Black and, knowing what the plan is, he’s ready to meet him head-on and see it through.
Now we just get to watch the plan unfold! Woo-hoo!
Penny and Desmond both seemed pretty cavalier about the fact that he just fainted in front of her. If it were me and someone fainted, I’d be pretty freaked out. Maybe Desmond is already getting used to the weirdness, but what’s with Penny? Actually, she’s unreasonably calm about the fact that a stranger who somehow knows her name randomly tracked her down in an otherwise deserted stadium, fainted, and then invited her to coffee. Does she know something too?
Hum… Just saw the last twitter comment and picture of Evangeline Lilly.
You should have a look at that and tell me what you think.
Near death experience (death) + love (life) = new consciousness
After Juliet who just barely got time to be explicit and after some already dead folks, Desmond is the first one to access it and still be alive.
But how Desmond will be able to give access to this to everyone? Following Sayid and MIB and kill everyone on Island hoping they find love off Island? But by following MIB he will sacrifice his own future (just like Sayid)?
I like Rich comment about having what you asked for… The Wizard of Oz music at the end of the last comicon is more fitting after each episode. If smokey is the Genie in the bottle who gave up on humanity and if the Losties prove him wrong maybe he will grant their wishes at the end.
One last comment: Sayid found death on Island, didn’t found love off Island (yet… annoying blond girl, come back!) thus he lost his “consciousness”. I hope he reaches his salvation through love.
As one of the biggest fans of “The Constant”, it still remains my favorite episode, despite how good “Happily Ever After” was. The most touch, romantic phone call. Ever. Maybe in the future, I might change my mind, but I’m guessing not.
I mentioned above perhaps the epilogue theory might be toast. I was reading some other blogs and Sepinwall thinks the same thing. The thing that bothers me is since some have better lives in the FS, others, better lives on the island, will they have a choice which life to “choose” or will there be one “choice” for all and some will be screwed?
So Jack’s son and Faraday in FS both are playing the same Chopin piece. Wonder if that means anything. It also happens to be Freddy’s 200th birthday anniversary.
Me again: Widmore is looking for the magnetic pockets? He knew Desmond would stay alive but tested if it worked. Now I guess he needs Desmond to distract mib (no name/no form so no caps) while he will use the pockets… but it might be the death of everyone on Island except Desmond who will take Jacob role (or maybe the explosion will kill mib and destroy the Island) and eventually Love prevail in the sideway world!
Jack+Kate; Desmond+Penny; Hugo+Libby; Sawyer+Juliette…
(ok I am shooting at all the directions… lots of miss but maybe some good shot. But lots of interesting respond on this blog, I am sure)
Wow, wow, wow.
Well, if I didn’t enjoy Richard’s episode then this one is the polar opposite. It knocks even “The Constant” into a cocked hat!
I got the impression that, at the end, Desmond, in both realities, is now fully aware of both realities. Somewhat more significant than the little bleed-throughs that Charlie and Daniel had. That’s why, in both realities, he seems fully calm and understanding.
We saw him experience conciousness swapping before but this seems to have taken things a stage further and his conciousnesses have merged. He will now be on a mission to end the ‘fake’ reality so that he can be back with Penny and Charlie but even if he can persuade the others of the truth they may not be so keen to end it.
Eloise is clearly not so keen to see Desmond take up this role, maybe she will be working to keep the alt-reality going.
Anyone else think Sawyer and Juliet may be in the same coffee shop going Dutch?
@Ron Kaplan and Nana: Eloise name now is Widmore, meaning that Widmore did not divorce after having an afair with another woman who gave birth to Penny and thus Penny’s name is not Widmore anymore
@Eric: Let’s speak Japanim: Evangelion ending… The Human Complementation Project. I think Lost is doing a “more accessible” version of THE BEST ending of any TV show ever (that fans hated)
@Steve: Yes the exact birthday of Chopin was the day before the Lost episode with Jack’s son playing it.
hey Ryan and Jen!
what an amazing episode.
it went right up to #2 behind the Constant for me.
I almost thought we would see “Desmond is my constant.” in Dan’s notebook!
still, loved that scene, their conversation. can’t wait for the next 6! I think maybe I missed H.I. C. that one day I was downtown and they were filming in a building, maybe for this episode.
off to listen to some podcasts.
take care-
rina
@John Fisher, my initial reaction – totally the same as yours…confused – what did we just see? After thinking about it all I can come up with is:
– The sideways universe created by last season’s explosion is wrong. Eloise is trying t protect it because in that world, Daniel is alive. She doesn’t want Desmond to search for Penny and start the long journey back to reunite with her in island world or she will lose Daniel again.
– Charles is trying to undo the explosion from last season and set things back on track. He believes he must do that to save the lives of the people he knows and loves. I’m not sure why he thinks that as more of them seem to be alive in the sideways world than the island world – exept for his grandchild.
– The one real winner in the sideways world is Jack. Will he really want to set another explosion that would result in that world being obliviated? I can see that Jack fights against Widmore.
– I’m sure that when we are done with this, that we will look back on this episode as one of the most critical in the story but right now, I am totally confused and just looking for Vincent to explain it all to me.
So much for the Amazing Grace red herring.
Can we rule out Desmond as Wallace/108?
Last night was another great episode of the season. Season 6 is coming together nicely. I love how Eloise Hawking may have a baring on both sides of the reality mirrors. I loved her mentioning seeking out Widmore’s approval and Desmond’s look on his face as if he has no idea what she is talking about. I’m pretty sure that was a nod at the other side of the mirror. The equation Daniel ‘wrote’ being one I’m pretty sure was picked apart from his notebook the first time they showed it. [ http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080229225109/lostpedia/images/thumb/b/b2/Lost_405_17.42.jpg/120px-Lost_405_17.42.jpg ] that being the image I was referring to. Everything is bleeding over… Imaginary space is starting to fall apart.
I love how the writers have had us going the whole time. Listening to some of the many podcasts on the LPN… I can’t believe there is such lack of faith in these writers sometimes. That people really thought the sideways had no meaning, and that it was the writers attempts at filler. I just don’t understand, they’ve lead on that the oceanic 815ers have ‘felt’ something out of place in each episode. The reflection scenes, the scene of Jack in the plane staring out the window almost as if he was waiting for something to happen…
The ultimate conclusion still being indeterminable at this point… I just want to say that this show really can’t get any better… It is closing out at it’s prime, and here’s to hoping that some set of writers, studio, producers with lack of imagination does not try to take this show on as a remake
My mind is just a little bit blown.
A couple more things now that I’ve read Ryan’s comments….
“Will the final sides in the war be determined by which timeline each character wants to win out?” I really don’t think that’s what it’ll come down to. Everyone has such complex motivations, as you’d imagine they would, and it is hard to see that everything will come down to each person making a simple choice like that.
ITA with the comment that Desmond in the energy test shed is sure to be a landmark sci fi moment. That was really amazing and I can’t recall ever seeing anything quite like it. You know he HAD survived a major electromagnetic event before, but it was so hard to watch them stick him in a room and deliberately subject him to that.
My DH keeps making Fifth Element comparason (a movie we both despised!) but if he’d shut up about it, it wouldn’t really be something that would jump into my head. 😉 I was just wondering if he was the only one or if anyone else thought of that movie.
I tend to agree that Penny’s mother is something we may not find out, and probably is irrelevant. We know Widmore was involved with a woman off-island and that was at least one reason he was exiled…I’m not sure if the identity of that person really matters. Although it would sure be interesting if it ultimately did!!
My friends and I are not going to have anything to talk about at coffee on wednesday mornings in a few weeks! Wah!
@Seth- glad to have you posting – no spoilers of future episodes here. I feel the same way as you, it is so nice to have a safe spoiler free zone to figure stuff out. All those that listen to the forward cabin, thanks for not letting us in on it. I don’t listen and I appreciate that no one spills the beans about the future.
@Joy- interesting idea about the sides being about timelines rather than Jacob and MIB. Jack is a bit of a wildcard because he will have to give up his son if the timeline changes. So again, it all comes back to daddy issues. I don’t think anyone with a child would give that up. Even for the greater good, I couldn’t give up the existence of one of my children, to never have be born, what a horrible thought.
I am one of the few that have always like the sideways I guess, I like the sideways flashes, love seeing everyone meet and intersect with each other’s lives like that. Whoever said “everyone ends up at the hospital” is so right. Jack seems amazed that one of the people from his flight was there, but Charlie is actually the 4th person there already. Sawyer is the only one who hasn’t been there and Jin and Sun are on the way.
@ Rich – thanks for clarifying Minkowski’s significance! He’s kind of Mr Marvel to Desmond’s Dorothy
@MRZ – that link was interesting, plus I looked up electromagnetic radiation and note this quote guys –
Since light is an oscillation it is not affected by travelling through static electric or magnetic fields in a linear medium such as a vacuum. However in nonlinear media, such as some crystals, interactions can occur between light and static electric and magnetic fields — these interactions include the Faraday effect and the Kerr effect.
The FARADAY effect!!! So cool, these character names all mean so much. His last name actually has to do with electromagnetic radiation, his life study.
Bottom line, my not paying enough attention in science class is now causing problems. It is a good thing that there are people here that paid attention and can guide us non-scientific types through this. Next thing you know I’ll have to use that math I thought I would never need.
Ryan and Jen – great article on you in last Sunday’s New York Times! Very impressive!
The Faraday effect wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_effect
Can someone put this in terms a person like me (science class slacker) can understand?
Thanks!!
@Carol, I’m with you, I’ve liked the Flashsideways.
@ Joy – I desperately try to forget I ever sat through the Fifth Element but I’m kinda curious as to how you and your DH think it relates to LOST
I believe that Desmond can now see more than any of the Widmores (Charles, Eloise, Daniel) and he’ll know how to create the best of Both Worlds and will give the same choice to all the 815’ers. He will cause some final event that will give our people an opportunity to choose their own fate.
@Bonita – I hope you are right, I like your ending.
Hey maybe the final battle all comes down to what they have been preaching since season 1.
Faith vs. Science – MIB represents “faith” (meaning good or evil and the religious theme), Desmond represents “science” Science (electromagnetism) will be used to fight “faith” MIB.
Electromagnetism will be used either as a weapon to contain MIB or as a tool to choose the timeline for the Losties.
Does Walt have the ability to project himselves into different timelines. Still don’t understand him talking to Shannon backwards and being wet. When Walt spoke to Locke when Locke was shot in the pit, was he smokey or was he an older Walt projecting himself to that time to Locke?
Well it is time for me to get back to my real life, I’ll be back much later in the day, and I fully expect there to be well over 200 comment by then. Till then “namaste” or “see ya in another life brotha”.
HFC – I need to edit my comments more, sorry for all the typos this morning.
Does this explain the whispers? Are they the voices of the sideways Losties who have returned to the island? Are they in some shifted reality, so they can’t be seen directly, but can be heard ocassionaly? Or are they observing from the control room of the Island (if it is a giant spaceship like some theories suggest). Are the sideways Losties looking for place to nudge time back on track?
@Carol: I would need to explain a bit the “vision” the writers have on all that to go back to the Principle of relativity.
All the experiments (/laws of physics) will give the same results if you stand at the same point (referencial system)… Those laws never change but if you change your referencial system you will see different results.
Light might be considered a Constant (the speed of light) but using the Faraday’s effect (magnetism) you can “polarize” light and thus lead to a “phase upset”. (you need to do that test through dielectric materials… like say: water)
Bonus: a Minkowski diagram allows you to compare the same experiment through two referencial systems…
It is really summed up (and bias) science but I don’t think the Lost writers searched more than that either.
On a more personna Faraday (a real genius) note (found that on the french pages of Wikipedia):
Faraday read and made a way of life from The Improvement of the Mind from Watts: Rule no1-Always carry a journal to write note…
Desmond episodes are the BEST! I think they could made the show “Desmond” instead of “Lost” and had the entire show revolve around Des.
Am I the only one who noticed the guy at the beginning going into the EMF machines and knowing he was going to get fried, AND they had RED lights shine on his shirt?? Red shirt? Awesome.
The only thing I am confused about is the time difference between when Desmond was in the hospital to when Widmore brought him to the island. Are we to assume Widmore brought Desmond directly to the island from the hospital? If so, isn’t there a large gap in the timeline? I mean, how long have Jack, Kate, Sun etc. been on the island since they left on 316? Weeks?
Overall, another excellent episode!
@Carol from Boston.
In a nutshell Faraday was able to prove a relationship between light and electromagnetism. This led to, among other things, Einstein’s theory of relativity that proves energy and matter are the same thing and space and time are intertwined.
Interestingly enough the Faraday Effect might make invisibility possible by bending light around an object using electromagnetism. Are there pocket of electromagnetism on the island where people can become invisible? Is this how the Others could seemingly appear and disappear? Does it explain the whispers? Or why Widmore is looking for the pockets?
@Carol: I said water was necessary for the Faraday’s effect but ionosphere (the sky) does that to. I guess if a very large amount of magnetism was to be realised the light would be affected… and maybe the sky would turn purple.
I think the Sideways world is a world of “possibilities.” It is not real, because Jack has his scar and Eloise says Desmond is in “violation.” The group on the Island who experienced the “bomb” did not really experience the bomb, they merely moved forward in a time flash. Jin explained, “Flash, I have felt this before.” That’s why Juliet was still alive when they woke up from the “bomb.” For the characters to survive into the future, they have to go back and actually experience the bomb, or some other event that Widmore is concocting. The timeline they are all experiencing, post-crash, is not a good one, too many key characters are dead. They need to somehow follow the “possible” timeline, but make it real.
Last season, I wrote in the Transmission that I could envision Desmond and Charles Widmore eventually having a friendly shot of MacCutcheon whiskey together. Last night, it actually happened!!! Of course, I could have never predicted it would occur in the wacky Flash Sideways universe. Great episode. Welcome back, Desmond / Henry Ian Cusick.
Tthe phrase “will cease to be” (previous episode – The Package) evokes the sonnet http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/whenihavefears.html by John Keats that begins the same way -“when I have fears that I may cease to be.” It’s about love and specificially the “fair creature of an hour” that one might never again behold. So much in the current episode reflects this – Charlie and Desmond and Danny all gaining a glimpse of that fair creature, and this glimpse driving them to seek connections. All the appearing, disappearing – the lost loves (Juliet, Claire, Charlotte). Maybe “Penny is my constant” will be key to Desmond’s ability to survive what is to come, and to save the rest.
Perhaps the whole series hinges on “the faery power of unreflecting love.”
The sonnet ends:
“Then on the far shore of the wide world I stand alone, and think,
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.”
Is this the final candidate, having made the ultimate sacrifice, remaining alone, after saving the rest?
Desmond is able to co-exist between various “present” timeline. He is like a needle on a record skipping across the grooves. He is becoming more aware.
What if there is never any “past”. What we merely know of as the past is simply the present in another timeframe?
Wasn’t George, Desmond’s driver, the guy in the freighter’s sick bay in “The Constant” who says to Desmond, “Hey… hey… it’s happening to you isn’t it?”?
2.342 @11Hz.
Awareness of the subconscious becomes consciousness. For whatever reason, exposure to EMP’s “wake up” this awareness.
I’m in a Starbucks watching people. Wondering if I am here.
Watching The Constant.
George Makowsky, Communications Officer = Desmond’s Driver, George.