LOST 6×11 “Happily Ever After”
April 6, 2010 · Print This Article
If Hurley is the soul of LOST, then the Desmond and Penny relationship is the heart. Desmond has and remains my favorite character on LOST, and the only character I really care about in a personal way. More after the break, including spoilers . . . .
***SPOILERS***
I cannot put this Desmond-centric episode up along LIVE TOGETHER, DIE ALONE and THE CONSTANT. Not enough happened, but the echo of the emotional weight that the Penny and Desmond relationship brings to LOST was felt, it just was not given enough time. And not enough happened on the island.
At least we finally got confirmation that the flash-sideways universe is how things in reality are after the nuclear bomb goes off, and that that is NOT how things should be.
WHAT I LIKED:
- Widmore saying, “of course not you idiot!”
- Desmond fainting upon shaking Penny’s hand
- Charlie driving the damn Benz right into the harbor!
- Finally there is some context for the reality of the flash-sideways
- George the limo driver, seems he’s been in 4 other eps as well, but do not recall him
- Penny’s smile, such a softness to it, can relieve a Man of his burdens
- Desmond still says “brother”
- the three tales of Love
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:
- Uh, Sayid just coming out of nowhere, killing two people, and Desmond being like, Ok, I’ll just go with you now
- A confidential list of names is being read OUT LOUD??
- even the hint that the rabbit might be experimented on
- very little action taking place on the island, the flash-sideway was good, but after like 3 continuous segments of it, I cringed a little realizing no island action at all is coming this ep
- Charlie just telling Desmond “you’re not happy” when he just met him
So pieces of the puzzle are still just falling into place. I am really getting anxious for all the pieces to be set and the show just rearing toward a clear climax. I am thinking that is just not going to happen before the second hour of the series finale. We still have Hurley’s to sort out next ep.
Damon and Carlton wrote a good episode, and ace LOST director Jack Bender did an even better job. Just a really great paced ep, great tone throughout. The story moved right along, and if I wasn’t so wanting the story on the island to move forward, I could easily have just enjoyed the Desmond flash-sideways ride.
So I guess Widmore is going to try and use some great electromagnetic attack or containment against MIB/Flocke with Desmond being the button pusher again for that? Did Widmore anticipate Sayid coming and taking Desmond, and that is why Desmond goes so calmly? Desmond seemed like he was in a trance or something, and I did not like him just agreeing to go with Sayid, so I can only guess then it is part of Widmore’s plan.
Penny doing stadiums this time, just one of many opposites in this episode (the 60 year old Scotch, etc, etc).
Any Desmond screen time is good, and this ep was great for what it was, and I feel good after watching it. It really made me give pause as I was flossing and brushing my teeth right after the ep ended and just before I started writing this review.
Do you love (or have you in the past) someone like Desmond does Penny? I do not think I have ever bought into a TV love relationship as much as Desmond and Penny’s. Seems really real between the actors.
Yet I want the climax, though more satisfied with this setup at least.
I’m going to come back...
I thought this one was great. Love the complexity, the moments of bafflement where we`re thinking- wtf? Love it that Eloise still seems to know what is going on, is still manipulating Desmond. Love his relationship with Widmore, love Charlie being suicidal, love all the echoes of his death.
This episode was built on echoes. It positively creaked with emotional weight. Almost all of season 6 has done that, caching in on our past investments in characters. It makes sense I supppose- it certainly seems the writers only have one last hand to play in terms of the forward story, so they`re just trying to amp up the emotional weight as much as possible so that when it hits, it`ll be a tsunami.
Hopefully they`ll pull it off.
Some notes-
George Minkowski (the limo driver) was the guy who died in the Constant from nose-bleeds. He was guiding Desmond then too.
They were reading the list of names out loud because it wasn`t top secret. Eloise only made a big deal out of it because it was top secret from Desmond. As she said, in her wickedly cryptic way, he`s not ready to see it.
Saieed taking Desmond is not Widmore`s plan. It`s simply that Desmond is not bothered. He seems to know, in both timelines, what he has to do. His trance state seems something like a state of grace, like nothing can touch him. He`s not worried about Saieed.
Charlie digging into Desmond`s psyche is largely explained by the fact that Charlie is suicidal for the ultimate junkie rush- near death/death, and seems to be seeing through the veil a little himself.
I feel this episode was all advancement. There`s very little room for things to happen on the island I think until all the pieces are arranged and the final climax comes. This is the way the story can expand.
Agreed on the Penny/Desmond relationship. It has huge power. Hard to say why. Perhaps because of Desmond`s back-story, and the time he went nuts in the hatch, smashing everything and yeling out- `it`s all gone!` Just before Locke hammered on the hatch lid and snapped him out of it.
Great episode, cutting to the core of what makes LOST fascinating- mystery and meaningful characters.
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Jason Collin Reply:
April 7th, 2010 at 10:30 AM
An episode of LOST is really dependent on if it is centered on a character we actually care about, like Desmond, Ben, Locke…..obviously Kate eps get no love, but funny how even a Sawyer ep had no weight, just a single dude with an attitude, who cares about that?
It would be nice to hear on the Official podcast Carlton and Damon talk about why the Penny/Desmond relationship works so well on screen, or why they think it does. I guess the tragic nature of their relationship makes it more intense, her father does not want them to be together, he gets marooned on an island, never stops thinking of her, she the same searching for the island, just the desperateness of it all, I think makes it great.
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Desmond ep comes through for a huge emotional payoff.
Here’s the crazy thing — Eloise is right that Desmond shouldn’t look for Penny yet. He has everything he wants: the trust of Widmore, freedom, a great life.
Hurley has his luck
Locke has his love
Ben has his dignity
Claire has her baby
James and Miles have honor and respect
Jack has a good father-son relationship
Faraday is a musician
Sun and Jin can run away together
Sayid has the love of his life alive
Dogen has his son
Even Eloise and Widmore have their family
…
So far almost all of the flash-sideways characters have “what they really want”.
Why would they ever choose the island’s reality?
That is possibly the main question of the next 7 episode flash sideways.
____
As for Desmond–I wasn’t bothered by his trance. “State of Grace” is exactly right. He knows that the other reality was screwed up and that only by saving this one can he save what he has with Penny.
I’m not quite sure what will happen next on the island…but I’m sure Desmond will be at the heart of it.
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Jason Collin Reply:
April 7th, 2010 at 10:24 AM
Like Charlie said though, Desmond wasn’t really happy, and pretty damn soon he was willing to throw it all away for Penny. Desmond at least, has already chosen the island reality.
But yes, it is good to have Desmond back and integral. Him turning the secret key at the very bottom of the hatch was the highlight of the series for me so far.
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The way Charlie just says ‘you’re not happy’ is totally appropriate for a junkie to say…rehabs (or the rehab-based reality shows I am basing this opinion on) seem to be full of people making comments like that to people they have just met, because they are talking about REAL stuff i.e. their emotions and not what the weather is like. So anyway, that would not have been a weird thing for Charlie who is dying for more heroin to say IMO.
I love that Desmond says brotha too.
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Jason Collin Reply:
April 7th, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Desmond saying “brother” and Hurley saying “dude” are always gold for me.
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Even though nothing much happened to advance the story, still a good ep for me, mostly due to it being Desmond-centric. Has any Desmond ep. EVER been bad in the history of Lost? Don’t think so. Maybe he’s the true hero/star of this series, perhaps not to the writers, but to the audience. Unlike any other character on the show, I can connect with Desmond in a real way. None of the other characters have that quality for me.
Gotta agree with UK Mike in that the reason Desmond was so calm at the end of the show when Sayid took him away was because he could suddenly see his grand purpose, and being taken to Locke was exactly what was supposed to happen. What did bug me was that Sayid let man-chick-with-glasses live. I can only hope that his purpose in doing this is that he WANTS her to tell Widmore what happened and maybe even give chase. Otherwise just no reason for not smoking her.
I also don’t really like the idea that Widmore is suddenly looking like the good guy in this fight after all that sh*t that he’s done. Hopefully looks are deceiving though…
Gave this ep three stars. Would’ve easily been four if it wasn’t just one big sideways flash.
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Jason Collin Reply:
April 8th, 2010 at 1:46 AM
I’ve heard the girl with glasses referred to as a “dirty Tina Fey.”
Any speculation on what kind of hurt Desmond can bring to MIB/Flocke? By that I mean, exactly HOW will Desmond be able to defeat MIB/Flocke? By shooting energy from his hands? By releasing some huge energy pocket again?
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Great points Jei- it does seem like everyone has what they would most want. Except perhaps Kate? Unless we think that what she really wants IS to be on the run. She was headed down that kind of path before Jacob stopped her, stealing the lunchbox. And even with that, she still did plenty of bad stuff. Who knows how much more she did without his influence.
Mike, excellent point about Desmond being the most relatable. Of all the characters- he`s the one who has most stuck to his guns, and generally tried to have nothing to do with the island. Though he`s intimately bound up in the island, he`s gone to great lengths to get out from under it, and pursue his life off island. He seems to be the only one who actually was able to get a life once they got off. The others were all still playing out their odd little dramas, brought on by the island. That plus the extreme pathos of Desmond`s hard life coupled with his strong desire for something better, must be what makes us like him.
It also probably helps that his back-story has not been strung out with lots of filler like all the other characters have had.
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