Wednesday, April 7, 2010

6:11 Happily Ever After



Last week Damon Lindelof tweeted that "In one week, the conversation is going to change." After watching last night's episode, I see what he meant. Things are really starting to come together and move in a specific direction. Not that I know AT ALL what that direction is, but I can sense the momentum.

Flashsideways Connections

-Desmond's driver is George Minkowski, the communications officer from the freighter in season 4.

-Widmore pours Desmond a glass of MacCutcheon and tells him "Nothing is too good for you" - the exact opposite of what he tells him in the original timeline when he sneers "[You're not] worthy of drinking my whiskey. How could you ever be worthy of my daughter?"

-On the wall in Widmore's office there's a painting of scales with white on one side, black on the other, perfectly balanced. Is this a world where good and evil are balanced?

-Desmond tells Charlie he has a choice: he can exterminate his music career, or come with him to the hotel. Charlie: "That doesn't seem like a choice." Desmond: "There's always a choice, brother." The Desmond we know has always leaned towards destiny over free will.

-Charlie drives the car into the water at the same marina where Ben attacked Desmond last season.

-On the plane Charlie nearly dies and Jack saves him, then later Desmond saves him from the sunken car. On the Island the same thing happens: Jack saves Charlie from being hanged by the Others, and then Desmond saves him multiple times later.

-All of the other characters have had a "mirror moment" in their flashsideways when they seem to be aware of the other world, but Desmond's moment is through a window, because he is the one who can see the most clearly between the two worlds.

-The doctor checking Desmond's eyes mirrors the doctor on the freighter examining him in "The Constant."

-The MRI machine makes the same sounds as the solenoids during Widmore's test.

-The panic button for the MRI mirrors the fail-safe key in the hatch. The technician says "try not to press it, because then we have to start all over again from the beginning." When Desmond turned the key, he found himself starting all over in his relationship with Penny, but unable to change anything.

-In the original timeline Widmore marries Penny's mother, but in this one he marries Eloise.

-Eloise says that what Desmond wants more than anything is Widmore's approval, and in the original timeline, that's exactly right - it's why he goes on the race around the world and ends up on the Island in the first place. But now that he's aware of Penny and Charlie, his motivations are changing.

-Eloise says Desmond is Widmore's "best fix-it man" - and now he's playing the same role on the Island. 

-Penny's last name is Milton (as in John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost.) Does anyone else really want to know what instrument Penny was supposed to play at the ball?

-I thought it was funny that when Daniel saw Charlotte for the first time she was eating a chocolate bar, just like when she was a little kid. Once a chocoholic, always a chocoholic!

-Desmond says he needs the names on the flight manifest because he wants to "show them something." Is he going to show them the same way Charlie showed him? (Hop on the bus everyone, we're going for a little drive into this lake.)

Revelations

-Daniel confirms that it was the detonation of Jughead that caused all these changes, and he suggests that it was the wrong thing to do.

-The test rabbit is named Angstrom, which is a measurement of electromagnetic radiation.

-Eloise says that Charlie telling Desmond about the other world is "a violation." The rules again! Are we ever going to find out what exactly all the rules are, and who created them?

-Being close to death allows the characters to see into the other world. I'm more sure than ever now that we're going to see Juliet invite Sawyer out for coffee.

-It's looking more and more like the relationships between characters are the one thing that transcends time. Who's ready for a Harry Potter ending to the battle? I think I'd actually be OK with that.

Questions

-What did the test prove to Widmore? Does the ability to withstand electromagnetic events mean that Desmond is the one person who can overthrow the smoke monster?

-Who are Desmond's parents? I still think this is a glaring omission that has everything to do with his abilities, especially now that we know that those abilities predate his using the fail-safe key in the hatch. Could he possibly be related to Jacob or the smoke monster?

-What sacrifice is Desmond going to have to make? (Please don't let it be Penny and Charlie!)

-How does Eloise know so much about both timelines? Is Charles Widmore as aware as she seems to be?

-Charlie says "This doesn't matter. None of it matters." Are he and Daniel right that this timeline is less valid than the one we've already seen - that it's not what was supposed to happen?

-Why does Eloise think Desmond isn't ready yet? Ready for what?

Moments of Pure Awesomeness

-As usual, Desmond cleans up nice. Reeeeally nice.

-I loved the montage of Desmond's life with Penny in the MRI machine.  

-The solenoids used to test Desmond looked just like two eyes. 

-We heard repeats of lots of key phrases from the past.
Widmore "The Island isn't done with you yet." (originally said by Eloise)
Desmond "There's always a choice." (Jacob)
Eloise "What happened happened." (Daniel)

Not So Awesome

-More bad hair: Claire's horrible wig, Eloise's ginormous bouffant, and Daniel's greasy locks. Hey, if all I can complain about is bad hair, that's a pretty great episode.


What are your thoughts and theories? Do you think this episode has changed the conversation?

6 comments:

Notme said...

Have you ever seen the movie "Sliding Doors?" Totally reminds me of this. Gweneth paltrow, in one scenario misses the train. But it shows her in another scenario also catching the train and it trails her 2 lives through the whole movie, and eventually one of them ends... but you're thinking the whole time how crappy her life was because she missed the train, but in the end it was the way things were supposed to be. ( random.. yes I know)

I'm confused a little. Instead of time traveling now, Desmond is traveling into different dimensions, or versions of life?

Also a little " Butterfly Effect " being that when he was awake in one world, he wasn't in the other, like when he passed out infront of Penny? Of course he can't be in 2 places at once, so maybe we are seeing 2 very real worlds?? I have no clue...

I love Desmond! He is the deepest character and yes he cleans up Fabulous, but his epis always confuse me because I can't seem to put things together in my head.

Chelsea said...

My take on Desmond passing out is that it's like in "The Constant" when his consciousness was shifting between two points in time - he'd pass out in one and wake up in the other. But now he's shifting between two parallel timelines.

Sliding Doors - I love that movie! And I can't believe I hadn't thought of the comparison with Lost. Nice!

Unknown said...

I'm hoping to watch it again (...and again). While watching it last night Comcast decided to screw with Atlanta-based LOSTies and pixelated the entire show, with no sound. My DVR shows the same. Great. I found it online last night but it took 2 hours to watch since the feed needed to refresh ever 5-10 seconds.

I digress...LOVED it! Looking forward to seeing what Desmond and Widemore have up their sleeves and how it all comes together. Hoping to see Juliet next week too, with Sawyer having coffee :) It such a nice idea that LOVE transcends time and space. What does this mean for Kate and Jack since they aren't together/unattached in the island timeline?

And that Eloise is so tricky! I wish she would either dish it or zip it!

The Dragonfly said...

My brother-in-law (genius) told me two weeks ago that he felt like everything was going to hinge on two people - Desmond and Hurley. He surmised that maybe Des is Jacob's relative somehow. I love the idea of Hurley since he is the embodiment of goodness, kindness and childlike vulnerability. I also like the definite feeling I got last night the LOVE in its truest and purest form has something to do with all these people and why they're on the island. Think about it - Daniel, Charlie and Desmond last night all talking about or expressing their emotions for these women - it was awesome. Can't wait for next week - except it means one week closer to it being all over. boo.

Chelsea said...

Samantha, Tina - I would love it if Hurley ended up being the chosen one!

Karen said...

Chelsea this is so great! I wish I had been able to catch up by reading your blog all along. My husband and I have such bad memories that we miss tons of little things.

Karen

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