“This doesn’t matter – none of this matters. All that matters is that we felt it.”“I’ve seen something real. I’ve seen the truth.”
“What if this… all this… what if this wasn’t supposed to be our life? What if we had some other life and for some reason, we changed things?”
Oh. My. Freakin. God. WHAT an episode that was… I had to go to a book launch tonight and it went an hour longer than it was supposed to, so I didn’t even start this episode until most of you had already watched it through once, so I apologize for how late this is, but MAN was that episode amazing!!!! Why? Well… DESMOND. But also, it was true wish fulfillment for me, seeing two characters I’ve longed to see for a while… and one of them actually made me leap off the couch, pen and notes flying, and jumping around the room and squealing. I WAS SO HAPPY.
“Ab Aeterno” made me cry sad tears and joyous ones, but this one just filled me with so much happiness… you know that scene at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas where his heart grew three sizes? That’s how my chest felt at the end of this episode.
At the end of season 2, Desmond pulled out Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend and inside it a key fell out, as did a letter from Penny. I speculated then that maybe it will all come down to love. And once again, Desmond’s story is a beautiful, beautiful love story… a story that suggests that no matter how much pain we’re in, and no matter what we want to erase, that is not a choice we should be given no matter what. Will things be put back the way they were?
I do believe that love will be the reigning force in all of this: it’s what will make all of the characters do what they do, it’s what will save the world or end it… it’s what makes all of us do what we do.
And with all of the tie-ins to The Constant and Flashes Before Your Eyes, this episode was proof that the writers really DID know where they were going early on.
Lost writers, thank you thank you THANK YOU once again for another amazing episode. WOW, just when I thought maybe only the series finale will beat “Ab Aeterno” they present me with this stunner. I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!!
Highlights:
• Desmond’s reaction to Widmore telling him he’s back on the island. That twitch in his cheek made ME afraid.
• Minkowski!! We last saw him bleeding to death of a nosebleed in “The Constant.” (Well, we also saw him in “Meet Kevin Johnson,” but chronology-wise “The Constant” was his last ep.)
• Did you notice how faithful Desmond was to me by NOT taking Minkowski up on his female companionship offer?
• On Widmore’s office wall, there’s a painting of a scale with a white rock and a black rock, just like in Smokey’s cave. There’s also a framed ship that looks like the Elizabeth, the ship that Desmond sailed to the island on.
• “You heard of a band called Drive Shaft?” EEEEE!
• CHAH-LIE!!!!!! Oh my GOD I was so happy to see him!!!!!
• When Charlie seems to describe Claire as the woman he’s meant to be with. Sigh… ♥
• Charlie putting his hand up and Desmond seeing the flash of Not Penny’s Boat. AAAHHH!!
• Daniel is sitting at the piano and oh my god it’s Daniel and WHY ARE YOU PANNING PAST HIM… ugh. It’s a stand-in, isn’t it?
• OH MY GOD OH MY GOD they’re showing the back of Daniel’s head again just as Eloise is walking Desmond away to give him the big “you’re not ready” speech and if the camera would just come around his one shoulder and… oh balls. He’s a stand-in, isn’t he?
• Crap, he’s about to drive away but OH MY GOD there’s Daniel’s reflection in the window!! Will they show him???
• “My name is Daniel. Widmore. We’ve got to talk.” AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Best return of a character YET!!!!!
• Daniel describing Charlotte. “It was like I already loved her.” ♥♥
• When Desmond wakes up after touching Penny’s hand. It was like “Flashes Before Your Eyes” all over again.
• That sweet lovely scene between Des and Penny after he’d fainted. ♥♥♥
Answers:
• Many of us thought Desmond wasn’t actually on the plane in “LA X.” Wrong.
The Numbers:
The 815 flight landed at 10:42. The bags are on Carousel 4. When Desmond stopped the MRI you could see the numbers 15 and 46 (23 x 2).
Echoes
This episode had a lot of echoes of previous episodes:
• Widmore tells Desmond the island isn’t done with him yet; something Eloise said to Desmond in “316” last season when they were in the Lamppost Station.
• Eloise tells Desmond, “What happened happened.”
• Daniel says, “It happened to you, too, didn’t it?” which are the first words Minkowski said to Desmond in The Constant.
Did You Notice?:
• Desmond + vulnerability + neediness = me unable to completely focus for the first few minutes.
• The bunny’s name is “Angstrom.” An angstrom is a unit of length used to measure wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. And MAN was that rabbit puffed up… for a moment I thought it had a second head.
• As they stood over BBQ boy’s body and Widmore said, “Zoe, are we ready?” and they brought up Desmond, I yelled NO!! NO WE ARE NOT READY!!
• Did anyone else think when that round thing was glowing in front of Desmond it looked like the scene in “Becoming Part 2” of Buffy when Acathla was about to yank Angel into hell? Gah!!
• Was it just me or did Desmond appear to be making a move on Claire?
• In this reality, Widmore happily offers Des the McCutcheon… in the other, he said he wasn’t worth the alcohol.
• Every flash-sideways has the moment of looking in a mirror; in Desmond’s, he sees his reflection in the window of the police station.
• When Charlie leaves the police station, he and Desmond go drink in “JAX” bar. Heh.
• There’s a sign behind them that says “Exceptional Island Colors”
• Of all things, Charlie asks Desmond if he’s ever been in “consciousness-altering” love.
• In the other universe, Desmond really seems to be one of the people who believes in destiny, but here he says, “There’s always a choice, bruthah” as if he’s more on the side of free will.
• Charlie turns the car into the marina where Desmond was shot.
• For all the crapola CGI they’ve used on the show, the very real effect of the water rushing into the car as it went down was AWESOME.
• When Des couldn’t get Charlie’s seatbelt unbuckled, I thought, “OMG, in every reality Desmond is going to have to watch Charlie drown!”
• Oh hey, hiya, people standing up on that boat as the car went under. I really hate to bug you, because I’m sure you have more important things to do like fishing or standing there staring at seagulls or filming the car in the water so you could post it on YouTube but COULD YOU PLEASE COME OVER TO THE CURB AND FRIGGIN’ HELP ALREADY?!
• The nurse asks Desmond if he has any metal on him before doing the MRI, and that’s the same questions that guy was asking Widmore before they put Desmond in the chamber.
• Des looked like Hannibal Lecter in that chamber.
• Oh Jack… so helpful last week… so unhelpful this week. But still lookin’ hot. What IS IT about you? Those greying sideburns??
• Daniel’s playing the Fantaisie-Impromptu in C# Minor (which had better be important or else it looks like it’s the ONLY piece of classical music the writers know about).
• The sideways world, for Eloise, is the world of GIANT HAIR.
• Eloise knows Desmond the moment she sees him.
• Penny is doing the Tour de Stade that Jack and Desmond were both doing when they first met in “Man of Science, Man of Faith.”
• Besides Desmond, it's the two dead characters who can see that things aren't right in the sideways world.
• Zoe says that Desmond has changed in 20 minutes… 20 minutes is the same time Desmond said it would take for Charlie to decide to leave the bar and be in a 5-star hotel. So much can change in 20 minutes…
• Me to Sayid as he held a gun to Zoe: Shoot her!!! SHOOT HER!!!!
• So I did one of those Google Street Map searches on the corner of Sweetzer and Melrose, and there’s a little eatery called Dolce. Will that be where Desmond and Penny meet? Sweet!!
So Many Questions...
• Does Cusick have a new scar beside his right eyebrow, or is that a phony scar on Desmond from the Ben tussle?
• Why exactly is Widmore showing Jin all of this? Originally it seemed they just wanted him there so they could figure out where the EM pockets were on the island because Jin had made the maps. But now… why is he still there?
• Why did Widmore need to look at the charred remains of that guy?! Does he enjoy gore or something?
• What sacrifice is Desmond going to be asked to make?
• Is Eloise like Desmond? Can she see other worlds? Is she aware of what’s happening? In the original world, Desmond really did want Widmore’s approval more than anything. Now he’s got it… but he doesn’t have Penny. She points out that he got what he wanted, but he lost what he had (to quote Gavin Friday).
• Was… was Daniel wearing… leather pants?!
• Is it possible Daniel is the musician who programmed the Good Vibrations key sequence in the Looking-Glass station?
• So… if Daniel is Eloise and Charles’ son, and he was born before Penny, then it means Widmore had an affair with a woman and Penny was the result. Did Eloise take him back after it happened, or did things happen differently? Did he get Eloise pregnant first, then have another wife, then left her for Eloise?
• If Sayid has no emotions inside him, why didn’t he just shoot Zoe? (And I ask that for more than me just wanting him to.)
• “I just need to show them something.” AAHH!! So when Desmond became conscious again, do we assume that the consciousness of island Desmond has moved into that Desmond and he now retains all of the memories of the other one? Was the Desmond who’s had a child with Penny the one asking her out for coffee?
And tomorrow at noon I will once again be participating in the Globe and Mail Lost chat from noon to 1pm EST. Go here to ask questions and comment. See you there!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Next week on Lost:
416 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 416 of 416Blam said: "I must say, that doesn't necessarily sound dire. You could read it coldly as "just desserts" — but "endings that fit" hardly to me damns everyone to hell (on Earth or otherwise). As for the "or been revealed to be" clause, well, maybe Widmore's being revealed as something other than, as you say, a "wretched monster"; if Ben can find redemption and be made sympathetic — which I'm still not sure he can, either in story terms or in my own eyes — then Charles can too."
And I said: Something has indeed happened to Ben, although I'm in no position to say precisely what that is. But it's like finding peace within himself and being able to live with what he's done. Which made the extension of Ilana's hand to Ben and her "I'll have you." touching. And it's hard for me to put "Ben" and "touching" in the same sentence. Still Ben has to live with the consequences of his actions, and Widmore should have to do the same. And some part of me wants to relish in watching him do so. But we are running out of time, and his consequences should be dire. IMHO anyway.
@Benny (God love you, Dear!)
Regarding your post from April 11, 2010 12:50 AM, you just haven't given this ANY thought at all, have you?
LOL I'm sorry, my bad. I just had to say that cause this is a TV show, my friends, and I find myself doing the same damn thing at 3:00 in the morning when a sane world sleeps.
For the record, Benny, last night I got down to one candidate/replacement. And I didn't actually like who that was, but I felt I was right, or at least knowledgable, in my whittling down to one.
Then today (God Love Her!), Rainier tosses some info my way that I'm not clear on, and I'm not sure that I ever really knew about. Now I'm awaiting more info about this person from Rainier, and back into a holding pattern on my selections.
In any case, I've already decided that if the show keeps going in the direction it has been, and just one of our Losties must stay behind FOREVER to be a glorified babysitter for MIB, one-sixth of the world is going to be unhappy with whomever that unlucky sucker is going to be. This goes again to my frequently asked and never answered question of whether Darlton ever did say the show did not necessarily end Happily Ever After for everyone. It can't. I don't see how everyone can be happy with the ending.
WV: perco. A little "lator" and you'll have coffee?
Thanks for the welcome Gracie, Blam--and I’m pleased that my take on Nikki’s observation about the significance of the Chopin piece resonated with others (Rainier, Blam).
Blam- the Hofstadter book looks fascinating! A bit brain-splodey, but fascinating!) I’m not really familiar with Godel (fascinated by logic, tho the class in University made me crazeeee). I’ve long been intrigued by Escher, and Bach is incomparable. It sounds like Hofstadter takes a sort of inter-disciplinary approach to ‘play’ with the way we interface with our reality via logic. The way our senses interpret meaning/knowledge/communication is fascinating. The disciplines: science, music, art, literature are actually artificial separations of the totality of reality as we perceive it. It’s our perceptions that create reality (Plato). I’m reminded of the situation with some savants, in which such separations are blended: a person ‘sees’ color in music, ‘hears’ music in numbers, ‘tastes’ words.etc. The perception of reality seems to me to be one of the themes in Lost.
Moving on---@Rainier, commenting on Gracie’s post on Lost and love-- Gracie made a profoundly true observation, and you expanded that point eloquently. I agree with your conclusion… ‘to resolve the story, for our characters to stop being 'lost', they will need to find love.’
Gracie, et.al. pondering the significance of Eloise’s ‘violation’ stricture—I think I am following Rainier’s logic in that it is a causality issue. After reading Eloise’s words, here’s how my logic sorts things out: the emphasis points to the “someone” who has “affected the way you(Desmond) see things.” Desmond’s viewpoint, and his actions based on those viewpoints, are the effect. The cause is whomever the‘someone’ is. I don’t think Charlie is the someone. Charlie is a tool being used by the ‘someone’ who sent him the vision, as ‘someone’ sent Faraday the vision. Each of their actions in the Altverse is part of the causal chain resulting from the “violation”:the nudge given by the ‘someone’. It sounds quite Jacob-like, those nudges , but I’ll admit I can’t follow this trail to a source due to lack of enough evidence at this point. I’d love to know if this makes sense to anyone else, or if not, help sort it right for me. You all are great thinkers!
@Gracie: WV: perco. A little "lator" and you'll have coffee?
Or add "dan" or "cet" and you'll have a real nice time...
@ crazynlost: The cause is whomever the‘someone’ is. I don’t think Charlie is the someone. Charlie is a tool being used by the ‘someone’ who sent him the vision, as ‘someone’ sent Faraday the vision. Each of their actions in the Altverse is part of the causal chain resulting from the “violation”:the nudge given by the ‘someone’. It sounds quite Jacob-like, those nudges , but I’ll admit I can’t follow this trail to a source due to lack of enough evidence at this point. I’d love to know if this makes sense to anyone else, or if not, help sort it right for me.
That is an excellent idea, and makes perfect sense. It does indeed sound Jacob-like, but I'm not sure it is him either. But I like the idea that these visions are being sent by someone else.
On another subject, I watched "The Beginning of the End" last night. (S4, #1) I had forgotten about the title of this episodeuntil I happened to see it while looking for something else on Netflix. And it seemed like it might be relevant...and I think it is. Very. It starts with Hurley running from the cops after seeing a dead person for the first time (Charlie), and includes his finding the cabin (and the 2 people inside), another playback of Charlie's death scene, and the first time we meet Daniel. It is a really rich episode and worth another look at this point.
Rainier said...
@Gracie: WV: perco. A little "lator" and you'll have coffee?
Or add "dan" or "cet" and you'll have a real nice time...
Rainier: You and Spouse would see eye to eye on every single major issue in life based on nothing more than your WV. I'm trying to get to coffee and you're tring to get stoned. LOVE IT!! Very well done and right over my head!!!
@Rainier-"@ crazynlost: The cause is whomever the‘someone’ is. I don’t think Charlie is the someone. Charlie is a tool being used by the ‘someone’ who sent him the vision, as ‘someone’ sent Faraday the vision. Each of their actions in the Altverse is part of the causal chain resulting from the “violation”:the nudge given by the ‘someone’. It sounds quite Jacob-like, those nudges , but I’ll admit I can’t follow this trail to a source due to lack of enough evidence at this point. I’d love to know if this makes sense to anyone else, or if not, help sort it right for me."
Sorry, but I didn't write this...not sure who did. Anyone want to claim it? If not, I will!
@Rainier/crazyinlost: That statement goes to our most recent commenter, lostnadream. Just thought I'd put it out there!
@Gracie: Haha! I have not been thinking about it much. What I've decided to do this year is speculate/comment heavily in the first days following Lost and switch focus over the weekend until the next show and have more of an enjoyment to it.
That being said, I am impressed at your dedication to discuss it and think about it that strongly. Mad props to you. (I do still follow the comments). And for the record, Darlton did say that the overall ending is somewhat bitter; happy overall, but sad for some characters. Which I find apt, it's never always happy and we rarely see that on TV and in films. I'm somewhat psyched about it.
And I'd like to see your reasoning (if not now, then when the show is done) as to how you've narrowed it down to a single candidate. Your mind is certainly working hard.
@Benny who said: @Gracie: Haha! I have not been thinking about it much. What I've decided to do this year is speculate/comment heavily in the first days following Lost and switch focus over the weekend until the next show and have more of an enjoyment to it.
That being said, I am impressed at your dedication to discuss it and think about it that strongly. Mad props to you. (I do still follow the comments). And for the record, Darlton did say that the overall ending is somewhat bitter; happy overall, but sad for some characters. Which I find apt, it's never always happy and we rarely see that on TV and in films. I'm somewhat psyched about it.
And I'd like to see your reasoning (if not now, then when the show is done) as to how you've narrowed it down to a single candidate. Your mind is certainly working hard.
And I said: Benny, Benny, Benny! THANK YOU for finally answering my question about Darlton. I thought that I had heard that from somewhere, but only once, so I wasn't sure. Now that I know, it follows my patterns.
There was something so different to me and Spouse in Jacobs touchings and the lighthouse that it just slapped me. I mean it was just obvious to us. That got me down to two. (Rainier keep your mouth shut.) Of the two, I can't see it being one, because that person would seriously rather be dead that to lose what it would cost. And no amount of "save the world" would change it for that person.
Also, I just finished what is, I think, a very thoughtful e-mail to Rainier about something I've long held dear. I'll post parts of that next after I clean it up, and then you can see where two and two might come together. But it got me to one. Keep in mind I'm now back on the undecided train due to Rainier's tossing an unknown at me. I'm not quite sure yet if it's important, how important, or if it even figures in at all. So I'm back on the fence.
To be cont.
@Benny: My question to Rainier was "Who DIDN'T you like from Day One?" Which IMHO is a trick question. Here's why and this is what my reply was, although a cleaner version.
When, say, I finished the first two hours, I liked Boone, Charlie (although he scared me), Hurley, and Rose. But wasn't there something a little funky about Boone and Rose? A little off? Like everything was just A-OK with them, but it really wasn't? Something underneath or hidden from view? Charlie had his drugs which is a major no no. And the way our society works just screams: "Who likes the fat guy? Nobody likes the fat guy!!" (Much later on we meet a guy named Frank. An actor I'd never seen before. He could have played a major big time a**hole, but I'd have still liked him. There's something about his face. I just immediately did like him. And I still do.)
(Reminder: I came into this very late. So I'm watching episode after episode, season after season, just trying to get caught up.)
So I started over again. ALL over again. I especially watched the back stories. I was looking for tells, like poker players. Spouse is watching with me, but I'm watching all day long, and then seeing it again from his eyes as he's watching just one time each. And it just jumped right off the screen at us! It was so obvious. Is it possible only we saw this? Spouse actually stopped several people at work who were talking about Lost, and he asked them. They either saw it too or didn't, but DID once it was pointed out.
For each survivor, including the first to die, the Marshall, there was always something wrong with them. ALL of them. Go back and think about the beginning. You HAD to admire Jack just busting *ss all over the place trying to do whatever he could do to help anybody. But he was so anal. And he just wanted to fix everything. To right it. (Hello, it's a plane crash. How do you right that?) He seemed so right there into everything, until you slow down to watch his back stories. Maybe he's not even a doctor IN HIS MIND. Maybe he's only a doctor because his old man said he couldn't cut it. So his whole deal is proving Daddy wrong at whatever expense to himself. (Most of us are familiar with this concept.) Maybe he's a pianist too, but in doctors clothing? And who really likes a person who just runs around fixing things? And this is true of each and every character.
cont.
Continuation
Which has lead us down the path that you WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO LIKE THEM. They are not good people at the beginning. None of them. Everybody has some little thing that makes you look a little more closely or try a little harder to like him, like Sayid and his ability with technologies. Not to mention his looks. You wanna like him, but let's wait til we see another episode before we commit. But were you really supposed to like him to begin with? NO. Sadly, this is even true of Hurley and Rose. That little something off that made you just say Ok whatever. And LOOK AWAY! I wanted to like Hurley, but what was up with him? I even wanted to like Claire, and I had empathy for her, but she was so all over the place, couldn't make up her mind, and she was wishy-washy. People who decide to give up their babies face no easy road ahead, but she was like determined to make it even more difficult FOR HERSELF.
So, they were all fouled up. As the show progressed, you were MADE to accept them on face value, on their terms, or decide you still didn't like them. Most of them, I still didn't like, either now or when they died. But a lot of them, I've learned to love, warts and all. And I think that's how it was supposed to work. So that when it ends, whichever side of the fence you're on, whoever ends up where, it's gonna cause you pain. The only way that this cannot happen is if we see all the loves of these past six seasons end up together. And that cannot work. Would Sayid be with Nadia or Shannon? Would Juliet be with Goodwin or Sawyer? Jack with Kate or Kate with Sawyer? AAAACCCKKKK!!! And some of them are still dead!
I really believe in time Darlton will talk about this. At the beginning they were so flawed that they were hard to like. Each of them. You had to learn to enjoy bringing them into your house each week and accept them for who they were. And where you are right now is an entirely different thing! Where you are right now will effect how you feel during The End.
Think about it.
@EVERYONE from Rainier and myself: This past week there has been a lot of talk about Jack being hotter, or Jack looking better, or just pro-Jack all the way around.
Personally, I just kept my mouth shut, and I don't really know if Rainier every commented either way. But we've been discussing this today privately.
Given that Jack DOES look better and IS changing in a better way, doesn't anybody really realize why that is? Or to give the benefit of a doubt, why we think it is?
In the history of this show, what does that mean for Jack?
Public apologies if I've misspoken for Rainier who is perfectly capable of speaking for herself, but I don't think I've overstepped a boundary or anything. We just wondered what reaction we'd get if we threw it out there. Consider it thrown.
RE: Jack...
I'll say it's the Grey hair and the stubble...
I purposely dye of a few strands of mine gray and use an electric shaver to have a permanent stubble, it works!
(p.s. I'm kidding)
@Oh, Benny!!
Can you go a little deeper?
Rainier, jump in here. I'm off for a bit. It's bathtime.
@ Benny, crazynlost: That statement goes to our most recent commenter, lostnadream. Just thought I'd put it out there!
My bad! Thanks for the correction!
VW: noxyll: idyllically noxious
In a private exchange with Gracie, I stated that with some of the characters, their flaws were a big part of the reason that I liked them from the word 'Go'. There were certain characters whose flaws made them more accessible to me, that gave me empathy for them. And some of them were WAY messed up. I'm not going to go into detail about that here, but I do think that this is probably true for everyone - there has to be a character or characters in that mix that you can really relate to.
It is also the case that the island has never been particularly kind to people who have resolved their issues. Look what happened to Charlie...just sayin'.
VW: squidi - a guy who just can't keep his hands to himself
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