"Happily Every After" (Season 6, Episode 11)

Wow, what an episode. I woke up this morning wondering if what I saw actually happened or had I dreamt it since it was so surreal. You can't seem to go wrong with a Desmond episode. I am curious about the title though. "Happily Ever After" is the phrase that ends most traditional fairy tales, usually preceded by "And they lived. . ." Does this imply that what we saw last night and all season of the parallel time line is all made up and not real? This title would seem more fitting to a final episode rather than one seven hours away from the series finale.

Best Line

• "I don't want to set off a nuclear bomb, Mr. Hume. I think I already did." Dan Widmore to Desmond.
  

Did You Notice? - 2004 Parallel Time Line

• The transition to this time did not involve the typical flash-sideways sound and quick cut from one scene to another but instead had the point of view of moving through clouds. A hint that this episode would be a departure from previous ones.
• Desmond has his first mirror moment in the reflective surface of the airport Arrivals screen. I am still not convinced that this was the same Desmond that we saw on the plane in the season premiere.
• Desmond who has a son in the island time line correctly identifies that Claire will have one as well. It's almost as if subconsciously he knows this fact.
• George the limo drive is George Minkowski who was last seen as the radio operator on Widmore's freighter and ended up dying in Desmond's arms due to the side effects of time travel.
• George points out that Desmond isn't wearing a wedding band. The Desmond that was on the plane talking to Jack in the season premiere was wearing one.
• On the wall of Widmore's office is a painting of a scale, balanced equally with a black rock and a white rock similar to what was in Jacob's cave.
• The sailboat that Desmond is admiring in Widmore's office is a model of the same type Libby gave him for his around-the-world race that resulted in him being shipwrecked on the island.
• You know Widmore and Desmond have a better relationship in this time line since Charles offers some of his McCutcheon scotch whereas in the island time line, Widmore claimed Desmond wasn’t good enough for it.
• Desmond's second mirror moment (the first character to have two) occurs when he is reflected in the glass door of the courthouse where he is picking up Charlie.
• The recurring theme of car accidents is put to the test as Charlie carelessly crosses the street from the courthouse to the bar. It's as if he knows he cannot die.
• At the bar, Charlie expounds on the virtues of love. LOVE. The four-letter word with an E that sums up the series. According to co-creator Damon Lindelof, love is what Lost "always has been. . always will be." At first, I was as thrilled by this as I was when the island was said to be like a cork. Then, I thought about it. Love conquers all. Love makes the world go round. All you need is love. And when I considered the characters, aren't they all looking for love? Jack and Kate. Sawyer and Juliet. Desmond and Penny. Sayid and Nadia. Rose and Bernard. Daniel and Charlotte. Even the Adam and Eve skeletons.
• When Desmond tells Charlie he was on the same flight and Charlie says "trust me, you didn't see her", it once again made me question whether Desmond was actually on Flight 815.
• I presume the rapturous blond woman Charlie was describing was Claire.
• Since Charlie almost choked to death, did he have that moment of clarity where everything was illuminated and all possible futures were known much like Juliet who realized "it worked" when she died?
• Desmond's comment to Charlie that "there's always a choice" is another recurring theme of the series. Good choices. Bad choices. Different outcomes.
• The marina that the car crashes into is the same one where Desmond and Penny have their sailboat in the island time line.
• I loved the sinking car scene and the echoes to Charlies' drowning at the Looking Glass station.
• After the crash, the doctor checks Desmond's eyes similar to what the freighter doctor did to him in the episode "The Constant".
• The MRI technician asks Desmond whether he has any keys or change just as Widmore's man did prior to the test involving the big coils. MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging.
  
• Once again, Desmond is responsible for pushing a button, in this case the panic button. The clicking sound in the MRI was like that of the hatch's countdown clock.
• Desmond recalling Penny and the birth of his son was our first, full blown moment when a parallel character remembers his other life.
• The desk nurse at St. Sebastian's hospital who wouldn't give Desmond any information on Charlie was, in the other time line, the nurse at Santa Rosa where Hurley was a patient.
• Eloise Widmore was wearing two starburst pins on her lapel of the same design as the mark branded on Juliet's lower back. This was done at Ben's request as part of commuting Juliet's death sentence in Season 3. When Desmond first met Ms. Hawking, she was wearing a circular broach of a dragon similar to an ouroboros, an ancient symbol of a dragon or serpent swallowing its own tail that signifies infinity or wholeness. Are the two identical pins that Mrs. Widmore is wearing meant to indicate the duality of the parallel time lines?
• Mrs. Widmore's comment to Desmond that "what happened, happened" is a variation on a phrase we've heard a few times.
• Penny’s last name is Milton, most likely a reference to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost. One of the first commentaries written on that work came from a man named Patrick Hume, Desmond’s last name.
• The other names mentioned on Mrs. Widmore's guest list were Stephanie Leifer (who in reality is a network executive at ABC), Mary Markey (who is an editor on Lost and who won an Emmy award for the series pilot), and Nicholas Pepper (who is director of drama programming at ABC).
  
• Contrary to George's warning, Eloise Widmore is quite pleasant and understanding initially with Desmond. It is only after he begins asking about Penny that her fury becomes evident. It is clear she is not thrilled with his pursuing this, going so far as to call it a "violation". It's as if there is some unwritten law that she feels he is breaking. I couldn't help but feel Eloise Widmore knows of the multiple time lines.
• Dan Widmore's "love at first sight" with the blue eyes and red hair is of course Charlotte. He also mentions she was eating chocolate which is something island Charlotte in her delirious state said her younger self wanted to do but her mum said it would spoil her dinner right before she died.
• The notations in Dan Widmore's notebook include "real space" and "imaginary time".
• If Penny is Dan's half sister, are we to assume Charles Widmore is the father of both but they had different mothers? If so, why is Penny's last name Milton? Was this her mother's name? Or was she married?
• The stadium where Desmond meets Penny is where island Desmond first encountered Jack and also where he said goodbye to Penny prior to going on the sailboat voyage.
• Why did the contact of shaking hands with Penny bring Desmond back to the island? And when we returned to the parallel time line after this, we did hear the traditional flash-sideways sound.
• Desmond's request for the Oceanic Flight 815 manifest and his comment of "I just need to show them something" is very intriguing. How will he convince the passengers of their other lives?
  

Did You Notice? - 2007 Island Time Line

• The episode began with the recurring image of a close-up of an eye. However, the previous close-ups were more centered straight on the person's eye and then cut away whereas this one of Desmond's was at an angle and went out of focus as the IV came into frame. Was this our first hint that the episode might be off-kilter and slightly askew?
• Widmore's reference to Desmond being shot by Ben goes back to Season 5 when Desmond was returning to the marina with groceries and Ben pulled the gun on him.
• I thought the almost imperceptible twitching of Desmond's face when he found out he was back on the island was brilliant and conveyed so much with so little.
• Widmore's comment that "the island isn't done with you yet" is exactly what Eloise Hawking previously told Desmond in the Lamp Post Station under the church in Los Angeles.
• When I heard Widmore and his people say "test", I thought I had correctly guessed the four-letter word summing up the series. Nope - another four-letter word with an E in it!
  
• Seamus tells Simmons to check out the solenoids. A solenoid is a three-dimensional coil. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create controlled magnetic fields and can be used as electromagnets. The term solenoid refers specifically to a magnet designed to produce a uniform magnetic field in a volume of space where some experiment might be carried out. (Just wanted to make sure you knew the science of Lost was accurate.)
• Another recurring image is the white rabbit. Seamus's caged bunny was named Angstrom. “Rabbit" Angstrom is the name of the main character in four novels by John Updike.
• Widmore's reference to his son who died on the island was of course Daniel Faraday.
• Another cryptic statement from Widmore when he tells Desmond that everyone will be "gone forever" if events go wrong.
• The catastrophic electromagnetic event that Desmond survived was the implosion of the Swan station. And why is this "talent" so vital to Widmore's plans?
  
• Desmond has his eyes checked by one of Widmore's people after the test not unlike the doctor who checks them in the parallel time line after the car crashing into the marina.
• Why did Sayid let Zoe go but knocked out one and broke the neck of the other of Widmore's people? And why did Desmond so happily go with him?
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Zoe tells Desmond he has been unconscious for the last 3 days.
• According to the Arrivals board, Oceanic Flight 815 arrived at 10:42 at gate 8.
• Hurley points out to Desmond that their flight's luggage is at Carousel 4.
• Charlie tells Desmond that a woman in handcuffs (Kate) was 2 rows in front of him.
• Desmond tries to convince Charlie to come with him by noting that he will be put up in a 5 star hotel.
• Charlie tries to escape Desmond in the stairwell by exiting on Floor 2 of the hospital.
  

Previews
Next week's "Everybody Loves Hugo" marks the return of Michael and since the previews showed him on the island talking to Hurley, we can only assume it is in ghost form. With the close-up of Libby's grave and Michael's involvement in her death, could she be making an appearance as well?

Upcoming
Set your DVRs for Sunday, May 23. After the one hour recap at 8 p.m. ET and the two-hour finale at 9 p.m. ET, executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof and several cast members will join Jimmy Kimmel for "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost." The special episode will air at 11:35 p.m. ET, following the finale and local newscasts.