TUIW Conversation: Lost – “Happily Ever After”

Each week, after taking a couple days to digest the episode and read what the blogs are says, we’re going to have a TUIW Conversation about Lost to try and unpack the episode, bounce theories off each other, and see if we can’t figure out what’s going on with our favorite group of TV castaways (sorry Gilligan!)

Jonah: Tuesday’s episode was ridiculously hyped by both its writers and Lost fans who were starting to notice how few hours of the show were left. And even with those lofty expectations I think “Happily Ever After” surpassed them. I was blown away by it but I think what’s really amazing about the episode is how it was simultaneously satisfying and confounding. We know something momentous has happened and that the parallel worlds are bleeding together but the whats, hows, and whys of that remain unclear. So, Michael, do you have any complaints with “Happily Ever After” or were you as satisfied by it was I was? And, to pick an arbitrary starting point, how much do you think island Desmond knows about what’s going on and what he needs to do next?

Michael: Well I too was blown away by it all. Darlton outdid themselves this past week for sure. I’m not sure what exactly island Desmond knows, but I think it’s very clear that he was conscious of what happened in the AlternaWorld when he crossed over, and I think, at the very least, he knows what the endgame is here. I’m wondering how exactly Desmond was the lucky one that could go between both, and I think the answer lies in the explosion of the hatch. Then, Desmond was exposed to a huge amount of electromagnetic energy, much as he was in “Happily Ever After.” So here’s what I’m supposing: electromagnetism is unifier between the two worlds. Charlie was zapped by it when the hatch exploded too, so he had visions of Claire before he died. Daniel Faraday had such extreme exposure to it that he lost his memory before Poppa Widmore took him back to the Island, and he had a connection of Charlotte upon seeing her. Also, I think the Time Flashes from last season were also electromagnetic, which ended up effecting Juliet and Charlotte. That’s why both were bouncing between time and dimensions as they died. So there’s my big theory of this week. Does it make sense? Shifting the conversation, what are your thoughts on Desmond’s interaction with Eloise at the party? Does it tie in at all to their meeting in “Flashes Before Your Eyes?” How much does she know?

J: That’s a really solid theory regarding the electromagnetic energy and its definitely looking more like that’s one of the keys to this whole thing (and its kind of funny that two weeks ago we were talking about corks and evil wine and now we’re talking about electromagnets and string theory…oh Lost). As far as Eloise, I think her conversation with Desmond was the biggest insight we’ve gotten yet into what the Sideways universe is. Frankly the things she was saying and the fact that she’s even aware of it seemed to indicate that this universe was constructed by someone or something and not simply the result of the nuke. But maybe she’s gone through something similar to what happened to Desmond so she just happens to know more about where the sideways universe is going. I, like everyone else I think, was most intrigued by what she said about Desmond getting exactly what he wanted. Does that mean this was supposed to be some kind of reward to the Losties for doing something? Is it some kind of Matrix-esque prison to keep them happy and unaware? Or does that simply not mean what we all think it means?

M: That was perhaps the most intriguing line of the whole episode. There’s a theory making it’s rounds on the web that somehow, Eloise made a deal with Smokey to bring Daniel back, much like the one he proposed to Sayid and Richard. It would also help explain why she and Widmore oppose each other, with Widmore trying to fight Smokey. It’s a somewhat sound theory, but I actually think that Eloise long ago figured out how to go between universes like Desmond is figuring out. She however has chosen to stay in the other world where Daniel is alive, and she fears that Desmond figuring things out will possibly ruin that for her. It’s hard to say though. For as much as we learned, I still feel like we’re not quite there yet to figuring it all out. I’m wondering what you thought of Sayid’s commando moves and Desmond’s nonchalance about it all. Is Desmond’s brain fried? Does he see this as part of a plan? Does he know it doesn’t matter because he can go to the other world? And what did Widmore mean when he repeated Eloise, that the Island isn’t done with Desmond yet?

J: I’m beginning to think that when people say to Desmond that “the island’s not done with you,” what they really mean is that “we’re not done with you.” Like the candidates, it seems like Desmond is just trapped as part of a game that’s way beyond his understanding. But, like with the candidates, the question these last weeks will turn on is whether Desmond can become the master of his own fate. As far as the ending goes, I think that Desmond didn’t just experience the flash sideways; he understood it. One some level he now knows what that world is, what this world is, what the relationship between the two is, and what he needs to do. But what does he need to do? Is he going to try to unify the two worlds into one? Destroy the sideways world and bring those guys over to the island to fight Smokey? Create the sideways world? Does he know how this whole thing is going to turn out? And, to get even nuttier, is it possible that island Desmond is the new Jacob or somehow
gained his consciousness in the transfer?

M: That’s an interesting proposition, but I think that Penny is the only thing stopping that. I don’t know where we’ll go next week in regards to the FlashSideways, but it’s looks like it’s going to be a Hurley episode where (based on the preview after this week, not a major spoiler), he’ll be visited by some Losties of the past. I think the important thing to see will be the dynamic between Hurley and Jack. They’re now the only two candidates that don’t want to get the hell off the Island, so I’m interested to see that play out come Tuesday night.