S6E10 - Happily Ever After

Maybe it’s the nice weather we’re having or the fact that I’m going to a Braves/Cubs game tonight, but I’m in the mood to recap using baseball terminology.

At Bat this episode… Desmond!

Desmond wakes up, thinking he’s still in the hospital, but Widmore throws him a curve ball, saying he’s back on the island. He says, “The island isn’t done with you yet.” Well lah-dee-freakin-dah. I guess the island is used to getting what it wants. I think it’s interesting throughout the show they’ve referred to what Jacob wants and what the island wants, but I wonder if those two things are interchangeable? I believe it’s been said here before, but it seems there is a higher power at work. Higher than Jacob or Flocke. Obviously they are bound by rules so there must be a rule-maker, right? Perhaps that ghost kid that appeared to Flocke? Anyway, just thinking out loud.

Jin wants to know what’s going on and Widmore says it would be easier to show him and orders “the test” to start immediately. After a few mechanical glitches, an extra goes down to check the “electromagnetic shack” as soon as someone turns the machine on. Three strikes and he’s out. Needless to say, Desmond doesn’t look too stoked to play along. After strapping Desmond in the chair, Widmore says after it’s all done he’ll have to make a sacrifice bunt for the home team. Soon after, he reveals to Jin that he wants to see if Desmond can survive (another) catastrophic electromagnetic event. He flips the switch as Desmond is bathed in light, then flash…

Desmond has landed at LAX and shares an exchange with Claire, asking if it’s a boy or girl in her dugout. He offers her a ride, but she politely declines. And speaking of rides, his limo driver is none other than George Minkowski, the communication specialist from the freighter that died of a brain aneurism just before Desmond made a life-saving phone call to his stabilizing constant, Penny. He drives Desmond to the office where we experience a significant change up in the form of a hug from his boss, Widmore. They even share a glass of his 60 year-old scotch that in Desmond’s first flashback, Widmore said he wasn’t good enough to have.

Widmore tasks Desmond with babysitting none other than Charlie and after Desmond picks him up from the station, Charlie tries to orchestrate his own hit and run. After his confession in the bar, perhaps it’s not too surprising that Charlie cares so little about “this” life. He thinks there’s a hot blonde waiting for him in the afterlife. I guess that’s just a bleed over memory of the reality we know, because technically he’s dead. Charlie redoubles his efforts when he grabs the wheel of the car and attempts to hit a foul ball into the waterfront. Fortunately, Desmond saves him, but not before getting flashes of “Not Penny’s Boat” from the reality “A.”

At the hospital, Desmond’s put in an MRI. I thought this would jog him back to the island, but instead he gets thrown a fast ball of “alternate” memories. Mostly about Penny. He freaks and encounters Jack while searching for Charlie, who soon runs by in a flattering hospital gown. Desmond confronts him about Penny and Charlie realizes he hit a home run in his attempt to “show” Desmond his alternate life.

Widmore scolds Desmond for being in a slump and sends him to apologize to Mrs. Widmore (ie. Eloise Hawking). Even though it’s the bottom of the ninth, she doesn’t seem to mind Charlie’s last minute disappearance. In fact, she seems too cool with it. When Desmond overhears Penny’s name on the guest list and demands to see it, that’s when things start to get freaky. Eloise shoos her servants and says someone has “affected the way he sees things,” and that’s a problem. She tells him to stop looking for whatever he’s looking for and goes on to say she doesn’t know why he’s looking for anything considering the perfect game he’s got going. Finally, when he insists on seeing the list she says he’s “not ready for the list.” WHAT THE FO? Just like in Desmond’s first flashback years ago, Eloise shows up and seems to know WAY more than she should to the point of reprimanding him for trying to change his fate. What gives? To my knowledge, he’s the only one who can time travel or go between realities, though Charlie and Daniel are starting to get glimpses. At any rate, instead of a glimpse, she seemed to have the full picture. Very interesting…

Daniel invites Desmond for a seventh inning stretch after overhearing the conversation with his mother and explains that a case of love at first sight has opened his eyes to an alternate reality. You can write all the equations you want, dude, but that seems just a touch cheeseball. At any rate, I think it’s interesting that the two people (besides Desmond who is “special”) that have had “visions” of reality “A” are both dead. Maybe being dead in one or the other allows you to see what’s going on in the counterpart. Anyway, Desmond asks what it has to do with him and Daniel says he must have felt it too if he’s asking about Penny. Apparently he’s aware that Penny is his half-sister in this reality and sends Desmond off like a stalker to meet her. She’s at the same stadium Desmond was when he met Jack and she’s also running the steps. He sees her and is instantly choked up. They shake hands, he faints, and…

Wakes up back on the island. The bases are loaded and Widmore tries to explain why he did what he did, but Desmond is in the zone, saying whatever important thing he’s there to do, he’s ready to start. Zoe leads him away, questioning why he’s suddenly so cooperative just as Sayid pops up and kills one of the security team members and tells Zoe to run. He explains to Desmond that these are bad people and he needs to come with him to which Desmond replies, “Of course, lead the way.” Talk about a change in perspective. Any ideas what’s going on with him? I mean, it’s great that he caught a glimpse of his what-if life with Penny, but he STILL has a life (and son) with her in this one so I’m not sure why he’s all eager to help Widmore. And if he is ready to help, why the nonchalance about switching teams?

In the closer, we’re treated to one final flash where Desmond comes to and asks Penny out for coffee (who doesn’t seem to be weirded out that he knew her name and where she’d be). He goes back to the limo and asks George for the Oceanic 815 manifest, claiming that he wants to “show them something.” This part was also a little strange to me. I guess Desmond’s new mission in the flashsideways is to wake everyone up to the realization of their alternate lives, just as Charlie “showed him” his own?

All in all a very interesting episode. I can’t even wrap my head around some of the thoughts I had, especially in regards to the conversation with Eloise. What are your theories?

On Deck for next week looks like Hurley!