If there is one episode this season that needs rewatch after rewatch, it's "Happily Ever After" and not just for those amazing Desmond and Penny scenes that can melt anyone's heart. In true Lost fashion, we probably learned more about the flash-sideways in one episode than in the previous 10 episodes, but the picture is still unfocused and blurry, leaving many answers still floating out in the nebulous land of the TV gods. I've resigned myself to the fact that the writers possibly will never be clear about anything, and even after the series finale, the viewers will be left in the dark. With that mindset, the episode was a good as it gets. If definite answers were the ultimate goal, "Happily Ever After" should have been named "Confused Forever More." Viewers looking for answers were probably frustrated beyond belief from all the hints and suggestions that, in the end, amounted to just that--hints and suggestions.
I've never thought of Lost as primarily a love story, rather a mix of everything. However, if this week's episode was any indication, love plays a vital role in unraveling the flash-sideways. It has been a component of the show since the beginning, and whether Penny was important because of their love or her being Desmond's Constant is yet to be seen. Maybe someone's Constant is based on the love between them. Since love is one part of the show, my guess is that it is one piece of the flash-sideways, and other themes will play an equally prevalent role.
Coinciding with the furthest advancement in knowing what the flash-sideways was about, approximately three-quarters of the episode was devoted to the alternate world. The brief Island story was needed to set up Desmond being placed between two solenoids and seemingly shocked into the flash-sideways. Desmond, according to Charles Widmore, is special for surviving strong blasts of electromagnetic energy, so he's a perfect test subject.
Desmond is still Desmond Hume, except he is Charles Widmore's lackey, and other than being a stoic worker, does no posses any interests or a life outside of his job. He has money and travels to exotic places, but there's a hole in his life. The common theme among the flash-sideways characters is that while their overall situation may be better, there is a missing element. We don't know exactly what the flash-sideways is, but it's not a perfect world, the future world, but a parallel world that is incomplete. Somehow this will tie into the Island, Smokey, and the rest of the crew.
Widmore has Desmond pick up Charlie at the jail. The plan was to get Driveshaft and his son, a classical pianist, to play together at his wife's charity event. Desmond and Charlie talk at a bar, and Charlie describes the one instance he saw Claire, a piercing moment of clarity which pushed his current existence aside with impunity. As they are driving to the event, Charlie takes control of the wheel and sends the car into the bay, recreating the ending of "Through the Looking Glass." When Charlie places his hand on the car window, Desmond sees the message "Not Penny's Boat." It's the first time a character has actually seen something from the Island rather than get a tingly feeling.
At the hospital, the MRI triggers more memories and now it has Desmond's full attention. He knows something is up. He even lets Charlie escape from the hospital. Desmond goes to the event and apoligizes to Eloise Widmore for not having Driveshaft, and is about to depart when he hears the name Penny on the guest list. His interest is piqued and he requests to see the guest list. Always the mysterious person with vast amounts of knowledge, Eloise stops him, telling him he's not ready yet. What does that mean? Who knows.
As soon as he is about to get into the car, Desmond is approached by Daniel Widmore who gave the biggest hint of the episode. He, like Charlie, saw a woman and that set off something inside him. She was a beautiful woman with blue eyes and red hair. Clearly it's Charlotte. The same night, he wrote quantum mechanics equations about stopping a catastrophic event. That already happened in the form of a nuclear detonation which changed things and created a different life for everyone. Daniel informs Desmond that Penny is his half-sister and tells him where he can find her. She's running up and down the steps of a stadium, much like Desmond was when Jack first met him. Desmond goes up to her and shakes her hand. Immediately, Desmond is back on the Island, scorched but alive. Desmond agrees to help Widmore, but before Zoe can take Desmond to wherever they are supposed to go, they are ambushed by Sayid, who dispatches everyone except Zoe, who is sent running, and Desmond, who quickly agrees to go with Sayid. Back in the flash-sideways, Desmond asks Penny for coffee and she agrees to meet him in an hour. With that happy note, the episode ends.
I don't even have an inkling of what the big picture is, so I have no grand theories about what the series is about. Desmond has bridged the gap between the Island and the flash-sideways and appears to being up to something on both sides to get Penny back. I'm way too tired to think, so if anyone has a genius theory, feel free to share it.
Score: 9.2/10
