L O S T: “Happily Ever After” Discussion Thread

The Final Season

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90 Responses to “L O S T: “Happily Ever After” Discussion Thread”

  1. Mr. Completely Says:

    http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/dharma-alarm-clock.shtml?icpg=Carousel_DharmaClock_5

  2. Type III Jamming Personality Disorder Says:

    ok, so I re-watched last night and noticed something I hadn’t really seen on the first viewing.

    Yesterday someone brought up the McCutcheon Scotch parallel (i.e. that it has symbolism for the Widmore/Desmond relationship in both timelines). Well, having watched the rest of the series not too long ago, I realized that the scene in Widmore’s office is pretty much an inverse mirror image of what happened when Desmond went to meet with Widmore way back and asked for a job.

    They parallel so much that the camera shot when Widmore is using the Scotch to make his point about Desmond is the same. Widmore’s line in this episode is something to the effect of “you are worth every penny” [of the value of this expensive scotch] where in the original scene (sorry, I don’t know the exact episode) he says something like “you will never be worth it”. I will need to go back and find the original episode to watch the scene again, but it was really eerie realizing they used pretty much the same blocking and everything for much of the scene.

  3. Type III Jamming Personality Disorder Says:

    maybe “inverse mirror image” isn’t the right way to put it. it is one of the first scenes I’ve noticed that is basically the same in both timelines with the differences being due to the choices that were previously made by the characters though.

  4. KWL Says:

    re: Desmond’s reaction to Sayid.

    Sayid showing up probably doesn’t mean anything for what Desmond now has to do (or thinks he has to do), and may even help it–i.e., he asked for the plane manifest in alt reality to ‘show them something’, well now there is Sayid right in front of him.

    related: upon touching Penny’s hand, Desmond ‘fainted’, i.e., went back to the island reality–woke up in Widmore’s energy box thing-a-majig. but then post Sayid Desmond ‘wakes up’ and is back in alt reality (with Penny in the stadium–you fainted, etc). so does this mean he ‘fainted’ on the island with Sayid? (like season 5? 4? where multiple people were traveling through time)

    (with the complication that his entire alt reality scene–with Whidmore, Charlie, Eloise, Faraday–only took a few seconds in island reality)

  5. Mr. Completely Says:

    so does this mean he ‘fainted’ on the island with Sayid?

    I wondered that too; but I think he’s actually awake in both timelines simultaneously now, and in each timeline is aware of the existence of the other.

  6. jay Says:

    after the energy burst to his being, he is now conscious in both realities at the same time. Reminds me of the Kwisatz Haderach from Dune – “a man who would possess absolute prescience, seeing all possible futures thus being able to cause select threads of time to be realized through manipulation.”

  7. KWL Says:

    how do we know he is conscious in both at the same time?

    he fainted upon touching penny’s hand and simultaneously wakes up on the island–the fact that he asked how long he was out for (20 seconds was it?) suggests he is not conscious in both, no?

  8. Mr. Completely Says:

    we don’t know

    but that was my impression at the end, after all the fainting – just that they showed him conscious in each world without another fainting spell

    but I have not rewatched it yet, we will though

  9. KWL Says:

    consciousness in both seems plausible, b/c clearly desmond’s travels are different than the time travel that caused charlotte & others to die earlier; was just wondering if i missed something that would tip it off for sure

  10. Mr. Completely Says:

    @jay, we are truly kindred spirits of some sort

    you love pickapeppa sauce, and quote the most interesting aspect of my favorite science fiction novel? well done!

    another related quote:

    “Prophecy and prescience- How can they be put to the test in the face of the
    unanswered questions? Consider: How much is actual prediction of the “wave form” and how much is the prophet shaping the future to fit the prophecy? What of the harmonics inherent in the act of prophecy? Does the prophet see the future or does he see a line of weakness, a fault or cleavage that he may shatter with words or decisions as a diamond-cutter shatters his gem with a blow of a knife?”

    ^^^^ extremely appropriate to the free will vs. destiny debate in Lost, I think

  11. Mr. Completely Says:

    @KWL right, I also think it fits the idea of him being in some sense the “outside observer” in this quantum-mechanics metaphor they’re using to structure the plot. It’s definitely not confirmed, though.

  12. Mr.Miner Says:

    I think we were left to wonder that re: Desmond’s consciousness state is b/c of the way they cut the scenes and him fainting/waking up. I kept wondering if they were cutting b/w timelines or the state of his consciousness. You know…I need to rewatch b/c when they do sideways-flashes, they make that high pitched sound all season long….i wonder if that sound is there b/w the scenes…i bet it isn’t representing that Desmond’s singular consciousness is moving between the timelimes rather than than the camera (like usual)

  13. Mr. Completely Says:

    Miner, I read somewhere today that at least for the most part that sound is not present…but as you say, it needs re-watching

  14. Mr.Miner Says:

    from LOSTPEDIA recap:

    This episode, similar to previous Desmond episodes (“Flashes Before Your Eyes” and “The Constant”), features consciousness-travel instead of the usual narrative device (in season six, the flash-sideways), this time between the two timelines; though there is also a flash-sideways at the end of the episode.

  15. Mr.Miner Says:

    ALSO – This is the second episode to end in the flashsideways timeline after “LA X, Part 1”.

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