I realize this is two days late and about a buck fifty short, but cut me a break. Girl's gotta earn those ducats.
Anyway, if you still haven't seen it, get to ABC.com right now and check it out.
Other cool links for you to check out?
+ Hi-res screencaps and reworked audio samples @ Lost Easter Eggs.
+ Let's Talk Lost @ Pop Candy
+ Jeff Jensen @ EW.com -- '96 Tears
Let's get to the meat behind the beat, shall we?
Flash: Desmond Hume.
Despite the fact that Desmond visits 1996, I wouldn't categorize this as a flashback. Much like the protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut's classic Slaughterhouse Five, Desmond is definitely unstuck in time.
Let's break it down:
Real Time: Frank Lapidus is flying the helicopter back to the freighter. He flies through a possibly electromagnetic thunderstorm, possibly deviating from the precise coordinates Farraday gave him (remember The Economist? Farraday was explicit in his instructions that Frank should not deviate from these coordinates at all) and Desmond starts experiencing flashes.
Flash!
1996: Desmond is back in the Royal Scottish Regiment...but he remembers being in the helicopter. What the hell is going on? Disoriented, he isn't as quick on his feet as the rest of his regiment and earns all the lads double time punishment.
Real Time: Desmond finds himself in the chopper again, obviously confused and completely unsure of who Sayid and Frank are. Did the conscience of Desmond circa 1996 get mixed-up with Desmond circa 2004? Frank lands the helicopter on the freighter and two crew members -- new characters known only as Omar and Keamy -- take Des to the ship's sick bay.
Flash!
1996: Desmond is back in Scotland, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. He talks to his buddy about experiencing seriously vivid dreams and his buddy asks if there's anyone in his dreams he remembers. Penny! Des runs over to the closest phone booth to call his ex, is pushed by a grudging grunt, drops his change and....
Flash!
Real Time: Omar and Keamy lock Desmond in the sick bay, he starts pounding on the door and is startled to discover there's someone else in the room. Someone else who is also experiencing the same time travel phenomena as him. Someone called George Minkowski. Ah ha! So, this is why Minkowski could never come to the phone! He's been strapped and drugged up in the sick bay.
Meanwhile, Sayid finally makes contact with Jack. Speaking via speaker phone, Sayid tells the Island-dwellers that Desmond has been acting odd. Farraday immediately asks is Desmond has experienced an intense dose of either radiation or electromagnetic energy (remember the fail-safe key in the Hatch?) and goes on to state that when leaving the island, people get a little disoriented....but Desmond is not experiencing amnesia.
In the sick bay, a creepy doctor visits Des and Minkowski. He proceeds to dose Minkowski with what appears to be a sedative and Mink is down for the count. When Desmond rears up and shouts, "You're not sticking me with that, brotha!", the doctor tells him to relax and that he only wants to examine his eyes.
As the light flashes, so does Des.
1996: Des comes to in a phone booth, clutching coins. He calls Penny, who in 1996, was mildly disgruntled to hear from the man who dumped her. She tells him that she moved and not to call again. Desmond starts to argue and...
Flash!
Real Time: Sayid brings the phone down to Desmond to talk to Farraday. The physicist asks Des what year it is (1996, according to Des) and where he's supposed to be (Camp Miller, Scotland). Farraday then instructs Des to take the train down to Queen's College in Oxford and talk to Farraday circa 1996. In order to ensure that 1996-era Farraday will take him seriously, 2004-era Farraday tells him to mention degrees and hertz of a certain machine as well as to say that he knows about Eloise. As Keamy and Omar burst into the sick bay to stop the call....
Flash!
1996: Des is on campus, searching for Farraday. He finds him and recites the information. I loved this part so much because it reminded me of Marty McFly telling Doc Brown how the Flux Capacitor came into being. A Back To The Future wink on Lost? I'm in love.
It is here we learn that Eloise is a rat that Farraday has been conducting time-travel experiments on via radiation. It is also here we learn that while Farraday protects his body by wearing a lead vest, he doesn't seem to protect his head.
Flash!
Real Time: Back in the bay, Minkowski wakes up and shares this vital tidbit of information -- as the ship's communications officer, he was under strict orders never to answer a certain line whenever it rang. And who was this unlucky caller, unable to reach out and touch someone? None other than the love of Des' life, Penny Widmore.
Flash!
1996: Des comes to in Farraday's lab and discovers two things -- a) he's been gone for 75 minutes and b) Eloise is dead. According to Farraday, flashing between times was too much for the rat to take and her brain short circuited. Desmond fears this will happen to him, but Farraday has an answer to that. As long as Desmond has a constant -- something or someone he cares about dearly in both times -- his brain should be OK. Hopefully. Des grabs a phone and calls Penny's number. It's been disconnected and....
Flash!
Real Time: Des tells Sayid that he must get in touch with Penny. Sayid doesn't really get this but is willing to help his friend. Two monkeys in the machine, though. 1) Someone sabotaged the communications room about two days before this conversation took place. To anyone else, this would be a problem but Sayid knows a thing or two about communications. 2) How do you get out of the locked sick bay? Well, that resolves itself fairly easily as well as someone ("a friend on the boat", according to Minkowski) has conveniently left the door open.
Flash!
1996: Desmond's nowhere to be seen but we do catch sight of Penelope's father, Mr. Charles Widmore at an auction. The item up for grabs? The journal of the first mate of The Black Rock. The seller? A gentleman known as Torvald Hanso. Who added the flour 'cause the plot just thickened?!
Yes...I should be openly mocked for that.
Anyway, Widmore wins the item by bidding $380,000 and after Desmond confronts him in the men's room (this isn't American politics, ladies and gents. Neither men have a 'wide stance.'), Mr. Widmore gives Penny's address to Desmond.
Flash!
Real Time: Sayid wants to know who's responsible for the damage in the communications room but Minkowski doesn't seem to know. He has a fit, starts bleeding from the nose, croaks, "I can't get back" and dies in Desmond's arms. Guess homeboy didn't have a constant. Sayid then notices that Desmond's nose is also bleeding. This can't be good....
Flash!
1996: Address in hand, Des goes to see Penny. She's not exactly thrilled to see him, but he begs for her number, insisting that he won't bother her and promising that the next time she hears from it, it will be in eight years (December 24, 2004). He pleads for her not to change her number and....
Flash!
Real Time: Sayid to the rescue. The communication lines have been fixed, but the battery's low. Des punches in Penny's number. It rings. It rings again. And again. And again.
She answers! They talk! She knows about the Island! She's been trying to find him for three years! They love each other! The battery dies and Des thanks Sayid, apparently able to remember everything and insisting that he is now, 'perfect.'
Meanwhile, on the Island, Farraday is riffling through his journal and stops at one specific page:
"If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."
It was the best episode I've ever seen. In all four seasons, this was probably the most rewarding for me. High intensity and big-time emotional payoff in the way only Lost can provide. I care more about Desmond and Penny reuniting than I do about anything else in the show and I'm really hoping they do so by the end of the series. I know that Cuse and Lindelof like to throw curveballs, but Penny and Desmond have to get back together. They just have to.
Questions/Theories:
+ Why doesn't Island Farraday recognize Desmond when they first meet?
+ Why does Mr. Widmore bid an ungodly amount of money on a journal? I mean, I realize he's a wealthy white male and they've got money to burn...but this seems to have a little more depth than just a whimsical, extravagant purchase.
+ Why wasn't Minkowski allowed to answer calls from Penny? Who ordered this?
+ Michael is the man on the boat. I think he's working for Ben, but also wants to help out his friends. That's why he opened the door to the sick bay.
+ "Farraday can't even help himself." -- Does this mean that Farraday is also afflicted in the same way as Des and Minkowski?
+ Farraday never covered his head while performing experiments. Does he have some form of cancer? Is that why he needs a caretaker?
Can't wait until next week. Apparently, we get a peek into Juliet's past or future.
Anyway, if you still haven't seen it, get to ABC.com right now and check it out.
Other cool links for you to check out?
+ Hi-res screencaps and reworked audio samples @ Lost Easter Eggs.
+ Let's Talk Lost @ Pop Candy
+ Jeff Jensen @ EW.com -- '96 Tears
Let's get to the meat behind the beat, shall we?
Flash: Desmond Hume.
Despite the fact that Desmond visits 1996, I wouldn't categorize this as a flashback. Much like the protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut's classic Slaughterhouse Five, Desmond is definitely unstuck in time.
Let's break it down:
Real Time: Frank Lapidus is flying the helicopter back to the freighter. He flies through a possibly electromagnetic thunderstorm, possibly deviating from the precise coordinates Farraday gave him (remember The Economist? Farraday was explicit in his instructions that Frank should not deviate from these coordinates at all) and Desmond starts experiencing flashes.
Flash!
1996: Desmond is back in the Royal Scottish Regiment...but he remembers being in the helicopter. What the hell is going on? Disoriented, he isn't as quick on his feet as the rest of his regiment and earns all the lads double time punishment.
Real Time: Desmond finds himself in the chopper again, obviously confused and completely unsure of who Sayid and Frank are. Did the conscience of Desmond circa 1996 get mixed-up with Desmond circa 2004? Frank lands the helicopter on the freighter and two crew members -- new characters known only as Omar and Keamy -- take Des to the ship's sick bay.
Flash!
1996: Desmond is back in Scotland, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. He talks to his buddy about experiencing seriously vivid dreams and his buddy asks if there's anyone in his dreams he remembers. Penny! Des runs over to the closest phone booth to call his ex, is pushed by a grudging grunt, drops his change and....
Flash!
Real Time: Omar and Keamy lock Desmond in the sick bay, he starts pounding on the door and is startled to discover there's someone else in the room. Someone else who is also experiencing the same time travel phenomena as him. Someone called George Minkowski. Ah ha! So, this is why Minkowski could never come to the phone! He's been strapped and drugged up in the sick bay.
Meanwhile, Sayid finally makes contact with Jack. Speaking via speaker phone, Sayid tells the Island-dwellers that Desmond has been acting odd. Farraday immediately asks is Desmond has experienced an intense dose of either radiation or electromagnetic energy (remember the fail-safe key in the Hatch?) and goes on to state that when leaving the island, people get a little disoriented....but Desmond is not experiencing amnesia.
In the sick bay, a creepy doctor visits Des and Minkowski. He proceeds to dose Minkowski with what appears to be a sedative and Mink is down for the count. When Desmond rears up and shouts, "You're not sticking me with that, brotha!", the doctor tells him to relax and that he only wants to examine his eyes.
As the light flashes, so does Des.
1996: Des comes to in a phone booth, clutching coins. He calls Penny, who in 1996, was mildly disgruntled to hear from the man who dumped her. She tells him that she moved and not to call again. Desmond starts to argue and...
Flash!
Real Time: Sayid brings the phone down to Desmond to talk to Farraday. The physicist asks Des what year it is (1996, according to Des) and where he's supposed to be (Camp Miller, Scotland). Farraday then instructs Des to take the train down to Queen's College in Oxford and talk to Farraday circa 1996. In order to ensure that 1996-era Farraday will take him seriously, 2004-era Farraday tells him to mention degrees and hertz of a certain machine as well as to say that he knows about Eloise. As Keamy and Omar burst into the sick bay to stop the call....
Flash!
1996: Des is on campus, searching for Farraday. He finds him and recites the information. I loved this part so much because it reminded me of Marty McFly telling Doc Brown how the Flux Capacitor came into being. A Back To The Future wink on Lost? I'm in love.
It is here we learn that Eloise is a rat that Farraday has been conducting time-travel experiments on via radiation. It is also here we learn that while Farraday protects his body by wearing a lead vest, he doesn't seem to protect his head.
Flash!
Real Time: Back in the bay, Minkowski wakes up and shares this vital tidbit of information -- as the ship's communications officer, he was under strict orders never to answer a certain line whenever it rang. And who was this unlucky caller, unable to reach out and touch someone? None other than the love of Des' life, Penny Widmore.
Flash!
1996: Des comes to in Farraday's lab and discovers two things -- a) he's been gone for 75 minutes and b) Eloise is dead. According to Farraday, flashing between times was too much for the rat to take and her brain short circuited. Desmond fears this will happen to him, but Farraday has an answer to that. As long as Desmond has a constant -- something or someone he cares about dearly in both times -- his brain should be OK. Hopefully. Des grabs a phone and calls Penny's number. It's been disconnected and....
Flash!
Real Time: Des tells Sayid that he must get in touch with Penny. Sayid doesn't really get this but is willing to help his friend. Two monkeys in the machine, though. 1) Someone sabotaged the communications room about two days before this conversation took place. To anyone else, this would be a problem but Sayid knows a thing or two about communications. 2) How do you get out of the locked sick bay? Well, that resolves itself fairly easily as well as someone ("a friend on the boat", according to Minkowski) has conveniently left the door open.
Flash!
1996: Desmond's nowhere to be seen but we do catch sight of Penelope's father, Mr. Charles Widmore at an auction. The item up for grabs? The journal of the first mate of The Black Rock. The seller? A gentleman known as Torvald Hanso. Who added the flour 'cause the plot just thickened?!
Yes...I should be openly mocked for that.
Anyway, Widmore wins the item by bidding $380,000 and after Desmond confronts him in the men's room (this isn't American politics, ladies and gents. Neither men have a 'wide stance.'), Mr. Widmore gives Penny's address to Desmond.
Flash!
Real Time: Sayid wants to know who's responsible for the damage in the communications room but Minkowski doesn't seem to know. He has a fit, starts bleeding from the nose, croaks, "I can't get back" and dies in Desmond's arms. Guess homeboy didn't have a constant. Sayid then notices that Desmond's nose is also bleeding. This can't be good....
Flash!
1996: Address in hand, Des goes to see Penny. She's not exactly thrilled to see him, but he begs for her number, insisting that he won't bother her and promising that the next time she hears from it, it will be in eight years (December 24, 2004). He pleads for her not to change her number and....
Flash!
Real Time: Sayid to the rescue. The communication lines have been fixed, but the battery's low. Des punches in Penny's number. It rings. It rings again. And again. And again.
She answers! They talk! She knows about the Island! She's been trying to find him for three years! They love each other! The battery dies and Des thanks Sayid, apparently able to remember everything and insisting that he is now, 'perfect.'
Meanwhile, on the Island, Farraday is riffling through his journal and stops at one specific page:
"If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."
It was the best episode I've ever seen. In all four seasons, this was probably the most rewarding for me. High intensity and big-time emotional payoff in the way only Lost can provide. I care more about Desmond and Penny reuniting than I do about anything else in the show and I'm really hoping they do so by the end of the series. I know that Cuse and Lindelof like to throw curveballs, but Penny and Desmond have to get back together. They just have to.
Questions/Theories:
+ Why doesn't Island Farraday recognize Desmond when they first meet?
+ Why does Mr. Widmore bid an ungodly amount of money on a journal? I mean, I realize he's a wealthy white male and they've got money to burn...but this seems to have a little more depth than just a whimsical, extravagant purchase.
+ Why wasn't Minkowski allowed to answer calls from Penny? Who ordered this?
+ Michael is the man on the boat. I think he's working for Ben, but also wants to help out his friends. That's why he opened the door to the sick bay.
+ "Farraday can't even help himself." -- Does this mean that Farraday is also afflicted in the same way as Des and Minkowski?
+ Farraday never covered his head while performing experiments. Does he have some form of cancer? Is that why he needs a caretaker?
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