Lost: The Final Boner

[R-V]

More commenters that are smarter than me...

Yeah, it seems to me that sometime after she shot Daniel, she was approached by MIB and made a deal, that deal being she gets Daniel back, and was taking instructions from him up until the alt world got created.

Des has the flashes to the original universe because he's "special." What do Daniel and Charlie have in common? Oh yes, they're dead. Maybe if you're dead in the real world, you are more conscious of that world in the alternate universe. Desmond really SHOULD have died when he turned the key, but he didn't.

BUT, as we saw in tonight's episode, Desmond wants everyone in alterna-world to embrace their "feelings" in an attempt to cross over to the other world. The big question is why would they cross over? I know a lot of people seem to hate the "true love" answer, but I think it's a bit deeper than that, because not every character has a Penny or a Charlotte; instead, I think what Desmond and Charlie and Daniel saw in their "visions" of the real timeline was something authentic that they cared about that they chose to care about. Those three characters are all great examples because they all desperately care about something (Charlie's band, Daniel's work and Desmond's Widmore-relationship) that isn't really what they want to care about. All three find, though their respective ladies, something that they chose to love that wasn't pressed upon them, or wasn't their "fate" or "destiny." They aren't choosing true love as much as they are making their own choice everything else be damned. Viewed that way, it seems a bit more meaningful than just "love conquers all," at least to me.

In tonight's episode Desmond tells Charlie "You always have a choice, brotha," and I think that is the line that defines this season. There are men of science, men of faith and then men of action, who don't need to rationalize their choices to themselves because the most important action they can do is to exercise that ability to make a choice--not just that, but to accept the consequences of those choices (because a big theme of 'Lost' is regret, self-loathing and apathy induced by a perceived lack of control) even if they are incredibly difficult to live with (such as Desmond choosing his death over life with Penny and/or the bachelor's life).

[PenFoe]

I don't think anyone posted this yet, so here's the clip of the conversation between Desmond and Faraday.

Pay particularly close attention to the background behind Desmond, which you'll notice changes at the 2:56 and 3:47 marks.

Foreshadowing an Alt Desmond trip to the Island?
Unlikely, since then he might run into himself backstage before he plays Johnny B. Goode, but needless to say...interesting.

[Weebs]

I don't think anyone posted this yet, so here's the clip of the conversation between Desmond and Faraday.

Pay particularly close attention to the background behind Desmond, which you'll notice changes at the 2:56 and 3:47 marks.

Foreshadowing an Alt Desmond trip to the Island?
Unlikely, since then he might run into himself backstage before he plays Johnny B. Goode, but needless to say...interesting.

Where are you seeing a background change?  They're just changing the angle of where the camera is setup.  You can see it pan from whatever is initially behind him (rocks or brick or something like that) over to some trees past his left shoulder just before that 2:56 mark.  There was always green behind Desmond, but you just don't really see it because they have the camera setup further in front of him.

[Yeti]

I don't think anyone posted this yet, so here's the clip of the conversation between Desmond and Faraday.

Pay particularly close attention to the background behind Desmond, which you'll notice changes at the 2:56 and 3:47 marks.

Foreshadowing an Alt Desmond trip to the Island?
Unlikely, since then he might run into himself backstage before he plays Johnny B. Goode, but needless to say...interesting.

Where are you seeing a background change?  They're just changing the angle of where the camera is setup.  You can see it pan from whatever is initially behind him (rocks or brick or something like that) over to some trees past his left shoulder just before that 2:56 mark.  There was always green behind Desmond, but you just don't really see it because they have the camera setup further in front of him.

I'm with Weebs here. [Ducks down]

[PenFoe]

I don't think anyone posted this yet, so here's the clip of the conversation between Desmond and Faraday.

Pay particularly close attention to the background behind Desmond, which you'll notice changes at the 2:56 and 3:47 marks.

Foreshadowing an Alt Desmond trip to the Island?
Unlikely, since then he might run into himself backstage before he plays Johnny B. Goode, but needless to say...interesting.

Where are you seeing a background change?  They're just changing the angle of where the camera is setup.  You can see it pan from whatever is initially behind him (rocks or brick or something like that) over to some trees past his left shoulder just before that 2:56 mark.  There was always green behind Desmond, but you just don't really see it because they have the camera setup further in front of him.

I'm with Weebs here. [Ducks down]

Yeah, carry on.
Nothing to see here.

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

One big thought occurred to me when watching last week's episode: the writers have said in the past that (contrary to the Man in Black's explanation to Alpert*) the island isn't Hell. But what if the alt timeline is hell? Now, as soon as I tried to explain this idea out loud to someone a week ago, it kind of fell apart for me, but I thought I'd still throw it out there.

At the very least, it seems like something the Losties need to "escape" from (perhaps a mirror of EvilLocke trying to escape the island).

Alt Cholly seems to consider his visions of the island timeline to be more "real" than the timeline he's in. Maybe it's like the Matrix, and Cholly gave Desmond the "red pill" (which Desmond is now ready to distribute to his fellow Oceanic 815 passengers).

Anyways... I just watched the last episode again on Hulu and have some other fresh-ish thoughts/questions.

First: What did AltEloise mean by "violation"?

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Happily_Ever_After_transcript

Someone has clearly affected the way you see things. This is a serious problem. It is, in fact, a violation.

Second: Did Desmond consciousness travel between timelines? ("A lot can happen in twenty minutes.") Or is he just "leaking" between timelines like it seemed like Sun might have been doing when she lost her ability to speak English, or like AltCholly and maybe Juliet did when they were near death, or like AltDaniel did when he suddenly knew quantum physics?

Could these possibly be the same thing?

Finally: Here's something I totally missed the first time that immediately caught my ear this time around:

TECHNICIAN: This machine is super loud. You're gonna want these. [Hands Desmond ear plugs and straps him to table.] And you need the button.

DESMOND: The button?

TECHNICIAN: The panic button. You need to stop, press it. Try not to 'cause we'll have to start all over again from the beginning. I'll be in that booth over there. You'll be able to hear me. Thirty minutes, okay?

Maybe it's just a tease by the writiers, but I found that intriguing.

*If this is not true, though, I think it would be the only time we've seen the Man in Black outright lie. So perhaps it's still somehow true "in a way" (a la Obi Wan) that the island is "Hell."

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iupbNAGVaJc#t=2m10s

Round the world and home again
That's the sailor's way

There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing

Is it raining, is it snowing
Is a hurricane a-blowing

Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of Hell a-glowing
Is the grisly reaper mowing

Yes, the danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing

[Slaky]

Goddamn it - that was one of the best episodes yet. I don't even know why, it just was.

[Yeti]

So, Desmond is matching up everything to the way it is/should be in the real universe?

[R-V]

Goddamn it - that was one of the best episodes yet. I don't even know why, it just was.

Ilana getting Artz'd was outstanding. Que PenChuck to complain about how we didn't find out enough about her character.

[Richard Chuggar]

Goddamn it - that was one of the best episodes yet. I don't even know why, it just was.

Ilana getting Artz'd was outstanding. Que PenChuck to complain about how we didn't find out enough about her character.

It was pretty sweet.  Although am I the only one that thought it was kind of lame that they just repeating the Artzing?  They could have killed her in a way better way that hadn't been done before.  Either way, glad the island is done with her b/c she was pointless now.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Goddamn it - that was one of the best episodes yet. I don't even know why, it just was.

Ilana getting Artz'd was outstanding. Que PenChuck to complain about how we didn't find out enough about her character.

It was pretty sweet.  Although am I the only one that thought it was kind of lame that they just repeating the Artzing?  They could have killed her in a way better way that hadn't been done before.  Either way, glad the island is done with her b/c she was pointless now.

That's my 2 beefs with that death - rerun and what the hell was the point of the character?

And, enough with the cock teasing.  "Ask Jacob what the island is."  I thought the time for questions was over?  Don't do that anymore.

The idea of Philanthropic Hurley is excellent.

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

And, enough with the cock teasing.  "Ask Jacob what the island is."  I thought the time for questions was over?  Don't do that anymore.

We already heard the answer to that question, Chuck.

Jacob told Alpert that the island is the cork in the wine bottle of evil.

That wasn't a cock tease. It was Alpert testing Hurley with something we already knew.

[R-V]

So, Desmond is matching up everything to the way it is/should be in the real universe?

I don't really understand what you're asking. It seems to me that AltDesmond plowed into AltLocke either because:

- he thinks that the guy who pushed him down the well was actually Locke, and he's getting some sweet revenge or
- (more likely) he is sending Locke to the hospital to meet up with Jack, Jin, Sun and Cholly

AltDesmond telling Ben the teacher that he had a kid named Cholly seems to support the theory that Des is now aware of all alternate universes.

[Chuck to Chuck]

And, enough with the cock teasing.  "Ask Jacob what the island is."  I thought the time for questions was over?  Don't do that anymore.

We already heard the answer to that question, Chuck.

Jacob told Alpert that the island is the cork in the wine bottle of evil.

That wasn't a cock tease. It was Alpert testing Hurley with something we already knew.

Ah.  You is right.