LOSTblog: [Part 2] Recap, Weirdness Alerts and Analysis of LOST Episode 6.11

Part 2 Recap, Weirdness Alerts and Analysis of #LOST Episode 6.11 - "Happily Ever After"

Part 1 Recap of "Happily Ever After"

Part 3 Recap of "Happily Ever After"

Support Theory Posts:

Memory Modification and Identity HERE

FEAR & Identity HERE

Everybody okay? Still hangin' in there? Oh, good.

Here we go --

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A WHITE SCREEN

Silence. Fade in to puffy white clouds. We move through them toward a patch of blue sky. Cross fade to Desmond’s reflection in an Oceanic board announcing arrivals. Background noise of the airport slowly fades in. Flight 815 from Sydney [Gate 8 at 10:42 AM] flashes “Arrived.” The “Claim” column for 815 is blank which is TOTALLY WEIRD because the 8 flights that haven’t arrived yet are all assigned “Claim” numbers.

Desmond turns, looking at nothing. Hurley turns the corner and notices him.

Hurley: It’s carousel four.

Desmond: Sorry?

Hurley: You’re on the Sydney flight, right?

Desmond: Yeah.

Hurley: Our bags are on carousel four. I double-checked with the dude at the counter.

Desmond: Thank you.

Weirdness alert: This is NOT Hurley. Check out the pocket of his shirt. There's a gold patch that's never been on his shirt he was wearing on flight 815 before.

A luggage carousel. A really ugly shirt! I see a little abstract of a guy with his arms spread and a halo over his head on the back. Weird. People grab bags as they roll by. A blonde in a red sweater makes an awkward grab for a black bag. Desmond gives her a hand. It’s Claire (kinda).

Claire: Thank you so much.

Desmond: Pleasure. Got any more bags?

Claire: No – uh that’s it, thank God.

Desmond: Boy or girl?

Claire: Uh -- I don't know.

Desmond: Sorry, that's right nosey of me! Well you’re braver than I. I’m not a big fan of surprises. So -- need a ride?

Claire: (slowly backs away) No thanks! Thanks, tho.

Desmond: Nice meetin’ ya.

Claire: Yeah, it was nice to meet you too. [They met? When did that happen? Jack and Desmond do a meet and greet in LA_X.]

They split off. Weirdness alert: You guessed it! This is NOT Claire! First, Claire did not have a suitcase in "What Kate Did." Second, if you WATCH CAREFULLY the rings on her fingers 1) are wrong and 2) disappear and reappear during this scene. She brushes her hair outta her face like 5 times, so it's not hard to get a good look at her hands.

Think these things don't matter? Think again! What we've just scene is a set up. THIS Desmond was NOT on THAT plane. [Neither was Claire, btw]. You know this because we see the clouds (the transition image Jack sees BOTH times out of 815's windows), but we don't see the plane. Remember how Rose tells Jack "We made it"? I think the plane is the only official way to get to this world. This Desmond's flash is FORCED, remember? I think he bypassed "traditional" channels which is why he skips from the clouds straight to the airport.

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THEORY BREAK

I'm sure I'm completely confusing you. I know it, and I'm sorry! One of the reasons this post turned out so long is that many of my primary theories are playing out, and in order to demonstrate that, I have to fill you in on my primary theories! I've done four podcasts (links on Amy's MENU) where I've been able to spell out my ideas, but I've never transposed them all into writing!

However, it's Season 6, and it's no time to hold anything back -- ALL or NUTHIN'!! It's time I confessed and just told you guys everything.

Are you ready?

Are you SURE?

Yes? Okay, if you insist!

In order for this episode to answer your questions about mysteries on the show, you have to roll with a few basic concepts (ALL of which have been made pretty darn clear in Season 6).

Nothing we see in the flashes takes place in the physical world. (FB, FF or FS)

Nothing (or very little) we see on the island takes place in the physical world. [If you're on the fence about this one, you'll still be okay with the rest of it, so don't let it bother you.]

The losties we see in the flashes are the same exact losties we see on the island -- BECAUSE

Their existence in the flashes is their consciousness. xlosties are their ghosts shifting between worlds (kinda like when Desmond flashes to his "past." He doesn't physically time travel. Only his MIND or IDENTITY does the "traveling"). -- HOWEVER,

This consciousness shifting is manipulated by a barrier that DIVIDES our losties' consciousness by keeping certain memories on the island and certain memories in the flashes. Different memories are ACTIVE in each world (Don't panic). -- WHICH MEANS

BOTH the events in the flashes and events on the island are happening in REAL TIME (something I've been harping on for a while now, actually). This memory "loss" as they shift between worlds is what been tricking us all along into thinking that the flashes are a separate story line or a different time or universe. (Sneaky Bastards!)

This also means that all of our losties, and anyone else who has a flashback, are of TWO MINDS - one of which is asleep while the other is awake at all times. Everyone, that is, except HURLEY and DESMOND.

Here's the kicker. You ready? THE FLASHES WE'VE SEEN ARE NOT ALL PART OF ONE FLASH. So far, I've seen at LEAST THREE different flash worlds. (Don't panic!)

Remember, Desmond is the exception that PROVES the rule! In his flashes up to this point, he carries all of his memories with him as he shifts back and forth between his flash and the island (or freighter). However, he is still the same Desmond, but he's NOT the same Desmond in THIS flash -- the flash that's been FORCED on him.

This theory is new [YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST FOLKS!!], so I'll flesh it out for you. I totally admit that I'm cheating and working backwards from what we learned in "Everybody Loves Hugo," okay? I confess. However, the exchange between Charlie and Desmond in this episode has EVERYTHING to so with what Desmond's up to in the next episode. And none of it makes sense unless you can "see" it.

I don't know how or why this set up was created, or who's still running the barrier between the flashes and the island, but I THINK that this technology we're seeing was actually invented to HELP people. A while ago I posted about Christian and Jack and how Jack looks pretty darn schizophrenic in the flashes he has where he's cut off from the island world (when FF start in LA). I also posted (extensively - sorry!) about "Lighthouse" and how the journey to Jacob's lighthouse is Jack's journey to healing. He rejects Christian's horrific parenting/negative influence on him. He "carried" Christian's words with him "my whole life." Past tense means, as he's talking to David, he's NOT carrying those words anymore.

I think this technology (that allows peeps to create their own mental healing through a type of directed dream-state) is malfunctioning when our losties wake up on the island. The island is broken. And I think for a very long time, somehow, dead peeps are stuck there. I mentioned this on Donald's podcast: The OTHERS are these consciousnesses (I call them ghosts because it works better). [Richard: What happened to the others? Jacob: They're all dead.] and they are STUCK on the island. This might be the "hell" that Jacob was referring too. The confinement of these ghosts in relation to this island. "THEY" need help. THEY are crying "Help Us!" throughout the entire show.

That's enough for now. I'll do Theory Breaks throughout, so don't worry!

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FAKE LA_X

Desmond: A boy.

Claire: What?

Desmond: I bet it’s a boy.

Claire watches him as she walks away. She is walking with TWO Oceanic flight attendants! IN sync, like she’s leaving with them! PAY ATTENTION: This is a TRICK to convince you that Desmond remembers. He doesn't. Not yet.

Desmond walks through the airport. A whistling George Minkowski hold a sign – “Hume.” They greet and leave together.

Desmond: Looks like I’m [slurred] you.

Minkowski: Hello there! Let me pull your suitcase for you.

As they walk and talk, Desmond pulls a BLACK DEVICE from his pocket. He taps it with his thumb.

Minkowski: My name is George.

DEVICE BEEPS

Minkowski: So, uh, take you back to your hotel?

Desmond: The office.

Check out Minkowski’s watch!

Minkowski: Just back from Sydney, right? Have any fun?

Desmond: I was closing a deal for the boss.

Minkowski: Good for you! Congratulations!

Desmond punches on his device as they talk. The car alarm beeps as Minkowski disables it. Weirdness alert: Desmond’s shirt is BLUE in the airport and turns GRAY when they walk outside.

Minkowski: You need anything, you let me know, dinner, movie, hooker – Are you looking for some company? I noticed the lack of a wedding band --

Desmond: [EW!] Uh, no thanks. I’m here to work.

Minkowski: I guess that why you’re the boss’s right hand man, and I am the driver.

The driver! Get it? Karen will really like that one! Through the years, Karen over at Karen's LOST Notebook (a website I highly recommend and not just cuz she's a way cool pal) has collected TONS of evidence directly from the show that point to a computer/matrix type influence on this world. If these flash worlds aren't real, then how are they created? Some kind of computer intervention would totally make sense with what we know now. I fully admit I don't know how it's happening. I only know how our losties perceptions are MANIPULATED, and they are manipulated subliminally with SOUND.

Anyway, "driver" is a computer word, and the fact that Minkowski shows up at this fake airport scene and moves Desmond around is pretty significant (and funny!).

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WIDMORE’S OFFICE

Desmond exits the elevator punching on his device. Beeps abound here: elevator, phones. Watch CAREFULLY: remember our weird “CHANG” guy from “Sundown?” We called him Dr. Chime. Anyway, remember how he followed Jack and made the CHANG noise when Jack was looking at Sayid? We deduced that the CHANG noise is what prevented Jack from recognizing Sayid (or prevented him from remembering having seen Sayid at all).

Take a really good look at briefcase guy on the black couch. He makes the same weird hand gesture on his belly that Dr. Chime did before he made the CHANG sound. Briefcase guy TRIES to make a noise: you see his mouth open as if to make some kind of noise. However, before he can, Desmond’s device beeps. When Briefcase Guys opens his mouth, just as Desmond is walking by, nothing comes out. THEN Desmond pockets the device, and goes about his business.

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THEORY BREAK

See? I told you there'd be more! I bet you didn't think there'd be one so soon, tho, did you? Oh, ye of little faith! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

If you think (or go back) to my recaps for "Sundown" and "The Package," you'll see that SOUND plays a key roll in manipulating our losties in their flashes AND on the island. (I talked about this briefly at the very end of my podcast w/ Matt over at Keys To Lost). The most obvious example is when Jack doesn't recognize Sayid in the hospital when he and Nadia hurry to check on Omar. The doctor at his elbow makes the "CHANG" noise. THAT NOISE is why Jack doesn't recognize Sayid.

Remember, there are artificial BARRIERS between the island world and the flash world. However, they are not designed to be 100% (If everything in the flash is forgotten, then the healing or mental progress that takes place would be for nothing). Some HUGELY important memories of identity defining events just stick. I think they are supposed to stick as, like, part of the recovery process for which this system is designed and, obviously, maintain the identity of the subject. Memories make us who we are, plain and simple. Change our memories, and you change us.

Memories of relationships, especially FEELINGS related to those relationships, tend to stick in conjunction with a "constant." Like Daniel tells Desmond in "The Constant," having someone in both worlds connects the two sides somehow. I'd argue this also works with objects for nearly everyone on the island, including Desmond (his picture of him and Penny is a good example. It connects him with his longing for Penny and drives his quest on the island), and most recently with Richard and Isabella's necklace (which connects him with the memory of loving his wife and his guilt over her death).

Remember, Mrs. Hawking says that "the universe has a way of course correcting." That is, there are certain things that MUST happen. That makes sense in this FLASH universe, because some memories and experiences are necessary to keep our losties' identities intact. However, what this also means is that EVERYTHING ELSE can change. EVERYTHING else is a variable in this flash world and the island world too. Consider Desmond's struggle with Charlie's death. Charlie has to die, but everything else about his death is a variable. Desmond keeps changing the circumstance of Charlie's death until Charlie himself chooses how he will die.

These variables can be problematic if you have a subject/patient working through a directed dream world. Watchers and/or Guides are used to keep subjects/patients from becoming LOST in a delusional world (Like Clairuso). Remember, Jacob HAD BEEN WATCHING. All the houses in Jacob's mirrors are ones we recognize from the FLASH world. Jacob was somehow responsible or heavily connected to how the island works up until he dies. [Jacob's DEATH was the variable! Not the bomb!] Dogen is a watcher for Jack in his "Lighthouse" flash and Hurley is Jack's guide. The entire event is orchestrated by Jacob. This might be why Jack's flash has had the healthiest and most positive outcome of all of our losties in Season 6!

To prevent further problems and distractions and yet still allow free-will within the directed dream, somehow, this system provides fail-safes to monitor and make adjustments to our losties' PERCEPTION of the world around them (I call them agents, but I just pulled that out of my hat - get it? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!). Dr. Chime in "Sundown" and Couch Guy in Widmore's office are examples of what I mean. They are innocuous, random peeps within the flash provided to make minor adjustments during the course of the flash, and they make those adjustments with SOUND [CHANG!].

If this is true, then Desmond's little beeping device makes sense. Later we see Desmond see talking to Widmore on his cell phone, and it's NOT the same device. This is NOT a cell phone. Plus, Desmond is able to converse easily while he's punching on the device -- he's not texting. [Get this! I think he's entering a CODE!] However he's doing it, I think this device specifically works to prevent him from being influenced by sounds while he's in the flash. That makes a LOT more sense once we get to "Everybody Loves Hugo." If you're a lostie and you want/need to cross over and keep your island memories, you'd need to be 1) Desmond because he's the only person who can do it AND 2) able to block the flash world from messing with your head once you got there. In this episode, Desmond is both. Keep your eye out for when Desmond is USING the device and when he's NOT using it.

"But," you might say, "Desmond doesn't remember the island!"

Very good, grasshoppa! He doesn't remember the island YET. He is TABULA RASA. Notice that he has ONE objective in mind - GO TO THE OFFICE. It's almost like he's programmed, but with one simple instruction. And he's armed with a device that prevents him from forgetting or being distracted. This isn't the Desmond we've come to know and love. This is a stripped down, non-thinking, Tabula Rasa with NO independent needs or desires except to do what he's told to do.

So how does he pick up those memories along the way in this episode? [Do you see it yet?]

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WIDMORE’S OFFICE

Desmond greets the receptionist and enters a bossman office (he is expected). A LARGE painting of SCALES (much like the ones at Graffiti Cave). The scales are balanced with, you guessed it! One black stone and one white stone. WHOA! Check out the murky background of the windows! The receptionist (in red) closes the door for them (what -- was Desmond raised in a barn he can’t close the door himself? Geez!). Watch that hollow “whirrrrrr” sound!

Desmond: Charles.

Widmore looks up, happy as a clam to see him. [It doesn't take much lookin' to realize THIS isn't THE Charles Widmore, right?]

Widmore: Welcome to Los Angeles my friend!

Desmond: Thank you.

Widmore gives Desmond a big ol’ smarmy hug. Widmore’s wearing a wedding ring! They smugly grin at each other [and it is very, very creepy].

Desmond stares at a model sailboat (and it ain't the Black Rock neither!). Widmore's on the phone.

Widmore: I don't give a bloody damn what he did or how much it's going to cost!

Desmond pulls his device out and taps on it. NOTE: The painting is now on the wall opposite where it was when Desmond arrived. Watch carefully when Desmond sits. What's with flapping his jacket like that?

Widmore: Just get him arraigned and get him out of there! (hangs up) Sorry Desmond. Looks like our celebration of the Australia deal is gonna have to be cut short. You are aware my son's a musician?

Desmond: Yes. Heard he's quite talented. [Get it? I HEARD -- Watch wordplay with aural terms from now on!]

Widmore: I guess. He's got some stupid hippie thing where he wants to combine classical music with modern rock. [COMBINE being the operative word here] Driveshaft's supposed to perform with him at my wife's big charity event. You've heard of Driveshaft?

Desmond: No. Can't say I have.

Widmore: The bass player's in jail on a drug charge. If I don't get him to my wife's event, she'll, simply put, destroy me. Do me a favor and fetch him? I know it's beneath you --

Desmond: Say no more, Charles. It's done.

Widmore: You're lucky. No family. No commitments. Ah, to be free of attachments. [To be TABULA RASA! Our relationships help define who we are. Remembering his relationship with Penny helps him remember who Desmond is.]

Widmore pours them drinks. (Guess what brand of whiskey?)

Desmond: I'm a blessed man, sir.

Widmore: It is I who am blessed to have you in my employ. Let's throw one back to celebrate your indespensability.

Desmond notes the brand. He looks, what, surprised? Not pleased. A bit shocked maybe?

Desmond: That's your 60 year old scotch, Charles.

Widmore: Nothing's too good for you.

They toast, and for the life of me, I can't figure out what Desmond's says. We don't see him DRINK it, which will be important later. Weirdness alert: I'm sorry, but how much booze does Widmore need to get through his day?! There are TWO decanters (JUST like the ones in Christian's study that Margo pours herself a drink from!) and the scotch bottle's nearly a third gone! What a lush! Take careful note of how Charles' GUSHING has little affect on Desmond.

The idea that Widmore's wife (who we see later is Eloise) will "destroy" him seems a bit dramatic. However, if you think of Eloise as another failsafe within the system, and if this system is designed to get Desmond to behave a certain way (or follow a certain path or seek to complete a certain objective), being destroyed for not fulfilling your assignment MIGHT happen if this system is shut down and a more effective one is GENERATED. Because if you're a creation of and restricted to the confines of this system and the system is shut down, you shut down with it. AKA You'll "simply cease to be."

Does that make ANY sense at all?

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COURTHOUSE

Desmond parks at the courthouse door. (This truly is a magical fairy land! Finding parking in LA? Wow!) MAJOR WEIRDNESS ALERT. Desmond parked RIGHT in front of the door, right? And if he's walking straight to that door, and any car is reflected in that door, then it should be the small, silver car he drove up in.

LOOKIT that reflection: It's NOT the car he arrived in. [Truck on over to a few screencaps I posted HERE] THAT, my friends, looks like JACK'S jeep when he left the island and lived in LA (BEFORE he puts Christian out of his mind in "Lighthouse." Remember that for later). That is AMAZING to see such a huge clue!

WOW! Also: Weirdness alert: Desmond's reflection is seriously warped. There's a patch of "darkness" on his left leg that looks weird. It looks like it's something on the other side of the door, except it moves with him as he's walking.

Charlie exits behind a lawyer. She beeps her phone. Charlie looks a bit woozy for a sec. LISTEN to the odd squeaky noise. Hm. [Never forget! Noises matter!] The lawyer and Desmond chat. Charlie ignores them. He pulls his stuff outta the court appointed plastic bag and tosses it to the ground. [What is he carrying in his left hand? I can't tell!]

Desmond: Hey! Where ya going?

Lawyer: He's all yours.

He walks right into traffic and, in a determined daze, beelines for a bar across the street. Weirdness alert: besides the fact that Charlie's being a dork, lookit the markings on the street. It's like there are after-images or dimmer shadows of the crosswalk markings. Very odd!

And the name of that bar? "JAX" [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! -- JAX is also the airport abbreviation for Jacksonville, a title of a FRINGE episode with lots of LOST clues!]

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A BAR NAMED JAX

An arm with a very cool pattern of squares on it pours Charlie a drink. Desmond enters.

Desmond: I'll have what he's having.

Charlie smirks and takes a sip. MAJOR Weirdness alert: Charlie is PRETENDING to drink. Throughout this scene, he never takes an actual sip of booze. Desmond pulls up a bar stool. He pulls out his device and works it while they talk. [LOOKIT the STAR on the RED wall over Demond's shoulder! It's the EXACT shape of the mark JACK saw in the mirror on the plane - right before he discovered Desmond sitting in his row!]

Charlie: Widmore's henchman/chief lackey's stuck babysitting me. Bummer for you.

Desmond: I don't have a title, and I don't mind the job. Plenty of perks. I get to meet charming people.

Charlie: Well -- cheers then!

Desmond lifts his glass but does not drink.

Charlie: Tell me perky, are you happy?

Desmond: Quite.

Charlie: Liar.

Desmond: I've got a great job, lots of money, I get to travel the world --

Charlie: But have you ever been in love?

Desmond: Uh --Thousands of times. With women. Cuz I'm straight. At least I think I'm straight. . .

Charlie: That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about spectacular, consciousness-altering love.

Desmond: Pfft.

Charlie: I've seen it, mate, on the plane back from Sydney.

Desmond puts down his device.

Desmond: Alright. I'll bite. I was on the same flight, maybe I saw it too.

Charlie: Trust me. You didn't.

Desmond: No? Enlighten me. [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]

Charlie: There was this woman, two rows in front of me, in handcuffs, sitting by the cop. He looked at me. He knew I was holding. If I didn't take action, I'd be caught. So I got up, went to the lav. Preceded to eliminate the evidence by swallowing my stash [Cuz that makes sense -- dumb ass junkie!] and at that exact moment, we hit turbulence.

Desmond takes an actual sip of his drink. [Charlie's story here is hinky to me. Hm.]

Charlie: I choked. The entire bag of heroin was stuck in my throat. [muddled] It's over. Everything starts to go dark, and then slipping into the abyss, and then I see her.

Desmond: Her?

Charlie: A woman. Blonde. Rapturously beautiful. And I know her. We're together, like we've always been, and always will be. This feeling -- this love. And just as I'm about to be engulfed by it, I open my eyes, and this sodding idiot is standing there asking me if I'm okay. But I saw it. Just for a moment, I saw what it looked like.

Desmond: Well, that's just -- poetry, brutha. You know you should -- you should write a song about that. [FIRST time we've heard Des use his trademark word. Not a coincidence that it happens after he puts away his device and takes his first drink and ASKS to be "enlightened."]

Charlie: I know what you're saying. Poor, suicidal rock star. But I've seen something real. I've seen the truth.

Desmond: No, that's not the truth. You wanna know what the real truth is? Right now you have a choice. You can keep on drinking, or you can come with me. Now before you make your choice, realize, that if you stay here, it will very likely result in the extermination of your career. [Extermination is not a nice word! Just like "destroy" from Widmore.]

Charlie: And if I go with you?

Desmond: 20 minutes you'll be luxuriating in a five star hotel, right in the harbor front. Charles Widmore, one of the most powerful men in this town, will owe you a favor. [Since when is Charles Widmore a powerful man in LA?]

Charlie: [muddled] really seem like a choice.

Desmond: There's always a choice, brutha.

We keep hearing this phrase over and over, but by now I think we know Desmond is DEAD WRONG.

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DESMOND'S CAR

We hear "You All Everybody" blaring on the radio. Weirdness alert: What's up with all the buttons on Desmond's cuff?

Charlie: That's my band! Driveshaft. Our first single. The beginning of everything great.

They drive past a VERY, VERY familiar harbor! Check out the weirdness with the big, red bush.

Charlie: Do ya like it?

Desmond: Sure. For what it is. [Des is not very interested in music at all, huh? My Q is, so what is it?]

Charlie: I feel sorry for you, man. You think you're happy. [muddled] mean ya got it all. Bliss. Your life. You don't. [Happy is another word for Blessed. Desmond tells Widmore he's blessed.]

Desmond: (snorts) Why? Because none of it's real? [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Also, Jack tells Hurley in "Something Nice Back Home" that just because he's happy doesn't mean it's not real.]

Charlie: Alright Mr. Hume. How 'bout I offer you a choice?

Desmond: I told you -- I mean, I'm flattered! But I'm totally straight. Sorry.

Charlie: I can either show you what I'm talking about --

Desmond: That REALLY won't be necessary --

Charlie: Or you can get outta the car. [Huh?]

Desmond: (chuckles) Okay. Why in God's name would I want to get outta the --

Charlie grabs the wheel. They struggle over it as the car swerves. Desmond yells as the car goes over the edge of a dock and into the water. The windsheild caves in. Water rushes past them as the car fills. It sinks to the bottom.

Desmond shakes himself awake. Charlie is unconscious in the seat next to him. He pops his seatbeat and struggles with Charlie's. He calls Charlie's name. He swims out the open window.

He surfaces. Watch carefully as he looks left, then down and swoops to the right. He just made some kind of pattern or symbol with his head movement! [JACK did the same thing at the CAVES in "Lighthouse." Check it out if you don't believe me!] He takes three deep breaths and dives.

He swims to Charlie's side of the car. He tugs on the door handle, which doesn't budge. Charlie wakes with a knowing smile. With NO bubbles coming out of his mouth OR nose, he palms the window (left hand) and stares at Desmond. Weirdness alert: See all those floaties in the water? Those are CGI floaties, and they randomly form DOT CODES. Basically the water is packed full of DOTS! WOW!

Desmond stares at Charlie's hand. An odd noise, a watery WHOMP, then COMPLETE SILENCE. A bright flash of Charlie's hand on a pane of glass just as it was before he died at The Looking Glass station. It reads "Not Penny's Boat." Desmond keeps staring. Looking Glass Charlie nods "Do you understand?" Desmond stares. Looking Glass Charlie's hand flashes again.

MAJOR Weirdness alert: WATCH CAREFULLY! Desmond jumps back, almost like he's been smacked in the forehead. He blinks and keeps staring. Bubbles from his mouth and nose. Charlie stares back with that creepy smile. His hand falls away. Bubbles from his mouth (for the first time). He turns away like a robot.

Desmond opens the door. Charlie is unconscious like before. [We saw Eko pull this same trick after John rescued him from the polar bear RIGHT AFTER Desmond turned the KEY!] Desmond unbuckles him and swims him to the surface. DUDE! Check out those DOT CODES everywhere! Desmond lugs an unconscious Charlie to the dock. MAJOR Weirdness alert! Watch carefully: the ripples eminating from both of them as Desmond holds Charlie face out of the water while he clings to the dock are NOT RIGHT. They don't match their movements in the water! Also they seem to occur in a set wave pattern! Wow! [Desmond nearly drowned after the Oceanic 6 crashed in Frank's helocopter. Jack resuscitated him (as he did Charlie after Ethan Hanged him). Desmond rescues Claire from drowning - to save Charlie! Jack rescues Boone (and not Johanna) from drowning in "White Rabbit."]

Nope. No Theory Break yet. One more scene, and we'll bring it ALL together!

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HOSPITAL

Desmond's eyes. A penlight moves over them. A pair of eyes peers back at us, moving the light back and forth. Weirdness Alert: Right eye is GREEN. Left eye is BLUE. A doctor is examining Desmond and writing in his chart.

Doc: You sustained a pretty bad bump in your accident. Had any symptoms I need to know about? Nausea, double-vision, hallucinations --- [Jack just had this conversation with Sun in "The Package"]

Desmond: Hallucinations? That's part of the bumped-yer-head checklist?

Doc: You're seeing things that aren't there? [This was Jack's complaint to Locke in "White Rabbit" about Christian.]

Desmond: (thinks) I'm not sure. [Hint to us that Des IS seeing things, but can't tell what's real and what's NOT real]

Doc: Your CAT scan was inconclusive. I need to send you downstairs for an MRI.

Desmond: I don't have time for this. I need to find the man I came in here with. [Again with the time table, and that next line? You're gonna DIE when you find out what it relates to!]

Doc: I'm afraid you're not finding anyone until we know what's going on inside your brain. [Cuz we know SOMETHIN'S going on in there! Could this line be more heavily loaded? I don't think so.]

Inconclusive is a tricky word here. If your doctor thinks your head CT scan results are inconclusive, it is Not Cool. It means that your brain doesn't look normal (which is never good), BUT it also means that your doc can't put her finger on WHY your brain doesn't look normal (you may or may not fall over dead in the near future). Take heart. There's a pretty good chance you'll be just fine. Unless your not. Inconclusive can also mean: with undetermined status or unknown/undetermined outcome or ending. Desmond is in flux. Anybody else's identity we know in flux recently? Like JACK in "Lighthouse?"

Cuz Season 6 is JUST THAT GOOD!

Desmond in a hospital gown chats with the MRI tech.

Tech: Any metal on you? Keys? Change? Any metal inside yer body? Pacemaker? Pins? Bullets? Steel plate inside yer head?

I'm sorry, but this ONE line is brilliant. First, we JUST heard the "Any metal on you?" questions when Widmore's droogs strap him into place in the EMF Box (and Widmore scoffs, which I still think is weird).

Does Desmond have KEYS on him? One of Desmond's primary events was -- you guessed it! Turning the fail-safe key! Anyone ELSE we know directly associated with keys? Jack wore the key to the marshal's case around his neck, and went looking for David's mother's house keys under a BROWN rabbit (Jack's story always refers back to "The White Rabbit," when he chased the ghost of his dead father" who "brought me here" ("Lighthouse").

A CODE can be a key, can it not? (Oh, yes it can!) And CODES can be anything - numbers, letters, pattern's of dots - as long as they need to be entered or used to gain access to something (something LOCKED or inaccessible), then they are keys. The KEY player will make the difference between your team winning and losing. A piece of music is "in the key of ___." FYI: Nadia was wearing a necklace with key charms on it when she was hit by the car. I don't think she's the only one we've seen either. [Wow. All those connections from just ONE word! And we're not even done with the LINE yet!]

Any "Change?" is pretty funny to me! Desmond will be changed by memories of the island, and he (I think) has been sent to this flash world to create change. Remember, the stalemate is ended. The time for change is now! Plus: Jin tells Hurley (in a dream) that "Everything's going to change."

"Pacemaker?" -- That one's easy! Charlie's last name is PACE. A pacemaker is a device that is surgically implanted into your chest to help your heart beat at a safe, steady rate. Do you remember anyone who was tricked into believing he'd had a pacemaker implanted into his chest? How 'bout SAWYER? Ben pulled this little stunt on him, to "con the con man." There might be a (admittedly weak) reference to a "peacemaker" which is someone who facilitates peace (ending warfare), but also the name of a nuclear bomb! One more: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." This is one of the EIGHT Beatitudes from the teaching's of Jesus as recorded in the book of Matthew (from the Christian bible - GET IT?!). Don't even get me started on how we can pick apart the word 'Beatitudes.'

WORDPLAY IS EVERYTHING ON LOST! Learn it. Live it. Love it. (Trust me.)

Final note: Folks you don't get a steel plate put in yer head unless you've sustained serious trauma to it!

Desmond: No. Nothing.

Tech: Emergency contact? Friends? Family?

Desmond: Just put down my employer, Charles Widmore.

Tech: Here. Put these earplugs in. The machine's pretty loud. And you'll need the button. [<---requires NO explanation.]

Desmond: The button?

Tech: Yeah. The panic button. If you need to stop, press it. Try not to cuz we'll have to start all over again. I'll be in that booth over there. You'll be able to hear me. 30 minutes, okay? [Start all over again, maybe every 108 minutes?]

The big thing to connect here is the "PANIC" button. The phrase usually refers to the "button" you press when you are in need of immediate and dire help. You panic, and you don't know what to do (because you're in a panic!), so you press the button and initiate some kind intervention/action to save you! (It's the opposite of "Crying Wolf") When Desmond is frantically fixing the Swan Hatch computer (in a PANIC!), Jack specifically accuses "them" of "put you down here, keep you scared." They tell you to press the button " just to see of you'll do it." Jack even calls this entire Swan/button/save the world mess a "MIND GAME."

Get it?

Desmond stares through the head guard. He's rolled flat on his back into the machine. A small display with numbers: E1; A37. 215, C .46. However, the numbers interest me less than the SYMBOLS on this display. Over C .46, there are three symbols all lit up: what could be a flower (even a lotus flower), A cross (like a medical cross) and what looks like a shield. There are symbols that aren't lit: A heart, something I can't quite make out, a plus sign, something else I can't make out and a either a human face or an odd radiation symbol. I'll need to post a screencap, I'm thinkin'.

Desmond stares up as he's rolled in. The tech checks on him and begins. Immediately we hear machine noises, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, we hear the "whomp whomp" noise we've associated with when our losties transition between the island and the flash world! Remember, it's the SOUND that matters. Soon more thumping. Desmond blinks.

Flashes of Charlie's hand. Charlie nods a silent "Did you get it?" a flash of Penny's face. Desmond's eyes go wide through the MRI "helmet." More flashes of Penny, then of Penny and him, then of Penny and their life together on the boat: Charlie's birth, Charlie as a little boy. We hear a voice call his name. It's Penny. [Again with the sound! On the island, the last time Desmond heard Penny's voice was when she said his name before Charlie closed the door.]

Raise yer hand if you know what just happened? The SOUND of the machine has just ACTIVATED Desmond's memories. Okay, don't get too bogged down on the EMF and MRI and all that because THIS isn't REAL. This is a FALSE world, A FLASH, so the EMF isn't really there! (Or maybe this entire world is an EMF! I dunno.) The thing to understand is that the SOUND that activates Desmond's memories is the same sound our LOSTIES are hearing in Season 6 when they transition BACK and FORTH between the island and the flash world. That means that THAT whomp, whomp sound is ACTIVATING them to flash each time they hear it -- Just like it does for Desmond here.

Here's how it worked: Whatever Charlie did, it triggered Desmond's FLASH of "Not Penny's Boat." After that door was cracked, the sound of the MRI machine triggered more flashes. The sound of the MRI ALSO triggered Desmond to "come back." Two questions: HOW did this happen and WHY?

I've got a coupla ideas. But first we'll need to explore the idea of memories and how they can be manipulated.

[Memory Manipulation Post HERE]

THEN we can take a deeper look into HOW Desmond "remembered" and what it reveals about the flash world.

[Demond, Flashes and The Endgame Post HERE]

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END Part 2 Recap of "Happily Ever After"

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Part 1 Recap of "Happily Ever After" HERE

Part 3 Recap of "Happily Ever After" HERE

Amy's LOST Recaps - Season 6