Origin Story

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First off, a quick programming note: We'll be back next week, with a preview and review of The Candidate - and Maggie and I will be switching roles next week, as I have to travel for work to lovely Minnesota.

Now then. We've had a fair amount of questions about just how in the hell the Dharma Blog came to be. I can assure you that it wasn't a conscious effort. We didn't think to ourselves one day, "Hey, we love LOST, and there are only 14 million blogs about it on the internet, let's make it 14 million and one!" Actually, it happened surprisingly organically. So, given the off week for LOST, I thought I'd tell the story, for those who care :)

Maggie and I have known each other since grade school. We grew up blocks apart, and went to the same schools, and we've always been good friends. Maggie is a year older than I. She graduated and moved to Boston for school, before returning after her freshman year to finish out at the University of Nebraska. I then went to Texas to attend TCU for four years. When I moved back, Maggie was out in Washington D.C., doing the people's work.

Randomly - or via Facebook, as legend has it - we discovered our mutual love. Our friendship frayed by years of distance, we began to reconnect over our shared obsession in this stupid show. At that time, Eko was still alive, the Others were an abstract concept and W was still president. Sadly.

Anyway. We began emailing each other back and forth about our theories on the show, questions, assumptions, etc. Basically all the stuff you read now on the blog, but in a much more familiar form. As we both had friends who shared our love for LOST, we began including people on the emails. As more people joined the list, we decided to formalize it, with me writing previews and Mags taking the reviews. Once the list got to about 60 or 70 people, it was suggested to us that we ditch the long-form emails and put our thoughts out into the blogosphere for the world to read.

The blog was born at some point in Season 3, and has grown and evolved a ton since then, not unlike the show it covers. Maggie now takes the previews while I handle the reviews. We have changed our perspective of what the show is about a million times. And a lot of people have joined us.

In fact, we are shocked at how many people read this thing. Really. We still can't believe people consider us authorities. I was amazed when a client at my real job told me that his parents were impressed that he actually knew "Charlie who writes the Dharma Blog." He had passed it onto them, and they thought we actually knew what we were doing. We were equally shocked when the local paper wanted to do a story on us.

So, as curiosity got the best of us, we set up analytics on this site back in 2007, to track how many people were visiting us, and from where. In just under three years, we've had:
  • Almost 43,000 visits to the site
  • Visitors from all 50 states, led by Nebraska (9000), Texas (4000) and New York (3000)
  • Visitors from 121 countries/territories, from the US (36,000) to Bahrain (1). Hi, Bahrain!
And that is just ridiculous. That's way too many people. But we thank you. We don't advertise on this site, and we don't make any money doing it. We've thought about that, but ultimately, we really just like writing this for ourselves and for those of you who read it, comment on it and think about it. We're glad if we can provide some guidance and clarification to this unbelievably complicated show. We know we miss things, and we know we're wrong sometimes. But we've never really set out to "figure out" LOST or try to predict its ending.

The reason we do this is because, frankly, Maggie and I like a good story. And LOST is one of the best ones we've ever heard. It's so think and so complex that it begs for some interpretation and introspection. And because we're both geeks, both like to write and both have apparently way too much spare time, the blog is a great outlet for us.

And on a personal level, it's been awesome to reconnect with Maggie through this thing. Seriously, she's one of the better friends a person could have, and I was bummed we both lost touch when we moved away. But, silly as this blog is, it's given us a means to reconnect and become great friends again, gathering every week with a few others (Others!) to watch and analyze the show.

It's also been awesome to connect with all of you, albeit only over the internet. Well, sometimes in real life. I moved into a house a year ago, and my neighbor said, "Wait, are you Dharma Blog Charlie?" True story. We're huge in Nebraska.

But really, we love the comments, the questions and the why-didn't-we-think-of-that epiphanies you supply us each week. If I ever go down in a plane onto a mysterious Island that serves as a battleground for age-old philosophical concepts and pseudo-biblical parables, I hope you're all there with me.

Namaste.
Charlie

Bye Week.

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Welcome to Bye Week, everyone.

As if the Lost producers knew that this was the busiest day of the week at the Arbor Day Foundation (happy early Arbor Day everyone!), there will not be a new episode of Lost tonight. Instead, the ABC powers-that-be will give viewers a second showing of "Ab Aeterno," the Richard way-flashback episode from earlier this season.

And so, in due form, Charlie and I are going to take a break this week to ruminate further about "The Last Recruit." And if you're lucky, you might see a post from us later on this week with some bigger picture comments about the show's looming end and what is to come as we race towards the ending. (Which, by the way, is in 28 days. Only. 28. Days. Oh, boy...)

Come to think of it, if you have any suggestions on issues you'd like us to tackle during this bye week, feel free to leave a comment and we'll see what we can come up with.

Have a great week, everyone. And plant a tree on Friday!

Namaste,
Maggie

Where Soul Meets Body

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LOST. Season Six. Episode Thirteen. The Last Recruit

The pieces are now in place. LOST, notorious for the occasional “set-up” episode, delivered such an offering last night that – because this is Season Six – was well worth watching. A few key players unrolled their competing strategies, with some (Flocke and Sawyer) taking on the role of aggressor while others (Jack and Widmore) were put on the defensive. All the while, in an alternate universe far, far away, our characters were assembled by the one player who holds all the cards. “Fate,” as Ilana called him.

In the words of Flocke, “Here we go.”

Hunters and Gatherers
You Can Lead a Jack to Water
We began where the “whispers” reveal left off last week – a straightforward conversation revealing a key piece of mythology. Flocke told Jack that he was the Christian Shephard apparition Jack had chased through the jungle on his third day, and that he did it in order to lead Jack to a water source. In fact, he claimed, it was the first of many “helpful” interferences he made in Jack’s life, in order to free him from Jacob’s Island prison. Problem is, Jack has almost completely taken on the characteristics of John Locke – the man who Flocke called “…stupid enough to believe he was brought here for a reason.” That indictment cut through Jack and the empathy he feels for Locke’s futile faithfulness. More importantly, it gave Jack something to work towards. As we later saw on the S.S. Elizabeth, Jack feels responsible for carrying the torch of Locke’s faith – and he’s willing to carry it at great cost.

Making Camp
Back at Camp Flocke, the followers fracture into competing sects. “It’s so nice to have everyone back together again,” says Flocke upon his return. Not for long. Fellow unlikely leaders Sawyer and Hurley were already comparing notes, questioning the impact of the “dark side,” and getting on the same page.

Catalyzing the call to arms was Zoe, who arrived with a walkie-talkie and a demand for Desmond’s return. Flocke wryly obliged, knowing full well that he wasn’t about to take a threat from some Tina Fey wannabe. Interesting moment when he smashed that walkie, though. Remember when Ben first took Locke to meet Jacob at the cabin, and he claimed Jacob didn’t like “technology?” Some have speculated that the entity Ben had been chasing around all those years was the Man in Black. So maybe it was the Man in Black who hated technology – he certainly seemed to when he obliterated that walkie. Ben Linus and his false god. Speaking of which, don’t fall asleep on Ben, Richard and Miles and their imminent reentry into the fracas.

Flocke decides to sic Sayid on Desmond before mobilizing his newly-gathered flock to head to the shore, where they’ll meet Sawyer and Kate with the S.S. Elizabeth. One problem: Sawyer’s already got other plans. The saboteur with a heart of gold fills in Jack, and heads off with Freckles.

Down in a Hole
I think Desmond talked Sayid out of killing him. Sayid’s weakness has always been the guilt he carries over the means to his ends. Desmond exploited that weakness last night, asking Sayid why he was following Flocke. When Sayid told him it was for a woman, Desmond seemed to crush him when he asked, “This woman, when she asks you what you did to be with her again, what will you tell her?”

The only killer in this scene was Desmond. He pushed the only button to which Sayid feels any semblance of a connection when he played that guilt card. From the look in Sayid’s eyes, the fact that they never showed us Desmond’s death and the stammering manner in which Sayid reported back to Locke, my money’s on Desmond being alive at the bottom of that well, brotha.

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
One passenger on the no-sail list for Sawyer’s master plan was Claire. He declares that she’s too dangerous to be around Aaron, that she’s drinking Locke’s Kool-Aid (“Oh Yeah!”) and that she’s not herself. He’d take Claire. But that’s not Claire. Kate’s not so sure. Retrieving Claire (physically and mentally) was her mission in coming back to the Island, and Sawyer wants to take that away from her.

But why should she? This is, as Sawyer stated, not the Claire they know and love. She resents Jack and Co. for “abandoning” her, even though it was the right thing to do for that baby she so clings to (real baby, not poop baby). Claire is even an agent for the Dark Side now, telling Jack he was already on Team Locke, and putting bugs in the ears of her fellow castaways, trying to get them to trust in the Man in Black.

So why don’t they just leave her behind? Honestly, I don’t think it matters what they do wit her. And I’ll explain why in a bit.


Avast, Mateys
Sawyer and Kate find the boat, but only after Sawyer drops a “That’s what she said” followed by his best not-a-nickname nickname regarding Lapidus: “That pilot who looks like he stepped off the set of a Burt Reynolds movie.” I could’ve died. Brilliant. And great to see LOST hasn’t foregone its sense of humor in the midst of its endgame.

Jack, Hurley, Frank and Sun (god I’m glad they’re taking Frank with them) peel off from Flocke’s death march to rendezvous with Kate and Sawyer. But they’ve got a tag-along. Claire tracks them to the boat and asks why she’s being left behind. Kate has had enough. She talks Claire down, disarming her figuratively and literally by denouncing Locke and playing the treasured Aaron card. And ultimately, she makes good (at least temporarily) on fulfilling her purpose of rescuing Lil’ Miss Littleton.

Good for Kate, but I think that “conversion” is short-lived. Claire’s mind is too warped to be changed by a single pep talk, and that’s going to have big consequences moving forward.

Might as Well Jump
Aboard the Elizabeth and due on a mystical compass bearing toward Hyrda Island, Jack and Sawyer have what might be their final pissing match in their long, sordid history. Jack, carrying dead Locke’s disillusionment as his own, tells Sawyer, “This doesn’t feel right, leaving the Island….I remember how I felt last time I left, like a part of me was missing. We were brought here because we were supposed to do something.”

It doesn’t get more John Locke than that, folks. Jack’s transformation to Man of Faith is complete. He’s even questioning the Island’s manifestation of evil (Flocke) by purporting that staying on the Island is the right thing to do because it’s what Flocke doesn’t want. But what Sawyer doesn’t want is dissent. He tells Jack to take his crazy ideas and swim back to shore. And Jack, following his own internal mystical compass bearing, does just that. He leaps, and when Kate predictably tells Sawyer to go back for him, Sawyer delivers the final blow: “We’re done going back, Kate.”

And off they went, to reunite Sun and Jin or something. I don’t know, I checked my email while Maggie wept at that scene. Good for them, I suppose. But I had better things to think about.

Watching Grunge Leg Drop New Jack
We are done with Leader Jack. He died. His funeral was last week with Hurley, when he admitted he was done fixing things. New Jack is fully converted, standing on the other side of the chess board from Flocke.

You want my prediction? You’re looking at the replacement vessels for Jacob and the Man in Black. Jack is now Jacob and Flocke is Smokey, now and forever. Think about it: Jacob told Hurley that Jack had to realize his purpose, find it and fulfill it. What more sensible purpose could Jacob have been guiding Jack to? Jacob has been tracking candidates for his replacement, and Jack is just the man for the job, with a heart for doing the right thing and a learned sense of laissez-faire leadership.

But this episode was called “The Last Recruit.” The Last Recruit is also Jack, and Flocke’s the one recruiting him. Notice that Jacob calls his potential replacements “candidates,” denoting an absence of finality and certainty and implying that those potential replacements have something of a choice. Man in Black calls his people “recruits,” a more militaristic term that conveys less choice and implies that people are “destined” to replace the Man in Black, whether they like it or not.

And Jack is the Man in Black’s Last Recruit. His great white hope. As Widmore-brand missiles rain down on the beach – presumably killing Cindy, Zach, Emma and the other Others who had converted to the tribe of Flocke – Flocke carefully delivers Jack from danger. As he regains consciousness, Flocke assures him, “You’re with me now.” Flocke is protecting Jack in the same way he did when he posed as his dead father to lead him to water. Then and now, his means are heroic but his ends are devious.

And like I said, the betting man in me bets that Man in Black is not getting off the Island, and that he’s doomed to live out his existence in the shell of the man he just called “a sucker.”

My reasoning for that? It’s in the alternate reality. Let’s see what’s going on over there.


I Wanna Be Everywhere Twice
The Last Recruit featured my favorite alternate reality storyline, and I think it was due to the fact that it was multi-focused. We got a little bit of everybody’s story, and that was a very deliberate decision. LOST is rife with convergences both on and off the Island, especially now that it’s winding down. Even Flocke said it was nice to have everybody back together.

And maybe it was that convergence that illuminated the similarities between our characters’ on-Island and alternate storylines. The mirror parallels were woven throughout the episode, and it gave the whole thing a nice sense of a looming finality.

PS: This song might be a good one to listen to while you read the rest of this.

A Stab in the Spine
How much do you love Dr. Linus? Sweet, down-trodden Dr. Linus, coaxing Locke back into consciousness in the back of that ambulance. He seemed generally troubled, doing his best to help his new friend. And Locke did his best to help Ben out. "Helen Norwood," he muttered. He said he "was" going to marry her. I'll get to the ominous use of that past tense at the end, by the way. (Also, some have theorized that it was MIB, not Jacob, that Ben followed around the Island for years. Which means it was MIB, not Jacob, who muttered "Help me" to Locke back in the cabin a few years ago. So we have MIB muttering "help me" and Locke muttering things in order to help himself. Cool parallel? Or am I just up too late again?)

Be My Valentine, You Don’t Have to Say Much
While Locke drifts in and out of consciousness on his way to the hospital, a pregnant and wounded Sun is wheeled in next to him. Terrified, she recognizes him, and begins screaming in Korean. I think that was Sun “crossing over,” but she didn’t seem to be affected by it later, when talking to Jin. Luckily, she came out of surgery smelling like a Tokyo Rose. Baby fine. Mama fine. Papa fine.

This moment of simultaneous terror and resolution mirrored the on-Island events. There was the fear of being held captive by Team Widmore, juxtaposed against the joy and resolution of her reunion with Jin. I’m going to mention further juxtapositions as we go along here, so just keep these in mind.

You Be Betty. I’ll Play Joe.
Sawyer and Kate’s pointed back-and-forth, where they questioned each other’s hidden agendas, was a reflection of their on-Island story. They bickered and poked, but ultimately ended up estranged. Their relationship is a non-factor. He’s the cop. She’s the con. And that’s as far as it goes – just like the Island, where try as they might to end up together, it’s not in the cards.

Words Hit Much Harder Than The Bullet From a Gun
Sawyer and Kate’s interrogation is interrupted by Miles, who has a new case to crack and needs help from James. They chase down Sayid at Nadia’s house, who tries to flee the scene, only to be thwarted by Detective James Ford’s Rubber Hose of Justice. Oh man that sounded wrong.

So Sayid’s on his way downtown. Where does this leave us? I’ll get back to that one, too.


The Memories Enhance The Way That You Feel
Then it was time for Claire. Poor, sweet, Claire. She survived a cab ride with fugitive Kate after a tumultuous, third-trimester, ocean-crossing flight. And she’s finally arrived to the climax of her bittersweet mission: the adoption agency.

But not so fast. Desmond intervenes, trying to prevent Claire from getting into an “irreversible” situation with the adoption and imploring her to see his lawyer. And his lawyer is alternate Ilana! She does have a purpose – and just like in the Island world, it’s looking after candidates.

This time, the candidate is Jack and she’s been tasked with executing his father’s will – which means tracking down the mysterious “Claire Littleton” named in it. That mission accomplished, she calls a meeting with Jack, who finally meets his sister before being called away for some emergency spinal surgery. Claire is thus deserted at Ilana & Associates, LLC, and not privy to the grand cosmos reunion at the hospital. Why? You guessed it. I’m getting there later. Soon, I promise.


Give Me Some Time To Get On Your Mind
Finally, we see the long-awaited, pre-destined surgery with Jack operating on Locke. The fact that Jack saw Locke's face (and not his own) in that mirror is something I'm using as further ammunition to my theory that they are the new Jacob and Man in Black, respectively. Jack didn't see himself because he's already found himself. Same goes for Locke.

Their meeting happened - not by choice, but by circumstance; but the important thing is, it happened. Whatever happens, happens. That Faraday battle cry is starting to ring truer and truer, and I believe it’s intent is not limited to time travel.

As the parallels between the on-Island and alternate storylines showed last night, there are certain things that, damn it, are just going to happen. Sun and Jin will reunite amid turmoil, Jack will be called into action and relied upon to come through in the clutch, Kate’s a fugitive, Sawyer a well-intentioned man with a wild streak and the list goes on and on.

I think it goes to show that, whether you’re traveling through time or hurtling sideways through space, there are certain undeniable aspects of our core essence. Those aspects create circumstances which are equally unavoidable. And they shape character that transcends time and space. At least, according to LOST.

It does, anyway, for most of them. But for some, the path is not so clear. For the souls that have been claimed, there are some very serious roadblocks.

Waking Life
Okay, I’ve promised to touch on Sayid’s incarceration, Claire’s inclusion on Team Sawyer and exclusion from the hospital and Locke’s use of past tense. See a pattern here?

Claimed souls with “irreversible” conditions. That’s an amalgamation of some of the terminology that’s been applied to Locke, Sayid and Claire. I think what it means, and what we’re seeing, is that these people are going to be denied from “connecting” with their alternate selves. All three of them have failed to connect – at least so far.

And all three of them are in pretty dire circumstances in the alternate reality. Claire is marooned in a drab boardroom, the future of her baby up in the air and her relationship with her half-brother further and further estranged. Sayid is incarcerated. And John Locke is in the grips of some life-threatening injuries, and already seems resigned to succumbing to those injuries, hence his used of "was" when speaking about marrying Helen.

Compare that to their on-Island doppelgangers. Claire is unwanted; damaged goods; left by Sawyer to rot on the Island with her dark thoughts and her poop baby. Sayid is imprisoned by the debt he’s racking up in his dealings with Flocke. And Locke is, well, dead.

My takeaway/theory of the night, after watching The Last Recruit, is that these damned souls – purposeless Locke, childless Claire and Nadia-less Sayid – won’t be able to make the leap to their alternate selves. They'll be left to rot in the Island prison, a punishment for allowing themselves to be claimed by dark, sinister forces.

But I think what we’ll see is Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Sun and Jin being given the opportunity (thanks in large part to Desmond) to choose what lives they want to lead. Jack will opt to stay on the Island and take over for Jacob. His friends will choose to leap, and leave Jack to protect the Island from the evils of the Man in Black.

The Man in Black, trapped forever in Locke’s body, will stay to oppose newly-faithful Jack. Locke will be allowed to "live on" as the Man in Black, since it was just his body (not his soul) that was claimed. And Sayid and Claire will either serve as his minions or die before they have the chance to do more damage.

But perhaps the lesson that underscores this possible outcome is something that can tie together good and evil, as well as fate and free will. Those who choose good (Jack, Sawyer, Sun, Jin and Hurley) are given the luxury of free will in order to choose to live the life they want most. But those who choose evil (Sayid and Claire – and Locke’s body) are doomed to a dark, foreboding fate.

Which begs the question… what the hell are they gonna do with Frank “Chesty” Lapidus?

Namaste.

Charlie

Let the games begin.

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We’re on the homestretch, folks.

Tonight, get ready for “The Last Recruit.”

As we’ve heard throughout the season, Flocke has been attempting to recruit people to be charter members of Team Flocke. His first recruit was Sawyer, who joined up after Flocke visited him (and enjoyed a brew or two) in the barracks. For the last several episodes, the numbers on Team Flocke have increased fairly rapidly (sure, it doesn’t hurt that he can turn into Smoke and kill all dissenters). And as last week’s final scene revealed, he almost has everybody he needs. Everyone is with him for a different reason. Voluntarily (Sawyer), claimed by Flocke (Sayid), fear (Cindy), and because there doesn’t seem to be a better option (Kate).

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the roster of Team Flocke is as follows:
- Sayid
- Claire
- Sawyer
- Jin (although he is currently otherwise occupied)
- Kate
- Cindy the flight attendant
- Zach and Emma
- Approximately 15 other Others without names

So…per tonight’s title, who will be the last recruit?

The options
The final scene of last week’s episode showed Hurley, Jack, Frank, and Sun arriving at Team Flocke’s camp in the middle of the jungle. Potential recruits? I think so. And convincing each member of the new class to join Team Flocke will take different strategies.

Sun: My money is on Sun being the easiest to recruit. Reuniting with Jin is her purpose in life right now (followed by reuniting with her daughter, no? I’m a little irked that she hasn’t expressed any “Oh, I miss my daughter” woes…anyone else feel that way?). So, a simple “Join me and let’s go get Jin” from Flocke will have her sign on the dotted line.

Frank: I love Frank, but I’m not sure if his purpose for the rest of this series will be anything deeper than pure logistics. Last I checked, Flocke doesn't know how to fly a plane. Since the plan is “fly off the island on the Ajira jet,” it seems that Frank will be a key piece of this puzzle. Flocke needs Frank to make this plan a reality. Watch for phrases like “I can’t do this without you, Frank” and “You are so important and this is your purpose.”

Hurley: Hurley is in a bit of a strange place right now. If we are to believe what we saw in last week’s episode (though I don’t know exactly what to believe any more), Hurley is experiencing some traveling consciousness between the two timelines (on island and alternate). The implications? Unknown at this point. However, Hurley’s reunion with Libby in the alt-world (and subsequent realization of his love for her…yes, I said it…LOVE) will probably be a guiding force. Heading off the island and back to Libby will probably seem like a great idea to Hurley. Barring some totally opposite instructions from Jacob, I think Hurley will be a relatively easy sell.

What about Jack?
This means Jack is the last holdout. Surprised? Me either.

Last week’s final seconds set up (in the words of Miley Cyrus) a “hoedown throwdown” between the original complicated duo of Jack and Locke. And while both characters have changed and grown a lot since September 22, 2004, there was still a helluva lot of tension between the two. Flocke has to have everyone on that plane to actually get off the island, including Jack. Jack’s last interaction with (F)Locke was when he putting his father’s shoes on Locke’s body inside the meat cooler last season. Talk about confusing. Watch for some fancy footwork on the part of Flocke to calm Jack down to the point where he can explain what he needs to in order to keep the peace and keep the plan on track. How will he does this? Good God, I have no idea.

But the reality is that this episode is going to be headed somewhere: Hydra Island. Conveniently, this is where Flocke will find Jin. And wadaya know: the whole gang (minus Richard, Ben, and Miles) will be back together again for the first time in a LONG time. When was the last time everyone was together? I honestly don’t even remember. Think you do? Please leave a comment…I’m curious.

So back to the title…you really think Jack is the last recruit?
Yes, I do. Jack is a fairly polarizing character, even amongst the Dharma Blog faithful. You either love him (me) or you hate him (guess who...). However, like it or not, he has been set up from day one as the most main character this show has. It really only seems logical that in these final episodes, Jack will play a fairly significant role. And judging from the episode title, I’d say he will absolutely be the last hold out for Team Flocke…the last piece of the puzzle…the last recruit.

Disclaimers are fun!
As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.

Guest Starring tonight!
Andrea Gabriel as Noor “Nadia” Abed Jaseem, Sheila Kelley as Zoe (aka Dirty Tina Fey), Kimberley Joseph as Cindy (aka the flight attendant), Dylan Minnette as David (aka Jack’s son), Teresa Huang as surgeon, Skyler Stone as EMT #1, Todd Coolidge as EMT #2, Yvonne Midkiff as receptionist, Christopher Amitrano as Burditt, Kasim Saul as guard, Steve Boatright as Mike, Mickey Graue as Zack and Kiersten Havelock as Emma.

Maggie’s Predictions
Let’s see…how are these characters all connected? Surgeon…EMT #1…EMT #2…hmm. It’s coming to me. Hold on. Wait for it…got it! Sounds rather “Alt-Timeline Hospital”, don’t you think?

It is beyond likely that we’re headed to visit Dr. Jack Shepherd at his place of employment tonight. After all, we’ve had two fairly traumatic accidents in the last two episodes. You’ll remember Sun was shot in Hell’s Kitchen two weeks back, uttering the tragic words “I’m pregnant” to Jin as he rushed her out of the restaurant. And then last week’s crazy parking lot scene, where wheelchair-bound Locke was darn near run over by Desmond. Oh, and Nadia probably fits in because her husband (Sayid’s brother) is likely still at the hospital, recovering from his thug beating.

So. There’s that.

I do want to point out that David Minnette’s return as Jack’s son (aka child prodigy) is rather interesting. Take your child to work day? Waiting for Dad to finish up work and take him to piano rehearsal? Mom has to drop off son with ex-husband because she has a (ahem) prior engagement? While it certainly isn’t the biggest fish to fry right now, let’s be somewhat prepared for a reveal about the identity of David’s Mom tonight. Crucial to the storyline? Not at all. Possibly intriguing and ironic? Absolutely. Lots of theories about whom this mystery woman is, ranging from Mrs. Phil Dunphy (Jack’s ex-wife, Sarah, who is now on Modern Family…and is brilliantly hilarious) to Ana-Lucia Cortez.

Most common prediction I’ve seen: Juliet.

Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?

TV Guide says…
Alliances are forged and broken as the Locke and Jack camps merge.

Well, I could have written that one. Alliances are the name of the game from here on out. Who do you trust? Who do you follow? Jack’s entrance into Team Flocke’s camp will probably cause a few people (read: Kate) to second guess whose side they are really on. And I bet Kate won’t be the only person to consider pulling a flippy-floppy.

Team Jack and Team Flocke are geographically back together, but that’s about it at this point. And team assimilation won’t happen in five minutes. We’re definitely going to get disagreements about the best course of action (perhaps harkening back to the poignant glory days arguments between Jack and Locke in the first several seasons). I’m not sure how it is all going to shake down, but I can pretty much guarantee that the party is going to start to move to Hydra Island by the end of the episode, where Widmore is waiting and ready to fight.

Let the games begin.

Namaste,
Maggie

Large and in Charge

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LOST. Season Six. Episode Twelve: Everybody Loves Hugo

After the best Hurley-centric episode in LOST’s six-year run, I think there’s only one thing we can say.

Dude.

I loved it. It was all the joy and pain of a Hurley episode, set amidst the most profound depths of the Island enigma. We got straightforward answers (the whispers), escalating conflict (Jack and Locke’s impending monumental meeting) and Hurley, breaking on through to the other side. Plus, Desmond ran over Locke with his car. Loved it. Let’s chat.


On the Wings of Love
Alternate Hurley’s got it all. The adoration of his community, freedom from his curses and all the fried chicken he can eat. But even with Pierre Chang – LOST’s venerable narrator – extolling his virtues to a charity ball, Mrs. Reyes wanted more for her son: a girlfriend. The donor of museum wings and consumer of chicken wings was without a wind beneath his own.

Elimidate
But his first blind date is a no-show, opening the door for his grand awakening. He didn’t need a girl. He needed the girl. Libby, who drops the bombshell on him that he (more innocently) dropped on her in season two: “I know you from somewhere.” But, this time, it’s Hurley who’s in the dark.

Though not completely. While he wants to believe his new friend is a nut-job, he can’t quite commit to it. Even after he sees his old friend Dr. Brooks shuttle her into the Santa Rosa short bus, he still holds out hope. And when he visits Dr. Brooks and learns she is indeed certifiably insane, he drops $100K to find out for himself. Why? Because somewhere in the depths of his oversized, fast-beating heart, lies a soft-spot that transcends alternate realities; an empathy for people who believe in themselves, even when they’re told they’re crazy.

And given the chance to explain, Libby does. Her alternate life – plane crash, Island, their relationship and all – and the idea she can’t escape, that she knows him from somewhere. Crazy as it sounds, he can’t dismiss it, and he asks for a date.

Welcome to the Club
I thought it fitting that Libby served as the link Desmond needed. Just as she bailed him out with a sailboat in their first interaction, this time, she left the door of “what if” cracked open. And Desmond, the great awakener of souls, was there to pull it open a little further with some encouraging words at the chicken shack. Libby gives an inch, Desmond takes a mile.

And Hurley takes a chance. On their date, they kiss, and flashes of a fleeting love from a “bizarro, alternate universe” awaken Hurley. The same hope for love that served as an epiphany for Desmond, Charlie and Faraday illuminates Hurley. “I don’t think you’re crazy,” he reassures her, granting her the very same reassurance he so desperately sought himself in his Island life.

What is it about love that opens the gateway into alternate self recognition? We’ve seen four characters experience the epiphany that a different version of themselves exists, and each has come to that realization only after experiencing “real, consciousness-altering love.” Part of me wonders if it harkens back the “constant” concept. Remember, Desmond was only able to ground his time-traveling conscious mind by anchoring it to Penny in two separate time periods. Perhaps that constancy is what alternate souls also require for recognition, realization and reconciliation. It is, after all, the most powerful of all emotions – or so my lame girlfriend tells me! (Kidding, darling). But it actually makes sense, on a not-totally-sappy level. Love is a unique emotion, one of the few that can alter actual behavior. We’ve all had a friend who has been changed by a new love interest. That’s what’s happening to these four gents, but on a much deeper, existential level.


I'll Go Where Hugo
That beach team, Jacob Bless Them, is the most lost of all parties. Between Richard’s crisis of faith, Ilana’s desperation, Jack’s forced apathy, Hurley’s wanderlust and Ben’s dark cynicism, they’re running around like chickens with their necks snapped off by John Locke. Somebody needed to step up, and last night, Hurley wobbled up from his sitting position and took charge.

Boom Goes the Dynamite
Dude. You got some Ilana on you. The more things change, the more they stay the same. And any remaining hope that Richard and Ilana had a clue as to what to do got literally blown to pieces last night. Pieces of Ilana. Her carcass. She died. And rather unceremoniously, I might add.

Did you notice Hurley pick up that little bag from Ilana’s stash? I think that was the bag of ashes Ilana collected from Jacob’s fiery grave. It seemed like that find empowered Hurley, imbuing him with a new brand of confidence. And it showed. The comic book clown did what nerds can only dream of – he dove into the narrative head-first and did what he wanted to do. Enough following, enough reading, enough waiting. Hurley will take it form here.

To establish ownership and dominance, dogs pee on things. LOST characters, on the other hand, blow shit up. Locke with his submarine, Jack with his tents, and now Hurley, with the Black Rock. With the group’s attention firmly fixed on him, Hurley then initiates his power play: a fake communion with Jacob complete with new instructions. Even when Richard calls his bluff, Hurley stands his ground. And the schism is thus formed. Ben follows Richard, presumably out of habit. Jack and Sun follow fellow candidate Hurley. And Lapidus and Miles split up, in order to maintain the necessary “one snarky guy” quota required in all LOST sub-groupings.

Cease to Begin
Quick side note: did you catch that implication again? The one so eloquently worded by Widmore a few weeks back and reiterated by Richard tonight? When Richard and Widmore warn about the MIB’s escape, they talk about the world being “over,” or “ceasing to exist.” Not, “everyone dies” or “we’re all in trouble” – but cease to exist. I think this semantic subtlety is important. One way or another, MIB’s escape wipes out the existence and memories of a given timeline, a given reality. Perhaps MIB’s escape erases the storyline we’ve seen for the past five years, and that’s what some are trying to prevent. Some, but not Desmond. Maybe he’s trying to circumvent that erasure by uploading everyone’s minds into their more-perfect-world: alternate reality world. Hey, it’s midnight!

Can We Fix It? Ahh, Who Cares
Post-schism, I loved the chat between Jack and the Fat Man. Jack’s “fix-it” fever seems to be breaking. “All I’ve wanted was to fix it. But I can’t. I can’t ever fix it….I think maybe that’s the point. Maybe I’m supposed to let go.” Finally, Jack is learning to sit back and accept his fate. The physician is healing himself of his worst addiction. And even when Hurley doubted his own intuition and gave Jack a chance to take the lead, Jack bit his tongue. He didn’t bite like he did with Ben’s offer to “fix” the situation by reuniting the Oceanic Six. He shut his trap, sat back and trusted Hurley. Perhaps this is the revelation, the acceptance, that Jacob has been waiting for Jack to realize. Maybe new humble Jack is ready to do what Jacob needs. About damn time.

One, Mike
Hurley’s right to hate Michael Dawson for killing his woman. But last night, Michael attempted to atone. Visiting in ghost form, Michael attempted to guide Hurley in his new quest for leadership. And I think he served as an important “anchor” or “touchstone” for Hurley. Just as Libby burst into Hurley’s alternate life, she was also carefully woven into his Island story, thanks to Michael’s continued ghostly presence. If my earlier “constant” theory is to be believed, Michael helped Hurley establish Libby as a necessary facet of his Island life, a touchstone he needed in order to “break through” in his alternate life.

And Michael also did us the favor of confirming the nature of the “whispers,” one of LOST’s oldest mysteries. They belong to people who are trapped on the Island, who “can’t move on” because of the horrible things they’ve done. For Michael, that crime was murdering Libby and Ana Lucia.

But back up. Didn’t Christian Shephard appear to Michael just before the Kahana exploded and tell him he “could go now”? (Yes, he did.) Why would Christian tell Michael he was absolved, or freed to move on, if the Island was just going to ensnare him for eternity? Also, what a cruel punishment to relegate Michael to merely whispering “Waaaaalt,” thus denying the other whisper-prisoners an eternity of hearing that young man’s named yelled gratingly at the top of his lungs. For shame.

Sorry, I digressed. But what’s with Christian, Michael and the Whisperers? Perhaps Christian is one of them – their leader, perhaps – and he manipulated Michael into death in order to recruit him to his team. Why though? What purpose do these people serve? Quick theory: they’re held in Island purgatory, made to guide the Island’s inhabitants down a righteous path, and if they succeed, they’re free. Christian Shephard. I know we’re not done with him. I hope that whatever they use to explain him also explains this new legion of whisper spirits. The more I think about them, the more intrigued I become.

Package Transfer
Flocke began the night by giving his own version of Jack’s Season One sermon on the beach. Only this time, it’s Leave Together, Die Alone. He explains that they must leave in the same way they entered – together. The other candidates are needed in order to complete his escape. But that’ll have to wait for another day, because Flocke has bigger fish to fry, brother.

Special Delivery
Sayid shows his package to Locke. Wait, let me rephrase that. Sayid brings “the package” (Desmond) to Locke. And like a checkers player that just got kinged, Flocke licks his chops at the possibilities of his new weapon. But Desmond, still aloof, proves enigmatic and unafraid. So Flocke continues the great trend of Season Six. “Let me show you something,” he says to the man who has a whole flight manifest of people he, himself, needs to show something in an alternate universe. (I just reread that sentence. The hell?).

If anything upset me about last night, it was the realization that we haven’t had enough Desmond-Locke scenes. Man, they’re great together.

That Kid is On The Escalator Again!
And by escalator, I mean Island.

En route to the well, we see another vision of (presumably) the same kid that showed himself to Sawyer and Flocke earlier in the season. But holy crap, this kid ages faster than Walt! Waaaaalt!

I like this kid. I like his knowing smile, the way he just seems to take pleasure in throwing Flocke off his game. When Desmond asked who the kid was, Flocke bristled and insisted they moved on. The kid smiled widely, as if everything is going according to plan. As if he took joy in inciting anger within Flocke.


And who likes making Flocke angry? Jacob. I want to believe that kid is an apparition of younger Jacob. I also want to believe he’s the aging apparition of some higher entity – a boss or a referee in Jacob and MIB’s cosmic chess match. And I go back and forth on these things. But hear this – had the boy’s only appearance been the one earlier this season, I could’ve written him off. But last night marked his second appearance, and I therefore deem him “probably important,” which is one of the highest honors I can bestow on a character.

Well Shit
Flocke’s speech to Desmond at the well is an instant classic.

I loved Desmond's pacifist aloofness throughout the episode, and he brought it to a boil at the well. Flocke tried to scare him by showing how deep the well was, and Desmond didn’t flinch. He tried to impress him wiht the history of the well, and Desmond laughed him off. He tried to badmouth Widmore and pit Desmond against him, to no avail. He even tried to freak him out by hinting at a Swan-like electromagnetic anomaly beneath the well, but quickly saw that nothing was getting through. “Why aren’t you afraid?” Flocke finally asks Desmond. He needed to know, because fear is the easiest emotion for Flocke to exploit. The MIB probably knows how special Desmond is, and knows that if he can get him on his side, he’s got the upper hand. But Desmond isn’t flinching. He’s not giving him anything to exploit. At every turn, Desmond shuts the door. And Flocke wants to know why, and how, Desmond can do that. “Why aren’t you afraid (damn it!)?”

“What’s the point in being afraid?” asks Desmond. Flustered Flocke flings Desmond down the well and walks off. (“That’s the point, you arrogant, time-traveling bastard!”).

So why wasn’t Desmond afraid? I think it’s because he just doesn’t care. Let me put it this way. If you knew that there was a version of you, somewhere, that was being put through torturous paces, caught in the middle of an age-old pissing match between entities you didn’t comprehend, and you knew that every attempt at betterment you made was futile, would you care if he was thrown down a well? I wouldn’t. Not if I was simultaneously, consciously aware of an alternate existence where I was rich, powerful, well-liked and had just met the girl of my dreams. I think that’s the explanation of Desmond’s uncaring attitude. He’s willing to sacrifice his Island self, because he’s making his alternate self into the Desmond Hume he wants to be. One flaw in this logic: baby Charlie. He doesn’t exist in the alternate timeline; so Desmond would then be betting that he could “recreate” (giggity) his son with Penny in his new, alternate life.

We’ll see what becomes of Desmond in that well, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere good. The good news is, I don’t think it matters. Because in the world that matters to Desmond, revenge is already his.

We Have Company
I loved Hurley leading his group to “talk” with Flocke. I love it and believe in it more than Hurley does, actually. And I thought the convergence of these two camps was, in a way, a metaphor for the way our two realities are beginning to converge. Finally, the show that can’t keep all its characters in the same time/place/space/universe is putting all the cards (characters) on the table (campsite).

At the end of the scene, Locke muttered, “Hello, Jack,” with the same inflection and casualness he did in Season One. But this time around, the meeting’s going to be a lot uglier. Jack and Locke, reunited, for one last battle between faith and science. That’ll be a good one.

Faith in Fast Cars
Then Desmond hit Locke with his car.

So that happened. Desmond, violating Megan’s law to the disgust of Dr. Linus, watches John Locke wheel his way around the grounds of the middle school. He guns it and plows into poor, helpless alternate Locke. And we left “Everybody Loves Hugo” with almost the identical shot that opened John Locke’s first episode, Walkabout, in which it was revealed he was paralyzed.

A glorious ending to a glorious scene, but why did that just happen?

My answer to that assumes that Desmond is consciously experiencing both realities, at the same time. Get that? He’s aware of what’s happening to him on the Island, and just as aware of his conversation with Hurley at Mr. Clucks.

Desmond told the MIB last night that he believed him to be John Locke. “Of course I know you who you are.” I don’t think that was a bluff. I don’t think Desmond knew who he was dealing with. But after Flocke’s desperate attempts at fear-mongering and his violent Scot-Toss, Desmond knew he was not a good guy. So what the Island Desmond learned, the Alternate Desmond also learned. And Alternate Desmond knew he had to even the score by taking out Alternate Locke. So he hit him with his car.

But he didn’t kill him. Probably. At the very least, he didn’t seem to care if Locke was killed or maimed. He just wanted to hurt him. And that’s where this gets tricky. If Desmond had killed Locke, I would’ve assumed that he did it in order to prevent MIB from “escaping” into Alternate Locke’s body or using it for some sinister purpose. But he didn’t kill him, he just messed him up real bad. Why?

Well here’s a stab at it. Most people in the Alternate World have it better than their Island counterpart. Yeah, they’ve got some shortcomings, but mostly they’re better off. So most of our characters would gladly ditch their Island selves in favor of their Alternate selves, right? Right.

But some of the Island souls are “claimed.” Locke, Sayid, Claire. If I’m Desmond, I don’t want these claimed souls making their way into my Alternate Universe Utopia. So perhaps Desmond – in addition to awakening good souls like Hurley – is on a mission to maim and disparage the vessels of those whose souls have been claimed on the Island. Desmond learned that Locke was evil on the Island, so he went after him, aiming to create an undesirable vessel into which Island Locke could escape. By that logic, he’d need to also “mess with” Alternate Sayid and Alternate Claire (d’oh! If only he’d known that when he saw her in the airport).

Yeah, it’s a long-shot, I realize it. But I’ve been up for 20 straight hours and flew halfway across the country today, so you’ll read it and like it. And if you think you can do better, I’d like to hear you try.

No, seriously. I wasn’t being a sarcastic jerk. Click on “comments” and let’s discuss what Desmond’s rundown of Locke meant to his overall mission, and any other thoughts you had on the episode.

In the meantime, I’m gonna hit the hay.

Namaste.
Charlie

Countdown: 5 left.

on Comments: (4)

Aaaaand we’re back. Have you slept since last week’s Desmond episode? Yeah, me either. Err…I mean. What?

Welcome back to the Dharma Blog for another exciting episode! This week, we’ve got “Everybody Loves Hugo.” Remember when the writers pulled a fast one on us earlier this season with “What Kate Does,” paying homage to the season 1 episode “What Kate Did”? Well, consider yourself winked at again, as this week’s episode harkens back to seasons past again. Don’t remember it? Season 2: “Everybody Hates Hugo.”

Unless you’re Charlie, you probably haven’t watched that season 2 episode in awhile. And that’s okay. And that’s healthy. Ahem. But as a quick refresher: Hurley was in charge of all of the food that had been found inside of the Swan, and instead of making decisions about who got what, he kept it a secret. And people got mad. Oh, and flashback Hurley won the lottery. And the end on-island was a big feast where they ate all the food…and after all was said and done, everybody DID love Hurley. Ah, wonderful.

So what does it mean for tonight?
So far this season, we’ve had a pretty good vibe from alt-Hurley. Life seems good. See: drives a hummer (epitome of cool, right Charlie?). See also: he told alt-Locke he’d give him a job. But, in keeping with the tradition of most of the alt-timelines we have seen, ‘perfect’ may not be everything it seems. What is wrong? Well, in keeping with the ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE theory from last week’s episode, I’m guessing LOVE is missing.

Yes, I know. Maybe a stretch. Sure, Hurley didn’t have a “Penny.” Rather, he had a Libby…a pretty creepy, pretty bizarre lady who gave Hurley quite a bit of confidence. That is, until Michael shot her. And she died. And Hurley was really sad.

So, maybe in a weird way, “Everybody Loves Hugo” is not entirely true…because no one is really in LOVE with him. Make sense?

A stretch, sure. But it’s what I’ve got.

Time for The Disclaimer! Again!
As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.

Tonight’s Guest Stars are…
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Harold Perrineau as Michael, Cynthia Watros as Libby, Francois Chau as Pierre Chang, Lillian Hurst as Carmen Reyes, Bruce Davison as Dr. Douglas Brooks, Kenton Duty as teenage boy, Samm Levine as clerk, Jesse Smith as waiter and Archie Ahuna as Tito.

Hey-o…more dead people.
Yikes! Charlie and Daniel returned from the dead last week to guide Desmond toward the realization that things in alt-world were not as they seemed. And this week, it looks like Michael and Libby are up for some from-the-grave guiding. Then again, Island Hurley talks to dead people. So, maybe he is just going to talk to their spirits on-island? I suppose there is an equal chance of appearance by Michael and Libby in either place.

It is interesting to note that Michael and Libby both played serious roles in Hurley’s pre-seaosn-6 life (in the same way that Charlie and Daniel Faraday-Widmore had significant impacts on Des’s life). If Michael hadn’t killed Libby, who knows where the Hurley-Libby love affair would have gone? So, no matter when or where these walking-dead appear, it will be significant to Hurley because of the past.

Pierre Chang is an interesting throw-in to this cast list. Ironic alt-timeline appearance? Probably. But come to think of it, we have no idea what happened to Pierre after the Jughead explosion. Was the Purge the end of the road for him? Or did he somehow escape the island? And with five episodes left, does any of this really matter? I’m leaning towards no, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle because he has been this funny, ambiguous Dharma guy in the videos for so long. Is it too much to ask for a nice house in the alt-suburbs for this guy? Probably…

TV Guide Says…
Hurley agonizes over what the group should do next, and Locke is curious about the new arrival to his camp.

Hurley is definitely in an interesting situation right now on-island. He is the only person able to communicate with Jacob. Yet, this position of power goes against his natural instinct…which is, how to say it, not leader-y. Sure, he is growing into it a bit (see: great scene with Richard and dead-Isabella), but he’s not completely comfortable with it. So, it would make sense that he would have some agony about directions he continues to receive from Jacob. Does he pay attention to it? Does he ignore it? Does he tell anyone?

I bet Hurley is going to continue to do what Jacob is asking, coming to terms with the fact that he might not be popular for doing it (see: Jack will be upset). When we were last with Team Jacob et. al., they were off to Hydra to apparently destroy the Ajira plane so MIB could not leave. Does Jacob tell him to stop the mission because someone is going to die? Does Jacob agree with the decision to destroy 316? Because there will definitely be tension (five episodes left = Jacob disagrees with the plan), I bet Jacob says "stop to save lives that will be lost in the mission." (Outrigger scene resolution from last season? Anyone? Anyone??) So Hurley will be agonizing about completing the mission or saving the lives. Poor Hurley: leadership is tough.

And what about Flocke’s newest team member? That’d be Desmond, brutha’!! And that’s going to be exciting. Desmond went very easily with Sayid at the end of the episode last week…curiously easy, one might say. Perhaps Flocke is wondering how the mission to retrieve Desmond went so well. Perhaps he is trying to figure out whose side Des is really on, and what his mission really is…

It will be SO interesting to see how Desmond interacts with the survivor folk trudging along with MIB. Will he remember them? Will he interact with them? Will he fill them in on the plan?

Ooooh, it could be good.

Parting Thoughts
Hurley’s flashback in season 2 was the last of the regular cast member flashbacks to be shown. And I think there will be some parallels tonight in that this might be the last character-centric alternate episode (wow, did I just say that? Confusing myself.). After tonight, we might be headed towards all-character-centric episodes to finish this story and this series.

So will tonight be the final character-centric episode of Lost…(gulp)…ever?

Maybe.

How sad is that? Man, my heart hurts.

And…go!
It’s not over yet! Stop crying, Charlie! And comment away!!

Namaste,
Maggie

Out the Window

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LOST. Season Six. Episode Eleven: Happily Ever After

While every episode of LOST’s final season has (mostly) satisfied me, each one has also left me a little bit empty, with varying degrees of the feeling, “Okay, cool. So what?”

Last night, LOST turned a corner, with a Darlton-penned, Desmond-centric, mostly-straightforward window into how, exactly, the alternate reality we’ve been shown will impact and be impacted by the story we’ve spent five years digesting. Into that window flew possibilities of reconciliation and resolution. And out of that window flew everything I thought I knew about where Season Six was headed. Let’s get after it.

Up And Atom!
Every good episode starts with someone’s eye opening. This one did, as Desmond awoke from the coma induced by Team Widmore. Sadly, the first thing he saw when he woke up was Dirty Tina Fey. We learned that Widmore – perhaps tipped off by Ben’s warning phone call to him from the pier – knew Desmond would be vulnerable in the hospital, and used that moment to seize him for his master plan.

As Widmore catches Desmond up on the events of the last few days, Hume’s lip twitches with rage, eventually boiling over into a short-lived beatdown of his nemesis. Desmond demands to be returned to Penny, at which point Widmore channels his estranged wife Eloise, telling Desmond, “I can’t take you back, the Island isn’t done with you yet.” Indeed it isn’t.

Testing, 1, 2, 3.
Widmore informs Zoe to prematurely “start the test,” which takes place in the newest version of an Island mystery box. Test one failed due to a generator problem. Test two succeeded – in killing a Widmore flunky who was in the wrong electromagnetic hotbox at the wrong time. And test three? That one was for Desmond, who was dragged unwittingly into the mystery box, past the charred remains of an unlucky lab rat.

But Widmore knew – or was pretty sure – that Desmond wouldn’t suffer the same fate as that poor chap. First, he warned his new subject that after the test, he would need Desmond to make a sacrifice. When Desmond claimed Widmore knew nothing of sacrifice, Charles retorted by lamenting his estrangement from his daughter, his isolation from his grandson and his son’s death. Touche, Chuck.

So what was Widmore testing Desmond for? As he told Jin, “That man is the only person I’m aware of in the world who has survived a catastrophic electromagnetic event. I need to know that he can do it again, or we all die.” Clear as mud. And with that, Widmore flipped the switch, and Desmond’s mind was fried into another life…brutha.

If you’re one of those people who frets LOST’s “mystery box” method of storytelling – in which a giant reveal is shrouded in a metaphorical mystery box – this scene should have assuaged your fears. LOST literally opened the box, showed us what was inside and explained it to us. I get the feeling a lot more mystery boxes are going to be opened in the coming weeks.

I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
The electromagnetic mystery box catapulted Desmond’s consciousness not forward or backward in time – the way the Swan implosion did – but sideways. He “awoke” in LAX (or LA[space]X, if you will), and Hurley wasted no time dropping a little metaphorical wink in the form of an accursed number, telling Desmond that his bags were on carousel four.

After befriending poor, helpless, pregnant Claire – and casually predicting her baby will be a boy with an eerie, confident, certainty – Desmond meets up with his driver. And lo and behold, it’s our old friend George Minkowski, the communications expert from the Kahana freighter who, in this reality, is a sleezy limo driver who can hook you up with anything from a restaurant reservation to a restaurant reservation with a happy ending.

But Desmond wants none of what George is selling. This Desmond is markedly different. The man who couldn’t beg for a job in his “other life” was now the #2 in a global corporation. He was not distracted by lovelorn exploits, or bogged down by inadequacies. This was a confident, smiling, suave Desmond Hume, making pregnant Aussies swoon and dropping some ABC (“Always Be Closin’”) in Sydney. So this Desmond had it all figured out, right? Not quite. His happiness was superficial, material, fleeting. And while he may not thought he had a problem with that, the series of events about to unfold would prove to him otherwise.

Oh, Dream Weaver. I Believe You Can Get Me Through the Night.
Widmore gives Desmond the assignment of babysitting a rock God who had OD’d en route to performing a benefit show with his son, organized by his wife. Not one to piss off the man he’s spent his whole alternate life trying to please, Desmond agrees. And to thank him, Widmore pours one out for his homie, offering him a shot of scotch from the same bottle that – in another time and place – he claimed Desmond was unworthy of sipping from. Ahh, MacCutcheon’s, you great diviner of worthiness.

Charlie and Desmond then sit down for a drink of their own. Charlie goes on to recount the long, strange trip that was his near-death experience on Oceanic 815, complete with an other-worldly vision of a woman who he knew he loved, even though he’d never seen her. Charlie challenges Desmond’s perception of his own happiness, asking if he’s ever been in “spectactular, consciousness-altering love.” (Nice choice of words, by the way). Charlie describes his dream girl as “Blond, raptuously beautiful. And I know her. We’re together. It’s like, we’ve always been and always will be. This feeling, this love.”

The vision (of Claire, no doubt) was interrupted by Jack-ass, who ruins everything for everyone in every timeline. You could see Desmond shaken a bit by this. Here was this complete stranger, exposing in him a deep insecurity about the quality of his happiness. Desmond tries to brush it off, posing an offer to Charlie to either keep drinking and end his music career or come with him and thrive. Not much of a choice, eh? “There’s always a choice, brutha.”

Seriously, between Charlie referencing “conscious-altering love,” and Desmond positing that there’s “always a choice,” it’s as if our characters are beginning to channel each other in ways they don’t even understand. In a way, this predestined quantum entanglement that brought them all together on the Island has become a part of their hard-wiring, with each character subconsciously drawing on the philosophies and personalities of each other as if it were in their DNA all along. Desmond never gave a lab rat’s time-traveling ass about the power of “choice.” And Charlie “conscious-altering love” Pace was in bed with a heroine addict and two chicks at the same time, man, before getting on Oceanic 815. But their experiences with each other have altered their modus operandi, in ways subtle and monumental. It’s even why Jack became a man of faith – he learned it from Locke, whether he likes it or not. And it’s all pretty cool to see. As we’d later find out, perhaps that bleeding of personality traits wasn’t done on an entirely subconscious level.

You All, Everyb – (Gurgle, Gurgle, Gurgle)
Desmond and Charlie hit the road, blasting some Driveshaft, when Charlie again tells Desmond he feels sorry for him. “Why?” asks Desmond, ”Is none of this real?” Another loaded question, which Charlie answered by yanking the car into the nearest harbor, in an effort to “teach” Desmond something.

Desmond swims up to catch air, then descends again to save Charlie. While Desmond looks at him through the passenger window, Charlie puts his hand up to the glass, almost knowingly. Desmond, caught momentarily between worlds, sees a flash of the words, “Not Penny’s Boat,” on Charlie’s hand – the same scene that played out just before Charlie’s death. It was a carbon copy of Charlie's death scene, as he once again tried to guide Desmond with a last-ditch, suicidal effort. Only this time, Charlie was saved.

I Don’t Wanna Die in a Hospital, You Gotta Take Me Back Outside
Desmond and Charlie are taken to the hospital, where Desmond undergoes an MRI to examine his “hallucinations.” While the MRI scans Desmond brain, Desmond himself scans his own consciousness. And he digs deep, seeing flashes of Charlie’s drowning, Penny and baby Charlie.

Freaked out, he flees, looking for Charlie – and some damned answers. Just then, Charlie runs out in a hospital gown, looking for an exit. He blows by Dr. Jack Shephard, interrupting his nicety-laden reunion with Desmond. Desmond chases him down and asks to see his hands, before demanding to know who Penny is. At that point, Charlie knows, Desmond has “crossed over.” He “felt it,” and Charlie can finally explain to Desmond what he’s been trying to tell him all along, that, “This doesn’t matter, none of this matters. All that matters is that we felt it…if I were you, I’d stop worrying about me, and start looking for Penny.” Translation: stop worrying about pleasing your boss, or making money. Go find love.

Event Planning
Desmond goes to break the Driveshaft news to Widmore’s wife, explaining that the rock gods won’t be able to attend her son’s Super Sweet Thirty-Three Party. There’s something off about that whole first meeting. Eloise seems to be playing along, but even drops the winking line, “It’s a travesty we haven’t met before. It’s about time.”

It’s not until Desmond hears the name “Penny” being read off a guest list that Eloise is forced to snap into action. She pulls Desmond aside, and breaks out of her Miss Manners demeanor. And for just a second, she stopped pretending she didn’t know more than she did. “I want you to stop. Someone has clearly affected the way you see things. This is a serious problem. It is, in fact, a violation. So whatever you’re doing, whatever it is you think you’re looking for, you need to stop looking for it.”

Whew. If you thought Eloise knew more than she was letting on at first, that line proved it. How did she know how Desmond “sees things,” and that he was being “affected.” She just met him! And what in the hell was his new way of thinking a “violation” of?

I’m not sure, but I do know that Eloise lost her cool. She is fully aware of what people like Charlie are “feeling,” and apparently sees Desmond's realization of that feeling as dangerous. He asks to see the list again, to which she coldly replies that he’s “not ready yet,” and walks away.

So what is Eloise Widmore protecting, or hiding? Why doesn’t she want Desmond to keep looking for meaning in his life? Why is she insistent on his being content with his shallow life? I’m not sure. Maggie theorized that she’s trying to keep that timeline in tact, because in it, her son is still alive. Maybe. I hope we’ll find out. I love Eloise’s cold, informed, controlling demeanor. She’s the anti-Jacob, using intimidation, fear and direct contact to lead people down fate’s path. Hey, maybe she’s working for the Man in Black! Or not.

She Ain’t Penny, She’s My Sister
Before Desmond can flee that very awkward scene, he’s interrupted by ivory-tickling prodigy, Daniel Faraday, err, Widmore. In this reality, Daniel was allowed by his mother to pursue his passion for music.. And wear stupid hats.

Daniel abruptly asks Desmond if he believes in love at first sight, then recounts a moment a few weeks earlier where he saw a red-headed woman at a museum who, “As soon as I saw her, right in that moment, it was like I already loved her. And that’s when things got weird.” Obviously, Daniel is talking about Charlotte. But what’s more interesting – okay, anything’s more interesting than Charlotte – is what happened later that night, when Faraday sleepily scrawled a complex physics equation in his moleskin notebook, one that could only be written by someone who had studied the field their entire life.

And it’s here we learn that musician Daniel is just as bright as physicist Daniel. He’s been putting two and two together, and he realizes that the only way he could channel a lifetime of physics knowledge is to have actually experienced a lifetime of physics knowledge. The more his mind wades in that pool, the more he starts recalling, including some little tidbit about a hydrogen bomb. And as he so brilliantly crystallizes it for Desmond, “What if all this wasn’t supposed to be our life? What if we had some other life, and for some reason, we changed things. I don’t want to set off a nuclear bomb, Mr. Hume. I think I already did.”

This was the scene of the night for me. It’s the first time the alternate realities have been elevated to a level of real importance, and it even drew on the lessons of “changing things,” vs. “whatever happened, happened,” that were explored in the time travel episodes. It would seem that time travel was, in a way, just a device being used to make our characters think about what they would change about their lives if they could. That’s the quandary that was posed to Desmond last night – that maybe there was a version of himself that had found true happiness with some woman named Penny. And that the choices he had made in his life – or that someone else had made in theirs regarding the use of hydrogen bombs – had altered that life path, and sent him down a non-ideal course.

Suddenly, Desmond was faced with the notion that his best life was out there, waiting to be lived. The notion was simultaneously uplifting and unsettling. But ultimately, Desmond knew that if there was a better life out there for him, it started with Penny. And luckily for him, the guy sitting next to him knew just where to find her. “She’s my half-sister,” Daniel conveniently revealed. And it was off to the (stair) races.

Desmond finds Penny running the same stairs where he met Jack, and he stops her to introduce himself. I’m pretty sure if I met Sonya Walger, I’d faint. And whaddya know, so did Desmond.

Yes Man
Desmond wakes back up in the electromagnetic mystery box, feeling happy, healthy and surprisingly compliant. “You told me you brought me here to the Island to do something very important. When do we start?” He starts with Zoe, trekking back to the Hydra Station, before being interrupted by Sayid, who knocks out his entourage and tells Desmond he needs to come with him and get away from these “dangerous” people. Desmond, still super-compliant, tells Sayid to lead the way.

If alternate-reality Desmond needed to faint in order to wake up his on-Island counterpart, he didn’t need to stay unconscious. While on-Island Desmond happily, inexplicably followed Widmore, then Zoe, then Sayid wherever they were going, alternate-Desmond woke up. Both Desmonds, operating simultaneously. How does that happen? I’d argue that on-Island Desmond was something of an empty vessel. He seemed to be floating through the whole turn of events, from waking up to following Sayid. Perhaps it was because the events of his alternate reality storyline demanded the full attention of his consciousness.

Manifest Destiny
Desmond awoke in the stadium, with Penny hovering over him. Again, this man. I want to be this man. He regains his cool, and being the cheeky bastard he is, asks her out for coffee. She obliges, and they agree to meet up in an hour.

New, happy, lovestruck Desmond ambles back to the limo, full of new, strange feelings and something resembling a purpose. And it appeared he was carrying something else – his first real, genuine understanding of his multiple existences. Like Charlie before him, Desmond wanted to spread the word. So he asked Minkowski to get him a manifest of the passengers on 815. Why? “I just need to show them something.”

And scene. So what the hell just happened?


Come Together. Right Now.
I think what just happened is Desmond learned what the hell is going on in LOST.

I think he pieced together the ramblings of Charlie and Daniel with his own flashes, and he’s finally seeing the picture on the front of the puzzle box, as he once called it.

Desmond gleaned from Daniel that there were possible alternate versions of ourselves that could be explored. And he learned from Charlie that those alternate selves were potentially enormous improvements on our current selves. And so, he’s off to find the Oceanic 815ers and free their minds – and the rest will follow. By the way, that doesn't necessarily mean that our characters have to "jump in" to an ideal version of himself. That's not what Desmond did - he's finding Penny in an entirely different way than he did originally, and eight years later, too. On the contrary, I think Desmond's message will be one of continual self-improvement, of always being on the lookout for opportunities for betterment, of not being content with shallow fulfillment.

But what does that mean for Widmore, Flocke, Jacob and the Man in Black? Yeah, did you forget about them during last night’s episode? I did. It was almost an entirely different show. How does Desmond’s quest to give all his Oceanic 815 mates their own “happily ever after” impact the “war,” the “release of evil,” and the age-old battle of free will vs. predestination being waged by Jacob and his nemesis?

Last night’s brief Island scene at the end didn’t do much to answer those questions. We saw Desmond willingly join up with Widmore, then just as willingly ditch Widmore’s crew to follow Sayid back to the Man in Black. I’d wager that the end-goal is still to contain MIB to the Island, preventing his contamination of the outside world and ensuring that everything that everybody loves doesn’t “cease to exist,” as Widmore put it. But how does Desmond’s mission impact that?

I think it might have something to do with Jacob and the MIB’s candidates. While we know little about these two and their “game,” it does seem that they require willing, able-bodied subjects to help them along their way. Jacob has a lighthouse wheel full of candidates to replace him. MIB has assumed the body of a mortal, while claiming the souls of a few others, all of which he deems necessary for his escape plan.

But Desmond’s plan seems to transcend that game. It's as if he's out to overstep that eons-old squabble between these two mystic entities. MIB and Jacob be damned, Desmond just wants people to self-actualize and find their path in life.

Here’s the catch, though. By doing that, Desmond helps Jacob win. Jacob would prove – through Desmond – that mankind, despite its corruptibility and potential for evil, is capable of doing the right thing. When presented with the potential for meaningful happiness, true love and real purpose, mankind will choose to pursue that life. They’ll do what they need to do to secure that for themselves and the people they love. Maggie and I both realized, at the end of this episode, that we haven’t really seen any of our alternate reality characters experience any kind of true love (even Jin and Sun were just dipping their pins in company ink; not quite in love yet). Maybe a world devoid of true love is the world into which the Man in Black can escape – cheesy, I know. But if Desmond can convince Jack that there’s more than being a good surgeon; or Kate that there’s some things not worth running away from; or Locke that physical limitations do not a weak spirit make; if Desmond can steer these people towards lives of meaning and substantive love, then Jacob might win his argument.

And to that unintelligible paragraph of sappy what-ifs, I’ll add this one. Maybe Widmore knows that Desmond is the only one who can consciously transcend and comprehend the alternate versions of himself. He knows that it’s up to Desmond to create a world that the Man in Black can’t escape to. So he brought him to the Island, pumped him full of electromagnetism, and let his mind wander to different times and places until he could grasp, for himself, the idea that the Man in Black’s cynical worldview could be contained by free-willed, self-actualizing optimism.

Widmore said Desmond was the x-factor that could prevent the release of MIB. Is this mission of betterment the manor in which Widmore saw that happening? Is Desmond, the insignificant speck on Widmore’s radar for all his life, actually the cork the Island needs and the fulfillment of Widmore’s eternal promise to protect the Island? I think it could be. And if you buy that, maybe you’ll buy this: Desmond’s “sacrifice” will be to stay on the Island forever, replacing Jacob as the protector of the power of free will –and the enduring spirit of optimism.

Namaste.
Charlie

In search of a happy ending.

on Comments: (4)

Welcome to another week of Lost, Dharma Blog fans. It is good to be back in my normal timeline (preview post), after living in the alternate timeline (review post) last week. I hope I don’t get a nosebleed…

Another bizarre Maggie-statement, or an excellent segue? You be the judge.

Tonight’s episode is all Desmond, all the time. Welcome to “Happily Ever After.”

“Happily Ever After”
Oh, sweet Desmond, how I’ve missed you. Not as much as Charlie, but I really have missed you. For the better part of the last two seasons, you have been notably absent. But why? And what does your return tonight mean, with only 6 new episodes left in this series?

My gut reaction is: uh-oh.

There are several reasons I am worried about tonight. First, the use of the song “Amazing Grace” (played on bagpipes, no less) in the preview commercials gives me the chills. Not only is it one of the most recognizable tunes in the English language, “Amazing Grace” is a song about forgiveness and finding peace with your life. More specifically, the song says that redemption is possible regardless of the sins you have committed, but that you will only be delivered from that despair through the mercy of God. What does that mean for our survivors? Think on that.

Second reason for my worry? The episode title, “Happily Ever After.” So far, Desmond is the only character we have seen who has received his “happy ending” (see: reuniting with Penny). That scene on The Searcher was wayyyy back in the finale of season four…and it was a GREAT scene. Oh, it was so wonderful. Everything was so perfect. They found each other…they found love! It was their happily ever after! And in the midst of the life and love that followed, Desmond promised Penny he would never, ever, ever return to the island, even though Mrs. Hawking told him “the island is not finished with you” when he saw her in the Lamp Post station. And last week’s final scene revealed that, apparently, Mrs. Hawking was right.

Yikes.

So what will tonight bring? Is this episode title really just a ruse, designed to makes us think everyone is going to continue to be great for our star-cross’d lovers, but ultimately result in the tragedy to beat all tragedies?? Will Charlie cry tonight???

I really really hope not. And I actually don’t think so…not tonight. Desmond has had all of two minutes in this season so far, and I’m quite certain there is work he needs to do before his final curtain call arrives.

Eventually, though…
It is hard to not see Desmond’s return as a not-so-great omen of the future of his relationship with Penny. I’m not positing death here for our game-changer, but I’m positing the possibility of separation from his one true love. And I think his decision will be made for the sake of something far bigger than the two of them…say, like, saving the world.

Come to think of it, Desmond did get his happy ending very early in the grand scheme of things. Look at Charlie’s two favorite characters, Jin and Sun. They’ve been apart now for, what, two years? So why did they decide to reunite Penny and Des so long ago? Well, it would make any tragic ending for them that much more heartbreaking for all of us. And at the same time, we’ll know in our hearts that they had two wonderful years together, and the adorable baby Charlie, too. How does the saying go? “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”

No, I do NOT read books by Nicholas Sparks. Stop hurling accusations at me.

Getting back on track…
You’d be hard-pressed to find a Lost watcher who does not believe that Desmond is in the role of game changer right now. He is in the hot seat. He has the power to pick which way we’re going, “Choose Your Own Adventure” style. And it appears the first person to make their case for the ‘right path’ will be Widmore. Who else thinks he’ll say something about Desmond doing _____ (fill in the blank here) so that everyone can live “happily ever after”? Yeah. Me too.

And now…a Disclaimer!
As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.

Tonight’s Guest Stars
Dominic Monaghan as Charlie, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Fionnula Flanagan as Eloise Hawking, Sonya Walger as Penelope “Penny” Widmore, Fisher Stevens as George Minkowski, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Fred Koehler as Seamus, Kayren Butler as doctor, Ben Cain as MRI tech, Grisel Toledo as Nurse Tyra, Sundra Oakley as lawyer, Haley Williams as assistant, Jonathan Arthur as Simmons, Gerard Elmore as clipboard guy, Hannah Bell as nurse, Christopher McGahan as techie #1 and Steve Boatright as goon #1.

Survey Says: YES!!!!
This is going to be a great episode. I’m officially EXCITED (as if I wasn’t already). Faraday + Mrs. Hawking + a Desmond episode = brilliant. What’s to come? An explanation of the alternate timeline? An explanation of what Jughead did? An explanation of whether or not Jughead altered the past and changed the future?

I’ll accept any and all of these answers.

Mrs. Hawking is actually at the root of all of this. Our initial introductions to each and every single one of these concepts came from her. Remember “the universe has a way of [pause] course correcting”? Season three, kids. Look it up. I assumed at the time she was some angel-like figure, communing with the gods and serving as a spiritual guide to Desmond. Wrong-o. Mrs. Hawking is as real as they get, living on the island, living on the island, falling in love with Charles “Fabio” Widmore, giving birth to baby Danny Faraday…and later sending him to DIE on the island at HER hand.

Mrs. Hawking is a crazy fool. And yet, she definitely still has some answers to give. Starting…now.

Oh, and Danny Faraday. He is full of theories and knowledge about what is happening, not to mention a handful of unfinished storylines of his own. Talk to us, Danny.

And if you’re still not sure tonight is going to rock, throw in Penny, Charlie (Pace, not Stephan), and freaking George Minkowski!

Charlie: Refresher that Desmond was the first person to attempt to change the past when he (unsuccessfully) attempted to prevent the death of Charlie in season 3. And in the season 6 premiere, we heard Charlie say “I was supposed to die” as he was dragged off the plane by the TSA. Hmm. How does Charlie fit in tonight? Maybe alt-Charlie, who is now in LA County Jail? That’s my best guess.

Penny: I’m going to guess that Desmond’s alternate timeline is a happy ever after timeline where he is married to Penny, his constant, his one true love. Because I’m a romantic like that. (And, yes, I just watched the phone call scene from "The Constant." Twice.) Does this mean there is a risk of Desmond losing his happily ever after in both timelines? Ugggggh. Expect to see what happens between the post-marina hospital scene (where Widmore and Eloise chatted outside Desmond’s room) and him returning to the island.

Minkowski: Token blast-from-the-past guest star. But I’m still excited. He was a good guy.

Clipboard Guy: Yep. Someone is listed as Clipboard Guy in the guest star list. Game changer, right?? Haha.

TV Guide says:
Desmond wakes up to discover he’s back on the island.

Maggie says:
Well, duh. That happened at the end of last week’s episode. I demand a new episode description.

Okay, but really. How did Desmond end up back here? From the looks of things, Widmore brought him back against his will to save the world and fix everything. He was totally drugged up, Dharma submarine style. And once he comes out of his stooper, he is going to be t i c k e d off.

Why does Widmore need him? Lots of possibilities:

Theory 1: Desmond is the only one who can jump between the timelines.
Short summary: Widmore is going to charge Desmond with the task of jumping consciousness to the alternate timeline to get people where they need to be so they can all take down MIB. See: Desmond appearing to Jack on the plane, giving him just enough to make Jack realize that he knew him, even though it was in a different timeline.

Theory 2: Desmond is the only one who can kill/disable/disarm/defeat MIB.
Short summary: Thanks to the Swan implosion, Desmond can channel the electromagnetic properties of the island in the same way that MIB can channel the properties and turn into smoke. So, Desmond is the only person with the ability to stop MIB from…doing whatever MIB is trying to do.

Theory 3: Desmond can jump back AND FORTH between the timelines.
Short summary: Desmond can go back in time with his knowledge of the future and prevent an of this from ever happening. See: Faraday gave Desmond a message in the past, which he woke up with in the future.

Theory 4: Something completely different than all of these theories.

Parting Thoughts
Desmond is the game changer.

This is going to be one for the history books.

I have no idea what is going to happen. But I’m so excited.

Oh, and one more thing: tonight’s episode was written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.

Game. On.

Namaste,
Maggie

P.S. Yes, the rumors are true. I did bowl a 210 earlier this evening. No big deal.