Lost: Season 6, Episode 11 "Happily Ever After" Review

 "I just need to show them something."

-Desmond Hume

"Happily Ever After" begins with Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) waking up on Hydra Island.  He attacks Widmore (Alan Dale) in a rage before being placed inside an electromagnetic crate, which had just killed a member of Widmore's team.  Widmore's test exposes Desmond to a high level electromagnetism.

In the flash-sideways, Desmond exits the airport after meeting both Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Claire (Emilie de Ravin).  His limo driver, George Minkowski (Fisher Stevens), takes him to his employer's office, who turns out to be Charles Widmore and the two of them actually like each other.

Desmond is sent to babysit Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) after he is released from jail.  Widmore's wife, Eloise (Fionnula Flanagan), is throwing a charity concert, where her son, Daniel (Jeremy Davies), will be performing along side DriveShaft, but Charlie isn't all that interested.  During his near death experience on the plane, he saw into what appears to be another life and had a vision of Claire.  In an attempt to help Desmond see, Charlie crashes their car into the harbor and Desmond sees a flash of Charlie drowning in the Looking Glass.  

Desmond rescues Charlie and they are taken to the hospital, where Desmond has flashes of his son and Penny (Sonya Walger).  Charlie ends up escaping the hospital leaving Desmond to find Penny.  Widmore sends Desmond to tell Eloise personally that Charlie will not be playing the concert, which she takes in stride.  Desmond overhears the name Penny on the guest list and asks to see it, but Eloise refuses to let him because he isn't ready.

Daniel stops Desmond from leaving and tells him he experienced similar flashes when he saw Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) and found himself with the knowledge of quantum physics.  He believes he set off a nuclear bomb in another life, which sent them all into this reality.  He then tells Desmond where to find Penny.  Desmond meets Penny while she is exercising and they shake hands.

Desmond wakes up on the Island, perfectly calm, and willing to help Widmore.  Sayid (Naveen Andrews) later kills one of the men guarding Desmond and brings him away from Hydra Island, which Desmond is perfectly willing to do.

In the flash-sideways, Desmond faints after shaking hands with Penny, but she agrees to go out for coffee with him.  Desmond asks George to get him the manifest of Oceanic 815 as he wants to show the other passengers something.

What Works:

Henry Ian Cusick gives an awesome performance in this episode.  He gets to show off an extremely wide range.  It's great to see him meeting Penny in the flash-sideways as well as both of his interactions with Charles.  It's fun to see him attack Charles and eerie to see them get along so well in the flash-sideways.

We get a lot of characters returning to the show in this episode.  It's really awesome having both Charlie and Daniel back.  They get to play different versions of their characters and it's really interesting.  We even get a surprise return for George Minkowski, which I don't think anyone was expecting, but it's a nice callback to "The Constant."

I've really enjoyed the flash-sideways storylines on this rewatch, probably even more than the on-Island stuff, but this is the episode that really propels that storyline forward and ties it to the stuff on the Island.  It's a really exciting development.  The show leaves it vague and even misdirects the audience into what all of this actually is, but it really puts things into motion.  This is a setup episode, but it's a setup for something truly amazing.  This is the episode that gets the ball rolling to the finale.

What Sucks:

In comparing this episode to previous Desmond episodes, it doesn't have that strong final emotional punch that "Live Together, Die Alone," "Flashes Before Your Eyes," and "The Constant" do.  The emotional punch from this storyline is reserved for "The End" with Jack.  I just can't put this episode on the same level as those because of that, but that's the only problem I have.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Happily Ever After," this award goes to Sayid for his efficient rescue of Desmond.  This is Sayid's 13th time winning this award, which keeps him in 2nd place.

Verdict:

"Happily Every After" does a great job of setting us up for the finale of the show.  Henry Ian Cusick gives a great performance and it's fun having so many returning characters.  It's not on the same level as some of the best Desmond episodes, but it has still definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great