Jughead

What did we learn yesterday? Well, quite a lot, actually. As I mentioned last night, the show gave so many answers that I have whiplash. In no particular order:

- Penny and Desmond have a baby presumably 9 months after their reunion. The child is named Charlie. Isn’t that wonderful? I automatically assumed that the boy was named after Charlie Pace, whose selfless death saved Desmond. I forgot, though, that the child’s grandfather is also named Charles. I’m going with my first guess here – the boy’s namesake is our hobbit. Or vice versa.
- Charlotte’s condition is worsening. Dramatically. Is it time sickness, like what killed Minkowski and nearly killed Desmond? Does Charlotte need a constant? Does the fact that she was evidently born on the island make her more susceptible? And I must tell you, that I will be exceedingly disappointed if they kill her off right now. She seemed to have a more interesting story for us to explore.
- Daniel has a really bad poker face.
- How cool was it to see Miles’ mojo again? Like Charlotte, Miles has been woefully neglected. I blame the writers’ strike.
- In 1954, Richard appears to be acting like the leader of the Others, though he modestly admits that he answers to someone. Jacob, I presume?
- There’s a hydrogen bomb on the island. Could it be underneath the Swan station where Desmond spent years punching in numbers every 108 minutes. There’s an unusually strong magnetic field there, and a concrete wall several feet thick. A lot of people on the internet are really excited about the bomb. They believe that the radiation from the bomb is what added the time paradoxes to the island. And surely the bomb will show up again sometime?
- Desmond learns that Oxford has erased Daniel from its collective memory. That’s what happens when you send the brains of rats and a girl through time.
- Daniel tells Richard that he’s more interested in preventing an explosion “because I’m in love with the woman sitting next to me.” Honestly, I believed him. Not everyone does though. Some theories on their relationship later.
- Locke couldn’t kill the fleeing Other (unlike an aggravated Sawyer) – “he’s one of my people.”
- Theresa Spencer is the young woman whose brain apparently has been sent through time. She’s now more or less in a vegetative state. Daniel has abandoned her, so Charles Widmore, who funded Daniel’s research, takes care of all the bills for Theresa.
- Richard matter-of-factly notes that 18 US soldiers refused to leave the island, so, “We killed them.” But later Richard tells Locke that leaving the island is very complicated. Am I the only one to see the contradiction?
- When Richard tells Widmore to put down his gun, my jaw hit the ground. I had to rewind a couple of times to make sure I heard correctly. Now we know, Widmore has been on the island, and was an Other. And speaks Latin. One of many favorite lines of the night, “You think he [Locke] knows this island better than I do?” Um, yes.
- The girl with the gun, who evidently is named Ellie, reminds Daniel of someone. More on that later.
- Desmond is either brave or foolhardy in confronting Widmore. Widmore asks about Penny, and then agrees to give Desmond the address of Daniel’s mother. She just happens to be in LA (you know, where Ben is). “She won’t be pleased to see you. She’s a very private person.” But she and Desmond have so much in common!
- Widmore is afraid of what Ben will do to Penny: “Get out of this mess. Don’t put Penny’s life in danger…You’re getting yourself involved in something that goes back many many years. It has nothing to do with your or my daughter. Wherever you were hiding, go back there.”
- Becoming a leader of the Others is an intricate process that starts when the leader is young.
- Locke tells Richard when and where Locke will be born. Which explains some things that happened in the past season….

Two of my favorite lines of the night:

Juliet to Sawyer about how she learned Latin: “Others 101. Gotta know Latin. Language of the enlightened.”

Sawyer to Daniel after Ellie asked if Sawyer was a time traveler too: “You told her?”

So many theories are swirling, in my head and on the internet.

- Why is Ellie familiar to Daniel? I thought that perhaps she reminded him of Theresa Spencer or Charlotte. Maybe she’s Charlotte’s mother? I saw an intriguing theory on the internet however. The “pop up video” version of last week’s show indicated that Mrs. Hawking’s first name is Eloise. Ellie could be short for Eloise. Daniel’s lab rat was named Eloise. Maybe she’s familiar to Daniel because she’s Daniel’s mother?
- If Mrs. Hawking is Daniel’s mother and is Ellie, how come he doesn’t have a British accent? Was he born on the island? Could Widmore be his father? Charlotte was born on the island. Could Mrs. Hawking also be Charlotte’s mother? Could Charlotte and Daniel be siblings? We know that Daniel was somehow with the Dharma initiative in 1980. Is it possible that Daniel is actually Charlotte’s father? Could my head spin more from all these theories? No.
- Widmore is one arrogant sob. Is it possible that he doesn’t recognize Desmond’s role with the island? He clearly didn’t recognize Locke’s importance when they met in 1954. Locke was on Flight 815 because of a failed attempt to go on a walkabout, suggested by Abaddon. Does Abaddon work for Widmore? Does Widmore now know Locke’s role with the island? Was Widmore being groomed for leader of the Others? How did he come to leave the island?

Well, that’s enough for tonight. I’ve much to ponder upon, as I’m sure you do. Please let me know what you thought!