Well after the time-jumping, time travel theory and multiple continents of the first two premiere episodes, tonight's Lost felt positively simple. Just two main stories, with all the remainders on the island pretty much back together again, and Desmond back on his yacht in the present, trying to figure out what to make of his dream message from Daniel Faraday.
"We'll be in and out. He'll never know we're here."
We open with seeing Penny give birth to her and Desmond's child, whom we learn at the end of the episode is named Charlie-- aww.... There's no real reason to see the birthing scene, except that it made for some intriguing frames in the season preview last week, wondering "Wait, who is that woman screaming in pain?" Desmond has convinced Penny to return to London, where he's going to track down Daniel Faraday's mother at Oxford, tell her everyone on the island is in terrible danger, and leave. Penny is convinced her father will find them and make them pay, while Desmond is convinced it'll take a day, and he can go back to his peaceful yacht livin' and baby raisin'. For some reason it never occurs to him, despite the fact that he's done a substantial amount of time travel, that his role might involve more. But we'll get to that.
"I assume you've come back for your bomb."
On the island, the same military-types who Locke beat up have captured Faraday, Charlotte and Miles, and they've taken them back to their camp. Of course, Richard Alpert is there to greet them-- these people are old-school Others! Alpert asks if they've come to retrieve their bomb, and Faraday, figuring they should fake it 'til they make it, says they are. He and the badass chick with the braids who captured them head off to examine the bomb, which turns out to be a serious American-made piece of weaponry--that's leaking hydrogen, or whatever makes scary bombs work. Faraday can't fake it anymore; he doesn't have a damn clue what to do. But he did figure out a suave way to tell Charlotte his true feelings, just as he suspects she's going to bite it given all the nosebleeds she's having after the time jumps. When Alpert asks how he knows Faraday won't set off the bomb when he gets near it, he says "Because I'm in love with the woman sitting next to me, and I would never do anything to hurt her." If Jack had good lines like that one, maybe we wouldn't have hated him so long.
"It's Others 101."
Juliette figures out that the scary people with guns are Others even before Richard shows up, because they speak Latin to each other. Apparently all Others have to speak Latin? Figures Ben would go for something nerdy like that. Juliette, Sawyer and Locke have their two assailants tied up for a while, but when one of them makes a run for it, Locke refuses to shoot him -- "Because he's one of my people." Locke is dead set on acting like the leader of the Others, even though they've jumped 50 years in the past to 1954, and even Richard Alpert doesn't recognize him. And when Locke thinks to ask Juliette just how old Richard is, she gives a simple "Old." I guess one mystery will be sticking around a while.
"I don't know what we would have done without Mr. Widmore
When Desmond arrives at Oxford, no one there has ever heard of Faraday or his mother, and Daniel's old office, which Desmond remembers from his time traveling episodes, is completely locked and under cover. When Desmond breaks in he's caught by a custodian, who explains the research lab was shut down "after what he done to that poor girl." Turns out it wasn't just Eloise the rat whose brain was jumping around in time, but a human subject, named Teresa. When Desmond goes to visit her, she's catatonic in a hospital bed, her sister explaining that there are moments when Teresa goes away entirely, and others when she thinks she's in another time. Desmond knows the feeling well, but he's not giving anything away. Just when he's about to leave the sister explains that Mr. Widmore, the man who funded Faraday's research, is the one who pays for Teresa's medical care. Widmore, eh?
"Put down the gun, Widmore."
So the British soldier prat who escaped from Locke and then held a gun up to him when he approached Richard? Yeah, that's Charles Wdmore Who knew Lost could still throw us for loops like that?!? We all knew Widmore had been on the island at some point in the past. Add that to the reason to speculate that the girl with the braids and the gun, whom Faraday says looks familiar, is his mom, and there's a whole raft of relatives giving the Losties island connections. Everything that happens after that reveal feels pretty anti-climactic-- Locke shows Richard the compass, which is supposed to convince him that he knows Locke, but instead Locke tells Richard to visit him when he is born two years later. Remember that Locke flashback when Richard showed up and showed him a compass as a kid? Yup. Before Richard can tell Locke how to get off the island, the flashes start again, and Charlotte is losing a whole lot of blood. Because as we know, any woman who falls in love on the island, unless they're named Kate, has to be in mortal peril.
"You're getting yourself involved in something that goes back many many years, it has nothing to do with you or my daughter. Wherever you were hiding, go back there."
And back in the U.K., Desmond realizes that if he's going to find Faraday's mom, he has to ask Widmore for help. Widmore demands information about Penny, which Desmond doesn't given of course, and reveals that Faraday's mom is now living in L.A., which makes it all the more likely she's Mrs. Hawking, whom we saw Ben meet with at the end of last week's episode. Widmore then does something kind of thoughtful, warning Desmond to get out of this mess, probably realizing that Ben will now stoop to daughter-killing now that Widmore killed Alex. Desmond, still convinced he can really not get that involved, convinces Penny to come with him to L.A. From the look on her face, he seems to know what Desmond doesn't for some reason-- this is shit is not resolved, not by a long shot.
So there we go! An episode completely free of the Oceanic 6, giving us explanations of Locke's past memories, plenty of Sawyer and Miles snark, and insight into the mysterious past of Charles Widmore. What more can you ask for? Early-season episodes tend to move at a quicker clip, before the show settles into the season, but I'm hopeful we'll keep getting information at this rapid pace. Lord knows they'll need that much time to wrap all these stories up.
