Season 5, Episode 2: Jughead

My random thoughts from this episode....

BABY CHARLIE
We learn that (in the future) Desmond and Penny have a baby together. His name is Charlie. My first thought after hearing his name was "how could they have named him after Penny's father?" (Charles Widmore) after everything he did to them? But then I thought, no, the baby is not named for her father, but rather for Charlie Pace (from the island). He saved Desmond's life, down in the underwater hatch station, by sacrificing his own life to save Desmond and everyone else on the island. Desmond felt such an overwhelming gratitude to Charlie afterwards, realizing that Charlie gave up his own life for him, which would explain Desmond naming his son after him.

YOU CAN'T CHANGE THE PAST IF IT DID NOT HAPPEN
After last week's episode, Faraday tells Sawyer that you cannot change the past - if it did not happen, you can't change it. However, we are starting to see that this is not entirely true. First, last week, when Desmond "changed the past" by going and talking to Desmond (which did not happen the first time around). And now, Locke gets shot in the leg...and the bullet wound is still there even as they travel into different time periods. If this didn't really happen before, then how is the bullet wound still there? And does this affect his "future" self, does it affect his ability to walk again? Also, in several of the time flashes into the past, people are killed, stabbed, blown up, etc. - so if they "die" in these time flashes, will that also affect the future if those people are dead? Faraday explained that nothing can be changed if it didn't happen before, but it seems that if they are "changing" the past by interacting with Others, that the future WOULD in fact be changed by those occurances. (All of this is very Back to the Future)!

RICHARD HAS ALWAYS BEEN HERE
Locke goes to talk to Richard Alpert in the 1950s time flash. As we learn from Juliet, Richard has "always been here." I'm wondering if the reason he never ages is because he, too, is traveling through these time flashes on the island, and when we saw him last season, maybe he was traveling back through time so he could interact with Locke when he first arrived on the island? That would explain why he never ages, if he too is time-traveling. I don't know. But anyway, Locke goes up to talk to him and tells him that Jacob sent him. This gets Richard's attention. Locke explains that he is now the leader and Richard doesn't quite believe him because he says they recruit from childhood. Locke tells him to come visit him after he is born in a couple years. As we know from a past episode, Richard DOES in fact go to visit Locke as a young boy. He visited his house and told his mother that Locke is "special." He then showed him a variety of items and asked him to choose from them. One of those items is a compass. However, Locke chose the knife and Richard seemed upset (like he wanted him to recognize the compass from the "future"). He told Locke that he wasn't ready yet and left.

IT WASN'T A DREAM, IT WAS A MEMORY
- Desmond wakes up after a "dream" (or a memory, as he says) of Faraday telling him to go to Oxford and find his mother. It takes him several years after leaving the island for him to "remember" this. He convinces Penny that he has to do this in order to save everyone back on the island. When he goes to Oxford, he does not find any record of Faraday but instead is led to a woman that Faraday was involved with (who he found a picture of in his old lab.) Her name is Theresa. She is now in a comatose state and is being cared for by her sister who tells Desmond that "Faraday did this to her" and then disappeared. She also tells him that Charles Widmore is paying for her medical care and that he also funded Faraday's research for 10 years.


YOUR NAME IS WIDMORE? CHARLES WIDMORE?
Wow!! So we learn that Widmore was actually on the island back in the 1950's. This would explain why he is now funding Faraday's research. Since he was once on the island as a young man, we can understand why he is doing everything in his power to find that island again and get back there. He knows it's mysteries and secrets and wants to go back. However, I'm assuming he knows about the time-flashes and what happens after you leave...that the only way to go back is if he can travel through time to go back (to the past). So, once he discovers Faraday is studying time travel, he does everything he can for him to research his studies so that Faraday can help him get back to the island.

However, we also learn that Faraday has had some "problems" in his research, involving this woman (Theresa) that left her in a vegetative state. Something obviously went wrong and that is what did this to her and left her in that condition. We have also seen on the island the "side effects" of time travel (nose bleeds, etc.) which happened to several people on the freighter, and now to Charlotte as well. Daniel seems to know what is happening, though he is not telling her everything just yet. Although he seems to have a genuine interest in her well-being, and is trying to do anything he can to save her. He wasn't lying when he said he loved her, although I don't think it is in a "romantic" way. I think that Charlotte may actually be related to him somehow. We know that she was born on the island. We also know that Widmore once lived on the island. I think Charlotte may actually be Widmore's daughter, and that her mother is the old woman from the jewelry store (whose name is Eloise Hawking). I think Eloise was also on the island at some point in the past, and that her and Widmore were together and that Charlotte is their daughter. Also remember Charlotte has made several references to her mother...not remembering her maiden name, and knowing that she was born on the island. I also think that Eloise is Daniel's mother, too. When Desmond goes to find Faraday's mother in L.A., I think he will discover that it is Eloise - the woman from the jewelry store who refused to sell him the engagement ring and told him to go to the island. (And who is now working with Ben to get the Oceanic Six back to the island). But I do think she is Faraday's mother (but I don't think Widmore is his father, though...I think that he and Charlotte may be half-siblings, with the same mother, but different fathers). This would explain his genuine concern and care for Charlotte, wanting to make sure she is okay, and in feeling love for her...as his sister. Also, if you remember back last season when we first saw Faraday doing the research with the lab rat and time travel, the rat's name was Eloise (which he would have named for his mother???)

All in all, a good episode. It's starting to get a little weird, but still good. (whatever happened to the writers' statement that "everything in this show is scientifically possible." Um, time travel? Okaaaaayyyyy.

Oh, and the BEST line of the episode....in the conversation between Sawyer and Juliet:
Sawyer: "Where'd you learn to speak Latin?"
Juliet: "Others 101"
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