Heh, I couldn't help but smile when Desmond saw Penny for the first time in the flash sideways.

Man, I loved this episode.

The romantic in me just cannot get enough of the story of Desmond and Penny. I feel like their relationship is one of the show's fundamental backbones and I was smiling like an idiot when he saw her for "the first time" at the stadium in the alt reality.

So clearly Sideways and Reality are beginning to interact. Dun dun dun

I loved seeing Farraday. And Charlie, I guess.

I was too hah

anyone else think Desmond is going to show the passengers the island underwater to jog their "memory"?

Was I the only one who was reminded of Jacob's cabin when they put Desmond into that room? I mean the chair and all...

A little. I cracked up on how fast Desmond was able to destroy the chair.

1) I don't agree with the sentiment that the flash sideways will end up a fantasy. I strongly believe the flash sideways IS reality IF MIB is stopped.

2) Eloise freaked out about meeting Desmond because she felt he wasn't ready to meet Penny yet. I don't think she's with MIB, I just think she knows how things have to play out for that reality to exist, and was scared he would mess with it. She sent them back to the island because that's the only way MIB DOESN'T get loose. She's also always been working with Widmore, so if Widmore is good, so is she. No guarantees, but it looks like she's good (albeit self-centered and manipulative) to me.

3) Totally think Desmond is planning to tell all the passengers about this alternate reality, and their lives/relationships there.

4) Desmond is so willing to go with Sayid / Lady Scientist because he knows if he can stop whatever it is he needs to stop ... he gets Penny.

Best episode of the season so far. The writing this season isn't as good as I'd hoped but at least they came through this time.

The sideways give a strong indication of bargains being made or traditional deals with a devil or genie. You get what you asked for but with a big catch and it's almost not worth it. That doesn't sound like Jacob's work, whether or not he's the good guy. It seems more like MiB's style to me. And he was the one promising to give people back their lost people which has happened in the sideways world. Nadia and Alex still alive etc.

About Des being fine with going with Sayid, maybe he saw more than we were shown about the future. Maybe he knows in advance how this plays out.

They are big on rabbits in this show, it's this recurring thing they keep showing and even some of the books like watership down and alice in wonderland feature rabbits. In this episode again they made sure we noticed the rabbit.

Funny recap:
http://neverseenlost.wordpress.com/

I agree about Desmond...he probably knows what will happen/should happen, that's why he just folows Sayid. I assume he probably knew they'd be ambushed too.

So, where's Juliet? Also, doesn't explain why Hurley is such a success and not cursed in the alternate world.

Well I have no idea where she is, and I avoid spoilers. But I did read one recapper point out that there were big floppy sunhats hanging on Jack's ex-wife's mirror just like there were on Juliet's mirror in Otherville.

I'm not convinced my own theory about what is going on in the sideways is right, I'd just call it a working hypothesis for now till I see more. Hurley is lucky and maybe that was what Eloise or Smokey thought he most wanted to be.

If what is going on is the result of MiB being defeated, then that doesn't sound like a good outcome for Sun, and Jack is pretty lonely in his sideways despite the nice moment with his kid. It's almost like he wanted to be a good father and he got that but only that, and that Sun wanted Jin back but in turn lost her baby.

Also, Sayid certainly could have wished for something better than what he got.

The next episode is called Everybody Loves Hugo. So awesome. An obvious reference to the episode Everybody Hates Hugo.

According to my theory it worked like this for Sayid: he asked for Nadia to be in his life. And he got her in his life but she was married to his brother. That's classic genie, or devil if you prefer, wish granted but with a catch. And he may get her but only at the cost of his brother dying to the mobsters.

As to Jack, that's a good question. He literally lost his father's body, and he's lonely and divorced so it's not like he got a lot. His would be that he's a good father but his kid is being raised by his ex-wife, and his son doesn't live with him, which is probably not what he envisioned when he wanted that.

With NotLocke's magic undoing of Ben's shackles, his asking people what wish they want granted, his swirling smoke form, and being trapped in a bottle according to Jacob's analogy, that just screams genie to me. Maybe it's just a coincidence and not what they intended, but yeah I see the similarity. For now till we learn more.

On a related subject, I've been wondering if maybe when Dogen and Juliet's relatives got their lives saved - her sister and his son - it was in the alternate world. That would explain why they were not allowed to leave the island, otherwise they'd see their relative was not saved in their timeline.

Then again, if Jacob could make Richad immortal I'm pretty sure he can cure cancer and all (unless you assume that his powers work only on this island).

Interesting theory, certainly could be correct. I'm just not sure what to make of sideways reality just yet, I think it could still go either way dependent on what exactly Desmond tells everyone when he finds them.

Libby is coming back next episode!

And apparently we'll see Ben in a romance at some point (not sure whether on or off the island...)

Apparently Ben's romance is with...

I actually wasn't impressed with the Desmond episode. Most of it was dead weight with some nice touches. Only the last 10 minutes served any kind of purpose, but it's still pretty vague what the flash-sideways are. We already knew that they're connected and that your mind can travel between the island time and the flash-sideways. A lot of people called that when Juliet was dieing and said that it worked. She saw herself on the other side because her mind was in between. Now I'm afraid that the only way for the flash-sideways to become a reality is if they die and transfer themselves to the FS universe and that seems like a good way for MIB to get rid of all the candidates make them somewhat happy and get out from the island. And the best thing is that they themselves created this backdoor for him.

Also this episode has some pretty stupid writing. Like when they turn on the EM machine and watch the guy getting crisped on the monitor and they need almost a full minute or so to turn it off. Why in the fuck couldn't they turn it off immediately??? All it took was a quick reaction and EM machine probably wouldn't even start in full and the guy would still be alright., But noooooo. He needed to get crisped so Desmond could do a wrestler move with the chair. Seriously? Lost once had everything thoughtfully put together. There are a lot of lazy things in this episode.

They let him get crisped to show viewers what the machine does to a normal person. I understand your point, but I don't see that as too much of a problem. Bad directing more than bad writing.

I understand your point too. They could've used a rabbit though. The whole scene felt lazy.

Be.redy no matter what Lost will ever do, you will never ever ever be content.

I thought Ab Aeterno was phenomenal!

I almost see a Dark Tower type ending. If anybody has ever read the books you know what I mean.

great great episode!.

We need more of Desmond!