2.23 - Live Together, Die Alone

For some reason, Hulu broke this episode in half, but since it originally aired (on my birthday three years ago, no less) as one unit, I’m putting it together here.


Title’s significance: This episode’s title echoes a statement made by Jack way back in “White Rabbit,” which Jack repeats while heading to The Others’ camp.

Recap: Desmond gets his own flashbacks this episode, introducing us to his dishonorable discharge and his conflict with industrialist Charles Widmore over Desmond’s relationship with Widmore’s daughter Penelope. To prove his stuff, Desmond entered Widmore’s race around the world, with Libby’s sailboat. The sailboat, of course, crashed on the island, where he was picked up by Kelvin Inman – the American soldier Sayid met in Iraq. Inman reveals that his former partner Radzinsky edited the video. Inman shows Desmond the hatch’s failsafe and explains that the button discharges the cache of electromagnetism. Noticing that Kelvin’s Hazmat suit has a tear in it, Desmond follows him out and learns that there is no sickness and that Kelvin’s been rebuilding the sailboat; the two tousle, Kelvin dies, and Desmond takes the failsafe key, but he doesn’t return in time to prevent a system failure and electromagnetic detonation. Just as Desmond is about to kill himself after reading Penny’s note (in which she promises to wait for him), he hears Locke on the hatch in his moment of desperation from “Deus Ex Machina.”

In the present, Jack, Sawyer, and Sayid make it out to the sailboat and find Desmond, drunk off his butt and listening to opera; Desmond says he set out for Fiji but was stuck in the snow globe-like world of the island. Locke and Eko come into conflict about pushing the button, and Kate tells Jack that something doesn’t jive about The Others being hillbillies. Sayid borrows Desmond’s sailboat, and when Michael’s team is attacked by a large green bird that screams Hurley’s name, Michael learns his gun wasn’t loaded. Locke tells Desmond about the Pearl video, and the two agree to not push the button tomorrow; they lock Eko out of the hatch. While sailing, Sayid, Jin, and Sun discover the giant four-toed foot of a statue that has otherwise disappeared before landing at the Others’ village.

After escaping an ambush, Jack confronts Michael about his betrayal, and the truth comes out about his actions in The Swan; Jack reveals he has a plan. Eko dynamites his way into the computer room as Michael’s team is attacked by The Others. Locke gives Desmond the printout from The Pearl, which reveals that Desmond’s system failure may have crashed Oceanic 815; Desmond begins to believe the button might be for real, but Locke destroy the computer in disbelief. Michael’s team is brought to a dock, where they meet up with “Henry Gale,” who releases Michael and Walt when he claims that Walt is more trouble than he’s worth. When the computer system fails again and the electromagnetism goes haywire, Desmond goes down to trigger the failsafe, and Locke admits he was wrong. A large electromagnetic flare fires up, the skies are filed with a loud white noise, and the hatch door crashes in the beach camp. Charlie staggers back to camp, but no one else returns. Ms. Klugh releases Hurley to tell the other survivors never to come looking for their friends. Meanwhile, at an unspecified location, two Portuguese men contact Penny Widmore and tell her, “It’s us. I think we found it.”

Thoughts: Knockout finale. Damon & Carlton hit every home run possible. This might be a perfect episode of LOST; it’s certainly got one of the best sets of flashbacks in LOST history.

Favorite moment: It’s so hard to choose a favorite moment – is it the scene at the ferries, Desmond’s flashbacks with Kelvin, the electromagnetic explosion? Is it possible that this entire episode is a “favorite moment”?

Characters introduced (in order):

• CHARLES WIDMORE, an industrialist with a major hate-on for Desmond
• PENELOPE WIDMORE, Widmore’s daughter and Desmond’s love interest
• RADZINSKY (mentioned), Inman’s former partner in The Swan

What we learned:

• Desmond’s in the sailboat, but it actually belonged to Libby.
• Desmond says the island is like a snow globe, with no possible escape.
• Desmond wants Charles Dickens’s “Our Mutual Friend” to be the last thing he ever reads.
• Desmond was dishonorably discharged from the Scottish army.
• Desmond’s last name is Hume.
• Desmond refers to The Others as The Hostiles, a name he picked up from Kelvin Inman.
• Libby bought Desmond coffee off-island and gave him a sailboat to win Widmore’s race around the world.
• “With enough money and determination, you can find anyone.” (Penelope)
• Penny’s engaged to another man.
• “Smells like carrots” is the answer to Desmond’s riddle.
• Joe Inman’s real first name is Kelvin.
• Radzinsky edited the Swan video.
• Sawyer suggests that The Others are either Dharma holdouts or aliens.
• Inman finished the blast door map that Radzinsky began.
• It’s possible to fake a lockdown.
• Radzinsky killed himself in The Swan.
• The Swan is built over a large quantity of electromagnetism.
• There’s nothing behind the Dharma doors at the Others’ village.
• Though somebody may have been in The Pearl recently, no one’s been picking up the tubes for a while.
• Desmond accidentally killed Kelvin.
• Desmond’s system failure coincided with the crash of Oceanic 815.
• Mr. Friendly’s first name is Tom; Ms. Klugh’s first name is Bea.
• “Henry Gale” is apparently a leader among The Others.
• Heading 325 is the only way off the island.
• “Henry Gale” claims The Others are “the good guys.”

Questions:

• Why was Desmond dishonorably discharged from the army?
• Why couldn’t Desmond leave the island?
• Why is Libby’s hair different in each flashback?
• Who was Libby married to? David, but David who?
• What’s the story behind the Hurley bird?
• What’s the deal with the four-toed statue?
• How did Inman get from Iraq to the island?
• Who is Radzinsky?
• Why would Radzinsky edit the video?
• Why did Radzinsky kill himself?
• Why did Kelvin leave the army?
• Did the system failure crash Oceanic 815?
• What happened when the failsafe was triggered?
• Why won’t Michael be able to return to the island?
• Are The Others really "the good guys"?
• Did the two Portuguese men find the island? If so, how did they know to look for electromagnetic activity?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• The introduction of Charles Widmore sets up plotlines that stretch all the way through Season Five, and what his ultimate role on the show will be remains to be seen. Is he a good person, or is he a bad person who’s worse than his foil Ben?
• The electromagnetic cache down beneath The Swan becomes central to the Season Five finale. Does it really have the capacity to bend time?