Last night’s LOST episode, the second of the season, “Jughead,” was full of answers. Or not even answers, but new information that gives reasons for answers. Now that the writers have an end date in sight, they seem to be picking up the pace and wrapping things up more tidily than last season. So what did we learn last night? Here are the highlights.
*Penny and Desmond have a baby boy with ridiculously adorable curls. Awww.
*Charles Widmore was on the island in the 1950s. The past-Widmore, like the present-Widmore, was kind of a jerk. He was supposedly an Other, who at that point were apparently ruled by the ageless and eyeliner-happy Richard Alpert. Widmore willingly killed a member of his own group to avoid giving information to Faraday & Co.
*Widmore and Faraday are connected. Widmore has paid for Faraday’s research, and for the care of some poor blonde girl whom we’re told Faraday has irrevocably maimed via said research.
*Faraday’s mother is the tart shop lady who refused to sell Desmond an engagement ring last season. Faraday’s mom is also a physicist and can predict when time irregularities will occur. Desmond, following a mission from Daniel Faraday, talks to Widmore and learns Faraday mater is in… Los Angeles. Can you guess where next week’s episode will take place?
Naturally, with new information comes a few new questions, but nothing on the scale of perplexing phenomenon like the smoke monster. In learning the island’s history, we’re also learning the characters’ futures. This week’s episode was all about time. Jumping forwards, backwards, sideways, it’s enough to make your head spin. I’ve given up trying to figure out who knew what when, and am just sticking to the facts.
We know now that Faraday, so far my favorite character because of his professorial scruff and soft-spoken smarts, might be working for bad-guy Widmore. We know Richard Alpert, eyeliner and all, is super-old. Like, centuries. We also know there was/is a hydrogen bomb on the island. Suddenly those bright, white flashes seem a bit more menacing. My predictions for next week: we’ll learn more about people born on the island and how it affects them. Also, more about Jin and why he is, or isn’t, really dead.
Photo courtesy ABC.