Happily Ever After

LOST
Season 6, Episode 11: Happily Ever After
Review by Ian

EPISODE RECAP
Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) centric episode. In alternate timeline he has never met Penny (Sonya Walger) until Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) directs him to her.
Alternate Timeline: Desmond is put in charge by his employer, Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) to look after Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) so he can play alongside his son (later revealed to be Faraday) in his piano charity concert, to make his wife, Eloise (Fionnula Flanagan) happy. Charlie reveals what he saw while he was choking on the herion on the plane and as Desmond is driving Charlie to the concert, Charlie takes control of the wheel and drives them off a bridge into the water, and Desmond has a flashback of when he tried to save Charlie in the on island timeline. Desmond also saw Penny in his flashback, as Charlie saw Claire on the plane's flashback. Finally, the two timelines are merging into eachother. Minkowski (the weird guy on the Kahana) was Desmond's driver, and as Desmond goes back into the limo, all stitched up and fine, he asked for the plane manifest, which implies he's going to visit every person from the plane to tell them about their "hallucination" that they could have. Faraday helps Desmond come to this conclusion, which implies that Faraday also thinks that they can't be living the right life. Faraday then tells Desmond where to find Penny, and he finds her there and asks her for coffee, where she agrees. Eloise finds out about Desmond's plan and tells him to stop whatever he's doing (which also implies that she knows what Desmond's up to).
On-Island Timeline: Widmore puts Desmond in a radioactive room to see if he can survive a vast radioactive energy attack, and he does, which according to Widmore, means that they all are saved. After Desmond survives the room, Zoe takes him somewhere else, but Sayid intercepts and tells Zoe to run, and Sayid takes Desmond with him. Desmond has had an epiphany and realizes why he is at the island again. The episode is mainly centric around the alternate timeline.


EPISODE REVIEW
I thought it was a great episode. I didn't like the complete personality change for Charlie but whatever. I hated Charlie in this episode actually, which was pretty bad, because apparently he was always a fan favorite (I never really liked him that much anyways).
I loved Faraday in this episode, thank god he's back for more episodes this final season, as his scenes were completely enjoyable to watch.
But every alternate timeline, I can see a reason for an old character to be back. Mr Eko isn't returning this season, which irks me, because the producers chose to wait until the last minute to call the actor. MR EKO COULD'VE BEEN CHARLIE'S DRUG DEALER FOR GOD SAKE! IT COULD'VE BEEN A PERFECT SCENE/STORYLINE! But they chose to wait till the last minute again, and look what happened, their best character isn't returning.
I like how they chose to bring back Minkowski, but I don't fully understand his "connections" thing, and how he can get the plane manifest.


Here is a reason for which I hope some old characters returns this season.
Mr Eko: could've been Charlie's drug dealer, (since Charlie had heroin and Mr. Eko was dealing heroin before he went to the Island).
Libby: To explain why she was in the mental hospital before the crash, and so she can get some closure with Hurley. Probably next week Hurley gets a flash and realizes Libby was the one for him, so he chases after her.
Boone and Shannon: Since Shannon is returning in the finale, she is being fought over by a bunch of guys. Boone could be captured by the guys ringleader and Shannon has Sayid and Hurley save him. Idk really, it's a mystery what Boone is going to do for the remainder of the season.
Charlotte and Pierre Chang: If they work at the museum, for god sake THEY HAVE TO EXPLAIN HOW POLAR BEARS GOT TO THE ISLAND.
Sarah (Jack's ex-wife): She has to pop in to check in on her son sometime, right?
Ana-Lucia: She's an LA cop. She HAS to encounter some of the characters sometime, right? My guess? Jin, Sayid, Charlie, and Kate she could be encountering with. I saw an opportunity for a cameo appearance in this episode.


OVERALL GRADE: A-

SPOILERS

Many characters will return this season. Here's a list of some that haven't been shown this season so fare but will be featured throughout this last season. The main characters or past main characters are in bold.
Maggie Grace who played Shannon

Julie Bowen who plays Sarah, Jack's ex-wife (rumored)

Cynthia Watros who played Libby (NEXT WEEK)

Harrold Perrineau who played Michael (NEXT WEEK)

Vincent the Dog will also return

John Terry who played Christian Shephard

Said Taghmaoui who played Caesar (rumored)
Francois Chau who plays Pierre Chang (NEXT WEEK)
Kevin Tighe who played Anthony Cooper

Mira Furlan who played Danielle Rousseau (she was first confirmed to not return but then she changed her mind as is returning near the end of the season, probably in the series finale)

Michelle Rodriguez who played Ana-Lucia

Lillian Hurst who plays Carmen Reyes (NEXT WEEK)

Archie Ahuana who played Tito (Hurley's dead grandfather; NEXT WEEK)

Suzanne Krull who played the Psychic (from Tricia Tanaka is dead episode in Season 3)

 The producers have confirmed Matthew Abaddon (played by Lance Reddick) will not return and Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is not returning also (WTF producers!).