Desmond Hume/Penelope Widmore (LOST)
Aug. 11th, 2006 11:05 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
chicafrom3.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ship_manifestoTITLE: You Have Her
AUTHOR: Kristen![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chicafrom3
FANDOM: Lost
PAIRING: Desmond Hume/Penelope Widmore
DISCLAIMERS: Lost does not belong to me. This is simply my take on one aspect of the universe the writers have shown us. No infringement intended; sincerest form of admiration, etc.
SPOILERS: If you haven't seen the very last scene of Live Together Die Alone and everything leading up to it, you may want to turn away now. Very spoilery deconstructions ahead. The same is true if you are planning to read The Odyssey and would like to be surprised by it, as I make extensive references.
NOTES: Many, many thanks to the wonderfula70eezchild, who betaed this and made sense of my often bizarre syntax. Resources listed at the end. Image-heavy; possibly not dial-up friendly.
No one can accurately say that Lost is a television show bereft of love stories. Relationships are at the heart of the story, and romantic relationships come part and parcel with that. So throughout two seasons we've gotten a wide range of love stories: the Love Triangle (and later Love Rectangle) of Jack/Kate/Sawyer(/Ana-Lucia); the awkward, emotionally unstable Charlie/Claire; the tragic miscommunication of Jin/Sun; the impulsive and unstable Boone/Shannon/Sayid triangle; the innocent cuteness of Hurley/Libby; the stability of Rose/Bernard; the underutilized and almost-invisible Tracey/Steve. Romance is woven into the storyline as a matter of course.
But it isn't until Live Together Die Alone, the Season Two finale, aired that Lost viewers receive the first truly classical romance in the show. And fittingly enough, it comes with one character that had barely been touched on previously and one character that the audience had not been introduced to or had even heard of yet.
Desmond David Hume: The Adventurer
He was almost a doctor once. He was a Lance Corporal in the Royal Scots Regiment of Her Majesty's Armed Forces for a while. He spent time in a military prison. He entered a boat race around the world. And he crashed his boat on the mysterious Island where the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 later eke out a living.
Desmond is introduced in the Season Two premiere Man of Science, Man of Faith, in three oh-so-short scenes:
Initially, we watch him going about an average day. He wakes up. He types a code (4 8 15 16 23 42) into a computer to stop an alarm. He puts on a record (Make Your Own Kind of Music by Mama Cass). He doe his laundry, exercises, takes a shower, makes breakfast, and injects himself with a mysterious substance. He then launches into battle mode when the lid to the hatch explodes, blown up by the Dream Team of Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, John Locke, and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes. It is a moment of shock for many viewers – the revelation that someone is living in the mysterious hatch that so much of the latter half of the first season had revolved around.
But who is the mystery man?
In a flashback, we see Jack going for a run at a stadium in Los Angeles. When he twists his ankle, a fellow runner steps up to help. This would be our Desmond.
He is a man who believes in miracles and faith. He is not afraid to offer friendship and advice to a stranger.
Desmond's final scene in MOSMOF is at the very end of the show, with Desmond holding a gun on Locke and threatening to kill him if Jack doesn't put his gun down. Er…
The next episode, Adrift, offers a different perspective on the same events. By tracking Locke instead of Jack, we're able to see Desmond in-between his morning routine and his confrontation with Jack. This can be reduced to a handful of key points:
-Desmond's immediate question upon finding people in his bunker is "Are you him?" He is waiting for someone.
-He has a specific reaction to hearing that the plane crash was 44 days ago. Apparently, something happened 44 days ago.
-Desmond takes a minute to remember his name. The poor boy has been alone for a while.
-He refers to a sickness—presumably the same sickness that Danielle referred to more than once.
-A code has to be put into the computer every 108 minutes, or something bad happens. What that is hasn't been revealed quite yet.
-Desmond nicknames Locke "Box Man" after Locke reveals that he worked in a box company. No, that's not really relevant, I just think it's cute.
The third episode, Orientation, sees Desmond in despair when the computer is shot. He insists that "we're all gonna die", and is far less concerned with the fact that Jack wants to shoot him, even as he almost recognizes the other man. And at last he is persuaded (or forced, if you want to get technical) to tell his story:
He clues Jack and Locke in on an orientation film that answers a handful of questions about the existence of the bunker. But when he fails to fix the computer, he grabs an eclectic assortment of possessions (food, injection supplies, a stuffed bunny, a Bible, a copy of The Third Policeman, more than a little bit of booze) and runs away. Jack manages to stop him briefly, which only results in Jack's confession about his relationship with Sara before Desmond grabs his things and vanishes into the jungle.
Desmond was not seen again until he showed up drunk on his boat Elizabeth in the season finale, Live Together Die Alone. Which, coincidentally, also happened to be his flashback episode.
In present time, we learned that since running into the jungle, Desmond had returned to his boat and attempted to get off the Island, heading towards Fiji. But instead, he returned to the Island, leading him to conclude that there was no outside world:
He subsequently attempted to drink himself into a coma. Failing that, he joined up with Locke to force Mister Eko out of Swan Station, thus sheltering the button from being pushed the next time it was due.
…again, that wasn't really relevant.
Desmond eventually realizes that the crash of Flight 815 coincided with his one failure to push the button, and he concludes that he had caused the crash. However, the conclusion comes too late. Locke destroys the computer to prevent the button being pushed. Desmond goes even further underground to trigger the failsafe, sending a massive EMP causing all the inhabitants of the Island reeling to shield their ears and search for cover. The season ends with Desmond's life hanging in doubt.
As for what we learn in the flashbacks, that's all tied up in the relationship, and we'll get to that later. For now, after that incredibly long introduction to Desmond, let's move on to
Penelope Widmore: The Faithful
Widmore is a name not without its connotations in Lost mythology. Sun Kwon takes a pregnancy test that is produced by Widmore Labs. Henry Gale's hot air balloon sports a large Widmore logo. In a flashback scene, Charlie Pace was at work near a Widmore Construction banner. It even shows up in the tie-in novel Bad Twin, supposedly written by someone who died on flight 815: In the story, Cliff Widmore, supposed heir to the Widmore Corporation, pays the main character to find his brother Zander.
Conclusions to be drawn: Whoever the Widmores are, they're rich, they're powerful, and they are most definitely involved in the Dharma Institute and the project that stranded so many people on an unknown Island.
Live Together Die Alone introduces viewers to two members of the Widmore family: Charles Widmore (who will be touched on later) and his daughter Penelope (also called Penny or Pen, who will be touched on here.)
Unfortunately, we aren't given much information on Penny. She's beautiful. She's rich. She's emotional. And, as of approximately three years ago (Lost dating, which places 'three years ago' at 2001), she was engaged to an unknown man, although the wedding appears to have never happened.
It's crushingly little, but that's what fanon's for, right?
That granted, the next stop on our journey is
The Couple: Classical Literature
Let's start with the backstory.
Desmond Hume met Penelope Widmore at some unspecified point in their youth and they fell in love. Her father, Charles Widmore, disapproved, as Desmond was unsuitable on "several levels", but they refused to let that stop them. Desmond wound up in military prison for disobeying orders and spent a good (but unspecified) chunk of time there. He wrote to Penny often while in prison, but her father stopped the letters from reaching her. Under the impression that Desmond had abandoned her, Penny became engaged to another man.
When Desmond is dishonorably discharged from the army and released from prison, Widmore is there to talk to him. He reveals that he has kept the letters from Penny and offered Des a large sum of money to never speak to Penny again.
Instead of simply taking the money and walking away from his relationship with Penny, Desmond finds an opportunity. Widmore is sponsoring a boat race around the world, and Des seizes upon this as his chance to prove himself; if he were to win the race, he would regain his honor and show himself as worthy to the older man, thus winning the right to be with Penny. But there was one small problem standing in his path:
Libby, won over by his story of love and determination, offered him the use of her late husband's boat, the Elizabeth (named after her). And when Desmond protested that he simply couldn't take her husband's boat, she insisted.
I'm serious. He actually says that. I wouldn't make that up.
Desmond continues training for the race, and in a stadium in LA, he sees Penny, who has sought him out. And this is the only scene they actually have together to date, so I have to deconstruct it completely.
This is an important line. It echoes throughout the episode, right up to the very last scene. Keep it in mind.
She's been deluding herself a little bit. People do that: dealing with the idea that the guy I love is in prison is maybe a little too much, and so she redefines it for herself as away. Des, on the other hand, is not quite in the frame of mind to let her keep her self-delusions.
Ow. This bit here still feels like a sock in the stomach every time I watch it. She feels abandoned and wants to know why—and instead of telling her that he did write her and her bastard father stopped the letters, he says the most hurtful thing he can think of, the one statement that might remind them both that they don't have the right to love each other, not anymore.
But even that won't stop them.
If the previous bit feels like a sock in the stomach, this bit makes me tear up and want to cheer. Because we all know we haven't set a date yet is code, right? It's code for I don't really want the wedding to happen and so I've postponed thinking about it. She still loves him, and this is her way of telling him that…
…and this is his way of telling her that he still loves her, too.
He can't let himself stop and be with her, even as much as they love each other. He has to earn the right to look himself in the eye again before he can let himself love her.
It hurts in the Best Possible Way.
And this is also the scene with Penny's textbook Single Emo Tear of Tragic Love, and really, how much more proof do you need?
…Moving on.
Sadly, Des is not back in a year. During the race, he and the Elizabeth run into a storm, and while trying to fight their way through it, Desmond is knocked unconscious. He washes up on the shore of an Island and is rescued by an older man, Kelvin Inman. Kelvin drags him into Swan Station, indoctrinates him in the ways of the Dharma Initiative, none-too-kindly informs him that he's stranded, and then proceeds to play with his head for three years.
Kelvin, in short, is not a stable individual, but he's all that Desmond has for the time being.
When Des discovers that Kelvin has been keeping the existence of Elizabeth from him and secretly repairing her, he goes a bit crazy and a fight ensues that results in Kelvin's death. Desmond runs back to Swan Station to find the system in meltdown; eventually, he manages to stop it (but not before inadvertently causing Flight 815 to crash); and is left in the Station to press the button all alone.
How long could you put up with that?
Desmond reaches his breaking point and prepares to kill himself. He gets out a gun, loads it carefully. Gets himself good and drunk. And cracks open Our Mutual Friend, the book that he's sworn will be the last thing he reads before he dies, the book he's so carefully guarded for years and years, never opening it, never giving in to temptation.
He opens the book, and out slips a letter.
(Bracketed text is included in the text but not in Penny's voiceover.)
And Desmond snaps. Here in his hands is proof of what he could have had. Proof that Penelope loved him and would have been there if he'd returned from the race. I will wait for you. Always. If he could get off this Island, maybe he could have her back—but instead he's stranded, and that simple fact is enough to make him snap. He completely loses it: tearing the station apart, ripping books off the shelves and shoving the Ping Pong table over before finally falling to the floor and breaking into sobs.
The sound of Locke pounding on the hatch high above is enough to give him hope again, hope that the world outside still exists. Without Locke's unwitting intervention, Desmond and I are in firm agreement as to what might have happened:
He would undoubtedly have died that night, despairing and broken, if he hadn't been given a reason to believe there was still a chance.
A few days later, Locke, Jack, Kate, and Hurley break into the hatch and events are set into motion; Desmond flees into the jungle and boards the Elizabeth to head for Fiji; Desmond returns to the Island in despair, and eventually winds up under Swan Station, triggering the failsafe, his fate hanging in the balance.
Signs point to Desmond believing that he's going to die. And as he risks his life to save the Islanders, his last words are simple and heartwrenching.
And I burst into tears and hope fervently that come September the writers will immediately reassure viewers that he's still alive.
Anyway.
Is that the end of Desmond and Penny's story to date? Not at all!
This scene is partly memorable for breaking Lost tradition by showing present-day off-Island. More importantly, it's memorable for its impact on the meaning of the 'ship:
At least three years have passed since that last meeting in Los Angeles. Penny is not just financing some kind of experiment that can detect whatever it is they detected (the electromagnetic anomaly and the sudden reemergence of the Island into reality are the two most popular fandom theories); the scientists involved have her home phone number and have no qualms about calling her up in the middle of the night to tell her there's a possibility of results. Fanon, of course, takes this as meaning that she is trying to find Desmond. The scientist calls her Ms. Widmore and no wedding or engagement ring is seen; she hasn't gotten married, and has presumably broken off the unspecified engagement. She still keeps the photograph of herself and Des on her bedside table.
Remember that line?
The conclusions to be drawn are unmistakable: She still loves him, and she hasn't given up on finding him.
The Couple: Odysseus and Penelope
I've referred to Desmond and Penny several times as being a "classical romance", and I'm sure that hasn't escaped your attention. What does that mean?
Most of the Lost couples – indeed, most couples in contemporary entertainment – are based on a postmodern view of relationships. They're dysfunctional, troubled, oftentimes angry, and new difficulties are always coming up from within. Regardless of how much the two involved love each other, their own flaws and faults keep coming up between them.
Desmond and Penelope, however, are modeled on a far older ideal, and it's no coincidence that the always-literate writers chose to grace Desmond's ladylove with the name they did.
It's the Odyssey played out in two hours on our television screens.
The parallels between Desmond and Odysseus are immediate and obvious; the heroic adventurer, out to do his duty and prove himself, becomes trapped on an island with no foreseeable way out. The image of Kelvin as Circe is a rather disturbing one, so let's leave that alone for now.
Penelope is the one left behind, who has to keep the faith. She's loyal regardless of how long her man is gone, and continually defers suitors through her cleverness. She knows whom she loves; she won't be content with second-best.
The obstacles that come between them are always external: Charybdis and Scylla, Charles Widmore and Kelvin Inman. Desmond never doubts that he loves his Penny and she never doubts that she loves him; the same goes for Odysseus and his Penelope.
On a show where anger, jealousy, insecurity, and fear keep breaking relationships down, Desmond and Penny's star-crossed romance is a breath of fresh air. A breath of tragic, angsty, tearful fresh air, but a breath of fresh air nonetheless. It's a relationship you can root for without worrying about who is going to say the next stupid thing. It is true, damaged-but-intact love. And I sincerely believe that Penny will not stop looking until she finds him: in my head, at the very least, the series will most likely end with Desmond and Penny being reunited at last.
How can you not adore them?
The Fandom: All We Really Need To Survive
It's still a new 'ship, just getting on its feet, and so Desmond/Penny material is still quite scarce. More's the pity; but it does make finding links a much easier experience.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
des_pen is the Desmond/Penny LiveJournal community. And yes, before you ask, it is run by me.
desmond_fans and desmondlove are both Desmond communities with good-sized Desmond/Penny fan populations.
ficinabottle and lost_fanfic are the places to go on LiveJournal for Lost fanfic of all kinds, and if you feel like testing your luck, Fanfiction.Net's Lost section can yield hidden gems; the addition of Desmond to the character list increases your chances exponentially.
The Fuselage's DesPenny Ship is a great place for talking to fellow shippers.
I relied on three major resources in the writing of this essay: LostHatch.Com for its excellent transcripts; LostPedia for its extensive categorizing of miscellaneous facts; and Lost Media for its wonderful screencaps.
And finally, Entertainment Weekly's Post-Finale Theory, also known as the "All You Need Is Love (and Desmond) Theory of Lost". It's a very clever bit of meta theorizing about how the entire mythology of the show might be wrapped around Desmond and Penelope and their relationship. A fascinating read, and I very much recommend it.
I'd love to finish this essay with some wise, insightful conclusion that will make all the skeptics in the audience realize why this is such a beautiful love story, and why all Lost fans should support it. I can't. I've presented my evidence; I've shown you why I love Desmond and Penny. What you take away from it is entirely up to you. But I go into the future full of hope that the Lost writers will not disappoint in continuing to develop this romance, and that one day our Odysseus will find his way home to his faithful Penelope.
AUTHOR: Kristen
chicafrom3FANDOM: Lost
PAIRING: Desmond Hume/Penelope Widmore
DISCLAIMERS: Lost does not belong to me. This is simply my take on one aspect of the universe the writers have shown us. No infringement intended; sincerest form of admiration, etc.
SPOILERS: If you haven't seen the very last scene of Live Together Die Alone and everything leading up to it, you may want to turn away now. Very spoilery deconstructions ahead. The same is true if you are planning to read The Odyssey and would like to be surprised by it, as I make extensive references.
NOTES: Many, many thanks to the wonderful
a70eezchild, who betaed this and made sense of my often bizarre syntax. Resources listed at the end. Image-heavy; possibly not dial-up friendly.No one can accurately say that Lost is a television show bereft of love stories. Relationships are at the heart of the story, and romantic relationships come part and parcel with that. So throughout two seasons we've gotten a wide range of love stories: the Love Triangle (and later Love Rectangle) of Jack/Kate/Sawyer(/Ana-Lucia); the awkward, emotionally unstable Charlie/Claire; the tragic miscommunication of Jin/Sun; the impulsive and unstable Boone/Shannon/Sayid triangle; the innocent cuteness of Hurley/Libby; the stability of Rose/Bernard; the underutilized and almost-invisible Tracey/Steve. Romance is woven into the storyline as a matter of course.
But it isn't until Live Together Die Alone, the Season Two finale, aired that Lost viewers receive the first truly classical romance in the show. And fittingly enough, it comes with one character that had barely been touched on previously and one character that the audience had not been introduced to or had even heard of yet.
Desmond David Hume: The Adventurer
He was almost a doctor once. He was a Lance Corporal in the Royal Scots Regiment of Her Majesty's Armed Forces for a while. He spent time in a military prison. He entered a boat race around the world. And he crashed his boat on the mysterious Island where the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 later eke out a living.
Desmond is introduced in the Season Two premiere Man of Science, Man of Faith, in three oh-so-short scenes:
Initially, we watch him going about an average day. He wakes up. He types a code (4 8 15 16 23 42) into a computer to stop an alarm. He puts on a record (Make Your Own Kind of Music by Mama Cass). He doe his laundry, exercises, takes a shower, makes breakfast, and injects himself with a mysterious substance. He then launches into battle mode when the lid to the hatch explodes, blown up by the Dream Team of Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, John Locke, and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes. It is a moment of shock for many viewers – the revelation that someone is living in the mysterious hatch that so much of the latter half of the first season had revolved around.
But who is the mystery man?
In a flashback, we see Jack going for a run at a stadium in Los Angeles. When he twists his ankle, a fellow runner steps up to help. This would be our Desmond.
Jack: Just trying to work a few things out.
Desmond: Ah, a girl, right?
Jack: A patient.
Desmond: Ah, but a girl patient. […] What'd you do to her then?
Jack: Do to her?
Desmond: You must have done something worthy of this self flagellation.
Jack: I told her... I made her a promise I couldn't keep... I told her I'd fix her and... I couldn't. I failed.
Desmond: Well, right. Just one thing. What if you did fix her?
Jack: I didn't.
Desmond: But what if you did?
Jack: You don't know what you're talking about, man.
Desmond: I don't? Why not?
Jack: Because with her situation that would be a miracle, brother.
Desmond: Oh... and you don't believe in miracles? Right. Well then, I'm going to give you some advice anyway. You have to lift it up.
He is a man who believes in miracles and faith. He is not afraid to offer friendship and advice to a stranger.
Desmond's final scene in MOSMOF is at the very end of the show, with Desmond holding a gun on Locke and threatening to kill him if Jack doesn't put his gun down. Er…
The next episode, Adrift, offers a different perspective on the same events. By tracking Locke instead of Jack, we're able to see Desmond in-between his morning routine and his confrontation with Jack. This can be reduced to a handful of key points:
-Desmond's immediate question upon finding people in his bunker is "Are you him?" He is waiting for someone.
-He has a specific reaction to hearing that the plane crash was 44 days ago. Apparently, something happened 44 days ago.
-Desmond takes a minute to remember his name. The poor boy has been alone for a while.
-He refers to a sickness—presumably the same sickness that Danielle referred to more than once.
-A code has to be put into the computer every 108 minutes, or something bad happens. What that is hasn't been revealed quite yet.
-Desmond nicknames Locke "Box Man" after Locke reveals that he worked in a box company. No, that's not really relevant, I just think it's cute.
The third episode, Orientation, sees Desmond in despair when the computer is shot. He insists that "we're all gonna die", and is far less concerned with the fact that Jack wants to shoot him, even as he almost recognizes the other man. And at last he is persuaded (or forced, if you want to get technical) to tell his story:
Desmond: It was 3 years ago. I was on a solo race around the world and my boat crashed into the reef and then Kelvin came.
Locke: Kelvin?
Desmond: Kelvin. He comes running out of the jungle. Hurry. Hurry. Come with me. He brings me down here. The first thing he does, because there's beeping already, he types in the code, he pushes the button, and it stops. What was all that about, I say. Just saving the world, he says.
Jack: Saving the world?
Desmond: His words, not mine. So I started pushing the button, too. And we saved the world together for awhile and that was lovely. Then Kelvin died and now here I am all alone. The end.
He clues Jack and Locke in on an orientation film that answers a handful of questions about the existence of the bunker. But when he fails to fix the computer, he grabs an eclectic assortment of possessions (food, injection supplies, a stuffed bunny, a Bible, a copy of The Third Policeman, more than a little bit of booze) and runs away. Jack manages to stop him briefly, which only results in Jack's confession about his relationship with Sara before Desmond grabs his things and vanishes into the jungle.
Desmond was not seen again until he showed up drunk on his boat Elizabeth in the season finale, Live Together Die Alone. Which, coincidentally, also happened to be his flashback episode.
In present time, we learned that since running into the jungle, Desmond had returned to his boat and attempted to get off the Island, heading towards Fiji. But instead, he returned to the Island, leading him to conclude that there was no outside world:
Desmond: And you know why? Because this is it. This is all there is left. This ocean and this place here. We are stuck in a bloody snow globe. There's no outside world. There's no escape. So, just... just go away, huh. Let me drink.
He subsequently attempted to drink himself into a coma. Failing that, he joined up with Locke to force Mister Eko out of Swan Station, thus sheltering the button from being pushed the next time it was due.
Desmond: Why does Mr. Eko carry around a stick covered in scripture?
Locke: Because he's a priest.
Mr. Eko: Open the door, please. John! Can you here me? Open up.
Desmond: We locked out a priest?
…again, that wasn't really relevant.
Desmond eventually realizes that the crash of Flight 815 coincided with his one failure to push the button, and he concludes that he had caused the crash. However, the conclusion comes too late. Locke destroys the computer to prevent the button being pushed. Desmond goes even further underground to trigger the failsafe, sending a massive EMP causing all the inhabitants of the Island reeling to shield their ears and search for cover. The season ends with Desmond's life hanging in doubt.
As for what we learn in the flashbacks, that's all tied up in the relationship, and we'll get to that later. For now, after that incredibly long introduction to Desmond, let's move on to
Penelope Widmore: The Faithful
Widmore is a name not without its connotations in Lost mythology. Sun Kwon takes a pregnancy test that is produced by Widmore Labs. Henry Gale's hot air balloon sports a large Widmore logo. In a flashback scene, Charlie Pace was at work near a Widmore Construction banner. It even shows up in the tie-in novel Bad Twin, supposedly written by someone who died on flight 815: In the story, Cliff Widmore, supposed heir to the Widmore Corporation, pays the main character to find his brother Zander.
Conclusions to be drawn: Whoever the Widmores are, they're rich, they're powerful, and they are most definitely involved in the Dharma Institute and the project that stranded so many people on an unknown Island.
Live Together Die Alone introduces viewers to two members of the Widmore family: Charles Widmore (who will be touched on later) and his daughter Penelope (also called Penny or Pen, who will be touched on here.)
Unfortunately, we aren't given much information on Penny. She's beautiful. She's rich. She's emotional. And, as of approximately three years ago (Lost dating, which places 'three years ago' at 2001), she was engaged to an unknown man, although the wedding appears to have never happened.
It's crushingly little, but that's what fanon's for, right?
That granted, the next stop on our journey is
The Couple: Classical Literature
Let's start with the backstory.
Desmond Hume met Penelope Widmore at some unspecified point in their youth and they fell in love. Her father, Charles Widmore, disapproved, as Desmond was unsuitable on "several levels", but they refused to let that stop them. Desmond wound up in military prison for disobeying orders and spent a good (but unspecified) chunk of time there. He wrote to Penny often while in prison, but her father stopped the letters from reaching her. Under the impression that Desmond had abandoned her, Penny became engaged to another man.
When Desmond is dishonorably discharged from the army and released from prison, Widmore is there to talk to him. He reveals that he has kept the letters from Penny and offered Des a large sum of money to never speak to Penny again.
Desmond: And what makes you think I would just run away?
Charles Widmore: Because you're a coward.
Instead of simply taking the money and walking away from his relationship with Penny, Desmond finds an opportunity. Widmore is sponsoring a boat race around the world, and Des seizes upon this as his chance to prove himself; if he were to win the race, he would regain his honor and show himself as worthy to the older man, thus winning the right to be with Penny. But there was one small problem standing in his path:
Libby: And what's the 42 grand for?
Desmond: It's a wee bit complicated. As of yet, I don't actually have a boat. Sorry, did I say something wrong?
Libby, won over by his story of love and determination, offered him the use of her late husband's boat, the Elizabeth (named after her). And when Desmond protested that he simply couldn't take her husband's boat, she insisted.
Desmond: Then I thank you, Elizabeth. And I shall win this race for love.
I'm serious. He actually says that. I wouldn't make that up.
Desmond continues training for the race, and in a stadium in LA, he sees Penny, who has sought him out. And this is the only scene they actually have together to date, so I have to deconstruct it completely.
Penelope: I have a lot of money, Desmond. With enough money and determination you can find anyone.
This is an important line. It echoes throughout the episode, right up to the very last scene. Keep it in mind.
Penelope: Did you read your beloved book... the one you were saving?
Desmond: Not yet.
Penelope: I thought you might have read it while you were away.
Desmond: I was in prison, not away.
She's been deluding herself a little bit. People do that: dealing with the idea that the guy I love is in prison is maybe a little too much, and so she redefines it for herself as away. Des, on the other hand, is not quite in the frame of mind to let her keep her self-delusions.
Penelope: Why didn't you write to me?
Desmond: When are you getting married, Pen?
Ow. This bit here still feels like a sock in the stomach every time I watch it. She feels abandoned and wants to know why—and instead of telling her that he did write her and her bastard father stopped the letters, he says the most hurtful thing he can think of, the one statement that might remind them both that they don't have the right to love each other, not anymore.
But even that won't stop them.
Penelope: We haven't set a date yet.
If the previous bit feels like a sock in the stomach, this bit makes me tear up and want to cheer. Because we all know we haven't set a date yet is code, right? It's code for I don't really want the wedding to happen and so I've postponed thinking about it. She still loves him, and this is her way of telling him that…
Desmond: I'll be back in a year.
…and this is his way of telling her that he still loves her, too.
Penelope: What if you were back, right now?
Desmond: I'm going to win this race, Pen... his race. And in a year, I'll be back.
Penelope: Desmond, what are you running from?
Desmond: I have to get my honor back, and that's what I'm running to.
He can't let himself stop and be with her, even as much as they love each other. He has to earn the right to look himself in the eye again before he can let himself love her.
It hurts in the Best Possible Way.
And this is also the scene with Penny's textbook Single Emo Tear of Tragic Love, and really, how much more proof do you need?
…Moving on.
Sadly, Des is not back in a year. During the race, he and the Elizabeth run into a storm, and while trying to fight their way through it, Desmond is knocked unconscious. He washes up on the shore of an Island and is rescued by an older man, Kelvin Inman. Kelvin drags him into Swan Station, indoctrinates him in the ways of the Dharma Initiative, none-too-kindly informs him that he's stranded, and then proceeds to play with his head for three years.
Kelvin, in short, is not a stable individual, but he's all that Desmond has for the time being.
When Des discovers that Kelvin has been keeping the existence of Elizabeth from him and secretly repairing her, he goes a bit crazy and a fight ensues that results in Kelvin's death. Desmond runs back to Swan Station to find the system in meltdown; eventually, he manages to stop it (but not before inadvertently causing Flight 815 to crash); and is left in the Station to press the button all alone.
How long could you put up with that?
Desmond reaches his breaking point and prepares to kill himself. He gets out a gun, loads it carefully. Gets himself good and drunk. And cracks open Our Mutual Friend, the book that he's sworn will be the last thing he reads before he dies, the book he's so carefully guarded for years and years, never opening it, never giving in to temptation.
He opens the book, and out slips a letter.
Dearest Des, I am writing this letter to you as you leave for prison. And I've hidden it in the one place you would turn to in a moment of great desperation. I know you go away with the weight of what happened on your shoulders. And I know the only person who can ever take it off is you. [Sorry to be so dramatic, but these are dramatic times, are they not?] Please don't give up, Des. Because all we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us. And you have her. I will wait for you. Always. I love you, Pen.
(Bracketed text is included in the text but not in Penny's voiceover.)
And Desmond snaps. Here in his hands is proof of what he could have had. Proof that Penelope loved him and would have been there if he'd returned from the race. I will wait for you. Always. If he could get off this Island, maybe he could have her back—but instead he's stranded, and that simple fact is enough to make him snap. He completely loses it: tearing the station apart, ripping books off the shelves and shoving the Ping Pong table over before finally falling to the floor and breaking into sobs.
The sound of Locke pounding on the hatch high above is enough to give him hope again, hope that the world outside still exists. Without Locke's unwitting intervention, Desmond and I are in firm agreement as to what might have happened:
Desmond: You said there isn't any purpose... there's no such thing as fate. But you saved my life, brother, so that I could save yours.
He would undoubtedly have died that night, despairing and broken, if he hadn't been given a reason to believe there was still a chance.
A few days later, Locke, Jack, Kate, and Hurley break into the hatch and events are set into motion; Desmond flees into the jungle and boards the Elizabeth to head for Fiji; Desmond returns to the Island in despair, and eventually winds up under Swan Station, triggering the failsafe, his fate hanging in the balance.
Signs point to Desmond believing that he's going to die. And as he risks his life to save the Islanders, his last words are simple and heartwrenching.
[He turns the key]
Desmond: I love you, Penny.
And I burst into tears and hope fervently that come September the writers will immediately reassure viewers that he's still alive.
Anyway.
Is that the end of Desmond and Penny's story to date? Not at all!
[An alarm starts beeping and Arctic Scientist 1 goes to a computer screen]
Arctic Scientist 2: [Subtitled] So it's not a false alarm this time?!
Arctic Scientist 1: [Subtitled] JUST SHUT UP AND CALL!!
[We see a bedroom nightstand and hear the phone on it ringing]
Penelope: Hello.
Arctic Scientist 2: Ms. Widmore?
Penelope: Yes.
Arctic Scientist 2: It's us. I think we found it.
This scene is partly memorable for breaking Lost tradition by showing present-day off-Island. More importantly, it's memorable for its impact on the meaning of the 'ship:
At least three years have passed since that last meeting in Los Angeles. Penny is not just financing some kind of experiment that can detect whatever it is they detected (the electromagnetic anomaly and the sudden reemergence of the Island into reality are the two most popular fandom theories); the scientists involved have her home phone number and have no qualms about calling her up in the middle of the night to tell her there's a possibility of results. Fanon, of course, takes this as meaning that she is trying to find Desmond. The scientist calls her Ms. Widmore and no wedding or engagement ring is seen; she hasn't gotten married, and has presumably broken off the unspecified engagement. She still keeps the photograph of herself and Des on her bedside table.
Penelope: With enough money and determination you can find anyone.
Remember that line?
The conclusions to be drawn are unmistakable: She still loves him, and she hasn't given up on finding him.
The Couple: Odysseus and Penelope
I've referred to Desmond and Penny several times as being a "classical romance", and I'm sure that hasn't escaped your attention. What does that mean?
Most of the Lost couples – indeed, most couples in contemporary entertainment – are based on a postmodern view of relationships. They're dysfunctional, troubled, oftentimes angry, and new difficulties are always coming up from within. Regardless of how much the two involved love each other, their own flaws and faults keep coming up between them.
Desmond and Penelope, however, are modeled on a far older ideal, and it's no coincidence that the always-literate writers chose to grace Desmond's ladylove with the name they did.
It's the Odyssey played out in two hours on our television screens.
The parallels between Desmond and Odysseus are immediate and obvious; the heroic adventurer, out to do his duty and prove himself, becomes trapped on an island with no foreseeable way out. The image of Kelvin as Circe is a rather disturbing one, so let's leave that alone for now.
Penelope is the one left behind, who has to keep the faith. She's loyal regardless of how long her man is gone, and continually defers suitors through her cleverness. She knows whom she loves; she won't be content with second-best.
The obstacles that come between them are always external: Charybdis and Scylla, Charles Widmore and Kelvin Inman. Desmond never doubts that he loves his Penny and she never doubts that she loves him; the same goes for Odysseus and his Penelope.
On a show where anger, jealousy, insecurity, and fear keep breaking relationships down, Desmond and Penny's star-crossed romance is a breath of fresh air. A breath of tragic, angsty, tearful fresh air, but a breath of fresh air nonetheless. It's a relationship you can root for without worrying about who is going to say the next stupid thing. It is true, damaged-but-intact love. And I sincerely believe that Penny will not stop looking until she finds him: in my head, at the very least, the series will most likely end with Desmond and Penny being reunited at last.
How can you not adore them?
The Fandom: All We Really Need To Survive
It's still a new 'ship, just getting on its feet, and so Desmond/Penny material is still quite scarce. More's the pity; but it does make finding links a much easier experience.
des_pen is the Desmond/Penny LiveJournal community. And yes, before you ask, it is run by me.desmond_fans and desmondlove are both Desmond communities with good-sized Desmond/Penny fan populations.ficinabottle and lost_fanfic are the places to go on LiveJournal for Lost fanfic of all kinds, and if you feel like testing your luck, Fanfiction.Net's Lost section can yield hidden gems; the addition of Desmond to the character list increases your chances exponentially.The Fuselage's DesPenny Ship is a great place for talking to fellow shippers.
I relied on three major resources in the writing of this essay: LostHatch.Com for its excellent transcripts; LostPedia for its extensive categorizing of miscellaneous facts; and Lost Media for its wonderful screencaps.
And finally, Entertainment Weekly's Post-Finale Theory, also known as the "All You Need Is Love (and Desmond) Theory of Lost". It's a very clever bit of meta theorizing about how the entire mythology of the show might be wrapped around Desmond and Penelope and their relationship. A fascinating read, and I very much recommend it.
I'd love to finish this essay with some wise, insightful conclusion that will make all the skeptics in the audience realize why this is such a beautiful love story, and why all Lost fans should support it. I can't. I've presented my evidence; I've shown you why I love Desmond and Penny. What you take away from it is entirely up to you. But I go into the future full of hope that the Lost writers will not disappoint in continuing to develop this romance, and that one day our Odysseus will find his way home to his faithful Penelope.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-12 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-12 04:01 am (UTC)and the gratuitous shower scene, and then Penny showed up and I fell in love with the 'ship. :D Thanks!Loved it!
Date: 2006-08-12 03:32 am (UTC)Jane
Re: Loved it!
Date: 2006-08-12 04:02 am (UTC)*shifty* You know, someone still needs to write a Desmond essay for
no subject
Date: 2006-08-12 05:00 am (UTC)LOL! For this and many other reasons, you completely win at life and the internets. Lovely work on a lovely, tragic story/ (Although I kind of prefer the good ship Des/me, but, y'know...)
I haven't read any direct spoilers, but all signs are pointing to 'alive' as far as Des goes, which makes me one happy fangirl. Him plus that Brazilian hottie that's joining - I don't think I can take all the accent-y pretty.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-12 05:44 am (UTC)Yay! XD
I have my fingers crossed. Signs look good, but, y'know, I know better than to get my hopes up too high.
But they wouldn't be stupid enough to drop this, would they?
no subject
Date: 2006-08-17 04:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-17 05:40 pm (UTC)Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2008-10-06 02:57 am (UTC)Well done presentation!