Penny *knows* to look for Desmond?!
+6 8 Votes
Rate it:
By karmavore
- Penny *knows* to look for Desmond?!
- Created: Sep 5, 2007
- Last updated: Aug 14, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
- Flag this theory:
Clearly, Penny knows quite a bit about what is going on. My big question is: How?
— karmavore
Like most Lost theorists, I’ve got a question that the show hasn’t answered yet. (If I’ve missed something, please let me know!) I’m going to ask it, and then take a crack at answering it.
Say you’re Penny. Your true love has just disembarked on a sailing race around the world, and somewhere in that trip, he disappears and isn’t heard from for three years. Wouldn’t you assume he was dead? For argument’s sake, now let’s say you’ve got a really good feeling that he’s alive, and you decide to look for him. How would you know to set up an electromagnetic detector in Antarctica? Clearly, Penny knows quite a bit about what is going on. My big question is: How?
I’ve got three possible answers. I suspect that more than one may be correct. I’d really like to hear what other answers you might be able to come up with.
Answer One: Desmond’s friend Donovan told her. In Flashes Before Your Eyes, Desmond tells a physics professor about his visions of himself on an island in the future, pressing an all-important button. Donovan could have perhaps passed this information on to Penny.
Answer Two: Charlie told her. Humor me here: what if Charlie’s communique out of the Looking Glass was broadcast to a time before Penny started looking for Desmond? I find Charlie’s conversation with the younger Widmore rather odd. She didn’t ask about Desmond until Charlie screamed to him — she doesn’t ask about him until Charlie mentions him! Then, she allows Charlie to control the conversation; she doesn’t follow up with any questions more than “is he alright?” Her reaction was not one like I would expect of someone who has just found their lost love of over three years. She also doesn’t seem impressed that Charlie survived the crash of Oceanic 815, even though it’s common knowledge that everyone abord died in the Pacific! Could it be in this moment that Penny learns that Desmond survives his shipwreck, even before she discovers he has gone missing? Could the crash of Oceanic 815 be the evidence she will need (has will needed?) to start looking for Desmond?
Answer Three: Her father told her (or she got the information discreetly from his files.) If her father is a major “bad guy”, as many of us suspect, then he has information about the island and Desmond’s presense on it. Penny could have gotten that information somehow.
So, there you have it. Why is Penny looking for Desmond, and how is she looking in the right place? For more fun, I’m going to post a new theory in a few minutes that contradicts this one a bit, especially in Answer Three.
I love this show.
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie | Charlie Pace | 1.7, 1.2, 2.10, 1.24, 3.21 | 403 |
| Desmond | Desmond David Hume | 2.23, 3.17, 4.5 | 859 |
| Penny | Penny Widmore | 3.8 | 253 |
Key episodes
| # | Title | Aired | Central character | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.22 | Through The Looking Glass | 5-23-2007 | Jack | 1252 |
| 3.8 | Flashes Before Your Eyes | 2-14-2007 | Penny | 233 |
Key locations
| Theme | Relevant Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|
| The Flame Station | 2.23, 3.5, 3.16, 3.11, 2.17 | 220 |
Hey karmavore!
If charlie was talking to Penny in the past then you could argue that Naomi was sent by her!! She just hasn’t met her yet! LOL! I love this show too, brother.
That occured to me, yeah, but I couldn’t bear it if Penny turns out to be one of the “bad ones”, which she would have to be if she sent Naomi.
Oh, dear, could Penny be La Shade! If I have to root against Deselope I’ll just burst. :(
Well…maybe Ben is wrong or lying and Naomi isn’t one of the bad guys… (both comments play devils advocate, by the way.. ; )
Well, if Naomi isn’t bad, and Locke knifes her, then Locke must be bad. And Walt, too, for helping him. Damn Walt, always causing trouble. :P
Seriously, though, do we have any more clues as to how Penny knows how and where to look for old Des? In the Season 2 finale, I was prepared to just accept that Penny, with all her money and determination, knew to look for Desmond. I was plenty excited to see we weren’t in a flashback and yet we were off the island. Now though, I want answers! One whole season, and only the slightest little clue in the last fifteen minutes!
Me wantee!
Karma this is an excellent post mate. I like it a lot. I must admit I didn’t think too much about the conversation between Penny and Charlie in the Looking Glass. I assumed she was searching for Des and when she got Charlie on the line obviously didn’t know who he was. I didn’t think much more of it but you are right to say she seemed very calm for a lady who has supposedly been tracking down her lost love for years.
BUT I don’t think she is a bad guy. No way. Daddy Widmore is as bad as they come but I see Penny as a true character so to speak. And if she isn’t I think we have to assume Des isn’t too. Don’t ask me why I make that leap, its just instinctive. Women’s intuition and all that.
The Naomi thing I think can be explained by Daddy Widmore getting hold (somehow) of a copy of the picture of Des and Penny and hiring Naomi and the Freighties to find and kill Des and take over the island.
I wish I knew!!
Excellent question and possibilities, karma. I like option two because as you describe it, there are so many odd things about that exchange. But I guess all three or any two could be correct—they don’t negate each other. (I really am a “E: all of the above” type person, lol.)
i like two.
karmavore: What a great post!!! +1 Not sure about #1 and don’t want to believe #3, so that leaves my choice as # 2. It was a strange exchange between Penny and Charlie. He was so excited and she sort of looked, well surpised is an understatement, I suppose.
But, I may just be wanting Penny to be one of the good guys, so I may be biased.
Loved your theory, great work!!!
I think you’ve got most of the possibilities covered… no clue, though, which is most likely…
Well… I have been thinking about that particular conversation before and had formed my own opinion without thinking that it could be important :)
What happened exactly (lostpedia)
“Inside the Looking Glass, Desmond fetches scuba gear while Charlie disables the jamming equipment by playing “Good Vibrations” on the control pad. Charlie remarks “So much for fate” and turns to leave, but his attention is grabbed by an ‘incoming transmission’. On a video screen, he speaks to a woman who turns out to be Penelope (she asks how Charlie got this frequency implying that she is responding to a call rather than initiating the call). Charlie calls Desmond, which excites Penny. Charlie mentions Penny’s boat and Naomi; but Penny says she is not on a boat and asks who is Naomi?”
What can we conclude from that?
1) Charlie didn’t call Penny, he just disabled the jamming equipment. Directly after that he got an incoming call from Penelope asking him how he got that frequency. I think Penelope got this frequency thanks to the work of the Portuguese team. But since it was jammed again after that, she didn’t get any result searching there. Once Charlie disabled the jamming equipment she got contact and saw a guy she doesn’t know. She looked surprised, which seems logical.
2) She got excited hearing about Desmond, this shows us that she is indeed looking for him.
3) She asks who is Naomi. That means Naomi is NOT sent by Penny, but by Dharma, or Penny’s father …
That was my idea.. feel free to comment :)
I like your idea that she got the frequency from the Portuguese team. I like it a lot.
I was rewatching that conversation (my TiVo is chock full of Lost until the DVD comes out) last night. And, while she seems surprised, she doesn’t seem ecstatic — she’s more like relieved. If you were a director and told an actress that she just found her lost love, how would you expect her to react? My thought was, “not like this.”
And after Desmond is mentioned, she entertains questions about Naomi and the boat. Seems odd. But she now knows that Desmond is with the 815ers. This would be a clue to look in the south Pacific.
And the Penny being bad stuff was just last-night frivolity on my part. I can’t possibly believe it’s true.
Excellent thoughts, Karma! I have always suspected that Penny knows a lot more than what we have been led to believe. I think, she is in on things, somehow, but am not sure, how! Her timing when she met Desmond, as he just happened to be leaving the monastery, is just a bit too convenient for my comfort. Anyway, well done! +1
I’m with Kat on this one. It makes sense to me that old Man Widemore is bad. Penny loves Des and possibly overheard one of her father’s conversations and decided to go peek into the old man’s desk.
Maybe she finds out about the scam to wreck Des on the island and puts in motion her own secret Rescue Des mission.
Flashback on Penny - NOW!
hey check out my theory closely related to number 3 mate! glad someone on similar lines as me! rock on bro
@dab: I totally agree that Des’ meet-up with Penny, just after getting his monk-a$$ canned, was a little too convenient. I, however, lay the blame for this at the feet of his boss, who has a picture of himself with Ms. Hawking on his desk.
“Now what do I do?” asks Desmond. “Whatever comes next,” he replies.
It almost seems like he knows what is coming next, in the same way Ms. Hawking knew that the red-shod gentleman was doomed.
Actually he “embarked” on a trip around the world.
I wonder if we haven’t been allowed to wander down the garden path without warrant.
All we know is that there is an Antarctic Station. We know that it is manned by people looking for the EM anomaly. We know that once detected they contact Penny. We have all leapt to the conclusion that Penny was funding this project in her search for Desmond. That fact, however, has never been established. As the poster says, after three years lost at sea, the only logical conclusion is that Desmond is dead.
What is more likely is that Penny is searching for something that has nothing to do with Desmond, and finding him is just a coincidence. After all, she is rich, and has the resources to indulge all kinds of research and hobbies.
Has anyone looked into where exactly Penny is when the transmission is coming in? Also what might be behind her?