Happy Days for Faraday and Co.

The scarf is my constant

Remember how last week I worried Lost might be going the Heroes route by covering too many storylines? Well, last night proved that questioning the Lost writers is just asking to be proven wrong. Coming out of last week's mind-boggling premiere, last night was a more focused affair, settling in on two characters: fan favorite Desmond Hume and increasingly important Daniel Faraday. Even with less characters, there were a ton of revelations and, of course, new questions. Let's get started.

The episode begins with a flashback (those still exist?) showing that Desmond and Penny have a son! We find out later the kid's name is Charlie, after the self-sacrificing hobbit. Awww. Back in the present, Desmond promises once he's found Faraday's mom he's done with all the island stuff. Yeah right. The more he protests, the more we know he'll be right in the center of things this season.

While we have yet to meet the mother (since she's in LA with Ben), we do find out a lot about the son. Desmond sees Theresa Spencer, Faraday's ex who he left permanently unstuck in time. Desmond also learns all roads lead to Charles Widmore, who very Dickensianly served as Faraday's benefactor. This info leads Desmond to confront his scary father-in-law. Widmore gives Desmond Mama Faraday's location, asking only that Desmond keep Penny out of it. Perhaps Widmore takes Ben's threat to Penny's life more seriously than his distaste for Desmond. But do we really think he's not still plotting against him? Not a chance. With the location set, the Hume family is off to LA, heading right into Ben's clutches.

Back on the island, it's the 1950s! The Others are still there, as is Richard, looking the same as always. As Juliet says, "Richard's always here." Any chance she'll tell us what that means? It seems the flashes will be giving us a nice lesson on island history, as this week we learn that before Dharma, the Others' main beef was with the US military testing H-bombs. For more attentive fans than me: Jughead was the thing Faraday and Charlotte tried to defuse last season, right? Does that have any deeper meaning?

With time travel so central this season, it looks like Faraday may be taking center stage the way Ben and Desmond have in the past. He certainly got a lot to do this week. Between pretending to be US military and indirectly professing his love to Charlotte, Faraday was taking charge. As for the Charlotte thing, it would be cute...if he wasn't lying to her about her time travel sickness. I would be worried about her bloody collapse at the end of the episode, but she still has to say, "This place is death," so I thinks she's good for now.

As for those 50s-era Others, there's Ellie, who's too hot not to be important somehow. TVGuide thinks she might be a young Rousseau, but that doesn't make any sense (since Rousseau hated the Others). Maybe she's Charlotte's mom? The bigger reveal is that the little weasel who led Locke to the camp is none other than Charles Widmore, the Big Bad himself. Seems he was up to no good even in his youth, trying to cut off Juliet's hand and snapping his fellow Other's neck for giving directions. And of course, a freighter full of new questions: Why did Widmore leave the island? Was he still there twenty years later to meet young Ben? Why does he want to come back?

With so much going on, I didn't even miss Ben and the Oceanic Six. Though it is funny to realize that this week's episode only had two original cast members - Sawyer and Locke. So did you all like the Faraday-focus, or do you pine for Sayid to kick some more ass? Are you jonesing to learn some more island history, or is all this time travel leaving you with a bloody nose? And is it foolish of me to hope Desmond and Penny can keep their happily ever after for two more seasons? Comment away.