Desmond and Penny: A Romance that Works

By: Alex

Art by Alex

LOST-- in a show of time travel, smoke monsters and a supernatural island, something needs to ground us. My recent obsession with LOST has taught me that, even with a show so atypical of something I would be into, there are always characters that I’m going to fall in love with to anchor me in my passion for a television series.

Now, let me make myself clear. This is not an ode to LOST—it’s more than that. This is my reasoning as to why you should watch, and it’s my attempt to get you to fall in love with some of the characters that became my reason for watching this entire series in an astounding 46 days (yes, that’s a shorter period of time than the characters spent stranded on the island). I consider this one of my greatest accomplishments.

LOST tackles the lives of so many characters, (their past, present and future), but I’m going to focus on a couple that immortalizes this series: Desmond and Penny. Desmond is a wild Scottish man who’s in love with a woman named Penny, and all we want is for them to be together. The two had a great relationship back home, but complications from Penny’s villainous father, Charles Widmore, who threatened Desmond’s manhood and confidence, caused my perfect couple to lose each other. As a result, Desmond spends most of the series traveling (both in distance and in time) in search of Penny in a chivalrous quest to prove his love and loyalty.

In Desmond’s journey to get back home, he experiences flashes of memory that reveal his strange ability to travel through time. (I know, stay with me, here). As Desmond flashes through time, things start to become unstable. He needs something to ground him—someone who will always be there so he doesn’t just cease to exist and get lost in the continuum of time. What Desmond needs is a constant, and that’s Penny. And knowing that Penny is loyal to him is what keeps him stable in a world that is the complete opposite.

In the finest moment of their relationship (and also what might be known as the finest moment of LOST) Desmond, while on a boat in the middle of nowhere, miraculously contacts Penny, back at home, and he promises he will find his way back to her. (my feelings!)

This scene solidifies Desmond and Penny’s relationship, establishing them as two resilient characters, representing something so real. The strong relationship of Desmond and Penny gave me stability in a show that’s always changing scenes, time, and point of view. I need that grounding force to show me that, though this show is far fetched, there are some real themes in it. Desmond and Penny are my constant. Their relationship is timeless, with themes that are universal.

That being said, Desmond and Penny is a romance done right. First of all, Desmond and Penny’s storyline is a one small piece of a giant conglomeration of stories from many different characters, making the bulk of LOST's plot about much more than a love story. I do love my romances, but when the storyline is overdone, it loses its meaning. If the romance is ‘romanticized,’ I think we lose a lot of authenticity.  

One of my English teachers once said, “ a story should have sentiment, but should not be sentimental”--- that is my critique on Desmond and Penny. They are a pairing that truly has sentiment, without being cheesy or effusive. Desmond’s promise to come back to Penny one day, and Penny’s loyalty to him, waiting for his return--- there’s feeling there; it’s not forced or overdone. The show is not about only Desmond and Penny’s relationship; we understand their love from one episode (out of over 100), and that serves the purpose to get us to love characters for an entire series.

I have a lot of favorite characters on LOST, but Desmond and Penny remind me that, above all, this is a show about relationships, stories of the people who matter most to us. And it’s not just the romantic relationships; it’s everyone we’ve known, those who have touched us and made us who we are. Desmond and Penny get us to the core of the show, containing a message about how ‘letting someone in’ can be the best decision we ever make.  

See Desmond and Penny in action: The Constant phone call...