Penelope Widmore

From Lostpedia

Penelope Widmore, aka "Penny" or "Pen", is the daughter of Charles Widmore. In "Live Together, Die Alone" we discover that she is in love with Desmond, but her father didn't want this relationship to continue. Due to a brief interaction with Charlie, she knows there are survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Thanks to a brief phone conversation with Desmond, she is able to track his location to the area of the island, and conducts a search there. There, she picks up a lifeboat containing the Oceanic Six, as well as Frank Lapidus and her long-lost love, Desmond.

Before Desmond's disappearance

In 1994, Penelope Widmore met Desmond at a monastery in Scotland, where Desmond had lived as a novice, but had recently been 'fired' from the order. Penny arrived at the monastery to pick up a shipment of Moriah Wine purchased by her father. Upon meeting Desmond, she convinced him to travel with her to Carlisle to deliver the wine. ("Catch-22")

Penny dated Desmond for two years, eventually moving into his flat, because he was apparently too proud to move into her larger one. After she moved in, Desmond met with her father, and was offered a job in the administrative department (which Desmond refused) at the Widmore Corporation, but was denied Mr. Widmore's blessing to marry Penny. Penny was pleased he was "spared the miserable existence under the employ of Widmore Industries", but was unaware of Desmond's request for marital blessing, so Penny decided they should celebrate. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")

Desmond still planned to propose to Penny despite her father's refusal to give his blessings, but suddenly changed his mind after a street vendor took a photograph of the couple Desmond could not afford. He felt unworthy of Penny and unable to properly care for her, telling her that she deserved better. During the split up, Penelope called him a coward. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")

When Desmond was transported back in time to 1996, he called Penny claiming he was in trouble and needed help. She said she was trying to get over him, had moved to a new place, and did not want to speak to him. She then changed her phone number. However, Desmond managed to obtain Penny's new address from her father (who gave it to Desmond because he was convinced Penny would tell Desmond herself that she did not want to see him anymore) and came begging to speak with her. She agreed to see him. Desmond explained that all he wanted was her new phone number, and he would not call her until Christmas Eve eight years in the future. Confused and hurt, she reluctantly gave him the number and forced him out of the apartment. ("The Constant")

Despite the breakup and Desmond's strange behavior, Penelope still loved him and never gave up on him. She placed a love letter in Desmond's copy of Our Mutual Friend before he was sent to military prison for as yet undisclosed reasons. However, he wouldn't find it until much later, after the accidental death of Kelvin, roughly three years after he shipwrecked on the island. While Desmond was in prison, he wrote many letters to Penelope; however, her father had intercepted all of these letters before they reached her. As a result, according to her father, she got over Desmond and became engaged to someone else. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

Her father's version of the situation was called into question when Penny tracked him down in the U.S. She asked him why he never wrote to her, and whether he ever had a chance to read his beloved book. When Desmond asked how she found him, she replied that "with enough money and determination, you can find anyone". Desmond informed her that her father told him about her engagement, which she didn't deny and only replied they hadn't yet set a wedding date. When Desmond implored he'd be back in a year, she responded, "what if you were back right now?", but Desmond ended the conversation by telling her emphatically that he'd be back in a year after he won her father's boat race to get his honor back. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

After Desmond's disappearance

Soon after Desmond crashed on the island, Penny began searching for him. At some point, she managed to learn about the island, but the extent of her knowledge, and where it came from, is unknown. ("The Constant")

Season 2 (Day 67)

Three years after Desmond's disappearance, after the discharge and the detection of an electromagnetic anomaly by the two Portuguese-speaking men at the listening station, Penny was notified by telephone at 3:05 a.m., her local time, that they 'found it.' The callers referred to her as "Miss Widmore", seemingly indicating she was not married. On her nightstand was a copy of a similar photograph of her and Desmond as the one that Desmond carried. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

Season 3 (Day 91)

Not long after, a helicoptercrashed offshore of the Island, and a parachutist landed in the jungle. Desmond's flashes convinced him it was Penny, but it turned out to be Naomi instead. A book Naomi was carrying had a copy of the photo of Desmond and Penny inside. ("Catch-22"), and Naomi claimed that, although she had never met Penny herself, Penny hired Naomi Dorrit's company to investigate the coordinates of the anomaly, which appeared to be in the middle of the ocean. ("The Brig")("Through the Looking Glass")

Season 4 (Days 94-108)

On Christmas Eve 2004, Desmond, on the freighter, phoned Penny at her London flat in front of a Christmas tree. She was ecstatic to hear from him, now having proof she "wasn't crazy". She tried to tell him she knew about the island, and she vowed she would find him, but their connection was garbled and the full message wasn't understood by Desmond. They professed their love for each other just before the rigged phone on Desmond's end ran out of battery power. ("The Constant")

Due to that phone call, Penny was able to trace it to an area in the South Pacific where the Island was before it was moved. Early on the morning of December 31, 2004, her ship, the Searcher, came upon a lifeboat. It contained Jack, Kate, Sayid, Aaron, Hurley, Sun, Frank and Desmond, with whom she was finally reunited. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")

After the rescue

One week later, she helped send the Oceanic Six off to the island on Sumba, where their cover story would begin. Desmond elected to stay with Penny on her boat. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")

Some time before October 2005, Penny's father had hidden her from Ben, who wanted to kill her in retribution for the murder of his own daughter, Alex. Wherever Penny was, Charles believed even Ben would not be able to find her. ("The Shape of Things to Come")

Trivia

• As of the end of Season 4, Penelope's episode count is 6.
• Penelope's appearance has been the key moment in every season finale with the exception of Season 1, which was prior to her introduction.
  • The Listening station notifying her of the discharge in the Season 2("Live Together, Die Alone")
  • The Looking Glass call and "Not Penny's Boat" message in Season 3("Through the Looking Glass")
  • The rescue of the Oceanic 6 aboard the Searcher in Season 4("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")
• In Greek mythology, Penelope was the faithful wife of Odysseus who awaited his return while he was lost at sea. She fended off 108 suitors by weaving a tapestry which she insisted must be completed before she would remarry, but she unraveled her progress every night. The name has come to signify a loyal, capable, and clever woman. The name Penelope means "weaver".
• Penelope Widmore, as played by Sonya Walger, does not appear in the original version of Desmond's photograph as seen in "Man of Science, Man of Faith" and "Orientation". The woman appearing in the original version was claimed by some fans to resemble Arlene Stewart, who attempted to adopt Claire's child, but it was later revealed to be a continuity error that was corrected before a later re-airing of that episode and before the DVD release.
• The area where she is from — Knightsbridge, U.K. - is a wealthy district of Central London where Lucy Heatherton is also from.

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Penelope Widmore/Theories

• Why is Penelope having the crew of the listening station look for magnetic disturbances in relation to her search for Desmond?
• Why did The Looking Glass receive a transmission from her?
• Why was the freighter crew under orders to block her incoming calls?
• How does she know about the Island?
• Why does Charles think Ben won't find her?
• What happened with her engagement?