“The name is Faraday. Daniel Faraday.”
(Guest post by Greg Forster)
I’m finally caught up on the new season of Lost. Some thoughts:
1) From “Libby says hi” to “Nice to meet you,” Lost is worth the investment for the humor value alone.
2) Once again, I rejoiced in the return of the real Hurley.
3) Jay is right that we shouldn’t try to suss out the “rules” of the show’s universe. Unfortunately, the show itself seems to feel the need to gesture in that direction – hence Juliet explains that “whatever you have with you” travels with you through time. That’s just asking for trouble. What counts as something you have with you? Do you have to be touching it? What about the backpacks? Their clothes touch the backpacks but they don’t – and of course if you say that anything touching your clothes also goes, why does “stuff you have with youness” traverse clothing but not other objects (say, for example, the Island itself)?
They’d have been better off taking an attitude more like this:
4) Why was Ben lighting a candle in the church?
5) Did you notice that Richard wears eyeliner? It’s pretty blatant. Maybe that’s the fashion for men some time in the future and he forgot to take it off when he came back. Or maybe he’s not really ageless at all – he just looks permanently youthful (like Dick Clark used to) because he has great makeup.
6) In the Lostverse, judges will issue court orders requiring people to give blood samples without revealing who’s asking for the sample or why – but if you walk into Oxford University off the street and ask to go through their employment records, they’ll open them right up for you.
7) Once again, for a man with unlimited cash and an army of goons who’s made tons of enemies and tampered with terrifying occult powers, Widmore’s security really bites.
But I don’t get that scene. How come Desmond thought Widmore would give him the address? How come Widmore gave it to him? I thought the whole reason Desmond and Penny were on the run was because her father was hunting them down. Why didn’t Widmore grab him and turn him over to the goons to beat Penny’s location out of him? If they’re not running from Widmore, why are they hiding? “Somebody toss me a frikkin’ bone over here!”
8 ) Forster’s Iron Law of TV Nerds: If a merely “recurring” nerdy comic relief character becomes a regular fixture of the show, he will gradually morph into a badass action hero who wins the affections of smoking hot chicks. This law derives its inexorable operation from the fact that all TV shows are written by people who are themselves nerdy comic relief characters in real life.
Mark my words, by the time Lost is over, Daniel Faraday will have killed some bad guys, and at least one other attractive female will demonstrate affection for him.
Also known as the Wesley Wyndam-Price Axiom.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Feb. 1999; Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, May 2004
HT Buffy Guide and Wikipedia
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
I have quasi-answers to only two of your question:
I believe the actor playing Richard just looks like he wears eyeliner (or actually does). He looked the same in the Dark Knight, and some people made the same comments about eyeliner then.
Penny and Desmond may be hiding from Ben – or at least this is why Widmore wants them to go back into hiding – because Ben told Widmore he was going to kill his daughter as payback.
By all the gods of infinte spacetime! HOW did I not realize that the mayor in The Dark Knight was played by a Lost actor?
My fanboy license is going to be suspended now for probably a month at least. (I can probably get a provisional license that will allow me to keep up the Friday pop culture blogging here on JPGB, though.)
Your other answer just leaves me with more questions. If Desmond and Penny aren’t running from Widmore, why are they so afraid of him? Why did Penny specifically fear that they’d be found by him?
I only have mild evidence for this if pressed but my take on it is this: they ARE running from Windmore because they assume he is chasing them because that’s something he would do — but he’s not. He might have chased them around, but he knows that Ben wants to kill her to as revenge for his daughter’s death and so his knowing where they are then becomes a liability. Desmond and Penny don’t know about this threat from Ben, and so they aren’t hiding from Ben at all — though they sure would be if they knew what the deal was.
But…
1) If Widmore’s knowing where they are is a liability, why did he ask Desmond where they were? (Or did he just ask if Penny was safe? I’m fuzzy on that.)
2) If Desmond and Penny think that they’re running from Widmore, why did Desmond march into Widmore’s office thinking he would help him?
1) I believe he said something like “just tell me my daughter is safe”, and told Desmond to go back into hiding as he left, but never asked where they were hiding.
2) No logical reason, unless he was just incredibly curious and baffle how everyone is tied together (like the fans). Or he thought, if I don’t get this address from Widmore, this plot device ends, and I have nothing to contribute to the show for the next two years.
Upon second viewing, I can report that Widmore does indeed say, “Just tell me, is she safe?”
However, I remain confused as to:
1) Whether or not we’re meant to think Widmore is hunting for them
2) Whether or not Desmond thinks Widmore is hunting them
3) Whether or not Penny thinks Widmore is hunting them
4) Why Desmond was so sure that Widmore would help him even though he wouldn’t answer his questions
5) Why Widmore did help him even though he didn’t answer his questions
6) Why Desmond wouldn’t answer his questions if Widmore’s not in fact hunting for them