Penelope Widmore, aka "Penny" or "Pen", is the daughter of Charles Widmore. In "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1" we discover that she was in love with Desmond, but her father didn't want this relationship to continue. Due to a brief interaction with Charlie, she is also one (possibly the only) person to know that there are survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
Before Desmond's disappearance
Real timeline
Penny and Desmond's photo is taken. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
In 1995 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 had arrived to pick up a shipment of Moriah Wine purchased by her father, and convinced Desmond to travel with her to Carlisle to deliver the wine. ("Catch-22")
Penny dated Desmond for two years prior to him meeting her father in 1996. Eventually, Penelope moved into Desmond's flat (he was apparently too proud to move into her larger one). After Desmond failed to get a job at the Widmore Corporation (or permission to marry Penny) she was rather pleased because she disliked the company of her father, and they decided to celebrate. Later, they met in London and had a photograph taken. Desmond had still been planning to marry Penny, but suddenly changed his mind just as he was about to purchase the ring. At the split up, Penelope told him he did that because he was a coward. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
Penny confronts Desmond after tracking him down. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1") (promotional still)
Desmond joined the army but Penelope never forgot him. She placed a love letter in Desmond's copy of Our Mutual Friend before he was sent to military prison. However, he wouldn't find it until much later, after the death of Kelvin, roughly three years after he shipwrecked on the island. While Desmond was in prison, he wrote many letters to Penelope. Her father intercepted all of these letters so that Penelope would not be aware of them. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
After Desmond's release from prison, 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 Our Mutual Friend. When Desmond asked how she found him, she replied that with enough money and determination, you can track anyone. She then learned that Desmond had been told by her father that she had given up hope and had become engaged to another man. She neither confirmed nor denied this, only stating that they hadn't set a wedding date yet. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
Alternate timeline
After turning the failsafe key in the future, Desmond seems to reenter his life on the day of his interview with Widmore. He relives the same day, but decides this time to propose to Penelope instead of walking away. When he goes into the jewelry shop, the seller, Ms. Hawking, who knows he is reliving this day, convinces him not to propose to Penny, because his not proposing is what will lead him to the Island-- which will lead him to pushing the button at the Swan Station for almost three years. According to Ms. Hawking, if he does not push that button, every single person on the planet will die. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
After Desmond's disappearance
Penelope realizes Mathias and Henrik "found it" ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2")
More than three years later, after the discharge and the detection of an electromagnetic anomaly by the two Portuguese-speaking men at the listening station, Penny is notified by telephone at 3:05, her local time, that they 'found it.' She is referred to by the callers as "Miss Widmore" which would seem to indicate that she was not married at the time. On her nightstand is a copy of a similar photograph of her and Desmond as the one that Desmond carries. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
Not long after, a helicopter crashed 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 claims that, although she had never met Penny herself, Penny had hired Naomi Dorrit's company to investigate the coordinates of the anomaly, which appeared to be in the middle of the ocean. ("The Brig")
"Who is Naomi?" ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1")
After Charlie turns off the signal jam at The Looking Glass, a button lights up telling Charlie there is an incoming transmission. He presses the button, and Penny appears on-screen, but when Charlie asks if she is "on the boat," she asks, "What boat?" When Charlie clarifies and mentions Naomi, Penny seems confused and replies, "I am not on a boat; who, who's Naomi?" As she asks how he got this frequency, she hears Charlie shout for Desmond. She smiles as Charlie says he's OK, but before she can speak with him, Charlie is forced to lock the door before the room is flooded. Desmond shouts her name as the door closes, but it is uncertain if Penny heard him. Charlie assumes that Naomi had been lying about Penny hiring her company, so before he drowns, he writes a message on his hand for Desmond, "not Penny's boat." ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1")
On Christmas Eve 2004, Desmond called Penny, who was inside her home in front of a Christmas tree. She was ecstatic to hear from him, and have proof that she "wasn't crazy." She stated she knew about the island, and she vowed that she would find him. They told each other that they loved them, and then the phone on Desmond's end ran out of battery. ("The Constant")
Trivia
- In Homer's Odyssey, Penelope was the faithful wife of Odysseus. She waited for him for twenty years while he was lost at sea and thought by many to be dead, resisting the advances of 108 suitors who tried to marry her. Because of this, she is often used as a symbol of marital fidelity.
- In Greek mythology, Penelope is "the weaver of dreams" (a reference to her using her weaving and un-weaving of a tapestry to ward off suitors). She is also a bringer of visions and a muse of artistic expression.
- 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 in a later reairing of that episode.
- The area where she is from—Knightsbridge, U.K., is a wealthy suburb of London where Lucy Heatherton is also from.
- In another Greek myth, Orpheus travels to the Underworld to rescue his wife who had previously died after a fatal snake bite. Hades, God of the Underworld, agrees as long as Orpheus travels to the normal world (with his wife in tow) without looking back to see her. However, at the last minute he looks back and sees her for the last time falling back into the Underworld. This is similar to Desmond's second chance to re-live his life and live again with Penelope, but as a result of the Universe's ability to course correct (as suggested by Ms. Hawking) this is impossible.
- Penelope is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "weaver". From "pene". Mythology: Penelope, wife of Odysseus, fended off suitors by weaving during the day and unraveling at night a tapestry she said had to be completed before she would wed another husband. The name has come to signify a loyal, capable, and clever woman.
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Penelope Hume/Theories
- Why is it known by either Penelope or the crew of the listening station that the search for Desmond will be related to magnetic disturbances?
- Who was Penelope set to marry?
- Where and whose is the office she is sitting in?
- How is she connected to the freighter sent by Matthew Abbadon?
- Why was the freighter crew under orders to block her incoming calls?
