Des is now worthy of Widmore's scotch, but only a limited amount

[jphimself]

I noticed that in the scene in Widmore's office, Charles offers Des a small shot glass of his precious McCutcheon scotch.  He does not give him a more generous pour using the large tumblers that were there and which are the normal glass used for scotch these days.

I think this was a significant choice by tptb to signal that Charles now values Des worthy of his scotch, but only slightly.  Des is of use to him, but he has not allowed him into his inner circle of the truly valuable.  Des has yet to prove himself worthy.  Perhaps after passing the electromagnetic test he will now be offered a full dram.

We can debate whether Widmore is now a good guy or not, but he clearly remains a person who values others only as measured by their usefulness to him.

[CaseyMac]

There's a difference between a friendly drink and college binge drinking. He poured a shot which is the standard drink size. If he pours more, then you are doing more than having a friendly mid-day drink.

[lostfan777]

Leave it to us to start a debate about the proper amount of scotch to pour and when, but here's my two cents as a former bartender (my memories of those days are a little hazy, so I may be wrong):

Whether the consumer is having it 'on the rocks' (with ice) or 'neat' (without), scotch is usually served in a 6 ounce 'rocks' glass.  However, the amount of liquor poured is still just a standard one ounce or two, depending on if the person is having a drink or a double.  For an occasion of celebration or toast, it is perfectly acceptable to serve the scotch in a one-ounce shot glass, because it is meant to be consumed quickly, not sipped.  (The question here is whether it is acceptable to do 'shots' of 60-year-old scotch!)  It would also be fine to toast someone with a quick shot from a rocks glass, but it would seem chintzy to ask someone to join you for a leisurely afternoon drink and offer them a shot glass to sip from.

My foggy, hazy, semi-professional ruling:  Proper usage of the MacCutcheon's!   

[Kurtis]

Leave it to us to start a debate about the proper amount of scotch to pour and when, but here's my two cents as a former bartender (my memories of those days are a little hazy, so I may be wrong):

Whether the consumer is having it 'on the rocks' (with ice) or 'neat' (without), scotch is usually served in a 6 ounce 'rocks' glass.  However, the amount of liquor poured is still just a standard one ounce or two, depending on if the person is having a drink or a double.  For an occasion of celebration or toast, it is perfectly acceptable to serve the scotch in a one-ounce shot glass, because it is meant to be consumed quickly, not sipped.  (The question here is whether it is acceptable to do 'shots' of 60-year-old scotch!)  It would also be fine to toast someone with a quick shot from a rocks glass, but it would seem chintzy to ask someone to join you for a leisurely afternoon drink and offer them a shot glass to sip from.

My foggy, hazy, semi-professional ruling:  Proper usage of the MacCutcheon's!  

As another former bartender, I second the motion of proper usage of 60 year old Scotch...and am suddenly thirsty.

[CaseyMac]

Well, with 2 bartenders agreeing, I think we can put this one to bed. At the same time, jp's original post brings up an excellent point. How genuine was Widmore being with Desmond? I think another thread might be going into more detail on this point, but Widmore seemed to be killing Desmond with kindness. It's like when you were a kid, and you wanted your parents to let you do something or let you go somewhere, you would start the conversation by laying as many compliments as thick as you can before you ask the "can I borrow the car?" Desmond was definitely getting buttered up.

[lostfan777]

I agree.  It seemed they were keeping him 'content' to keep him out of trouble.  Eloise definitely knows the whole story clearly.  The only problem I have with this is the fact that Widmore sends Desmond to babysit Charlie and then sends him to explain things to his wife at the very place where Penny will be attending.  This makes me think Eloise is the ONLY one who knows all of it, because if Widmore was in on keeping Desmond in the dark, he wouldn't put him in situations where he might possibly recognize people (Eloise, Penny, Daniel).

[Kurtis]

Bottom line is Eloise Hawking-Widmore is one creepy broad. And to think I was attracted to her when she was the leader of the others...how embarrassing.

[CaseyMac]

Bottom line is Eloise Hawking-Widmore is one creepy broad. And to think I was attracted to her when she was the leader of the others...how embarrassing.

Dude, I could see maybe in Jughead, but anytime after that? BLEGH. Then again, you know what they say; the older the berry, the sweeter the juice...or maybe it's the blacker the berry. (Friday)