"Lost" - Flashes Before Your Eyes

"Lost" - Flashes Before Your Eyes

"No matter what I do, you're gonna die, Charlie."

Let me kick off this week's recap but saying that I really enjoyed this episode. That may be because it was completely different from all the other previous episodes that I have somewhat despised this season, but either way this Desmond-centric ep was enough for Lost to redeem itself to me. But don't worry, I have faith that I'll be bitching about the show soon after tonight's Jack-centric episode. I wonder if Jack's stubborn qualities put a strain on some personal relationship he has?

All right, let's do a quick recap. And you can click on the links to see screen caps of stuff you may have missed. The teaser starts on the island with Charlie and Hurley ransacking Sawyer's tent, which is filled with mac and cheese, Nabokov literature, and Fijian porn. Desmond walks in on them and tells them to follow him to the jungle. There they see Locke and Sayid who tell them that Eko was "killed by the island" and Locke needs them to do some damage control so everyone doesn't freak out when they hear the news and murder Locke for being absurdly vague. Suddenly Desmond gets a weird look on his face and goes darting off back to the beach. At the beach, he dives in the water and rescues a drowning Clarie (who now has bangs for some reason). After reviving her on the beach, Hurley comes to the realization that Desmond "sees the future, dude."

So, the dynamic duo hatch a plan to get Desmond so stinking drunk and singing Scottish folk songs that he'll drop his guard and come clean about seeing the future. At first Desmond refuses, but after seeing the kind of whiskey, MacCutcheon 60, he agrees. So after a round of singing "Shagging the farmer daughter, guv'nor", Charlie asks Des how he knew Claire was drowning. At first Desmond dodges the question, then he walks away after Charlie asks about the lightning. Once Charlie calls him a coward, Desmond snaps and attacks him.

Flashback to: The Hatch, and the events leading up to Des turning the fail safe key. After he turns the key, we see his life flash before his eyes. Then we come upon that familiar shot of the single eyeball, but this time it belongs to Desmond, and he's covered in red paint. Moments later we find out that he's in his and Penny's flat in England, but now he's in 1996.

As Desmond readies for a job interview with Penny's father, a known rich douche bag who hates Desmond, he's reminded of he life on the island - it's 1:08pm, the microwave sounds like the computer for the button, Penny says if Des doesn't get the job "it's not the end of the world." This continues later when Desmond hears a delivery man say he's has a parcel "for (4) 815," and when Des is in Mr. Widmore's office, the painting he has hanging up has a polar bear, and Buddha, and "NAMASTE" spelled in reverse. As expected, Mr. Widmore ain't much of a fan of Desmond, especially after he refuses the job and asks for Penny's hand in marriage. In fact, he goes as far as to say that Desmond isn't worth a swig of his MacCutcheon whiskey.

Outside the building, Desmond sees Charlie play his guitar (and horribly, I might add). He's singing Oasis' "Wonderwall", and sings the lyrics, "Maybe, you're gonna be the one who saves me." Desmond flashes back (or forward) to the hatch and recognizes him as Charlie from the island. Desmond starts remembering and freaking out. He ends up predicting the rain, and realizes he has to seek the help of his bearded and bespeckled Indian friend, Donovan. I'm still partial to Mohinder Suresh for my Indian British-accented professors. Desmond asks him the question that, for some reason, makes people in movies and TV shows display looks of immediate concern... "What do you know about time travel?" So Desmond tells his whole story to Donovan over a pint, and Donovan understandable thinks he's full of shite. However, once the song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" - which we all remember from the premiere of season 2 as the song Des played in the hatch right before Locke blew the door off - it triggers his memory, and he comes up with predictions about who wins the "football" match and how the bartender will be cracked in the face with a cricket bat (presumably for stealing old Gulliver's kidney pie). But once that doesn't happen, Desmond goes home to his loving Penelope who tells him he's a good man.

The next day he's off shopping for wedding rings sold by Ms. Hawking. After he says he'll take the ring she showed him, she says "You don't take the ring, Desmond." She then goes on to map out the next years of his life - from breaking Penny's heart, to sailing around the world, to landing on the island and pushing the button until he's forced to turn the fail safe key. And she says that if he doesn't do those things, everyone will die. "Lost" has had a few "holy shit" moments in the past, but this was one of my favorites.

Thankfully, Desmond and Ms. Hawking take a stroll so she can have some chestnuts and explain to him (and to us) exactly what the hell is going on. She points out a man wearing red Converse shoes as a bold fashion choice. After Desmond accuses her of being his subconscious, the man with two red shoes gets hit by a ton of bricks. Desmond asks why she didn't warn the man of his eventual fate, and she responds by saying that the man would have died the next day - that the universe has a way of course-correcting. I mean, didn't he see Final Destination in his future/past life? Desmond is supposed to go to the island because pushing the button is the only great thing Desmond will ever do.

Desmond calls bullocks on her and takes the ring to give to Penny. They meet by Big Ben, and a photographer takes their picture in front of a marina scene. It happens to be the picture that Desmond took to the island. At that point, he realizes what he has to do, and break up with Penny. She's heartbroken and calls him a coward. And he tells her that they're not supposed to be together. Poor Desmond.

He strolls back into the pub and gets a pint of the cheapest beer. Then the Mama Cass song comes on again, and Desmond realizes that he had the wrong night in his predictions. After he realizes that he can changes things, the man with the cricket bat walks in, but after Desmond warns the bartender to duck, he's the one who gets cracked in the face. That brings up right back to a naked Desmond in the jungle post-exploding hatch. He visits the hole where the hatch was and sees the picture of him and Penny and prays to go back to be with Penny so he can change it. At this point we see the images that lead us back to the scrap with Charlie. Hurley breaks up the fight, and Desmond keeps repeating that "you can't change it." He calls Charlie a "good man", then Charlie makes Des tell him what happened.

Desmond says that his life flashed before his eyes after he turned the key. But back on the island, the flashes didn't stop. BUT, Desmond wasn't saving Claire - he was saving Charlie. Charlie was about to be hit by lightning, and Charlie was the one who tries to save Claire and drowns. But the universe has a way of course correcting, and Desmond can't stop Charlie's fate forever.

Score (Out of 20)
Back Story: 9.5
Island Story: 8
Total: 17.5

Why can't they all be Desmond stories? Enjoy tonight's.