LOST, Season 3, Episode 8 "Flashes Before Your Eyes"

Well, how many ways are there to say Wow? This was a GREAT episode. One of the best so far. Having Desmond’s story as the focus has filled in many pieces of the Widmore puzzle, and poses the question ‘what is fate’ to the Losties, and is it actually possible to change their fate by their actions, or will the island get what it wants no-matter-what.

Interesting that last week we’re introduced, via Juliette’s flashback to “Mittelos” Bioscience, with Mittelos being an anagram for Lost Time. This week, we experience some lost time with this Desmond-centric episode.

Desmond: So, our favorite Scotsman has the ability to foresee future events. He apparently has the ability to foresee future events while he’s going back to the past to relive past events too. Or maybe we were privy to what was going on inside Desmond’s head and what he was thinking when he turned the key to prevent the hatch from exploding. Or maybe time travel offers so many different options that we don’t know what is happening to Desmond. Suffice to say that Desmond’s flashback (within a flashback…what a novel idea!!!) shows that Desmond’s and Penelope’s relationship started off in the red (ha ha! The red paint spilled all over the floor when Des fell off the ladder in their flat, er, apartment) and was rocky for its entire run. Though they loved each other, forces conspired against them. Her dad did not approve of Desmond. The jeweler-lady did not approve of the relationship. And ultimately, Desmond opted to withdraw from it so as to continue on his fated path. However, some points of interest: Desmond foresaw the lightening bolt that was going to hit near Claire’s tent, so he built the lightening rod. Desmond foresaw Claire in the ocean, and ran in to save her. These events, however, were to save CHARLIE (who Des said would’ve been hit by the lightening and would’ve drowned trying to save Claire). As Desmond bounced between flashes, many of the Lost references popped up: the ads in the soccer stadium of the game he was watching were for Hanso Foundation, Apollo Candy Bars, Mr Cluck’s Chicken, Buddies Diapers, Oceanic Air. And 1:08 showed up on his clock. He was in the Widmore offices when a deliver guy came with a package for “815” (which as you all remember was the flight number of the Losties Oceanic airplane that crashed). But the interesting part was Desmond meeting the lady in the jewelry shop when he was looking for a ring for Penny. Desmond has an ability, and I think we’ll be finding out in future episodes that he will play a big part in solving the Lost/Island mystery. And even if he doesn’t, just remember to NEVER call him a coward. Des also had many “déjà vu” feelings in this ep, obviously tied into the fact that he was in his flashback WITH the knowledge of what has happened to him in the future. Make sense?

Penelope (Penny) Widmore: As the daughter of a wealthy, and apparently shady man, Penny has to deal with the fact that her father does not like Desmond. But Penny is not interested in her father’s wishes, and loves Desmond and wants to marry him. Problems for the couple begin almost immediately in the episode: Penny moving into Des’ apartment (“flat”) finds Des on the floor having fallen from a ladder while re-painting the walls with red paint (“I don’t even like red” says Des). As the flashbacks continue, we see Des becoming more and more distant from Penny, while Penny is still trying to hold on to him. When Des is trying to break up with Penny, she calls him a coward. Could it be that like Ethan Rom, Penny is just a recruiter for Hanso and for getting people onto the island? Not sure, but remember this: last year’s final episode had Penny searching for Desmond, and had picked up the hatch explosion, so has an idea where he may be.

Jewelry Lady: So, is this woman Desmond’s conscious, or someone who really knows what he’s going through? Maybe she's some kind of sage. The fact that she knew the guy in the red sneakers was going to die shows that she’s got the same kind of ability as Desmond. But she is in sync with it, explaining to Desmond that she couldn’t save the red-sneakers man because it was his path to die, and if she had saved him, the universe would have gotten him anyway because the universe has a way of “course correcting”, implying that if something doesn’t happen the way the universe planned, it will make it happen so that the event does happen eventually. So, predetermined events will eventually happen if they’re changed in advance. This of course freaks Desmond out. After spending some time with Jewelery Lady, she convinces Desmond that his path is to go to the island to push the button, and that this will be “the only truly great thing you’ll ever do.” Desmond leaves the shop, and ends up throwing the ring he bought for Penny into the river (the Thames, I assume).

Charlie: As he and Hurley go through Sawyer’s tent to look for supplies, they find the bottle of MacCutcheon Whisky, along with some other Dharma yummies like Macaroni & Cheese. They use the whiskey to get Desmond drunk to find out what is going on with him. How about the flashback where Des sees Charlie in London singing by the side of the road for tips? Charlie’s sign shows his full name to be Charlie Hieronymus Pace. How about that middle name? Charlie, however, finds out that Desmond created the lightening rod to save Charlie, who would’ve been hit by the bolt. Des also tells Charlie that the reason Des saved Claire is because it was Charlie who would’ve drowned trying to save her if Des hadn’t gotten to her first. Now, back to the part where Desmond sees Charlie singing on the street (Des recognizes Charlie, but Charlie does not recognize Des), Charlie is singing the song “Wonderwall” (by Oasis), but more importantly he’s singing the line “maybe you’re gonna be the one who saves me….”. Which, as we learn, Desmond DID save Charlie twice (from getting hit by lightening and from drowning). Wacky stuff.

Hurley: Nice to see him again! After Desmond pulled Claire out of the ocean, Charley asks “how did you know she was drowning?” As Desmond walked away without answering, Hurley replied “I’ll tell you how he knew. That guy sees the future, dude”. (Remember: in previous episode Des mentioned a speech to Hurley that Locke would give even though Locke had not given the speech yet.) Not much else for Hurley to do this episode except get drunk with Charlie and Desmond, but it was funny when Hurley, who of course has been in a psychiatric hospital, made the “he’s crazy” motion to Charlie in reference to Desmond! Ha ha!

Charles Widmore: Penny’s dad. Head of Widmore Industries (of Widmore Constuction, and Widmore Pharmaceuticals, one could safely surmise). Drinks McCutcheon whiskey to let Desmond know that this whiskey is top of the line, and Desmond does not deserve any, nor does Des deserve to marry his daughter. As part of the conversation, Charles tells Des of his hosting of an around the world boat race. Desmond is intrigued (and we saw more of this in last year’s Desmond-centric episode). Charles Widmore…..could he be the one who took over Alvar Hanso’s role? Could Charles be a competitor to Hanso’s research? I bet we’ll learn more about him in some upcoming episode (and no, I can’t foresee the future…just guessin’!) In Charles’ office was a picture/painting of a polar bear, and the word NAMASTE was written backwards on it (see attached pic). In a nice twist, Desmond DOES get to drink some McCutcheon Whisky when it’s presented to him on the island by Charlie.

Claire: It was so awesome to have her in an episode where she wasn’t yelling “MY BABY!!!” every 5 minutes. Ha ha ha!

Sayeed and Locke: Just in the episode to tell Charlie and Hurley that the island killed Eko, and that they need Charlie and Hurley to help keep the other Losties calm when they give them the news.

The color red: For those of you who saw the movie “The Sixth Sense”, there were some parallels that I noticed between that and this episode. One, the title of the movie “The Sixth Sense” is pretty much the ability that Desmond has. Also, in the Sixth Sense, you may recall that the color red was everywhere in the movie (doors, doorknobs, balloons, clothes, cars, etc). Now, in this episode, we were shown many things that were red: the man with the red sneakers; the red paint that Des was lying in after he spilled it; the red shirt he was wearing in the picture taken with Penny (in front of the fake marina print); Claire was wearing a red shirt when Des pulled her from the water; red box (cigar box, maybe?) on Charles Widmore’s desk; microwave flashes red light when done with cooking cycle; red boat on the Thames River; red bus by Charlie when he’s singing on the street; etc. Not sure it means anything, but it’s interesting to note.

The Tailies: With Eko’s death, I think they’ve all been knocked off, except for Bernard, Rose’s husband, but we see so little of their characters he might as well be a goner.

Miscellaneous:
1. “Make Your Own Kind of Music” by Mama Cass Elliott was playing on the jukebox; this is the same song that was playing in the hatch in the first ep of Season 2 (“Man of Science, Man of Faith”) when Desmond was working out before the Losties blew the hatch.
2. Desmond said he too has been on the island 3 years, same length of time as Juliette. Is it possible they arrived together? Do they know each other?
3. More father issues! In addition to the father issues already associated with Kate and her dad, Jack and his dad, Locke and his dad, Sawyer and his dad, Penny and her dad, we now find out that Desmond’s dad died.
4. Numbers: 1:08 showing up on Desmond’s clock; delivery to Widmore offices for “815”; Desmond on the island for 3 years; Desmond mentions having 3 brothers
5. Penny telling Desmond that he’s a “good man”…the Others are always talking about being the “good guys”
6. Both Charlie and Penny at different times calling Des a coward.


Whew! These wrap-ups keep taking more and more time to do thanks to all of the storylines that are wrapping around each other. Hope you’re not bored by the time you get this far!

Let me know what I missed.

Until next week,

Namaste.


Check out this site for great screen-shots:
http://lost.cubit.net/forum/index.php