The Ed Zone

Lost – ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes’ – 3.8

Thursday February 15, 2007 | 10 comments (now closed)

“When is a flashback not a flashback.”

In yesterday’s online edition of Entertainment Weekly, Lost producer Carleton Cuse provided EW scribe Jeff Jensen with a teaser for that evening’s new episode, the Desmond-centric ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes’. Although the episode seemed to feature one giant flashback (versus the usual 3 or 4 nuggets we’re granted an episode) – in reality I think this episode is one of the first to completely dispense with the flashback structure. More on that in a moment.

On with my observations.

1.   As mentioned above, Desmond’s episode initially appears to be one giant flashback. As he recalls the events that transpired after turning the key in the hatch during last season’s finale, he awakens in his past. Again, Desmond’s transportation to a prior event begins with the usual Lost trappings. That whoosh on the soundtrack that signals a flashback followed by the close-up on the character’s eye. As Desmond comes to in his London flat, a playful scene that initially appears to be a bloodbath but is soon revealed to be a minor painting accident, the viewer feels they are going to get some more of that trademark back story.

2.   Then comes Desmond’s meeting with Charles Widemore, the billionaire backer of Dharma who also happen to be his darling Penny’s father. It’s in this first sequence that things seem different – off kilter. Hanging on the wall to Desmond’s right is a strange painting which features a polar bear, an upside down four-toed statue and the phrase Namaste spelled backwards. Namaste is the same phrase that Dr. Marvin Candle uses to close his creepy Hatch orientation videos.

3.   Desmond soon begins having flashes to the island, including the sailboat that brought him there. So while he has flashbacked to a prior time, it appears that during this particular period in his life, he was having flashes of the future. Does this mean that he has always been psychic and that back then he received these images, the portents of things to come, yet didn’t quite know what they meant? That theory might hold if it weren’t for the fact that during his flashback, Desmond has a strong sense of déjà vu. He quite literally feels like he is reliving past events – his encounter with Charlie on a London street corner, the angry hooligan with the cricket bat, and of course, the meeting with Charles Widemore.

4.   Then comes the engagement ring excursion. As Desmond goes to pay for the ring, he is stopped by the proprietor (Fionnula Flanagan) who informs Desmond that the first time he did this, he did not buy the ring. He had second thoughts. She then details Desmond’s next steps – giving him a flash forward (or flashback) of where destiny led him – on a sailboat race around the world that led to pushing a button in the hatch.

5.   I firmly believe that everything we see enacted following Desmond turning the switch is exactly what happened. When Desmond turned that switch, whatever power it contained did one of two things – it either sent him back to the past to relive those fateful moments (essentially rebooting the situation) or he was very briefly reincarnated as a former version of himself.

6.   Personally, I subscribe to the time travel theory. The biggest loophole in time travel stories is the time paradox – where two versions of the same person co-exist at the same time. Back to the Future taught us that if two McFly’s come in contact with each other, it could rip a hole in the fabric of existence. I like the wrinkle in time that Lost offers up. Rather than time traveling to a prior life and running amok while your former self lives his life, this version of time travel transports your future consciousness into your past self – it’s not your body that goes back but your soul and with it, your memories. That neatly explains Desmond’s flashes to the future, his overwhelming sense of déjà vu, while sketching a conflict between what your former self believes and your future self knows. I think the Hatch detonation ripped Desmond’s soul through time, allowed him to revisit key decisions in his former life but conspired to force him to make the same decisions.

7.   So what does the old woman have to do with things? I believe she’s an agent of whatever higher forces are at work on this island. I think she ties in nicely with the theory I laid out last week regarding the forces of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ at work on this island. If destiny is an overwhelming theme on this show – that some force brought these people to this island – then she could be an Architect of Fate. It’s heady stuff but fun to wrap your brain around.

8.   Which brings to question Desmond’s current flashes. If the flashes he had in his past are due to the fact that he is visiting himself from the present, then are his current precognitive abilities indicative of the fact that somewhere in the future he is visiting himself again, meaning his conscious is unknowingly traveling forward and backward in time. It’s an interesting twist on the notion of psychic abilities and I look forward to see where they go with it.

9.   We now know that at it’s core, Lost is a love story. I think the Desmond/Penelope love story trumps any Jack-Sawyer-Kate triangle any day. Desmond reaction upon his ‘rebirth’ on the island was heartbreaking. “I want to go back. I want to do it all over again.” Every single one of us longs for the chance to set some past wrongs right. Desmond had that chance yet fate stepped in and conspired to force his hand – for if he never makes it to that island and pushes that button, “every single one of us is dead.”

10.   Desmond is essentially Odysseus – traveling to a mythological island to face trials and be rewarded with the love of his life, Penelope. That was Odysseus true love and the fact that Pen shares Homer’s heroine’s namesake is not accidental. As we learned in the closing moments of last season’s finale, Penny is still out there searching for Desmond, with a team of researchers combing the world for strange electromagnetic signatures. Lost isn’t about purgatory or strange experiments or bizarre cults. At the end of the day, it’s a love story.

11.   Here’s an interesting reference that I just found while researching Odysseus on Wikipedia. In The Odyssey, Penelope almost gives up hope that Odysseus is still alive. She ends up resisting the advances of 107 suitors to be with her man. In last night’s episode, Desmond glances at his clock radio as he is getting ready for his ‘interview’ and the digital clock reads 1:08. Usually when numbers appear in this show, they are connected to the Hatch figures – 4, 8, 15, 23, 42. That’s why 1:08 jumped out at me. It seemed like they focused on that for a reason. Now I know.

12.   The episode ends on a pretty good twist. Following the lightning strike and Claire’s near drowning, it was appropriate to deduce that Desmond was striving to prevent her demise. Desmond’s proclamation at the end of the episode throws a real curveball to that theory. Desmond has in fact been working to save Charlie for it’s the little Hobbit whom Death apparently has designs on. The revelation that Charlie is doomed and that Desmond may be his savior was underscored earlier when Desmond encountered Charlie in his ‘travels’ singing for spare change on a London street. Charlie is crooning Oasis’ Wonderwall when Desmond approaches. The song works on two levels. The most obvious is Charlie and his Driveshaft fronting bro have an obvious inspiration in Noel and Liam Gallagher. Digging a little deeper, the lyrics of the song carry weight towards Desmond and Charlie’s new relationship. “Maybe… You’re gonna’ be the one who saves me.” Clever writing on Lindelof’s part. Charlie dying!!! I think I speak for most viewers when I say, his final destination can’t come soon enough.

Next Week – The Jack-centric ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’.