Episode 308 - Flashes before your eyes

Written by six from the blog The Lost Chronicles on 03 May 2007
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Episode 308
Flashes before your eyes

Oh my God! All I can think of right now is “No!!! Not Charlie!”

I can’t get past that. All through the episode and most especially when the old lady tells Desmond that the universe has a way of correcting itself, I thought that it would be Claire. That is, right till the very end when Desmond starts relating the story to Charlie, and I scream out to my sister “Oh my God!!! He means Charlie!!!!! They are going to kill off Charlie!!!”

By the time Des confirms that yes, Charlie is going to die, I was sitting there in horrified silence, heart pounding, thinking to myself “It cannot be true”. Like many things that have happened this season, I can’t even pretend that I saw it coming. But as much as my heart doesn’t want to believe it, my stupid brain immediately starts listing all the reasons why it could so be true. Give me a break, why don’t you, brain! Let my heart believe wants it wants to.

So, this is why I think it could be true. How many times has Charlie escaped Death so far? Let’s see…. I can think of at least 3 times off the top of my head… there’s the hanging episode, the lightning episode, and now the drowning episode. That’s not to mention that he’s almost encountered the monster at least two times, and the time the hatch blew up. Yes, I’d say that Charlie has indeed cheated death many-a-time.

But my desperation says that it couldn’t be true because why would they tell us that they are going to kill someone off? They have never done it before, why start now? It could all be a red herring. But I can tell you all one thing, true or not, Charlie should be worried. He should be very worried… because when Sawyer gets back and realises that Charlie’s the one that’s been rummaging through his stuff, there’ll be hell to pay!

Desmond’s flashback, by the way, was an incredible, fantastic, awesome story. I kept expecting someone to pop up and tell him that he needs to take the red pill or something. But honestly speaking was that really a flashback? And is that giving us any clear answers to exactly what happened to Des in the hatch after he turned that failsafe key?? No, not in my opinion… I don’t know if I consider that a real flashback nor do I think they have answered any questions about what happened to Des, and why he can suddenly predict the future.

Des’s “Flashback” takes us back to the moment that he turns the failsafe key. While in the hatch he supposedly has another flashback, this time well before he left England to sail around the world to prove himself to Penny. At first I thought – “A flashback within a flashback. How totally cool.” But by the end of it, I wasn’t quite convinced that Des was “Flashing-back” to his life as he knew it.
Des’s second flashback is riddled with many nuances and memories from his life… err… that has apparently happened. Is it Déjà vu or premonition?

And what about the oracle-woman. Ok, sorry, I had to call her something, and Oracle-woman (from the Matrix) is quite fitting. I think so anyway. How can it be a flashback if Oracle-woman talks to him?? Oh, my head. It hurts. This is like the fourth instalment of Back to the Future, only one without Michael J. Fox and a DeLorean.

There were a few inconsistencies with the story, like the fact that Desmond was in the army yet he tells Mr Widmore that he has never been in the army. Oracle woman tells Des that in 3 years time, he sets sail around the world to prove his worth to Penny. Hmmm. Does Des join the army in that 3 years?? Is three years enough time for him to join the army, get court-marshalled, jailed and dismissed? Hell, this is Lost, anything is possible.

Something I found very interesting is that Charlie is now the second Lostie to make an appearance in Des’s flashback. Libby, of course, being the first. Now, let’s see… where is Libby?? Oh yeah, that’s right. She’s dead. D-E-A-D!!! Doesn’t bode well for our Hobbit, does it?

It’s all very confusing. Desmond is supposed to push that button to save the world, but thanks to Locke’s interference, he doesn’t. But then he turns the failsafe key. It doesn’t make sense to me. Why have a failsafe key if pushing the button saves the world? Why not have another button somewhere else? And, perhaps the most important thing is just how does Penny know what to look for?

This story is riddled with holes. Great, big gaping holes. But I still find myself utterly fascinated, and watching with bated breath to see what they throw out at us next.

Lost again proves that we should never take anything for granted, nor should we assume that we have the faintest idea of what is going on.

What we have learnt this week

• Charlie is going to die
• Oracle-Woman knows what’s going on

Interesting Trivia

• When Desmond is knocked out, and awakens with paint all over him, the paint can has the label 'Futu' on it. One is lead to believe this says 'Future' but the end of the word is covered with paint and is not visible.

• During Desmond's interview with Mr. Widmore, there is a painting on the left with swirls of color. This painting is the exact same one created by Claire's boyfriend, Thomas, in the episode "Raised by Another." During scenes in the apartment, this painting can be seen on a shelf.

Notice the polar bear!

• We learn in this episode that Charlie's middle name is Hieronymus. "Hieronymus" Bosch was an artist whose many works often depict sin and human moral failings. This could possibly relate to the drug problem Charlie once had.