Episode 317 - Catch-22

Written by six from the blog The Lost Chronicles on 05 Jul 2007
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Episode 317
Catch 22

I was a bundle of nerves last night. I can’t remember watching a tenser episode of Lost. The opening moments of the episode had me riveted; horrified, but riveted to my seat. I thought to myself that they surely wouldn’t kill Charlie off like that… so coldly, so callously. Thankfully it was all just a part of Des’s “vision”.

I’m quite fond of Desmond; he’s one of my favourites. But right now… I’m not feeling too thrilled with him. I do understand his dilemma – the love of his life versus the life of a has-been rock star; how can you choose? And honestly speaking, had it been any other character, I would have reacted differently. It’s because it’s Charlie that I am so upset with Des.

Desmond didn’t let Charlie die in the end. He saved his life yet again (the fourth time, if I am not mistaken) Firstly, we get to have Charlie around for a while longer, but I cannot see how this is going to continue. Charlie is going to die. Desmond is not going to be always able to save him.

And secondly, we see that Desmond is already showing signs of the strain of having to continuously save Charlie. He’s growing tired of it. One cannot entirely blame him. I can imagine that apart from the physical risk to his own self, it is probably emotionally taxing as well. But, on the other hand, Desmond doesn’t really have anyone else to blame but himself. He took it upon himself to save Charlie. It’s no use crying about it now.

Desmond’s flashbacks were insightful because it showed us that Desmond has spent his life running away from his problems. He ran away from Ruth, he ran away from Penny, he ran away from the hatch. He probably ran away from some task he had to do in the army. Facing his responsibilities is not something Desmond has been very good at. I mean, the guy gets “fired” from a monastery. I didn’t even know that you could get ‘fired’ from a monastery!!

In this episode again, he demonstrated his inability to make a decision and follow through with it. It seems that Desmond is constantly being testing but is either unable or unwilling to follow through. What is also very interesting here is that we are introduced to yet another story/verse from the bible. We have to ask ourselves what this is all leading to. Are the Others a cult? What is the connection here??

Anyway, what an excellent episode this turned out to be. Even the nail biting tension was worth it to get the awesome ending – someone new arrives on the island!! And while it’s not Penny as Desmond has desperately hoping it would be; it’s someone who knows him. And this woman knows Penny too, judging by the photograph of Des and Penny that she has. Wow.

The possibilities that this presents is just too mind boggling to even start to comprehend. Penny knows the location of the island due to events in the season 2 finale (Live together, Die alone). Does this mean that a rescue could be on the cards? And who is this woman anyway?

Well, we know that she had with her a satellite phone. Typically, it’s broken or the batteries are fried. Let’s hope Super Sayid can fix it.

Before we move over to the cheesy love-fest going on at camp, there some light-hearted moments in this episode as well. I absolutely loved Charlie, Jin and Hurley whistling along as they went on their “camping” trip. I don’t know what that tune is called, but it reminds me of Spaceballs.

I also loved Jin telling Charlie and Hurley that Korean horror story. What I loved most was Hurley getting scared even though he doesn’t understand Korean. Hee. Hurley is just the most endearing character.

Anyway, onto the cheesy lovefest. Last week, I stated that my Kate-hate was being slowly chipped away. Guess what! Yes, it’s back, and it’s stronger than ever!! It just served as a reminder as to why I just dislike this woman so much. She wants both Jack and Sawyer, and she wants them on her terms. I’m just really so glad that Sawyer is not as dumb as he pretends to be and calls her on it. You go Sawyer. For now, he’s happy with a little loving on the side. I feel sorry for Sawyer. He’s admitted that he loves her, and she’s just using him.

Now begins the long wait to next week’s episode. I wonder if Locke will finally rear his bald head. I mean, just how long are we going to have to wait to see what the man has to say for himself???

So, what have we learnt this week?

• Desmond was in a monastery at some stage in his life
• Desmond has saved Charlie’s life four times in total
• People in the outside world know where they are.
• Someone has actually made a trip to the island. Ooh. I wonder if the Others know?

New Mysteries

• Who is parachute woman???
• How does the monk know Oracle woman?? The monk had a photograph on his desk that shows him with the oracle woman from Desmond's previous back-story.

• How much longer will Desmond be able to save Charlie’s life?

Interesting Trivia

• The song Desmond sings when he is drinking wine in the abbey is "The Celtic Song" as sung by Celtic F.C. supporters.
• The satellite phone's menu icons in order from top left to bottom right are: GPS, "Home" symbol, Files, Clock, Phone, Settings, Mail, and Uplink. Below that is a hazard sign that says: "INTERNAL ERROR".

• Although the parachute woman came by helicopter, she was using an outfit for both high altitudes and high G-Force conditions.
• The monastery's wine brand "Moriah Vineyards" is an anagram for "harmed visionary" or "Dharma vise irony."
• Although Desmond's flashback shows Charlie dying of an arrow shot, it also shows Charlie helping to hold the parachute later on.
• The book Desmond retrieves from the backpack Ardil-22 is a Portuguese translation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22. It appears to be one of the first editions of Brazilian publisher Record Editora.