'Lost': Catch-22

Much thanks to all that have visited the site over the past few days. We've had semi-unprecedented traffic round these parts thanks to the "Lost as Facebook" entry posted Sunday. So welcome one and all!  And welcome to the over one hundred of you that joined our Facebook group since that entry went live: there's lots to absorb over there as well. For instance: new Season 5 footage! Kate! Aaron! Mysterious clients! Court orders! It's juicy stuff, and we're discussing it there right now. But right here, right now, we'll be continuing the We Have to Go Back series with some Desmond Hume goodness.

After the Juliet-centric madness of the last few episodes, rife with Island mythology and shifting alliances, Lost took a small break in the action this time around to essentially set the stage for the final endgame of Season 3. While Juliet entering Lostaway Camp was enough to set everyone on edge, the show had one more person to add to the ever-growing number of citizens on the beach. Throw in some deliciously (and expensively) bottled backstory for Desmond, and you have yet another stellar episode of Lost.

(See what I flashed on the first time around here.)

Catch-22

4) In Short

"This brutha was once a brother!"

8) On the Island

Desmond, Hurley, Charlie, and Jin are walking through the jungle in the rain. Charlie and Hurley are arguing about who would win in a foot race between Superman and the Flash. While arguing, Charlie steps on one of Rousseau's traps, and gets an arrow through the neck for his troubles. He gags on his own blood, then dies. Hey, what the...   

We see a series of images (Hurley with the beach cable, a red flashing light in the sky, a picture of Des/Penny, Jin looking into the sky while holding a parachute, a parachuter hanging from a tree, and finally a shot of Penny by herself) leading to a shot of Des on the beach. Turns out everything we've just seen is one of Des' flashes. So we're back II life, back II reality. Des runs to Hurley and asks about the cable in the sand. "This is future crap, isn't it?" Hurley asks. Why is it so important to find the cable? Because someone's coming to the Island, Des tells him.

Desmond and Hurley go to Jack's tent. Des asks to borrow his first aid kit, under the ruse of a twisted ankle. Hurley wants to know who the first aid kit is for, worried for his own safety. Des explains that he saw flashes much like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Problem is, he doesn't have the picture on the jigsaw box. Furthermore, he's worried that if he shares the other pieces with Hurley, the "picture" will change. Hurley realizes that Des doesn't want to prevent something; he's trying to make something happen. "More than anything," says Des.

Sawyer walks in on Kaye in nothing but her underwear. Cue the bow chica wow wow music. After a few seconds of stunned, "OMG, I saw her butt" silence, Sawyer asks her if she mentioned anything to Jack about their caged heat back on Hydra Island. Kate tells him about Jack seeing them on the surveillance camera. Relieved that's out in the open, Sawyer asks for a little "afternoon delight." Smooth, James. Real smooth. Kate brushes him off, with Sawyer asking if he needs to make her a mix tape to get back into bed with him. Ah, I miss making mix tapes. Damn technological breakthroughs.

Hurley and Des spy Jin fishing. Des has no idea how to convince him to come along, but Hurley has a way in: camping! Jin's excited by the prospect, and is in. Charlie's skeptical of this "camping" trip, correctly assuming that it's part of Des' vision. Des lies when Charlie asks if his visions end with him dying. Charlie grabs his guitar and agrees to come along. The foursome soon finds the cable in the sand, just as seen in Des' vision. Rather than go into the jungle, Des says they should all make camp for the night.

Back at the beach, Kate and Jack discuss how weird it is to be back. Kate feels odd about not having to not be escaping a cage, not fearing for her life, or not telling someone she's coming with them. Jack's curiously distant during the conversation, and gets out of it as soon as he can to return to Juliet nearby. Kate sees the two of them laughing and makes a beeline for Sawyer's tent. PITY SEX ALERT! PITY SEX ALERT! Sawyer notes that she's crying, but concern soon gives way to nudity.

At the cable, Jin is telling a ghost story in Korean with Charlie providing musical accompaniment. The two scare the bejesus out of Hurley, and the three share a big laugh, and we at home go, "AWWWWW." It's a beautiful little scene, one that helps drive home what the Oceanic 6 will later strive to protect. Des stays off to the side, staring at the picture of himself and Penny. Charlie goes over to Des and sees the picture of Penny. "That's not bad, Des. Not bad at all," says Charlie. As Des catches Charlie up on the history of why he and Penny split, sounds are heard in the distance. Helicopter! Rescue! Or maybe not: the engine sputters, and the helicopter soon crashes in the ocean. But Jin spies something else in the sky: the red flashing light Des saw in his vision.

Jin theorizes that it's a pallet drop. Smart man, Jin. After all, that red light looks AWFULLY familiar. Charlie refuses to accompany Des in the jungle at that moment, noting Rousseau's death traps dead ahead. He's also none too happy to learn from Hurley that Des isn't letting on everything he knows about the identity of the parachuter. Unwilling to go until there's light, he stands his ground. Des eventually acquiesces, realizing that he doesn't find the parachuter until there's light anyways in his puzzle flash.

The following morning, Sawyer approaches Jack and Juliet. He wonders if they are discussing who their favorite Other is. Heh. He challenges Jack to a game of ping pong. "We don't play every hundred and eight minutes, the Island's gonna explode!" Sawyer's on fire with the funny. Must be all the residual hate sex on him. That all ends when Sawyer realizes that Kate saw Jack and Juliet together the night before.

In the jungle, the Fateful Four trek towards the beacon. When Hurley stops to catch his breath, Charlie finds a hulu doll on the ground. Above, Des spies a backpack. Inside the backpack? A satellite phone and a copy of the novel Catch-22. Inside the novel? The exact same picture of Des and Penny. Well, that's just crazy coincidental.

On the beach, Sawyer hands over his "mix tape" to Kate: a copy of "Phil Collins' Greatest Hits." He tells her that next time she's feeling bad and needs some TLC, all she has to do is ask. Well, way to have a spine there, James. Ladies eat that stuff up. Stop taking your cues from Phil Collins and start taking them from the Rolling Stones: don't ask for one more night; tell her to take a drink from your loving cup.

Heading towards the beacon, Charlie suddenly understands why Des has been so secretive. He understands Des not wanting to change anything; moreover, if all of this leads to Des reuniting with Penny, why WOULD they want to change anything, right? File under "ironic." Des starts getting those old guilt pangs as it starts to rain heavily. Hurley and Charlie start in on their Flash/Superman debate, which causes severe panic inside Des. Weighing his conscience against his desire, Des eventually decides to rescue Charlie, with the arrow this time hitting his guitar, not the center of Charlie's neck.

With the rain stopped, the four split up, with Charlie going with Des. Turns out the rocker has a few questions for Des, but Des isn't having any of it: he's sick of continually saving Charlie's life, and worries that he's failed the Abraham-like test of letting Charlie die this time around. The two hear Jin cry for them in the distance, and come across the parachuter, who is hung limp in the tree. Des stares with horror in his eyes.

Des climbs the nearby tree, and cuts down the parachute. With Hurley, Jin, and Charlie holding the parachute, Des then cuts down the parachuter, who is apparently alive. Des excitedly takes off her helmet, only to find a woman he doesn't recognize under it. She says, "Desmond," then passes out.

15) Off the Island

Desmond is in a monastery, where he receives his newly earned robes from one Brother Campbell. Turns out Desmond has been enduring a vow of silence, and he's passed the test, much to Brother Campbell's surprise. He tells Desmond he's "one of us," and says, "Welcome, brutha." Well, not in that accent, but still.

Desmond and Brother Campbell are affixing labels to Moriah Vineyards wine bottles. The two men discuss the name "Moriah," it being the location where Abraham was asked to kill Isaac in the Bible. Notions of "sacrifice" are discussed before another man walks into the bottle room. This man? Derek. This man's goal? To punch Desmond in the face. Mission successful! Derek makes the sign of the cross, apologizes to Brother Campbell, and sheepishly makes his way out.

Des goes to Derek's house the following morning and asks for his sister, Ruth. He apparently left one week before their wedding. He tells her that he left due to a greater calling. Ruth suggests telling the next girl he dumps that he's simply too damn scared to commit.

At night in the monastery, Des is drunk on Moriah Vineyard wine. Brother Campbell is disappointed to find Des in this state, and theorizes maybe Des isn't cut out for the life in the monastery after all. He strips Des of his position, and says maybe God has other plans altogether for him. "You've just spent too much time running away to realize what you may be running toward," he says.

Des turns in his robes the following morning to Brother Campbell's office. On his desk? A picture of himself with Ms. Hawking. Hmmmm. Brother Campbell asks Desmond to stay a little while longer and do some "heavy lifting." Des then hauls out crate after crate to a car. In the car? Penny Widmore. We witness the first meeting between two of the central characters in the entire show. It's well beyond "meet cute"; it's just sublime.

16) The Mythology

Two biggies this time out.

The Blinking Red Light

Jin is absolutely on point in connecting the red flashing light with the pallet drop. After all, the same beacon exists on both the drop and Naomi. The coincidence is too strong to ignore. And I'll have none of Darlton saying, "Sometimes a blinking red light is just a blinking red light."

Since we know now the Kahuna expedition to be funded by Charles Widmore, we can also assign the pallet drops to Widmore's orgnization. Is this definitive? Course not, but the evidence strongly points to this. What is does NOT do is strongly point to a reason for the drops. After all, note that I attribute the drops to "Widmore's organization," NOT Widmore himself.

You could strongly argue that the drops are part of an agreement between Linus and Widmore post-Purge. It's something akin to "you scratch my back, I'll drop you food and supplies periodically." In this formulation, Linus essentially blackmails Widmore into providing sustenance for the Others. You could also argue that such pallet drops occur independent of any on-Island action, and still exist as part of an agreement between the Hanso Foundation and Widmore Corporations dating back to the start of the Dharma Initiative. In the non-canon "The Lost Experience" ARG, Alvar Hanso states these drops will be made "in perpetuity," signaling a mechanism in place to provide such drops infinitely.

I'll let you fight out which possibility is correct.

The Time Travelers Club

Seeing Ms. Hawking in frame with Brother Campbell is one of the great moments of the show for me. It's small, its fleeting, it hasn't been touched upon since, and yet haunts me as few other images on the show have.

We know Charles Widmore feels that the Island is his, not Ben's. It's strongly hinted that he was once on the Island himself, but ousted by that upstart Linus. We also know that turning the wheel shoots you forth in time while shooting the Island somewhere else in time. Ms. Hawking and Brother Campbell are either both similiarly "unstuck in time" as these two, experience flashes such as Des, or are merely pawns in Widmore's game to place Des on the Island to access it for himself.

I'm hoping it's not the latter, as it's the least interesting of the three. But Brother Campbell and Ms. Hawking absolutely interfere at critical moments in which Des' decision would alter him irrevocably away from the around-the-world race. But just as Des is unable to fully tell his travel buddies in this episode the true nature of their part in his story, Hawking and Campbell are unable/unwilling to divulge the true nature of Des' journey to him. It's only when Des veers off course in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" that Hawking lets down her guard and explicitly gets Des back on "proper" course.

And lest you think Des leaving the Island means his destiny-laden work is over, remember that there's one vision that still hasn't come true yet. But will get to that one just before season's end.

23) The Moment

I love Jin's ghost story more than boneless buffalo wings coupled with good beer.

42) In Retrospect

Given the title of the episode, one was meant to wonder at the time if Penny would have been parachuting in had Des let Charlie die. Clearly this isn't the case, as the Kahana left port almost immediately after the sky went purple without Penny onboard. As such, Desmond DID pass the Abraham-like test by saving Charlie, in that he picked charity over self-interest.

108) In Summary

A character study disguised as a time-travel odyssey, this episode is the first of three character-centric episodes that set up the stakes for the narrative and mythological onslaught of the final three episodes. In addition, this episode in many ways sets up Season 4, with the presence of the Kahana keenly felt from this moment on.

As such, while it's the weakest of the three Des-centric episodes, it's still a fantastic episode of Lost. The Fateful Four material is golden, Brother Campbell's appearance tantalizes, and Naomi's appearance sets in motion events that resonate for seasons to come. Next up: Sun-centric goodness!

Leave your thoughts about this episode below!

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to join the all-new Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed. Pretty soon he'll have as many platforms as Desmond has pieces to his flash puzzle.