In my last Lost column, I defended the show and criticized some of the fans who demand that they get answers to certain questions, but at the same time fail to see how many answers they actually get. Right now, my brother-in-law is at the forefront of the “I am getting fed up with this show and need answers!” front.
Quite simply, to me, it seems like he needs every mystery solved right now. As my sister correctly pointed out, once you find all of that out, there’s no longer a show. Once again, the show isn’t perfect, and the powers that be really do need to find a better balance of offering some resolutions before all of these new questions come up. I mean, sure, I’d love to know the back story behind Jack’s tattoos, but I’d hardly consider that one of the show’s greatest mysteries.
Anyway, I found last week’s episode very, very cool and unique, however I didn’t think it QUITE made clear what exactly happened that allows Desmond to have these psychic visions. All we know is that, after the implosion of the hatch, he suddenly had these abilities. Well, yeah, we kinda already knew that, though. While I really liked the episode, I was a tad underwhelmed by the lack of resolution.
All of that said, I always enjoy the episodes that tinker with the flashback formula, such as when we got episodes from Claire and Michael that provided flashbacks not to their past, but instead filling in the blanks of stuff that happened on the island. We’ve also got some interesting Jin and Sun dual flashback episodes. This episode, which I refer to as the “Self-Aware Flashback” was very intriguing. It was fun seeing a character react to the very things most fans keep their eyes out for, like when Desmond looked at the clock and it was 1:08, or when the delivery came and the person mentioned 815.
As the episode was playing out, I also noticed how much time had passed before we actually got a flashback, and then the entire episode ended up being a flashback. Once again, a pretty interesting take on the formula.
The twist at the end, where Desmond revealed that he has been trying to save Charlie, and not Claire, was actually unexpected. Is he up to something? It’s possible, but from what I’ve seen, Desmond seems like an honorable character. I could find some humor and entertainment in the continued story arc where Desmond is constantly saving Charlie from being freakishly killed. Would they ever really kill of Charlie, though?
Something some viewers, including myself initially, may have missed. In the flashback, when Desmond sees Charlie and he’s singing “Wonderwall”, the line he keeps repeating is “Maybe, you’re gonna be the one who saves me.” A cool foreshadowing of the revelation at the conclusion of the episode.
One thing I don’t get, though: How did they make that one bottle of whiskey, which Desmond took a mighty swig out of right off the bat, last the entire night? And not only did they make it last, but they managed to get Desmond, Charlie, and big ol’ Hurley completely smashed. The powers of expensive whiskey, I suppose.
