Flashes Before Your Eyes

"Flashes Before Your Eyes"
Season	3
Episode	8
Airdate	February 14, 2007
Flashback	Desmond
Days	73
Writer	Damon Lindelof Drew Goddard
Director	Jack Bender
Guests	Sonya Walger - Penny Widmore Alan Dale - Charles Widmore Shishir Kurup - Donovan Fionnula Flanagan - Ms. Hawking Katie Doyle - receptionist Jeremy Colvin - delivery man Michael Titterton - bartender David Cordell - Jimmy Lennon Stephen Quinn - photographer
Transcript	Flashes Before Your Eyes transcript

Flashes Before Your Eyes was the eighth episode in Season 3, and was broadcast on February 14, 2007. A suspicious and determined Charlie enlists Hurley to help him wrangle the truth out of Desmond, who has been acting strangely ever since the implosion of the hatch.
The flashbacks in this episode appear in a different format – not as memories, but as one continuous "lucid flashback" of déjà vu after the discharge knocked him out. Although they showed a slot in Desmond’s past, different aspects from the Island such as the Numbers and the countdown timer came back and haunted him, and the segment ended when he was hit on the head again.

Synopsis

On the main island

Desmond saving Claire from the water

Desmond finds Hurley and Charlie ransacking Sawyer's stash and brings them to the jungle to meet Sayid and Locke. Locke tells Hurley and Charlie that Eko is dead, and that they need to act unafraid to keep panic at the camp at a minimum. During the conversation, Desmond begins to act increasingly nervous, and suddenly runs away from the group toward the shore. Desmond throws off his shirt and dives into the ocean where Claire is drowning. Desmond saves Claire, resuscitating her on the beach, while Charlie stands on the side, trying to help and see if Claire is okay. Afterwards, Charlie wants to know how Desmond knew Claire was drowning, and thinks that by getting Desmond drunk he can get him to talk. Hurley and Charlie start drinking MacCutcheon Scotch whisky with Desmond, sharing stories and drinking songs. Charlie then makes his move, asking him how he knew, but Desmond simply walks away. Charlie calls after him, saying that he is a coward, prompting Desmond to return the insult by slamming Charlie to the ground and trying to strangle him. As Charlie chokes for air, Desmond screams "you don't wanna know what happened to me", recalling what happened after he turned the key.

Lucid flashback

Desmond wakes up in London.

The countdown timer reaches zero and goes into system failure mode. Desmond tears apart the bookcase and finds the fail-safe key. He goes under the floor, says "I love you Penny", and turns the key. His world turns to white and his life flashes before his eyes.

He wakes up lying on a wood floor with what looks like blood all over him. He looks around and sees a spilled can of red paint and a fallen ladder. Penny runs over to him and asks if he's okay. He realizes that they are in his old flat in the past. Delighted to be back with Penny, he kisses and embraces her.

Desmond later fixes his tie and glances at the clock, which reads 1:08. Penny helps him as he tells her how glad he is that she just moved in. They discuss Desmond's impending meeting with her father, and Penny says that if it doesn't go well it won't be "the end of the world." This phrase disturbs Desmond, especially since he hears the sound of the countdown timer beeping - but it turns out to just be the microwave. Penny asks if he's alright and he says he just has déjà vu.

Desmond in the Widmore Industries building, hearing the numbers.

Desmond checks in with the Widmore Industries receptionist. A delivery man then arrives with a 'parcel for 815". The mention of "4-8-15" brings up a flash of the numbers in Desmond's mind, and momentarily unsettles him again.

In his office, Mr. Widmore discusses Desmond's resume with him. When Desmond compliments Mr. Widmore's ship model, and Widmore says that he is sponsoring a race around the world, Desmond has another flash of him on his own future boat. Widmore offers Desmond a position in the administrative department, but Desmond tells him he isn't there for a job. Instead, he wants to ask his permission to marry Penny.

Widmore calls it a noble gesture and takes out a bottle of MacCutcheon Scotch whisky and two glasses. However, he only pours whisky into one glass, saying that one swallow costs more than Desmond would make in a month, and sharing it with him would be a waste because he will never be a great man. Not being worthy to drink his whisky, how could he ever be worthy to marry his daughter? After exiting the building, Desmond throws his tie on the floor.

Desmond tries to explain himself to Charlie.

On the sidewalk, Desmond comes upon Charlie playing guitar and singing "Wonderwall" to the crowd for change. Desmond claims to recognize him, and flashes to Charlie during the hatch system failure. Desmond has more flashes and begins freaking out, remembering the time he has just experienced and how it started to rain. Just then, it begins to pour.

Desmond goes to a research library and finds his friend Donovan, a physicist, to ask him about the concept of time travel. Desmond questions if it's possible that he's reliving part of his life, but Donovan suggests his mind is just reacting to his failure with Widmore by giving him a role of importance on the island. Donovan says that if he is reliving his life, he should be able to predict what happens next. Desmond says he can't remember everything, but then the song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" comes on the jukebox, and he gets another flash. Looking up at the soccer game, he says that Graybridge comes back from two goals down in the final two minutes of the game to win. Desmond then adds that immediately following, Jimmy Lennon will come in and hit the bartender with a cricket bat. They watch the game, but the team fails to score. Desmond, disappointed, accepts Donovan's advice to get on with his life and marry Penny.

Desmond comes home and tells Penny he didn't get the job. To console him, she suggests they go out and celebrate the occasion. He asks why she loves him, and she replies that it's because he's a 'good man,' and in her experience, those are hard to come by. They kiss.

Ms. Hawking and Desmond watching the falling scaffolding.

Some time later, Desmond looks at rings in a shop. Ms. Hawking, the shop keeper, aids him in his browsing, finding him the perfect one for his price range. He says he'll take the ring, but is taken aback when she says "no, you won't." Ms. Hawking tells the astonished Desmond that he isn't supposed to take the ring, because his not buying it led to his original fate of ending up on the island and turning the fail-safe key. She also states that "if you don't do those things, Desmond David Hume, every single one of us is dead."

Ms. Hawking decides that Desmond needs persuasion and brings him outside. She buys some chestnuts and points out a man wearing red shoes. Desmond theorizes that she is really his subconscious but she only smiles. Desmond says he is determined to marry Penny, but Ms. Hawking is confident that that won't happen. Suddenly, scaffolding falls on the man wearing red shoes, and Desmond accuses Ms. Hawking of knowing what would happen, asking why she didn't try to stop it. She says it was his fate to die and that no one can change their fate. If she warned him about the scaffolding, he would have been hit by a taxi, and if she had warned him about the taxi, he would have fallen in the shower and broken his neck. If someone manages to forestall fate, the universe will "course correct" itself and find another way of forcing them back on their prescribed path. Desmond, however, refuses to concede that he is a slave to the universe, and takes the ring anyway.

Penny and Desmond's photo is taken.

Desmond goes to meet Penny and is unsettled by a Royal Scots recruitment poster. He meets her near Westminster bridge and is propositioned by a photographer. Penny convinces him to get their photo taken together. They change the pull down background scenes until they find one Penny likes, and he takes off his coat so that they end up matching the photo that Desmond carries with him on the island. Desmond stares at the photo and comes to a realization about his fate. He tells Penny that he isn't the man he needs to be and that they aren't supposed to be together. She runs off crying, but not before calling him a coward, and Desmond throws the ring into the River Thames.

Desmond is back at the pub and spots the MacCutcheon Scotch whisky but goes for the cheap stuff instead. He tells the bartender he thinks he's made the biggest mistake of his life, and that he thinks he's made it before.

Desmond returning to the Island, after his déjà vu "journey" is completed.

"Make Your Own Kind of Music" starts playing on the jukebox again, and Desmond sees another football game on the television, but this time the team makes the goal. Excited that his vision of the future was correct, he decides that he might have a chance to change his fate after all. The third part of his prediction comes true too, and a cricket-bat brandishing Jimmy Lennon storms into the bar to accost the bartender. Jimmy swings the bat at the bartender and Desmond yells for him to duck, causing the bat to hit Desmond instead.

Desmond's world fades to white, and he wakes up naked in the jungle with injuries all over from the hatch implosion, and also still hurting from where he was hit with the bat. He runs to where the hatch was and is dismayed at seeing the hole in the ground. Among the debris he finds his photo. He cries and pleads to be given another chance to change the past.

Back on the main island

Charlie learns about his doomed fate.

After recalling what happened, Desmond is pulled off Charlie by Hurley. Beginning to sob, Charlie takes pity on him and escorts him back to his tent. They apologise to each other and Desmond tells Charlie he is a good man. He says that when he turned the key, his life flashed before his eyes, but when he woke up back in the jungle, the flashes didn't stop.

Charlie asks if Desmond saved Claire after seeing a flash of her drowning, and Desmond chillingly says that Charlie is actually the one that he saved. It was Charlie who he had seen be electrocuted by the lightning bolt, and he whom he had seen drown trying to rescue Claire. He says that although he has saved Charlie twice already, the universe will inevitably "course correct". No matter what he tries to do, Charlie is going to die.

Trivia

• On the advertisement hoardings of the football (soccer) match Desmond was watching there were ads for Apollo Candy, the Hanso Foundation, Oceanic Airlines, Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack, Gannon Car Rentals, Butties Diapers, Radio RPR 103.5, KRONOS (a real life company selling Titandioxid), and Exposé. image at lost.cubit.net
• There are a large number of uses of and references to the color red (paint, shoes, scotch, shirt, tie, etc).
• Coming in at over 25 minutes, Desmond's flashback is by far the longest of any character in any episode so far.
• In front of the Widmore Industries before Desmond throws his tie, an old man in a blue suit walks towards Desmond. After the camera angle changes, a young man with a different suit appears where the old man should be. When the camera angle changes again, the same old man is in the background.
• A large number of inaccuracies (or clues) are present in the "London" scenes - e.g. the US style taxi beacon, a small dome and other unidentified building on the South bank, a totally US-style British pub, style food carts that are part of the idealised tourism image of London, etc.

• The Royal Scots recruitment poster spelling uses the American English spelling "honor" instead of the British English "honour" that would be used in the UK. The soldier pictured is carrying a US rifle (not a British SA80) and is wearing a US style helmet. These are mistakes by the (American) props department, acknowledged by the producers on the February 20th official lost podcast.

• The microwave in Penny's flat makes the same noise as the alarm in the Swan station. Also, in Ms. Hawking's shop, the clocks ticking sound notably similar to the machinery in the Swan computer room.
• When Desmond goes to meet his friend Donovan in the University, the story atrium is yet another occurrence of the octagonal shape.
• In an Entertainment Weekly Article, Damon Lindelof is quoted saying that this episode uses a flashback device employed "in a way we have never seen before and never will again".
• According to the producers, Desmond did really travel back in time, and the events he relived occured in 1996. (Official Lost Podcast/February 20, 2007)

• In that scene with Charlie, the taxi directly behind him clearly has a 2001 registration number, a red "New" Mini drives past in the background and a "bendy" bus is seen which was not introduced until June 2002. This is another continuity error.

• One of the background choices for Desmond and Penny's Photograph that the photographer pulls down is the same as a picture of the desert that was in the hatch.

Cultural references

A polar bear, buddha, and the word "namaste" appear in the painting Desmond sees in Charles Widmore's office.

• The Admiral MacCutcheon that Charles Widmore mentions to Desmond was a character from a remake film of the classic, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (by Jules Verne). Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje played a character named Cabe Attucks in a remake of that film.
• Charlie's middle name is Hieronymus. This name is a variation of the name Geronimo (as in Geronimo Jackson) or Jerome. Its origin is Ancient Greek, where it means "sacred name".
• The soccer match shown is actually footage of the Spanish Cup final 1989 between F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid. The goal-scorer is the famous Danish player, Michael Laudrup.

• The actual most decorated Admiral in the history of the Royal Navy was Lord Horatio Nelson. However he didn't retire, he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar.

• Ms. Hawking's name is a clear reference to physicist Stephen Hawking, who writes books dealing with the nature of space and time - crucial issues in the episode.
• Sarah McLachlan's Building a Mystery was played in the background while Desmond was getting ready for his job interview.
• The song played on the jukebox in the bar is Cass Elliot's Make Your Own Kind of Music which was also heard in "Man of Science, Man of Faith", "Adrift" and "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1".
• The book that is found in Sawyer's stash is Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov.
• The title of Sawyer's fictional pornography magazines is PLAYPEN, a contraction of Playboy and Penthouse. This fictional adult magazine title has also appeared on Scrubs (3x09, "My Dirty Secret"), Married... with Children, Family Guy, That 70's Show, and Kyle XY.

Wonderwall

Charlie performs Oasis's Wonderwall when Desmond encounters him on the street. Charlie's band, Driveshaft, appears loosely modeled on Oasis. (Driveshaft#Oasis influence)

• The song was released in 1995, one year before the date of the flashback, according to the 02/20/07 Postcast.
• The lyrics that Charlie sang are: "Because maybe, you're gonna be the one who saves me..." (Desmond saved Charlie from the lightning & drowning).

Paintings

Charles Widmore's office has several paintings (see main article: Painting (Widmore)) which includes:

• Namaste, which appears to be written backwards in some shots that are reversed.
• Mountains, reminiscent of those on the island.
• A polar bear taken from the Orientation video.
• An upside-down Buddha

Also in Charles Widmore's office, on the wall behind and to Desmond's right, a painting can be seen that is identical to the one that Claire's ex-boyfriend painted, seen in "Raised by Another".

See also: Possible cultural references for "Flashes Before Your Eyes"

Recurring themes

• The episode is titled Flashes Before Your Eyes. (Eyes)
• Desmond's "flashback" starts with a closeup of his left eye. (Eyes)
• The company that made the red paint that Desmond was using to paint the walls of his flat with was called "FUTURE" paint. (Time)
• Ms. Hawking specifically mentions that Desmond "will" spend 3 years on the island until he has to turn the safety key. (Time)
• Hawking tells Desmond things in the universe happen not by human choice, but because they are naturally supposed to. (Fate versus free will)
• Desmond cries over the picture and says he's sorry and would like to change it. (Redemption)
• Right after Desmond and Hawking see the man in the red shoes, he is found to be the victim of the scaffolding, with a possibly strong symbolism attached to the whole living-and-dying incident. (Life and death)
• Penny tells Desmond something about her father being "too daft to understand", implying her relationship with her old man is far from ideal. (Parent issues)
• Ms. Hawking's room is filled with clocks of various types. We can see some of them and hear the tickings and bells suggesting there are others. (Time)
• Desmond talks to Charlie in his flashback. (Character connections)
• It rains after Desmond talks to Charlie. (Rain)
• Desmond saves Charlie's life twice, but is convinced Charlie is fated to die. (Fate)
• Desmond buys the ring against Ms. Hawking's instruction, takes Jimmy Lennon's hit originally intended for the bartender, and apparently prevents Charlie's death twice. (Free Will)
• Soccer field ad for KRONOS, which in English is a phonetic match for Khronos, Greek for time. (Time)
• Penny tells Desmond she loves him because he is a "good person". Desmond calls Charlie a "good man". (Good and bad people)
• Desmond sees a clock that says 1:08. Also, in Widmore's lobby, the delivery man states the package number to be 815 -- actual words were "for (4) 8:15". The PLAYPEN issue in Sawyer's stash contained a '15th Annual Girls of Fiji Pictorial'.Lastly, the photo stand where Desmond and Penny have there pictures taken has a number 15 on the side of it. (The Numbers)  (Time)
• Desmond catches Charlie singing the line "Because maybe, you're gonna be the one who saves me". If what Ms. Hawking says is true, this is ironic: he can never save Charlie. (Irony)
• Desmond finds the picture in the remains of the hatch and says "Please, let me come back. I'll make it right this time". Even if he's talking about going back to "a place" (the outside world), he's making an indirect reference to coming back in another time. According to the four-dimensional conception of the universe, to the perennial "confusion" involved in the understanding of a "continuum" and to the whole essence of the episode, the dubiousness seems to be perfectly intentional. (Time)
• Penny's consolation to Desmond, "I say we celebrate that fate has spared you a miserable existence under the employ of Widmore Industries", is rather ironic given Ms. Hawking's statements about his fate. (Fate versus free will)
• The Microwave in Desmond's apartment makes the same sound as the warning of the countdown timer in the hatch.

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Flashes Before Your Eyes/Theories

• Did Desmond actually travel back in time?
• If he did travel back in time does Desmond tell Penny all about the island, losties and what to look for in regards to the electromagnetic anomaly that's created by turning the key in the hatch? At the end of season 2 we see the two Portuguese researchers calling Penny Widmore and saying "It's us...I think we found it." leading us to believe that she knows what happened to Desmond and is actively looking for him.
• What happened in "the real world" between the time Desmond was hit in the bar (against the "fate" of the pasts presumed actual event) and the discharge being reported to Penelope?
  • Is Desmond's past changed by his time travel?
• Is Charlie going to die?
• Where were Nikki and Paulo when Desmond took Charlie and Hurley to Locke and Sayid?
• How were Locke, Eko, and Charlie's experiences during the implosion similar to or different from Desmond's?
• Why was Locke coy with Nikki and Paulo but up front with Charlie and Hurley about the cause of Eko's death?
• Why will everyone die if Desmond doesn't turn the key?
• Where is Desmond's book?
• How did both Desmond and Penny get a copy of the Polaroid-like photo? (She has one on her nightstand in "Live Together, Die Alone")
• Why is the photo guy using background props when they are in one of the most photographed spots in the world? Big Ben is in view just across the Thames?
• What "butterfly effects" will occur as a result of the changes Desmond made? He talked to Charlie, so Charlie should remember that now, and he took the hit from Jimmy Lennon, sparing the bartender.
• Why did the painting [1] in Charles Widmore's office only appear in the room when in mirror image [2]? Its also worth noting that the writing on the painting is also reversed, what does this mean?
  • Note that Desmond has changed seats between [1] and [2] above. Note also that the other painting visible in [2] is not the one on the wall in [1]. While it looks as though Desmond is glancing to his right in [2], he is actually glancing to his left but the shot has been reversed. This is a common trick in film and TV, to ensure consistency in the direction actors face during a scene. Full explanation on Theories page.
• If the flashback was really a time travel experience, why or how did Ms. Hawking know what Desmond was going to do?
• If Ms. Hawking is right and the universe "self corrects" and nothing Desmond does can change it, why does she insist that Desmond must not marry Penny?

External links

• Episode Press Release
• US Trailer
• Canada Trailer