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Flashes Before Your Eyes was the eighth episode in Season 3, and was broadcast on February 14, 2007. A suspicious and determined Hurley enlists Charlie 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 finds Hurley and Charlie ransacking Sawyer's stash (of food, medical supplies, and abundant pornography). Desmond brings the two into 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 from drowning and resuscitates 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, and are having a great old time. Charlie asks him how he knew, and Desmond starts to walk away. Charlie calls Desmond a coward, and Desmond returns the insult by slamming Charlie to the ground and trying to strangle him. It is at this point Desmond begins to remember what happened to him after he turned the key.
Lucid flashback
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 and the floor. He looks around and sees a can of red paint and a ladder turned on their sides. 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 is fixing 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 arrives with a 'parcel for 815". The mention of "4-8-15" brings up a flash of the numbers in the mind of Desmond and momentarily unsettles him again.
Mr. Widmore discusses Desmond's resume with him. Desmond was a set designer for the Royal Shakespeare company. He didn't graduate from University because he had to look after his brothers after something happened to his father. He had no military experience. Desmond compliments Mr. Widmore's ship model, and Widmore says that he is sponsoring a race around the world, which causes Desmond to flash on his own future boat. He 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. But 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 be worthy to marry his daughter?
Desmond tries to explain himself to Charlie.
Outside, Desmond comes upon Charlie playing guitar and singing "Wonderwall" to the crowd for change on the sidewalk. Desmond claims to recognize him and flashes to Charlie during the hatch system failure. Desmond says he knows Charlie's name, but Charlie points to the sign below him with "Charlie Hieronymus Pace" written on it. Desmond has more flashes and starts freaking out. He starts 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 time travel. Desmond asks him 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. He says that Graybridge comes back from two goals down in the final two minutes of the game and win. Desmond then adds that immediately following, Jimmy Lennon will come in and hit the bartender with a cricket bat because the bartender owes him money. 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. She suggests they go out and celebrate the occasion that she loves him. He asks why she loves him and she says it's because he's a 'good man,' and in her experience, they are hard to come by. They kiss.
Ms. Hawking and Desmond watching the falling scaffolding.
Desmond looks at rings in a jewelry shop. Ms. Hawking says she can tell he is a first timer and asks his price range. Desmond says he is not 'a man of means' and she finds a ring for him that won't 'blind a queen' but still 'has the sparkle of life.' He says he'll take the ring and 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. 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 says that won't happen. Suddenly scaffolding falls on and kills the man wearing red shoes. Desmond accuses Ms. Hawking of knowing what would happen and asks 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 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" and find another way of forcing them back on their prescribed path. Desmond 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, and he 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. Desmond 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 the Déjà vu, we return to Desmond on top of Charlie, strangling him, while Hurley is attempting to pull him off. He pulls Desmond off, and Desmond starts sobbing. 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. Desmond says that Charlie is actually the one that he saved. First he saw Charlie electrocuted by the lightning bolt, and then he saw Charlie drown trying to rescue Claire. He says that although he has saved Charlie twice already, the universe will inevitably "course correct". That no matter what he tries to do, Charlie is going to die.
Trivia
- On the soccer field of the game Desmond was watching, there are 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
- 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 pub, "Olde Worlde" style food carts etc.
- The Royal Scots recruitment poster spells uses the American spelling "honor" instead of the British "honour" that would be expected of a Royal Army unit recruiting in London. This is most likely a mistake by the (American) props department, and not a deliberate clue.
- 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.
Cultural references
| Cultural references (direct references only) |
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| Art • Automobiles • Games • History • Literary works • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science |
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.
- 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. Note: The issue shown in the episode contained a '15th Annual Girls of Fiji Pictorial'.
See also: Possible cultural references for "Flashes Before Your Eyes"
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)
- This places the déjà vu or flashback at some point after the year 1995, when Wonderwall was released (more definitively after 1997, since "Building a Mystery" was released that year). However in that scene the taxi directly behind Charlie 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.
- The lyrics that Charlie sang are: "Because maybe, you're gonna be the one who saves me..." (Desmond saved Charlie from the lightning & drowning).
Painting
Charles Widmore's office has a painting (see main article: Painting (Widmore)) which includes:
- Namaste, written backwards in a mirror-image reversal
- Mountains, reminiscent of those on the island.
- A polar bear
- An upside-down Buddha
Recurring themes
| Recurring themes |
|---|
| Animals • Black and white • Character connections • Children • Coincidence • Death • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Economics • Electromagnetism • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Games • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Leadership • Life and death • Literary works • Mirrors • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Pairings • Parapsychology • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Psychology • Rain • Redemption • Relationships • Religion • Revenge • Salvation • Secrets |
- 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)
- 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 Mrs. 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 phoenetic 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". Lastly, the photo stand where Desmond and Penny have there pictures taken has a number 15 on the side of it. (The Numbers) (Time)
- Charlie singing "Because maybe, you're gonna be the one who saves me..." is ironic: Desmond can never save Charlie. (Irony)
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
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|
- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Flashes Before Your Eyes/Theories
- Did Desmond really travel back in time?
- 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?