SEEING RED: OUR BIG FAT DESMOND FLASHBACK

(SCREENCAPS FROM LOST-MEDIA.COM)

Desmond returned for his close-up in "Flashes Before Your Eyes," an episode that flashed back, forward and sideways, and came perilously close to collapsing into an unwieldy, gelatinous mess.

This was a risky episode that tinkered -- cleverly -- with the tried-and-true "Lost" format, veered briefly into HUH? territory, and then hit you (and its star) with a baseball bat.

For an episode that was such a wild departure from what we're used to, it did hit a homerun, dramatically-speaking. And it was also pretty damned cute, delving into the matter of Desmond's clairvoyance as it referenced -- perhaps too obviously -- M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense." That film, about the little boy who sees dead people, was littered with red props (balloons, sweaters, doorknobs) whenever ghosts were in the vicinity.

In Desmond's flashback -- the show's longest and most complicated flasheroo to date -- red is strategically placed everywhere, almost as a joke, to keep US occupied. Because for once, it is a "Lost" character -- and not the audience -- who is stumbling over references to the show.

Desmond, who apparently had "the shining" long before he arrived on the island, experiences feelings of deja vu upon seeing the 1:08 on his digital clock; hearing the beep of his microwave; noticing a familiar piece of art (and a sailboat) in Charles Widmores' office; and overhearing a deliveryman refer to "815."

And while he's busy seeing the stuff that's usually dangled about for our benefit, we're

seeing crimson. By the gallon.

During his break-up with Penny, Desmond screams, "I don't even like red!" -- even though he is wearing a red shirt when he says it.

Red is also the color of the shirt Claire is wearing when Desmond pulls her out of the water, and the color of the MacCutcheon label on the bottle that Hurley and Charlie bring to Des on the beach.

The Swan timer hieroglyphics are red, of course, but so is the spine of the Dickens book from which Des pulls the fail safe key.

In his almost-red apartment, Des is covered with red paint when he falls and gets -- or so we surmise -- the concussion that sets all of this ESP stuff in motion. (Also note that the name on the paint can is slightly obscured, but we can see "FUTU" -- as in Futurama?)

The caps on the spice jars above his microwave are bright red, and so is the oven's READY button.

Charles Widmore's office has red walls, and there is a red box on his desk. (Who keeps a red box on his desk?)

Des wears his red shirt into the antiques store -- which has a red floor. Outside, he then passes the bright red phone booth, and is made to notice a man in red sneakers, who will die minutes later when the scaffolding collapses on him.

We see a red boat floating up the Thames, and a red canopy in the marina backdrop that Des and Penny pose in front of. (Interestingly, the canopy is not seen in the final photograph -- which made its television debut last season.)

Shots of the street where Desmond first encounters Charlie are framed on the left by a red shopping bag and on the right by a red bus.

When Des goes into the bar the first time with his Indian physics professor pal (a stand-in for M. Night Shyamalan?) the only red on view is seen on the British flag. And, at that point, Desmond's prediction about the soccer match turns out to be wrong.

BUT, when Desmond returns to the bar, and his soccer prediction comes true, we see a red glow coming from the various liquor bottles, a red sign that says "Leyland" and a framed red poster hanging by the door.

Beyond our color-of-the-week: We're not quite sure what to make of the antiques store owner played by Fionnula Flannagan. She seems a bit too real to be Desmond's subconscious. But that's really the only answer that we WANT to hear. In Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," the main character -- Billy Pilgrim -- is an optometrist who is "unstuck in time," reliving moments of his life out of sequence and eventually winding up on another planet. That was a good book, a good movie, and a good premise, but we don't want it to become part of "Lost." So, the sub-conscious theory works for us. At least until something better comes along.

One thing does appear to be fairly certain though: Someone of note is going to die. So, will it be Charlie? Or, is Desmond's quirky ESP playing a trick on him?

It was fun to hear Mama Cass again, singing Desmond's theme song ("Make Your Own Kind of Music"), but my biggest grin of the night came earlier in the show when Charlie and Hurley rummaged through Sawyer's redneck bachelor pad: "Playpen" magazine, a bottle of whiskey, a jar of olives, some chocolate cream cookies and two Dharma entrees: "Macaroni & Cheese Supper" and "Mac & Cheese Dinner." (Do you have to be a redneck to know the difference?)

I'm giving this "departure" episode an A-. But, truth be told, I'm looking forward to next week, the return of Cindy and the kids, and some answers.

Comments

[Edward]

This episode surprised me, but I guess that's to be expected from Lost. At first I was a little put off by the lenth of the "flashback" and the lack of island action, but once I got over my notion of "this is not how a Lost episode is supposed to go" I really enjoyed it.

I had a bit of a different take on the flashback than you, though, Bill. At the end, Desmond told Charlie that when he turned the key his life flashed before his eyes and then he woke up in the jubgle. Since then he is still having flashes. I don't think he did have these before the hatch implosion. What we saw last night as his memory was the flash that he was having, basically reliving his life but with the perspective of what he now knows will happen and is happening. I think this was also the reason that the sequence was uninterupted; this wasn't a strict flashback in the sense we have come acustomed to but a combination dream/flashback. In that sense, I don't think the shop lady really existed other than in Desmond's dream memory.
We've seen a lot of flashbacks of personal history and a few weird dreams. I think what we saw last night was a mutation of both.

[Bill Ervolino]

Yeah Ed,I think there is going to be a lot of mixed opinions on what was going on in Desmond's head. I think that the fall off the ladder started the clairvoyance and that the shipwreck disconnected it. Then, when the Swan bunker exploded, it started again. This is something I guess I'm going to have to watch a few more times.
I also think another conk on the head will stop it because as a plot element it is going to be too much of a distraction.
I did like the episode though. When the time travel discussion started I got a little sick, because as much as I love that concept, I didnt want to see it here. They seemed to move past it, though.
I think this will always be remembered as a 'special' episode that took some risks and wound up being very entertaining. It also reminded me a bit of "12:01 p.m." the 30-minute movie on which "Groundhog Day" was based.

[Barry]

Great synopsis as usaul, Bill. Given all the red, the "true love" theme and the underlying issue of Des end Pen's breakup, can it be mere coincidence that this episode aired on Valentine's day?

I liked this one a lot, too. There's still some mystery surrounding Desmond. There were many instances of things not being what they seemed in this ep., e.g., is it Claire (the obvious choice) or Charlie who's fated to die soon? Or, why did Pen's father take 2 glasses from the bar with the scotch? It made me think this was an alternate version of reality in which Charles welcomes Desmond into the family, until that notion was abruptly dashed. I still don't know why he took 2 glasses, except to help drive home his point to Des.

I think the show keeps getting better all the time--it's actually living up to the advance billing.

[Barry]

After watching this episode a second time, I can't help thinking of The Matrix. It's like Des has gone into the Matrix, and the jewelery store lady is The Oracle. She tells Des that he must go to the island and push the button, or they'll all die. She tells him lots of stuff--she knows all about him, a la the Oracle. And the general notion she espouses, that it's not his choice but rather what he's supposed to do--very similar to the Oracle. And all that red stuff? Who remembers the "lady in the red dress" that Mouse (I think) said he designed in The Matrix?

This ep also reminded me of Quantum Leap, as if Desmond leaped into his own past life (as Dr. Sam Beckett once did, for those who remember). The big difference is that Dr. Beckett could change certain events, set things right in someone's life--exactly what Des cannot do.

[Barry]

After watching this episode a second time, I can't help thinking of The Matrix. It's like Des has gone into the Matrix, and the jewelery store lady is The Oracle. She tells Des that he must go to the island and push the button, or they'll all die. She tells him lots of stuff--she knows all about him, a la the Oracle. And the general notion she espouses, that it's not his choice but rather what he's supposed to do--very similar to the Oracle. And all that red stuff? Who remembers the "lady in the red dress" that Mouse (I think) said he designed in The Matrix?

This ep also reminded me of Quantum Leap, as if Desmond leaped into his own past life (as Dr. Sam Beckett once did, for those who remember). The big difference is that Dr. Beckett could change certain events, set things right in someone's life--exactly what Des cannot do.

[Matt]

Wasn't Des's tracksuit in 201 also red?

[Bill E. Don't Lose That Number]

Well-done, as always, William, but I believe you missed yet another reference to "Wizard of Oz", that being the curled up feet of the red-sneaker-wearing victim of the construction collapse (just like Wicked Witch of the West buried under the house).
Also, according to IMDB.com, the woman in the jewelry store's name is Ms. Hawking. Last week, as you may recall, Hurley was seen reading "A Brief History of Time" by ... Steven Hawking.
And Charlie's supposed fate also reminds me that during the first season he had tape on this fingers, with the letters F-A-T-E spelled out on them.
I'd also don't think this was a flashback. Every flashback starts with the same eery music. It was conspicously absent before Desmond's "time shift."
Great episode, though.
All that said, this was one of the Top 5 episodes ever. Solid A on this report card.

[Bill E. Don't Lose That Number]

Almost forgot: The delivery boy didn't just say "815", he said the delivery was "for 815." As in 4,8,15.

[Michelle]

Great recap Bill. I'm a fan of time travel theories, but your right it just doesn't work here.
I like your idea that his flashes of the future started with his fall off the ladder. But I think they ended with the clunk on the head from the baseball bat. It makes more sense this way, especially if the hit with the bat made him forget the time he was clairvoyant.(I'm hesitant to use the word amnesia - I like "lost time" better)
Because I didn't get the sense that he had any clairvoyance during his other flashbacks from previous episodes.
Then the blast from the hatch caused him to remember and "relive" the time he lost.
I liked this episode a lot - I give it an A.

[Adrienne]

I must thank you for all the information. I have watched Lost from the beginning and was getting very confused. I didn't know about this web site until I saw it in the Record. I must admit I never put the "red" together. I was very confused this past week until I read your article in the paper. Thank you so much for helping me understand what is going on.

[Lisa]

Bill, did you notice that in Mr. Winthrop's office there was a painting featuring a menacing polar bear over some jagged peaks, with an upside-down buddha figure, and the words NAMASTE written backwards across it?

I've been meaning to mention this to you all week.

[Lisa]

Also, and I leave it to you how this means anything tied in to everything else, but when Desmond's friend emerges on the balcony he's chatting with a colleague about some paper she's turned in.

He says, "Your thesis is a bit moot. The wild card, Partridge, is unpredictability. Run the same test ten times and you'll get ten different outcomes. That's what makes life so wonderfully --"

He's then cut off by Desmond running into the building.

I thought it was an interesting comment to have thrown in there, given what follows with Desmond attempting to persuade him that he's reliving his life, and the subsequent insistence by Mystery Woman that the universe "course corrects" itself.

There has always been the sense that everyone on the island is part of some gigantic test, so I wonder -- are the friend's comments a red herring or a hint?

[lisa]

And I meant "Widmore" of course.