Some notes from Season 3

In the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes", Desmond appears to travel back in time to before the events on the island. The question is, has he gone back in time, or is he reliving the past in some kind of flash-back? A related question is, does he have “premonitions”, or does he periodically go back in time so that he can make the changes that he has been making?

Desmond’s premonitions appear to have started after the destruction of the Swan station. But if he is merely having premonitions, then the flashbacks in “Flashes Before Your Eyes" are showing us when he first started getting premonitions. His meeting with Charlie on the street while Charlie played the guitar and his recollection of the outcome of the football game on the television in the pub were premonitions and not previous experiences. He did not go back in time. If this is the case, then the destruction of the hatch had nothing to do with his premonitions, he was having them before going to the island. But then why did they seem to be a new ability of his after the destruction of the hatch?

I prefer to believe that when the hatch was destroyed, Desmond was thrown back in time, and has become somehow become “unstuck” in time. He periodically goes back a day or two in time, and relives it.

The reason I feel this is important, is because of Jack’s “flash-forwards” in “Through the Looking Glass”. During Desmond’s flash-back, he is told by a disturbingly knowledgeable shopkeeper, Mrs. Hawking, that he is “not supposed” to marry Penelope. Locke is frequently talking about his destiny, and what is “supposed” to happen. When Jack calls the boat at the end of “Through the Looking Glass”, Locke says that he doesn’t understand, that this was not supposed to happen. Finally, in Jacks flash-forward, he tells Kate that they were not supposed to get off the island, and that they need to go back.

My theory is that after their rescue, Jack and Desmond are going to get together and discuss whether they are supposed to be of the island. Desmond will agree with Jack, and suddenly find himself in the back in the Looking Glass. He will stop Charlie from disabling the signal jammer, thus preventing contact with the rescue boat. This may also have the side effect of preventing Charlie’s death again.

When will this happen? Probably not until the end of season 4.