"Flashes Before Your Eyes"

Good grief! The sheer volume of "easter eggs" in this episode would be enough to keep me blogging for hours! But, as Aaron's naps usually afford me AN hour, at most, we'll have to do this quickly.

First, I must direct you to this blog: http://www.meghansdailylife.blogspot.com/, and you must leave this person many comments, telling her that Jack and Kate rule the world, and that if she wants to fight, she can bring it on. That is all.

Secondly, I've been thinking about some of the new theories that have come out of the woodwork recently. As you have already noted, Meghan, as well as many others, are jumping on the Wizard of Oz theory, given as how many little easter eggs have guided us in that direction:

• Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle, and
• he arrived on the island via hot air balloon.
• Last night, the guy with the "ruby" red shoes was crushed, ala the Wicked Witch.
• Oz is commonly thought to be a dreamland, or a purgatory of sorts, and once Dorothy comes to terms with her real life and realizes that "there's no place like home," she is able to return to her reality.

I just don't buy it, though. Instead, I prefer Doc Jensen's theory on black holes. And that theory, I think, was more in tune with last night's episode.

Last night's "Flashes Before Your Eyes" reminded me a lot of "Dave" (S2) in that, at the end of the episode, all that you're left thinking is "... did that really happen?!" Was last night's episode, the majority of which was flashback, even a flashback at all? In much the same way that Hurley's imaginary friend, Dave, leads us to believe that this whole thing is merely a part of an insane man's daydreams (hello, Saint Elsewhere), the dozens of little things in Desmond's "flashback" point to the same conclusion. (Well, not that Desmond is insane.... whatever, you know what I mean.) Let's review some those things:

• Desmond's clock reads 1:08 when he wakes up from his little spill off the ladder.
• Both Penny and her father have art reminiscent of the mural in the hatch.
• Desmond's microwave makes the same sound as the countdown clock.

And I'm sure there are many, many more that I missed. But here are the things I want to talk about: First, go back and listen to what Desmond's "best mate," Donovan, was saying to his student before 'ol Desi showed up to take him out for a pint. (P.S. Does anyone else feel the strange urge to speak in an English accent today? I sure do...) He was saying something to the effect that running the same experiment 10 different times will yield 10 different results. This made me think of "The Butterfly Effect," the movie with Ashton Kutcher. It's along the same vein, too. Kutcher's character is able to go back in time to change the events that led to the death of his girlfriend, but by doing that, he sets off a whole other chain of events. "Back to the Future" has the same thing going for it, with the whole disappearance of Michael J. Fox's family from the photo he has... we've seen it all before. Bottom line, (as Desmond realizes in the end) even if he would have done things differently, even if he would have tried to be with Penny, "the universe has a way of course-correcting itself," as we found out from the creepy ring-shop lady. (Whose clocks, if you notice, all read 8:15.)

Nonetheless, in spite of this "course-correcting" mumbojumbo, Desmond seems to be attempting, in vain, to save Charlie from his own death. (Grrr, just let the hobbit die!!!) And this is where the lyrics of the song Charlie was singing on the streets of London come into play: "Because maybe / You're gonna be the who saves me." Is Desmond gonna be the one who save Charlie? God, I hope not.

Speaking of songs, not only did we hear "Make Your Own Kind of Music" in the pub, reminding us of hatch days chock full 'o button pressing past, we also heard Sarah MacLachan's "Building a Mystery" as Desmond was getting ready for his ill-fated interview with Mr. Widmore. I think that was just the producers winking at us. Bastards.

And finally, no blog is complete without bashing Claire. Honestly, who goes for a swim fully clothed?! And, for the love of Jack Shepard, where did those God-awful bangs come from?! I'm so mad at Desmond for saving Claire... or Charlie... or whoever, since they seem to both be being saved a whole lot recently. (And P.S. is Charlie really that much of a fool in love that he, as a self-admitted non-swimmer, would go try to save the drowning blonde fool?) Hopefully, the universe will course-correct itself and out us all out of our misery soon.

Looking ahead to next week, "Stranger in a Strange Land" will unravel the secret of Jack's tattooed past (maybe you'd better not watch, MKO-G), and it looks like Cindy and the Kids will be back. According to the teaser, "3 of LOST's biggest mysteries will be revealed!" Sigh. They had me at hello.