Lost 3.17: "Catch-22"

Written by Jeff Pinkner and Brian K. Vaughn
Directed by Stephen Williams

In which Desmond receives a vision that seems to have great personal importance, but to get what he wants, he may have to sacrifice Charlie…

Status Report

While Juliet and Ben have proven to be excellent additions to the cast, another character has been around longer and has been equally impressive. That character, of course, is Desmond. Initially dismissed as a minor addition along with the rest of the Swan Station, Desmond has become critical to the dynamic of the JackLocke tribe, taking on Locke’s visionary status since the beginning of the season.

Desmond represents a substantial contrast to the backlash against new characters on “Lost”. New characters tend to fall into two categories: the embraced and the loathed. Desmond stands with Juliet, Ben, and Eko as characters that have ultimately been accepted by the majority of fans. Others, like Ana Lucia, Nikki, and Paulo, were a constant source of contention.

This is a good thing, because Desmond is clearly connected to larger themes and concepts within the mythology, and without him, the story would be a lot less interesting. If one considers Locke to be aligned spiritually with the island, either in his own mind or in truth, then Desmond appears to be aligned with the undercurrent of unexplained phenomena beyond the island. Desmond’s experiences fall within the same realm as the psychic from “Raised by Another”, for example.

Desmond’s character has a complicated background, yet his psychology is very simple. Despite moments of apparent bravery and dedication, he is crippled by a deep cowardice. He also feels trapped by some vague sense of predestination. He’s constantly searching for meaning in his life, not unlike John Locke. The difference is that Desmond has never really felt that sense of purpose. In his own way, he reflects back on his own regrets through a filter that blinds him to the truth.

Like Juliet, Desmond wants to find a way to a specific individual: Penny. Desmond’s cowardice nearly drove her from his life, but she refused to accept that limitation. The end result was a complicated moment for Desmond. The choice to enter the race around the world was, in and of itself, an act of courage. Yet it was also another expression of his cowardice. In trying to win her father’s respect, Desmond was still running away from Penny.

This episode poses the interesting flip side to that idea. Desmond is, in fact, always running away from something. But as Brother Campbell astutely notes, whenever someone is running away from something, they are inevitably running towards something else. And if one takes predestination into account, both interpretations are part of a larger scheme.

Locke has come to believe that his destination was the island itself (though his interpretations have changed over time). Desmond has come to recognize, on some level, that he was destined to come to the island, but he’s no longer sure that the island is the final step in the journey. Taken in context with the connections to the mythology and the focus of each character, there appears to be a clear transition between Locke’s part of the story and Desmond’s part of the story. (Indeed, one is left wondering if Locke will survive the end of the season, given the signs and portents.)

All of that plays into Desmond’s mindset in this episode. Desmond’s visions present him with a difficult choice. He believes that Penny has come to the island to find him, and that his trek into the jungle will lead him to her. Unfortunately, for that to happen, Charlie must die. For whatever reason, Desmond is compelled to save Charlie from his appointed fate. Thus Desmond is forced to choose between his own happiness and the happiness of another. His choice, from a certain point of view, fits into the overall redemption model.

While the episode itself is relatively straightforward in terms of the concept’s exploration, there are interesting implications. After all, from Desmond’s point of view, he may have changed things enough that the parachutist’s identity changed because he saved Charlie. A more pragmatic interpretation would be that Desmond was making assumptions and that the identity of the new arrival was always the same, but his reaction will be consistent with his psychology.

This would appear to suggest that events can be changed. However, that wasn’t the lesson of “Flashes Before Your Eyes”. In that episode, the rule was “course correction”: minor changes might take place, but in the end, everything happens the way it was meant to happen. In other words, Desmond’s choice to save Charlie wouldn’t prevent Penny from coming to the island or acting to find and save him. It would just change how that process evolves.

That idea is subtly reinforced by the fact that Brother Campbell was in some way associated with the mysterious woman from “Flashes Before Your Eyes”. This might have been a mere thematic association on the part of the producers, since Brother Campbell’s message was not unlike Ms. Hawkings’ message, but the similarities might be deliberate. Beyond Dharma and the Others, and whatever organization stands behind all of that, there may be something far more mystical driving a “course correction” on a larger scale. The parachutist mentions Desmond by name, which suggests that the tapestry is still coming together in some fashion.

Naomi’s arrival, coming so soon after the initiation of Ben’s latest plan, is rather suspicious. On the other hand, Desmond was not one of the original survivors of Oceanic 815, so it’s unlikely that Ben would have a sense of how to manipulate Desmond at this stage of the game. If Naomi was sent by Penny to find Desmond, it would finally bring the scene at the end of the second season into context with the rest of the season. (Indeed, it has only been a couple weeks since the EMP was detected; it’s logical to assume that any operation to find Desmond would take several days to put together.)

Desmond’s choice (well described by the title of the episode) dominated the episode, but there was one relatively significant subplot. After everything they went through, Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are trying to find a new comfort zone, and Juliet is not making that easy. Despite the potential for Kate-inspired tension, Jack and Sawyer seem to have a lot more respect for each other. They may be rivals, after a fashion, but they do care about each other’s welfare.

The Jack/Sawyer dynamic was good enough to counter the disappointing turn for Kate. Once again, Kate’s actions are defined by her relationship to Jack and Sawyer, which is not a good sign. While this does reinforce the idea that her insecurities drive a need for a man’s love, the one aspect of her character that has been relatively consistent over the course of the series, it’s disappointing to see a supposedly strong female character resort to such measures. Sawyer may not object to being used (too much), but it doesn’t make it palatable.

Final Analysis

Overall, this episode is another success for the third season, continuing the recent trend of strong material coming into the final stretch. The character at the center of the episode drives a compelling storyline that looks to factor heavily into the end of the season and beyond. “Lost” is definitely experiencing a resurgence, and the timing couldn’t be better.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

(Season Average: 7.5)