OK well like any other episode when I found out what the title was I kind of looked up what it meant. The two most common references are this.
1.) A person must complete 2 goals but each is dependant upon the other goal being met first, thus making the person involved in the catch-22 stuck forever unless a third party intervenes.
2.) A person has a choice to make between two objectives, people, ideas, or outcomes. No matter what he chooses the other side involved fails so the person in the middle loses either way. This is the ever popular saying "Damned if you do, Damned if you don't"
Now this episode had a very intricate catch-22 that I didn't catch to begin with. More on that later.
"Flashes"
This is the first time we have ever experienced one of Desmonds flashes at the same time as he did. What is very interesting to me is Desmond does not see them in order of what happens to lead to each step up to whatever the end result he sees. Desmond sees things in reverse that is an odd choice of how to show things but after much contemplation I figured out why.
Desmond does not see what leads up to an event since any minor thing could splinter the timeline onto a different track he sees which track the timeline chose and follows it back to make sure he can prevent it or in this case ensure it happened. Very cool way of looking at things.
This time Desmond was faced with a choice of what he thought was either saving charlie and destroying the timeline of the "flash" or letting charlie die and following the timeline the way he saw it to the mysterious parachutist. Not entirely a Catch-22 since saving charlie could never have changed the identity of the parachutist since it had already happened. Desmond with all of his heart wanted things to happen just like he saw them because he believed it was Penny in the suit however Desmond made the right choice and saved Charlie and still saved the Parachutist Naomi.
"Flashback Monk Style"
Desmond is becoming one of my favorite characters on the show very quickly he clearly has one of the most diverse and well developed backgrounds on the show. This time we learn that Desmond was not only engaged before but that he ran away from that one too. Except the first time he didn't sail away around the world he only went as far as the local monastery. We find out that one night Desmond was went and got so drunk that he doesn't remember how he ended up in lying in the middle of a street.
Now usually streets are not the best place to be but this time a passing Monk saw him in the street and offered help. Desmond felt like he should go with him and decided that being a monk was his life's calling. He took a vow of silence, and kept it much to the surprise of the other monks. Along the way as it always does in good television the past caught up to Desmond, this time in the form of his ex-soon-to be-brother-in-law who promptly punched Des in the nose. Guilt overwhelms Desmond and rushes off to explain himself to his ex-fiance who tells him not to be a wuss in the future and to just tell the girl he's leaving.
Here is where the flashback coincidences get crazy. Desmond later gets caught drinking the wine named after the mountain in the bible where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. (By the way the monks only made 108 cases this year, the dreaded numbers). This is where I could not understand how this related to the main story. They have a whole debate over Abraham and Isaac and whether it was necessary for god to test Abraham and the monk says "You just don't understand the meaning of sacrifice"
Ok now back to the story line real quick.
"Abraham and Isaac and Charlie?"
The Parallels between the back story and the jungle trek seemed at first to not really match up to me. So I was going through the dialogue from the flashbacks and came across that discussion about Abraham and Issac on the mountain where Abraham was asked to sacrifice Issac.
At first I thought Desmond was being asked to sacrifice Charlie to get to Penny in time but then I realize that for him to let charlie die isn't really a sacrifice because Charlie doesn't mean all that much to Desmond and it's not a sacrifice unless it does mean something. Then it hit me Desmond was being asked to sacrifice Penny to save Charlie not the other way around as I first thought.
Desmond knew that if he followed his visions exactly he would reach the Parachutist in time to save her. by saving Charlie he changed the picture on the puzzle box thus making her rescue uncertain. Desmond had to put his faith in God that by saving Charlie, which was the right thing to do, he would be rewarded.
Much to our "surprise" (sarcasm) it wasn't Penny in the suit but Desmond was rewarded in having saved both lives. Just like Abraham was given Issac back unscathed. LOST has always had an underlying tone of spirituality, sacrifice, and redemption to it and this is just one more example. I think Desmond realizes that he had to save charlie because it was the right thing to do and his frustration wasn't really aimed at Charlie just at the situation because he thought he couldn't win. He now knows he made the right choice because both people still live.
"Odds and Ends"
1.) The book in Naomi's backpack was called Catch-22 in Portuguese. The scientists who called Penny at the end of season 2 when the hatch imploded spoke Portuguese. Naomi also knows who Desmond is and has a picture of him and Penny. Odds are good they just got found by the first rescue attempt.
2.) The Monk had a picture on his desk of him and the Jewelry Store Lady, Ms. Hawking. Is that a coincidence or part of a more sinister plot? Did The Monk pick Desmond up off the street because Ms. Hawkings knew his future? Did they intentionally steer him towards Penny and thus he was led to the island?
3.) If the things Desmond saw in his head were not actually time travel how did he and the Jewelry store lady cross paths twice now?
4.) Was Naomi alone in the chopper? Does her tracking Beacon work? Is the island surrounded by something that hurts electronics (aircraft) and is that why the chopper crashed?
5.) I thought the Hurley and Charlie debate about Superman and The Flash was funny. Also Jin's story made me laugh pretty good. Was his story about a couple in a car and the murderer on the car radio news loose with a hook hand? That would rock.
6.) The Ping Pong game with Jack and Sawyer was also funny I liked the quip about having to play every 108 minutes or the world would end.
7.) Lastly I never thought Kate was the type of girl to go running into Sawyer's arms just because she saw Jake and Juliet eating oatmeal together. Kudos to Sawyer for figuring out her reasoning. Till next week's episode. Enjoy.
"Flashback Monk Style"
Desmond is becoming one of my favorite characters on the show very quickly he clearly has one of the most diverse and well developed backgrounds on the show. This time we learn that Desmond was not only engaged before but that he ran away from that one too. Except the first time he didn't sail away around the world he only went as far as the local monastery. We find out that one night Desmond was went and got so drunk that he doesn't remember how he ended up in lying in the middle of a street.
Now usually streets are not the best place to be but this time a passing Monk saw him in the street and offered help. Desmond felt like he should go with him and decided that being a monk was his life's calling. He took a vow of silence, and kept it much to the surprise of the other monks. Along the way as it always does in good television the past caught up to Desmond, this time in the form of his ex-soon-to be-brother-in-law who promptly punched Des in the nose. Guilt overwhelms Desmond and rushes off to explain himself to his ex-fiance who tells him not to be a wuss in the future and to just tell the girl he's leaving.
Here is where the flashback coincidences get crazy. Desmond later gets caught drinking the wine named after the mountain in the bible where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. (By the way the monks only made 108 cases this year, the dreaded numbers). This is where I could not understand how this related to the main story. They have a whole debate over Abraham and Isaac and whether it was necessary for god to test Abraham and the monk says "You just don't understand the meaning of sacrifice"
Ok now back to the story line real quick.
"Abraham and Isaac and Charlie?"
The Parallels between the back story and the jungle trek seemed at first to not really match up to me. So I was going through the dialogue from the flashbacks and came across that discussion about Abraham and Issac on the mountain where Abraham was asked to sacrifice Issac.
At first I thought Desmond was being asked to sacrifice Charlie to get to Penny in time but then I realize that for him to let charlie die isn't really a sacrifice because Charlie doesn't mean all that much to Desmond and it's not a sacrifice unless it does mean something. Then it hit me Desmond was being asked to sacrifice Penny to save Charlie not the other way around as I first thought.
Desmond knew that if he followed his visions exactly he would reach the Parachutist in time to save her. by saving Charlie he changed the picture on the puzzle box thus making her rescue uncertain. Desmond had to put his faith in God that by saving Charlie, which was the right thing to do, he would be rewarded.
Much to our "surprise" (sarcasm) it wasn't Penny in the suit but Desmond was rewarded in having saved both lives. Just like Abraham was given Issac back unscathed. LOST has always had an underlying tone of spirituality, sacrifice, and redemption to it and this is just one more example. I think Desmond realizes that he had to save charlie because it was the right thing to do and his frustration wasn't really aimed at Charlie just at the situation because he thought he couldn't win. He now knows he made the right choice because both people still live.
"Odds and Ends"
1.) The book in Naomi's backpack was called Catch-22 in Portuguese. The scientists who called Penny at the end of season 2 when the hatch imploded spoke Portuguese. Naomi also knows who Desmond is and has a picture of him and Penny. Odds are good they just got found by the first rescue attempt.
2.) The Monk had a picture on his desk of him and the Jewelry Store Lady, Ms. Hawking. Is that a coincidence or part of a more sinister plot? Did The Monk pick Desmond up off the street because Ms. Hawkings knew his future? Did they intentionally steer him towards Penny and thus he was led to the island?
3.) If the things Desmond saw in his head were not actually time travel how did he and the Jewelry store lady cross paths twice now?
4.) Was Naomi alone in the chopper? Does her tracking Beacon work? Is the island surrounded by something that hurts electronics (aircraft) and is that why the chopper crashed?
5.) I thought the Hurley and Charlie debate about Superman and The Flash was funny. Also Jin's story made me laugh pretty good. Was his story about a couple in a car and the murderer on the car radio news loose with a hook hand? That would rock.
6.) The Ping Pong game with Jack and Sawyer was also funny I liked the quip about having to play every 108 minutes or the world would end.
7.) Lastly I never thought Kate was the type of girl to go running into Sawyer's arms just because she saw Jake and Juliet eating oatmeal together. Kudos to Sawyer for figuring out her reasoning. Till next week's episode. Enjoy.
3 comments:
I think that the biblical references have got to be significant - beyond just the issue of sacrifice. Still pondering that one.
And, I think Kate's a skank. But that's just me. My husband thinks she's cute.
Cool blog. It sounds like you have it figured out. I had some similiar thought but not so detailed. Cant wait to see what you write next week.
Hi Jason
I followed a link here and I am very impressed.
I am looking forward to your thoughts on DOC and especially if you think Juliet is telling the truth . I think she lied .
Here's a question about your comments on Desmond and Charlie and sacrifice.........
After what we know in DOC about "healing" , if Des had let Charlie take the arrow, might Charlie have healed anyway, so there is no reason for Des to keep trying to save Charlie?
Sandee
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