Amy Smashes Through The Looking Glass: Desmond v. Alternate Timelines

This is a REWIND POST -- Originally posted April 6, 2010 -- right in the middle of Season 6.  It relates very much to our recent discussion of Desmond, Daniel and "IN TIME." BTW- I haven't changed ONE WORD of this post since I published it. Please take this into account as you read.


DASH AND SMASH THE "FLASHES"

We've covered how the "flashsideways" work in a previous post. I used events and visual effects in "Lighthouse" to demonstrate how Jack's experiences with David directly inform or influence his revelation at Jacob's lighthouse. That is, Jack's journey is incomplete if you externally separate the episode into two storylines.

The basic premise is this:

Jack can't see the house reflected in the lighthouse mirrors and (eventually - in "Dr. Linus") call it "the house I grew up in" (instead of three different identifications: My house; the house I grew up in; I haven't lived there since I was a kid), until he "sees" himself in David.

That is, when he sees David playing the piano at his audition, he understands that David is his mirror (the reflection of his identity). He IS that uncertain, afraid, angry kid -- just like David. David "is" Jack. [We know this because the camera work at that moment echos the camera work at the beginning of this episode when Jack is staring at himself in the reflecting pond at the temple.]

Jack IDENTIFIES with David. That's the key event that leads him to tell Richard in "Dr. Linus" that he saw "the house I grew up in" reflected in the lighthouse mirrors. Jack has made a choice, and that choice has put him on the path to complete the "something he has to do." This is the story of Jack's walkabout. It's the journey he must complete in order to, literally, get his head straight on the island.

In order for this walkabout to work, Jack's "flashsideways" can't take place in an "alternate universe" in the "real" world.

But, apparently, we need more proof. So let's take a look at Desmond.


YOU ARE YOUR TIMELINE

The primary issue I have with the alt timeline idea is that it is impossible for humans, physically, consciously (in their conscious mind) or subconsciously to be engaged or "present" in two places at once (just like the human mind is not capable of holding 2 independent conversations simultaneously). If there's no such thing as time travel (think anti-paradox here), and humans can only consciously exist in ONE "HERE and NOW" at any given time, then what gives?

We have a personal timeline of existence (our memory), and it’s linear because we are linear beings. We understand our existence in sequence. The past is “BACK THEN.” We are “HERE and NOW.” The future doesn’t exist yet. Consciously flipping our sense of “HERE and NOW” back and forth between two completely different points in our personal timeline (our memory) is impossible for the human brain to handle.

For example, you are currently reading. This is your HERE and NOW. If you are currently 30 years old, and you jumped HERE and NOW to when you were 12 years old, you would believe you are actually 12 again. You would act 12. You would view the world as if you were 12. (And you'd be in the looney bin, because these behaviors are defined as "crazy" or "delusional.")

We see this happen to several characters on LOST. Charlotte shifts from one “HERE and NOW” to another before she bites the dirt. We hear little girl Charlotte tell us she's not allowed to have chocolate before dinner, as if Charlotte was a little girl. Flipping back and forth in her HEAD (conscious mind) damages her brain. In fact, all peeps who are consciously aware of the jumping around on their own timelines of experience (through memories IN THEIR HEADS) go crazy, kill themselves (peeps on the freighter) or fall over dead from a brain hemorrhage (Minkowski on the freighter, Charlotte on the island).

The one and only exception is Desmond. Remember Daniel’s (and Darlton's) words: “The Rules” don’t apply to Desmond. He’s “special.”

WHEREFORE ART THOU, DESMOND?

In "The Constant," Desmond arrives on the freighter a little freaked out. He has no idea where he is or when he is. To make matters worse, he abruptly finds himself in 1996 (mid sentence!). Weird thing is, he recognizes it as the past, but realizes he is experiencing it in his "HERE AND NOW." He is very aware that something is not right. Actually, EVERYTHING is not right!

The important thing to notice is that Desmond is consciously aware of what's happening to him (and how Not Cool it is) during his “flashbacks.” He also remembers exactly what's happened to him once he’s "back" on the freighter. He feels his memories, his flashes as “NOW” [not BACK THEN]. Whatever he is experiencing at that exact moment is “HERE” whether it’s on the freighter or in England. NOTE: Desmond does NOT know the contents of his “flashbacks” until they “happen” to him. Until he lives those moments, they don’t exist.

These experiences for him are also interactive. He has a certain amount of free will of thought and action. Using information he learns from on-island Daniel, he seeks and finds (a not so sympathetic) Oxford Prof. Daniel and gets the skinny on his predicament. He seeks out Charles Widmore to find Penny. He talks Penny into giving him his phone number to save his own life by calling her on the freighter. [Buyer Beware: Penny makes absolutely NO mention of this interaction or keeping her phone number on purpose. She already knew he was alive after she spoke with Charlie at The Looking Glass station.]

HOWEVER, even though Desmond is “special,” even HE can’t experience two points (as the HERE and NOW) on his mind’s timeline simultaneously. When Desmond is meeting Daniel and getting Penny’s phone number, his body on the freighter is unconscious. Same thing the other way: Daniel notes this when Desmond wakes up in his office. We find out this timeline jumping (and his awareness of it) will end up killing him eventually (this is why he needs a “constant.” Something to “hold on to” that connects the two points in time. NOTE: His constant is Penny, a PERSON. This is another exception to the rules.)

The important thing to remember is this: Desmond's decision on the freighter (Penny is his constant) directly influences his actions in his “flash” (get Penny’s phone number) which (immediately) influences his actions and outcomes on the freighter (he talks to Penny and doesn’t fall over dead from a brain hemorrhage).

MOST importantly: the SEQUENCE in which we see his flashes (the order they happen between his experiences on the freighter) matters. A LOT.

THE KICKER

So here’s the question: Are Desmond’s “flashback” experiences REAL? Do they take place in the "real" world? Is he physically in the past, in England AND physically on the freighter? Good question, right?

The logical argument here is that, sure, Desmond’s flashbacks aren’t “real” in that way, but they are in the PAST, so it shouldn’t make a difference if they are real or not because the past influences the present, and that’s perfectly logical. However, the “flash” storyline does not take place as a COMPLETE AND SEPARATE UNIT OF TIME in Desmond’s “past.” It is (obviously) interrupted by and integrated with his experiences on the freighter.

For example, if you pick out all of Desmond’s flashbacks from this episode and reconstruct them into an “alternate timeline” separate from or outside of his experiences on the island, neither “storyline” makes any sense. That’s because they are NOT two different storylines. All of Desmond’s experiences, freighter and memory, are ALREADY in chronological order – as we see them on the show – ONE storyline from beginning to end, in a straight LINE of existence.

In fact, if someone told you that was the ONLY way to interpret Desmond's experiences in this episode -- by dividing them up by year/location, first telling the story of the freighter and then telling the story of his "flashback"-- you know, kinda like they do for nearly every recap of the show -- you would tell them, what?

You would tell them interpreting the story that way made absolutely no frickin' sense whatsoever.

[It seems like a simple answer, right? Even our lovely LOST buddies over at Lostpedia.com (master of ALL things on LOST) did NOT split Desmond's flashes in to a separate story in their posted recap for "The Constant" (unlike how they do in recaps for EVERY OTHER EPISODE).]

LOST HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES TO LOST

Wanna know how the writers were able to come up with a "complete" timeline for all our losties years in advance?

• THEY DIDN'T.

Wanna know why some episodes in Season 4, many episodes in Season 5 and nearly all the episodes in Season 6 don't "make any frickin' sense?"

• YOU ARE REARRANGING SCENES IN THE SHOW IN YOUR HEADS (and recaps) WHEN THEY ARE ALREADY IN THE CORRECT ORDER FOR INTERPRETATION. [The results are just as if you rearranged events and/or split "storylines/timelines" in "The Constant."]

Wanna know how to make it all better?

• STOP REARRANGING THE SCENES. THEY ARE ALREADY IN ORDER.

Give it a try and see what you come up with!

_______________________________________________________

This theory created for LOSTblog.com by Amy/aohora.

ADDENDUM: Might as well cover this here with the rest of Desmond's weirdness!

THE EXCEPTION PROVES THE RULE

If Desmond is the exception to the rules, then there's only a few rules that I can see he's breaking (especially in "The Constant").

1. Desmond is consciously aware of his "flashbacking/flux" state of existence, both in the flashes and on the freighter.
2. Desmond can remember everything he experiences from one scene to the next as he passes back and forth between the flashes and the freighter. (His experience is cumulative.)
3. Even though his is aware of what's happening to him, his "body" alternates consciousness. He is unconscious on the freighter when he's experiencing 1996 and vis versa. [He's not babbling like Charlotte did.]
4. His "constant" is a PERSON. Contact with his "constant" can be aural (heard - not seen or touched). His constant is not an "anchor" for his indentity. Desmond is still Desmond after contact.
5. His SITUATION changes because of his flashes (won't die), but not his personality or perspective.
6. Near the end of the episode, it almost looks as if he can control when he "jumps."

There are probably more, I'm sure. But even if we just stick to these, they mean that "The Rules" for everyone else include:

1. Our losties are not consciously aware of their "flashing" state of existence (moving between flashes and the island).
2. They can not remember everything that happens during their flashes on the island, and they can't remember everything that happens on the island in their flashes.
3. Their "bodies" do not HAVE to be unconscious on the island for them to experience their flashes and vis versa. [However, they often are.]
4. Their "Constants" are OBJECTS. These objects are catalists for memories and/or flashes. Meaningful contact can be visual (when they see their "constant"), but definitive contact is by TOUCH. They must touch the object in order for it to work. Their "constants" act as anchors to a set of memories. Post contact, often our losties are different than they were before.
5. Their situation is not changed by their flashes, BUT their personality and perspectives are often altered, sometimes significantly.
6. They have NO control whatsoever over when they flash. (However, others can control it for them by knocking them out or drugging them.)