Lost Episode 3.17 Catch-22

Charlie and Hurley trek through the jungle. Charlie steps on a trip wire and SCHLICK! An arrow embeds itself into Charlie's neck. Then FLASH! Hurley lifts a cable out of the sand. FLASH! In the night sky, a blinking red light slowly descends. FLASH! Jin shouts and pulls a sheet taunt. FLASH! A helmeted figure dangles from a tree in a tangle of cords. FLASHFLASHFLASH! The images repeat themselves, finally resting on the photo of Desmond and Penny Widmore and then FLASH!

Desmond gasps, sweating and disoriented. For the first time we experienced what it's like for Desmond to see the future. He finds Hurley and wants to be taken to the cable in the sand. Why? Because he knows someone's coming. Desmond explains he saw a sequence of events that are going to happen. Usually he sees just one thing, but this was different. It was like a jigsaw puzzle, and he doesn't know how the pieces fit together. Hurley wants to know what the other images were, but Desmond's worried if he tells it might change events. Hurley realizes that Desmond wants the events to happen and guesses that "someone coming" relates to them getting rescued.

FLASHBACK to Desmond silently waiting in what looks like a small prison cell. A monk comes in and tells Desmond it's time. The monk says that God tests our faith in many ways. A vow of silence challenges one's patience and faith, and he wasn't sure Desmond would last a week let alone a month. But he passed the test and now Desmond is one of them. "Welcome, Brother."

On the island, Sawyer slips into Kate's tent and catches her changing clothes. He asks if she told Jack about him and her. She tells him Jack saw them together on the monitors. They had cameras on the cages. Then Sawyer asks her for a little afternoon delight. Kate walks out on him. Sawyer asks what he has to do, make her a mix tape?

Because Charlie and Jin were also in Desmond's visions, he has to convince them to come, too. Jin easily agrees, but Charlie is suspicious of it. He doesn't want to go. Desmond lies and tells Charlie nothing will happen to him. He agrees to go. Hurley leads them to the cable. He lifts the cable out of the sand, and Desmond smiles. It's the vision he saw. They're on the right track. They make camp and wait for Desmond's mysterious "someone" to show up.

FLASHBACK to Desmond in the monastery helping the other monks bottle wine. Brother Campbell explains the name of the winery, Moriah Vineyards, was taken from the name of the mountain where Abraham was asked to kill Isaac. Another monk tells Brother Desmond he has a visitor, a guy named Derek. Desmond doesn't react as Derek punches him. Derek looks at the other monks, apologizes and leaves.

On the island, Kate runs into Jack in the kitchen area. They chat about how strange it is to be back, and then Jack leaves taking two bowls of oatmeal. Kate watches as he crosses to Juliet's tent and eats dinner with her. Kate is stunned. She crosses to Sawyer's tent, tells him not to talk, and she kisses him passionately and rips his clothes off.

That night, Desmond looks at the picture of him and Penny. Desmond explains he tried to run away from her but still she tracked him down. He now hopes she spent the last three years doing the same. Then they hear the sound of a helicopter out over the dark ocean. But then the sound changes and it crashes into the ocean. Then they notice a blinking red light slowly falling to earth. It's another one of Desmond's images he saw. They can't see what the beacon is attached to, but they watch as it falls into the jungle.

FLASHBACK to Desmond visiting Ruth, sister to the guy who punched Desmond. Desmond apologizes for disappearing one week before their wedding. Desmond says he had a calling. He was scared about the wedding, but after blacking out from drinking too much, he woke up in the street with a monk helping him up. Desmond knew then that he was supposed to leave all that mattered to him behind for a greater calling. Ruth ridicules his story, telling him next he wants to break up with a girl to simply tell her he's scared.

On the island, Desmond races through the jungle looking for the beacon. He finds a bag hanging in a tree containing supplies and a high tech satellite radio phone. Hurley quickly tries it, but it doesn't work. They also find a copy of the Desmond and Penny photo. They're shocked. Who would be carrying the same photo? Desmond is convinced it's Penny coming to rescue him. As they continue looking for Penny, they get to a clearing and Desmond realizes this is where he saw Charlie impaled by the arrow. He struggles whether he should say something to Charlie or let it play out, desperate not to change anything that would alter him finding Penny, but at the last minute he relents and shouts a warning. Charlie ducks, and the arrow lodges in the neck of his guitar.

At the beach, Sawyer brings Kate the mix tape. Kate is charmed. It's a genuinely sweet moment. Then Sawyer asks if she jumped him the night before because she saw Jack with Juliet. Kate denies it, but Sawyer doesn't buy it. He tells her she doesn't need to use him. All she has to do is ask.

Charlie confronts Desmond about the arrow. Desmond says if the flashes don't happen the way he saw them, it changes the future. He was supposed to let Charlie die, but he's saved him again and again and again. What good has it done? Desmond guesses that it's a test, like God testing Abraham, but he's failed. He's changed what he saw, and now everything he wanted is gone. But Jin shouts for them in Korean. They follow him and find the parachutist dangling from a tree in a web of cords.

FLASHBACK to Desmond in the monastery. Brother Campbell tells him he's not cut out to be a monk he's been fired. Desmond protests, but Brother Campbell tells him the Abbey isn't the place Desmond was meant to end up. Before he leaves, Desmond helps load cases of wine into a waiting car. The driver is Penny Widmore! This is how Desmond and Penny officially met. She is charmed by him, and he's captivated. There's definitely chemistry between them it's love at first sight.

On the island, Desmond cuts Penny down. Desmond removes her helmet and sees that it is not Penny. It's a woman Desmond has never seen before. He's stunned and confused. Who is this woman? Her eyes flutter open, and she sees him. Before she loses consciousness, she mutters one word: "Desmond?"