Once Desmond sees he's dead he grabs the key from around his neck and races back to the hatch. He's too late. The countdown has expired, and the voice on the speaker system keeps repeating "System Failure" over and over again. Everything is shaking, and the hieroglyphics are showing on the timer. Desmond can only manage a few of the numbers before "System Failure" covers the computer screen over and over again. Then the shaking gets worse. All the metal objects in the hatch start flying across the room. Desmond enters in the final numbers and hits Execute. A moment passes, and then it stops. The computer goes back to normal, and everything is quieter again.

In the present, Desmond is poring over the printouts from the other computer. "When did you come here? The island. When did you come here?" Desmond asks him. "I don't know, 60 days ago." Locke says. "No, the date!" Desmond says. "It was September 22nd"" Then Desmond looks down at the printout. The system failure that happened after Inman died. The one that caused the electromagnetism to start to breach, happened on September 22nd. The same day the plane went down. The massive electromagnetic output from not entering the numbers caused the plane to crash. Hear that sound? That is the sound of your mind being blown away. "I think I crashed your plane." Desmond says, as he looks up form the printout.

Back with Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, and scumbag Michael are all hooded, except for Michael, and being led down a dock. This must be the Pala Ferry referred to in the orientation tape. The French woman's daughter is there, as well as the bearded man and all the other Others. The Others pull off the captives' hoods and we see they are all gagged. Kate mumbles that they know the bearded guy's beard is fake. "Why thank you, Kate. You don't know how much this itches." He says as he takes it off. We then find out that the bearded man and Miss Clue's real names are Tom and Dee. Then we hear a noise. It's the boat from last seasons finale. And there is someone on it. It's Henry Gale. He strides onto the ferry landing and looks at Jack. "Hello again," he says calmly. He then looks over at Tom, the former bearded man. "Where's your beard?" he asks impatiently. "I think they know." says Tom sheepishly. So Henry is the leader of the Others? Or at least the liaison between the Others and the real people behind it all. But what are the Others doing here? Were they dressed that way to fool the people in the hatches? Henry then looks over at Michael and says, "Let's get down to business." And business on the Lost island is a THIRTY BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY!! And after he says that they cut to commercial. Goddamn this show. I am having multiple TVgasms and dramatic blue balls all at the same time!

In the hatch Charlie is waking up after the explosion knocked him out. He wanders into the other room and sees Eko unconscious beneath some falling debris. In the computer room Desmond is frantically explaining to Locke that he crashed his plane. The button needs to be pushed. It's all real. Locke still doesn't believe him. When Desmond goes to enter in the buttons himself, Locke grabs the computer and smashes it to the floor. Desmond is panic-stricken. "You've killed us all," he says. "No, I've saved us all." Locke tells him. Desmond then releases the lockdown and runs out to the hall. He starts searching behind the bookcase when he stumbles across his Dickens book. This triggers the final flashback sequence.

Desmond is in the hatch now, alone and despondent. He is holding a gun contemplating suicide and drinking that sweet Dharma vodka. He finally decides to do what he has planned on all his life. He is going to read his final Dickens novel. When he opens the book though, a piece of paper falls out. He opens it to discover that his book is now three years overdue. Just kidding, It is a letter from Penny. It reads:

Dearest Des,
I am writing this letter you as you leave for prison and I've hidden in the one place you would turn to in a moment of great desperation. I know you go away with the weight of what happened on your shoulders. And I know the only person who can ever take it off is you. Please don't give up Des. Because all we really need to survive is a person who truly loves us. And you have her. I will wait for you always.
Love Pen.

So I guess Penny's idea of "forever" is a few years until she decides to marry another dude. Freaking chicks man...

The letter sends Desmond into a rage. He starts to sob and then rips the place apart. When he collapses on the floor he hears a noise. Banging outside at the top of the hatch. When he goes to look up he hears that it is Locke, on the night Boone died. He starts to cry tears of joy that only the sight of a middle-aged bald man can trigger. I suffer the same affliction. To this day I can't watch a movie with Patrick Stewart without breaking into uncontrollable sobbing.

Posted by EdHIll on May 31, 2006 5:28 PM