Okay, I know I said yesterday that I might not be doing these recaps every week, but I just couldn't wait. Last night's eppy was really cool and dealt heavily with the "fate vs. free will" issue

While in the jungle with Charlie, Hurley, Sayid, and Locke, Desmond starts to act very strangely. Suddenly, he sprints towards the beach, takes off his shirt, dives into the ocean, and swims out towards Claire, who is drowning. He brings her onto the beach, performs CPR, and she begins breathing again. Later, Claire (and her new bangs - what, is there a salon on the island now?) thanks Desmond as Charlie watches suspiciously.

Hurley tells Charlie his suspicions that Desmond can see the future, so they decide to get him drunk to see if they can get some answers out of him. The three of them get loaded on McCutcheon scotch and have a great time until Charlie gets on Desmond's case about how he knew Claire was drowning, and how he knew lightning was going to strike Claire's tent before that. Desmond tries to walk away but Charlie calls him a coward so Desmond attacks him, throwing him to the ground.

Suddenly, the countdown timer reaches zero and goes into system failure mode. Desmond finds the fail-safe key. He goes under the floor, says "I love you Penny", and turns the key. His life flashes before his eyes.

Then, we go into flashback... but is it really a flashback?

He wakes up lying on a wood floor with what looks like blood all over him and the floor. He looks around and sees a can of red paint and a ladder turned on their sides. Penny runs over to him and asks if he's okay. He realizes that they are in his old flat in the past. Delighted to be back with Penny, he kisses and embraces her.

Later, Desmond is getting dressed to go meet Penny's father, Charles Widmore, for a job interview. Penny tells Des that if he doesn't get the job, it won't be "the end of the world." This phrase disturbs Desmond, especially since he hears the sound of the countdown timer beeping - but it turns out to just be the microwave. Penny asks if he's alright and he says he just has déjà vu.

Desmond checks in with the Widmore Corporation receptionist. A delivery man arrives with a package for "815". The mention of "815" brings up a flash of the numbers in the mind of Desmond and momentarily unsettles him again.

Mr. Widmore discusses Desmond's resume with him. and offers Desmond a position in the administrative department, but Desmond tells him he isn't there for a job. Instead, he wants to ask his permission to marry Penny. Widmore says some horrible things to Desmond but basically makes it clear that he doesn't think Desmond is good enough for Penny and that he doesn't give his blessing.

Outside, Desmond comes upon Charlie playing guitar and singing "Wonderwall" to the crowd for change on the sidewalk. Desmond claims to recognize him and flashes to Charlie during the hatch system failure. Desmond says he knows Charlie's name, but Charlie points to the sign below him with his name written on it. Desmond has more flashes and starts freaking out. He starts remembering the time he has just experienced and how it started to rain. Just then, it begins to pour.

Desmond goes to the pub with his friend Donovan, a physicist, to ask him about time travel. Desmond asks him if it's possible that he's reliving part of his life, but Donovan dismisses Desmond. Donovan says that if he is reliving his life, he should be able to predict what happens next. Desmond says he can't remember everything, but then the song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" (which was playing in the hatch the first time we met Desmond last season) comes on the jukebox, and he gets another flash. He says that the football team on TV comes back from two goals down in the final two minutes of the game and win. Right after, Jimmy Lennon comes in and hits the bartender with a bat because he owes him money. They watch the game, but the team fails to score. Desmond, disappointed, accepts Donovan's advice to get on with his life and marry Penny.

Desmond looks at rings in a jewelry shop. The shopkeeper, Ms. Hawking, says she can tell he is a first timer and asks his price range. He tells her he doesn't have much but she shows him a small and affordable but pretty ring. Desmond says he'll take it, but Ms. Hawking tells Desmond that he isn't supposed to take the ring, because his not buying it led to his original fate of ending up on the island and turning the fail-safe key. She tells him that if he doesn't do those things, everyone in the world will end up dead.

Ms. Hawking decides that Desmond needs persuasion and brings him outside. She points out a man wearing red shoes. Desmond theorizes that she is really his subconscious but she only smiles. Desmond says he is determined to marry Penny, but Ms. Hawking says that won't happen. Suddenly scaffolding falls on and kills the man wearing red shoes. Desmond accuses Ms. Hawking of knowing what would happen and asks why she didn't try to stop it. She says that no one can change their fate. If they manage to forestall it, the universe will "course correct" and find another way of forcing them back on their prescribed path. Desmond takes the ring anyway.

Desmond goes to meet Penny and is unsettled by a Royals Scots Army recruitment poster. Penny convinces him to get their photo taken together. They change the pull down background scenes until they find one Penny likes, and he takes off his coat so that they end up matching the photo that Desmond carries with him on the island. Desmond stares at the photo and comes to a realization about his fate. He tells Penny that he isn't the man he needs to be and that they aren't supposed to be together. She runs off crying, and he throws the ring into the River Thames.

Desmond goes back to the pub and tells the bartender he thinks he's made the biggest mistake of his life, and that he thinks he's made it before. "Make Your Own Kind of Music" starts playing on the jukebox again, and Desmond sees another football game on the television but this time the team makes the goal. Excited that his vision of the future was correct, he decides that he might have a chance to change his fate after all. The third part of his prediction comes true too, and Jimmy Lennon storms into the bar to accost the bartender. Jimmy swings a bat at the bartender and Desmond yells for him to duck, causing the bat to hit Desmond instead.

Desmond's world fades to white, and he wakes up naked in the jungle with injuries all over from the hatch implosion, and also still hurting where he was hit with the bat. He runs to where the hatch was and is dismayed at seeing the hole in the ground. Among the debris he finds his photo. He cries and pleas to be given another chance to change the past.

Back on the island, we return to Desmond on top of Charlie, strangling him, while Hurley is attempting to pull him off. He pulls Desmond off, and Desmond starts crying. They apologize to each other and Desmond tells Charlie he is a good man. He says that when he turned the key, his life flashed before his eyes, but when he woke up back in the jungle, the flashes didn't stop.

Charlie asks if Desmond saved Claire after seeing a flash of her drowning. Desmond says that Charlie is actually the one that he saved. First he saw Charlie electrocuted by the lightning bolt, and then he saw Charlie drown trying to rescue Claire. He says that although he has saved Charlie twice already, the universe will inevitably "course correct". That no matter what he tries to do, Charlie is going to die.

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