Hey, and after a nice big sleep I'm back in the game! Things are hot hot hot, and I'm sweating like Britney Spears waiting for the results of a pregnancy test, but I'm loving every second. I'm on the hunt for the BTS stuff, but I won't be showing you everything just let... I know, I know, I'm such a tease :P
You'd have already seen it I'm sure, but the secret clue is up...
But that's not what we're here to talk about - we're here to countdown Charlie's Greatest Hits. Ah, Charlie, how far you've come, from strung-out junkie to lovesick puppy, defensive boyfriend to dark outsider and finally to the ascending hero. 
My love for the character waned last season, but he came back with full force this season as he and Desmond set out on their epic quest to fight fate and choose their own destiny. When Charlie hit Desmond with the paddle, I cheered. When he rudely blew off Hurley to stop the him from seeing his last moments, I got a little choked up. And when the camera revealed he'd left his DriveShaft ring with Aaron? Wow. 
Some cool stuff from the ep - it was definitely Nadia who Charlie saved in London, meaning she's crossed with almost everyone... Considering Sayid learnt from the CIA that she was working as a lab tech in a medical testing facility, would anyone else care to cry foul play?
Sayid continued his rule as the most baddass awesome dude to be stuck on an island with when he pulled out schematics to The Looking Glass station. Is there anything he can't do? Also, I love the word schematics. It even sounds like a fancy version of plans.So, Ben lies to everyone. He's tricked his people into believing the station is out of order, when in fact, there are two chicks with guns ready to go down there. I'm so conflicted about Juliet... We know we can't trust her, or do we? Gah!
Guess who's back? Karl! Poor guy appears to have been hiding out in a cave since we last saw him! At least he has his girlfriend to bring him dead rabbit, my favourite meal. I love the symbolism - Charlie has to follow the white rabbit to The Looking Glass, while Alex guts hers and choses to go it alone.Now, I want to build on what was suggested in the secret clue, that Desmond has found a way into Charlie's past. I'm really digging this theory, especially since I heard Desmond's name called while young Charlie was about to jump into the pool.
In the fifth episode of the first season, a young woman named Joanna drowned. Charlie was forced to watch from the shoreline, informing everyone that he couldn't swim. Last season, Charlie had vivid dreams of almost drowning while trying to save Aaron, and this season, Desmond ran to save Claire before Charlie could dive in, having forseen his death. In fact, each of the premonitions of Charlie's death involved water in some way - the thunderstorm, drowning while saving Claire, being smashed against the rocks in a shallow rockpool and finally drowning in The Looking Glass.Suddenly, this episode, Charlie recommends himself for the underwater mission. In case you thought he might be telling porkys and acting tough, his fourth greatest hit was "Dad teaching me to swim at Butlins".
We've seen Desmond can go into the past, and that he can affect slight change in those moments. He is aware that the universe will attempt to correct itself, but the circumstances in which events play out are definitely able to be altered. From what he was told by Ms Hawking, this may very well not be the first time Desmond has been through these events, whether he's aware or not.
When he was knocked unconcious by turning the Swan station key, he was focused on Penny and the feelings she brought up in him. This episode, he was knocked unconcious by Charlie while dwelling on Charlie's past and feeling a strong emotion towards the former junkie. What's to say he didn't go back to Charlie's past and change that one key moment? In doing so, everyone would have forgotten Charlie's former claims of being unable to swim and he'd be able to fulfill the important destiny foretold by Desmond.
You heard it here first: Desmond is they key. We keep hearing how flawed the various characters are. By changing one moment in Charlie's past, he effectively made it possible for Charlie to be the hero they all needed, completely validating Charlie's position as a survivor in the process. What next? Stopping Hurley from walking out onto that balcony? Stopping Locke from talking to his mother at the toy shop? Wiping that horrible episode about Jack's tatts from worldwide memory?Rock on, you crazy Scotsman. My only concern - if Desmond inserts himself into the others past's, does that mean he begins erasing himself from his own?
Namaste
The Heroic Lost Ninja