After seeing tonight's epi, I'm convinced Des is now a liability.

Mikhail has proven he can lie, cheat and even steal (witness tonight's five-finger-discount of the sat phone)!

When Des has the opportunity to get some answers from Mikhail, he lets Mikhail go...

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :frown:

I think that that is just Desmond's nature. Also, he hasn't lived with the fear of the Others like the rest of the Losties have. He wasn't there when Claire was kidnapped or when Scott/Steve was murdered. I see it more as Desmond being neutral.

Yeah, Desmond is only looking out for himself (like Boone said). He has no allegiances to the Losties and doesn't particularly care about the hostiles. His only concern is to find a way to reunite with Penny.

After seeing tonight's epi, I'm convinced Des is now a liability.

Mikhail has proven he can lie, cheat and even steal (witness tonight's five-finger-discount of the sat phone)!

When Des has the opportunity to get some answers from Mikhail, he lets Mikhail go...

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :frown:

Can we stop with the "X has been compromised" threads? First it was Jack, now it's Desmond. The only people compromised right now are John and Juliet.

Desmond was in a rock and a hard place, so he gave his word, and he's an honorable guy. He wanted to save She Who Must Not Be Named (hopefully only until the next episode now that she's getting better), and Mikhail was their only choice. They set it up perfectly...

"OH NO, SHE'S DYING!"
"WE'VE GOT TO GET JACK!"
"THERE'S NO TIME!"
"WELL, I'LL RUN THEN!"
"BUT IT'S 8 HOURS THERE AND BACK!"
<BANG - FLARE GUN>
"oops..."

Here comes Mikhail, who we conveniently learned was a field medic in the Soviet Army when he patched up Sayid after shooting him, but just for good measure they remind us.

"LETS MAKE A DEAL! I FIX HER, YOU LET ME GO!"
<mulling options>
"deal..."

When would they have been able to compromise Desmond? We call what Desmond did "being practical." It was their only choice to save She Who Must Not Be Named. I know it's more fun to speculate and say stuff like "X is compromised," but these are established plot devices, and not every event on the island is some sort of "gotcha!" clue.
100%
Yeah, Desmond is only looking out for himself (like Boone said). He has no allegiances to the Losties and doesn't particularly care about the hostiles. His only concern is to find a way to reunite with Penny.

Boone never met Desmond. He died in Season 1, long before the hatch was ever opened. But you're right. He only cares about Penny.

Tex,

By calling Des a liability, I mean he's putting his personal needs before the needs of everyone else on the island.

Call it what you want but it's pretty darn selfish to manipulate things just so that you get to see your beloved Penny...when the rest of the darn island just wants answers to what's been happening. Mikhail had those answers and it was foolish and selfish make a decision without the input of the others.

I wish Sayid was with them and had the opportunity to torture...uh, QUESTION mikhail.

Boone never met Desmond. He died in Season 1, long before the hatch was ever opened. But you're right. He only cares about Penny.

Of course that's not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to Locke's vision in Further Instructions where Boone says that Desmond is looking out for himself, or words to that effect, and that he didn't need Locke's help.


By calling Des a liability, I mean he's putting his personal needs before the needs of everyone else on the island.



Maybe, maybe not. What they really need are not answers to the island mysteries, but to get off that crazy island. Desmond could be the reason why they all get rescued. He may be looking out for himself, but he may be the one person that could save them all.

Boone (or vision Boone) said that in Locke's vision earlier this season.

It seems that trust issues are going to be big in the final episodes this year. Do you trust Jack even though he spent a week alone with the others and made a deal with them? Can you trust Desmond being as he let Patchy go? Will anyone be able to trust Locke after he returns? If Ben's plan was to divide and conquer the 815er's he's doing a really good job. It's kinda like a mini Red scare.

The thing that struck me about Desmond's actions tonight were his words to the effect of, "I can't go back on my promise." They reminded me of Ben's two similar statements, once about letting Michael and Walt go and another time about letting Jack and Juliet go.

He could have let the "B" team of Charlie et al. kill Mikhail in cold blood. Charlie sounded up for it. But Desmond worried about having given his word to Mikhail, and I was wondering if there was any significance to that, other than the writers needed a reason for Mikhail to separate from the Losites.

Des clearly isn't part of the Losties. He cares about himself and doesn't feel real allegiences to them, which is interesting since he has pretty strong connections to Jack and Locke, and then Claire from saving her a few times, and then obviously he has this crazy relationship with Charlie. He's saving him.... but he's certainly got mixed emotions about that.
Anyway, letting Mikhail go was not about Des being compromised, it was about him finding Penny.

I think Desmond is a man of his word.

Maybe he recognized the Dharma suit and thought he wasn't really a threat. :biggrin:

Or the Others have finally learned about Desmond, and Naomi's a plant (thus, the Italian convo with Mikhail). Ply him with lies about working for Penny--that's where the pix was got?

I'm really beginning to wonder if ANYONE can be trusted around here. But Desmond's love of "honor" is clearly being played here by Mikhail. Whatever his shortcomings, Des is a man of his word. How could he have acted any other way? (And Mikhail KNEW that. There really is intelligent strategy going on here!)

Or the Others have finally learned about Desmond, and Naomi's a plant (thus, the Italian convo with Mikhail). Ply him with lies about working for Penny--that's where the pix was got?

You know her name, so you've obviously been reading the spoilers, but it's clear you haven't read all of them.

TPTB have stated that she's definitely not a survivor or an other.

It goes back to his line to Charlie, saying something like "Youve killed more of them than they have of you" (paraphrasing.) He made a point of saying you, as if he wasnt a fully indoctrinated castaway.

Or the Others have finally learned about Desmond, and (this name is a spoiler until it is told to us in an ep)'s a plant (thus, the Italian convo with Mikhail). Ply him with lies about working for Penny--that's where the pix was got?

I'm really beginning to wonder if ANYONE can be trusted around here. But Desmond's love of "honor" is clearly being played here by Mikhail. Whatever his shortcomings, Des is a man of his word. How could he have acted any other way? (And Mikhail KNEW that. There really is intelligent strategy going on here!)

that name that is missing from your post is a SPOILER. mistyping it so it doesnt get caught in the language filter is not cool. note the edited post.

How was Desmond a man of his word regarding Ruth?

Desmond reminds me of Juliet - they both want desperately to get off the island and back to those they love. If they have to make a deal with the devil to further that end, they will. We don't see that same desperation in the other Losties, with the exception of Jack.

I also think these actions play into one of the major themes of Lost - live together, die alone. All the castaways are being faced with choices that will either bring them together as one united group or leave them divided. I think Ben would like the latter.

:rolleyes: at this thread. For all those accusing him of being selfish remember he risked never seeing Penny again to save Charlie's life even though he knew saving Charlie was useless and it was just a matter of time before charlie died. Desmond acted sensibly, I was kinda shocked when Charlie suggested to kill Mikhail who was leaving them alone. What selfish agenda could Desmond have trying to save the parachutist?

:rolleyes: at this thread. For all those accusing him of being selfish remember he risked never seeing Penny again to save Charlie's life even though he knew saving Charlie was useless and it was just a matter of time before charlie died. Desmond acted sensibly, I was kinda shocked when Charlie suggested to kill Mikhail who was leaving them alone. What selfish agenda could Desmond have trying to save the parachutist?

I agree, Charlie was acting out of emotion but then again Ethan did string him up a tree and then left him to die. :rolleyes:

As for Desmond's "selfish" reasons for trying to save the parachutist: she said his name and had a book with a pic of Penny and him, so he relates these things to the "visions" he's had of possibly Penny coming to the island and finding him. He wants any info she may have.

Do I think that's selfish? Perhaps a little but if I were in his shoes I'd do the same. Three years on that blasted island is three too many, especially since it isn't by choice. :mad:

Has he been compromised? No, the guy just wants to go HOME!

Yeah, Desmond is only looking out for himself (like Boone said). He has no allegiances to the Losties and doesn't particularly care about the hostiles. His only concern is to find a way to reunite with Penny.

I think your spot on mate! All Des cares about about is "course correcting" his way back to Penny

Desmond reminds me of Juliet - they both want desperately to get off the island and back to those they love. If they have to make a deal with the devil to further that end, they will. We don't see that same desperation in the other Losties, with the exception of Jack.


I agree Desmond reminds me of Juliet too.
And they came on the island practically at the same time...
When he came at the losties camp...the first person he talked ...was claire about the baby...:rolleyes:
He said the island is in a bloody snowglobe .... maybe it was just a lie? what happened to him when he tried to quit the island???? We don't know!
I love Desmond...but i'm not completely sure he's on the losties side!
And i love the others too so...

Desmond reminds me of Juliet - they both want desperately to get off the island and back to those they love. If they have to make a deal with the devil to further that end, they will. We don't see that same desperation in the other Losties, with the exception of Jack.

I also think these actions play into one of the major themes of Lost - live together, die alone. All the castaways are being faced with choices that will either bring them together as one united group or leave them divided. I think Ben would like the latter.

ITA. I think after this week Desmond seems even more like Juliet in that both have predicted an untimely imminent death for a Lostie and have promised to try and do all they could to prevent it despite the odds. But as we've seen they both also have their own interests at heart, and when that promise conflicts with those interests, suddenly they can't be trusted.

I love Desmond's character...always have since he was introduced.

The past couple episodes, I was intially a little peeved with him because I felt he was being pushy with Charlie, Hurley and Jin. And when they were having the whole debate over Mikhail and the rest of the others, part of me felt that maybe he didn't have as much right to take the lead on that decision when he hasn't really had to deal with them in the way the other men there had. In the first season, while we can presume Des was chillin' in the hatch with his Mama Cass records, Charlie was being hung by a tree, Claire was stolen, and the camp was being terrorized. So part of me wanted to say, hang on Des, hang on there...

BUT...then I realized that if I thought there was a possibility of me seeing someone I loved or finding out information of them after three years, I'd probably be acting the same way Desmond was. And I do respect his honor in wanting to save the parachutist and keep his word.

I suppose in the end, it might not have even done much good to keep Mikhail for questioning. A guy who's, as he put it, "already died once in a week" is probably not as susceptible to torture as most (not to mention I don't know that any of those boys have it in them to do it up Season 1 Sayid-style, not even kung-fu Jin) and there's always the issue of how to trust what he's saying as truth.

(And on a side note, I love Charlie so much! I wish they hadn't made him suggest killing Mikhail right off the bat. It makes it seem like he learned nothing from the Ethan experience. I know he was hung, but being as religious as he is, I'm not sure he'd be so eager to take that out on every Other and suggest killing them as soon as he crossed their path. IDK...just a thought.)

(And on a side note, I love Charlie so much! I wish they hadn't made him suggest killing Mikhail right off the bat. It makes it seem like he learned nothing from the Ethan experience. I know he was hung, but being as religious as he is, I'm not sure he'd be so eager to take that out on every Other and suggest killing them as soon as he crossed their path. IDK...just a thought.)

Interesting comment. Frankly I was surprised to see that Charlie stills carries so much rage over what was done to him. It's probably because he's never really dealt with it, he tends to push his feelings down and not talk about things. He worked through his guilt over Claire with Rose but he never really opened up to anyone about how the hanging traumatized him,and I'm certain it did. He's still afraid and it comes out violently. I was also surprised to hear him tell Desmond they should have killed Mikhail (it was the same thing Danielle and Locke had said by the way), but I understand where he's coming from.