LOST: Desmond as Constant and Failsafe

As “The End” of LOST draws near we are still wondering what the parallel universe is about. In thinking about this, we should not forget that the “flashes sideways” we have seen occur soon after Oceanic 815 landing, and so what happens in the years that follow may be very important. But it seems to me that one thing that the parallel universe may do is show Jacob to have been wrong. His mother was wrong about what happens if the island is destroyed, and he was wrong about the lives of the candidates. If he had not touched and pushed and manipulated their lives in the way that he had, not everything would be perfect, but things would be OK and in some ways better.

Charles and Eloise want to save their son. A key line of dialogue was when Eloise was pushing young Daniel to study physics while he wanted to play the piano. He said he can make time, and his mother said “If only that were true.” The parallel universe has been described as a “closed time-like curve.” What if Desmond’s consciousness is the thread that keeps that parallel-universe from opening up and becoming a full-fledged universe? Perhaps the interest of Charles and Eloise in Desmond is in seeing that universe, where their son survives, allowed to continue.

Perhaps Desmond will realize that there is indeed a scientific slant on the island and the bomb and on everything else. Knowing that Jacob’s mother, and Jacob, and now Jack are wrong about the island’s importance in at least some respects, perhaps he will work to oppose Jack. And maybe that is how it will end. With the island’s protector being addressed as “brother” yet again by someone who simply wants to be allowed to leave, destroy the island and the universe they are currently in. And perhaps so it will continue – even though the show will not tell that story.

I won’t mind so much if there is an open-endedness to LOST. Even well-rounded happy endings do not avoid unanswered questions. I think at this stage I’d prefer to be left with something coherent and open-ended, rather than something incoherent and brought to a conclusion that seems artificial or contrived.