Desmond crosses paths with Jack at St. Sebastian's, Charlie makes a break for it

Desmond tries with no luck to find out where Charlie is from a nurse when Jack walks by. Desmond recognizes him from the plane and asks Jack for help finding Charlie. Jack seems unconvinced that someone from the plane ended up at this hospital, when Charlie tears down the hall past them trying to make an escape.

Desmond takes off after Charlie and finally corners him in a waiting area. Charlie says that he's running because no one at the hospital can help him. He also says that he wasn't trying to kill Desmond, he was trying to show him something. Desmond grabs Charlie's hands, presumably looking for the message "Not Penny's Boat" written on them, but it's obviously not there.

Desmond then asks Charlie who Penny is, but Charlie doesn't know. Charlie tells him that he's not going to play the rock show because "none of this matters." He says "All that matters is that we felt it." As Charlie leaves, he tells Desmond that he should go find Penny.

Desmond has flashes of Penny & Charlie during M.R.I.

At the St. Sebastian's Hospital, Desmond is being asked a series of questions by the doctor. When she asks if he's having hallucinations, he hesitates and says he's not sure if he's had hallucinations. The doctor says that his C.A.T. scan was inconclusive and she's going to send him downstairs to get an M.R.I. He objects, wanting to find Charlie, but she insists on the M.R.I.

Downstairs, the M.R.I. technician asks him if he has any keys or change, echoing what one of Widmore's men asked him before putting him into the electromagnetic box. The technician warns him that the machine will be loud and gives him earplugs. He also gives Desmond "the button," which he should push if he needs to stop the machine. Desmond seems to respond to the term "the button," possibly having a recollection of the button in the Swan Station he pressed every 108 minutes.

Once the machine starts, it seems that the electromagnetism of the M.R.I. triggers a response in Desmond causing him to see a vision Charlie's "Not Penny's Boat" message again as well as many images of Penny and his son Charlie. As he sees Penny and his son, Desmond gets emotional and suddenly starts pressing the emergency button and screams to be let out of the machine. He rips off his restraints and goes to find Charlie.

Desmond has vision of "Not Penny's Boat" after Charlie crashes car into marina

In the car, Desmond and Charlie hear Drive Shaft's hit song "You All Everybody" on the radio. Desmond is not impressed by the song. Charlie then gives Desmond the choice of either getting out of the car or to let Charlie show him what he's been talking out. Charlie then grabs the steering wheel forcing the car into the marina, the same one where Desmond and Penny docked their boat and where he was shot by Ben.

After the car is submerged in the water, Desmond frees himself but Charlie just sits in the passenger seat with his eyes closed. Desmond makes his way through the open window and surfaces, but only takes a few deep breaths before going back for Charlie.

Underwater, Desmond tries to open Charlie's door, but can't get it open. Charlie opens his eyes slowly, turns toward Desmond and places his palm on the glass. Suddenly, in flashes, Desmond sees Charlie from the season three finale "Through the Looking Glass," pressing his hand against the flooding com room of the Looking Glass Station that says "Not Penny's Boat."

After a moment, Desmond snaps to, opens the door and brings Charlie to the surface.

So it seems to have taken a life-altering experience in order to cause Desmond to have a clear vision of the original timeline, much like Charlie's almost dying on the plane which was similar to him being on the brink of death after Ethan hung him from a tree in season one. What does it all mean though?

Charlie walks into traffic, tells Desmond about vision of Claire

Desmond arrives at the court house in a silver car with the license plate 2SBI653. As he approaches the door, it seems like he looks at his own reflection again, this time in the door. Charlie and a lawyer emerge from the building. Charlie takes his person items including his DS ring, watch and wallet, then darts out into traffic, narrowly avoiding numerous vehicles. He enters a bar called Jax across the street from the courthouse and Desmond follows him.

Inside, Desmond and Charlie start talking, and Charlie asks Desmond if he's happy and if he's been in love. Desmond gives a flippant response saying he is happy and he's been in love thousands of times, but Charlie's not buying it. Charlie then asks if he's experienced "conscious-altering love." An interesting question for one whose consciousness jumps through time and timelines.

Charlie proceeds to tell Desmond about the incident on the plane and that he made a break for the bathroom because the marshall, Edward Mars, knew he had drugs. When he was choking on the bag of heroin and was "slipping into the abyss," he had a vision of Claire. He says that he and Claire are together, in love and always have been. Just as he's "being engulfed," he opens his eyes to see Jack crouched over him on the plane. Charlie says that in that moment where he saw Claire, was "something real" and "the truth."

Desmond then gives Charlie the option of coming with him and having a luxurious afternoon or exterminating his musical career. Charlie says that doesn't seem much like a choice, but in a Jacob-esque moment, Desmond says "There's always a choice, brother."

It's interesting that Charlie seems to think, and possibly rightly so, that the original timeline where he saw Claire was the real truth. It's also interesting that Desmond still calls Charlie "brother," considering that is something he picked up at the monastery. Did he still spend time there or is that a bit of his original timeline seeping through.

The candidates names inside the cave, survivors have the numbers

Inside the cave, Locke tells Sawyer and all over the others are on the island because Jacob wrote his name on the cave walls/ceiling. He says that Jacob had a thing for numbers and each Locke, Reyes, Ford, Jarrah, Shephard and Kwon each correspond with on of the numbers. He says that he doesn't know if Kwon means Sun or Jin.

Locke tells Sawyer that he's sure that Sawyer met Jacob at some point when he was miserable or vulnerable. We saw that this happened in "The Incident" in season 5. Jacob met Sawyer at the funeral for his mother and father (see those screens here). Locke continues saying that Jacob manipulated Sawyer, using him as a puppet and pushing him towards the island. He says that Jacob did all of this because Sawyer and the others on the wall are/were candidates to take over Jacob's role as protector of the island.

Locke tells Saywer he has three choices: 1) He can do nothing and see how everything plays out and his name might get crossed out. 2) He can take the job and become the new Jacob. Locke says that it would be a waste of time because it's just and island and doesn't need Jacob, Sawyer or any of the others to protect it from anything. 3) He and Locke can get the hell off of the island together and never look back.

Sawyer chooses option three, joining team Locke/Smokey, but how much of what Locke told Sawyer was the truth? How much was his opinion, how much was lies and how much was the truth? Clearly, he disagreed with Jacob's views, but that doesn't mean that either one of them were necessarily right. We'll have to wait and see how this all plays out.

Kate's name is conspicuously missing from the wall or at least it is not visible in the scene, so why is she on the island?

Check out a list of decipherable names on the walls below. Click "Read more" below the list to see a whopping 46 screens.

4 - Locke (John)
8 - Reyes (Hugo "Hurley")
10 - Mattingly (name on one of the 1950s military uniforms)
15 - Ford (James "Sawyer")
16 - Jarrah (Sayid)
23 - Shephard (Jack)
31 - Rutherford (Shannon?)
42 - Kwon (Jin or Sun?)
64 - Goldstein
71 - Straume (Miles - who is crossed out for some reason)
90 - Troupe (Gary - the guy sucked into 815's engine)
117 - Linus (Ben or Roger?)
119 - Almieda
195 - Pace (Charlie)
222 - O'Toole
233 - Jones (name on one of the 1950s military uniforms)
291 - Domingo
313 - Littleton (Claire or Aaron?)
317 - Cunningham (name on one of the 1950s military uniforms)
346 - Grant
? - Chang (Pierre)
? - Goodspeed (Horace, Olivia or Ethan?)
? - Burke (Juliet)
? - Lacombe (one of the French team)
? - Lewis (Charlotte)
? - Faraday (Daniel)
? - Bargas
? - Aguila
? - Costa

Oceanic 815 lands at LAX + Charlie taken by police

Back on Oceanic 815, Charlie has been restrained and as he passes Jack he says "Should'a let that happen man, I was supposed to die." That sounds ominously like season 3.

When Jack returns to his seat, Desmond is gone and he asks Rose where he went and she says that she and Bernard were asleep.

Everyone prepares for the landing, each with different looks on their face. Sawyer and Hurley look fairly indifferent, Sayid looks at his photo of Nadia and seems eager to find her, Jin gazes at the Rolex watch he's supposed to deliver while Sun shows no emotion, Kate looks terrified and Jack looks pleased, yet surprised.

Charlie is first off and is escorted by two policemen. Edward Mars removes the infamous case which cracked him in the head on the first flight 815.

Boone says goodbye to Locke who seems happy like he was earlier. We then see that sad, miserable look fall across his face. Jack and he share a similar look as we saw at the start of the first flight 815. Locke forces a smile while Jack looks a bit dazed. We then see Locke lifted onto the chair and he is wheel off the plane. The look of sheer misery on his face is that of the Locke we've come to know, so was he lying about actually going on the walkabout to seem less pathetic than his life was/is or did his past actually change like it seems it did for other passengers?

Sayid helps Jack save Charlie's life on Oceanic 815

Back on Oceanic 815, Cindy puts the call out for a doctor and Jack (still sitting by Desmond), comes to the rescue. It turns out that Charlie has locked himself in the bathroom and is unconscious. Sayid appears and offers his help which involves kicking the door open.

As Cindy is getting a first aid kit, Sawyer stops her to ask what's going on and tosses one of his trademark nicknames, calling her Earhart (after pilot Ameilia Earhart who disappeared).

Sayid helps Jack try to resuscitate Charlie, but he's initially unsuccessful. Jack sticks two finers in Charlie's mouth and pulls out a baggie of heroin. Jack looks for a pen, but it turns out Kate stole his when she bumped into him. Charlie comes to and asks if he's alive, which Jack confirms. Charlie then repeats his infamous one word line from the pilot (which he says after they experience the monster for the first time), "Terrific."

Charlie returns with a message for Hurley

It was great to see Charlie again, looking quite stylish for a dead man. He came to Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute to talk to Hurley and give him a message - "They Need You."

Also, could the man in the background of the first picture be who the other patient at the hospital saw staring at Hurley?

Hurley has an aquatic vision of Charlie

Hurley has a vision of Charlie's death while at the police station. Charlie appears in the window with a message written on his hand that says "THEY NEED YOU" and then water pours into the room.

Hurley on the surveillance tape

Here's a couple of shots of the convenience store's security video. Even though the picture isn't sharp, you can tell he's freaked out by something (we later learn that he saw Charlie).

Charlie's final scene [post-Mikhail]

Here's Charlie's final scene after Mikhail has shown up outside the station to ruin his day. Mikhail appears to be thrust backword during the blast. Knowing his track record, he's probably still alive. Charlie makes his peace with his fate and drifts off under the water after warning Desmond that the boat of 80 miles off the coast is not Penny's.

Charlie's final scene [pre-Mikhail]

Here's Charlie stopping the jammer. There are close-ups of the equipment in the communications room and Charlie talking to Penny. There are a lot of screens for Charlie's final scene, so I've split them into two posts: pre-Mikhail and post-Mikhail.