Greatest Hits (S:3;E:21)

"And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall"
Wonderwall by: Oasis

1) Great episode! For a while I LOST my liking for Charlie. Last night, I found myself engaged in the episode. Charlie's character took a huge step forward in my book (I have a book?!?!).

2) Charlie's Greatest Hits:

GH#1: "The first time I heard myself on the radio."

Charlie was ready to quit the band. We start to see his brother's need to have Charlie around (most likely to feed his heroin habit). In previous Charlie flashbacks we saw Liam turn down Charlie, when Charlie needed Liam around, to feed his heroin habit.

GH#2: "Dad teaching me to swim at Butlins."

Little Charlie is scared to jump into the pool, fearing that his father won't catch him. His father wants him to face his fears, foreshadowing later events in the episode when Charlie faces his fear of death. Of course Liam antagonizes by saying their father won't catch Charlie. In fact, his father doesn't catch him, representing the fact that Charlie has had to do everything on his own. In the background, we hear, "Desmond, Come here"

GH#3: "The Christmas Liam gave me the ring."

Liam begins to see that he's faltering. He feels that Charlie is more suitable to carry on the family legacy with the DS ring (Dexter Stratton..."Drive Shaft"). He says that Charlie is more likely to have his own family (though we saw in an earlier episode that Liam in fact has a family later on).

GH#4: "A woman outside Convent Garden calls me a hero."

We see the same scene that Desmond interrupted in his episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes". In that episode, Desmond shows up right when Charlie is singing the line, "You're gonna be the one that saves me." Queue the rain (sans Desmond in this version). Charlie packs up and bolts. Apparently there's a sticker on Charlie's guitar that says "I was here moments ago." He sees a girl getting mugged in an alley, takes a second to decide, then fights off the mugger (who gives Charlie a strange look and runs...maybe he'll resurface). Lo and behold, the girl is Nadia, Sayid's girl. I wonder if Sayid will ever thank Charlie for that. Nadia calls Charlie a hero, which he seems to take some pride in afterwards.

Great stuff about the 4th Greatest Hit from Vozzek69 (from DarkUFO's blog): "Charlie's fourth flashback was by far the most interesting. We see him on the day he met Desmond, and once again the writers use color (or lack of color) to illustrate some points.

Once the rain starts (important), many of the things we see here are black and white. The words CONVENT and GARDEN appear as white signs, but in between we see a black sign with the word UNDERGROUND. The camera lingers on a black car and a white car. In the alley, Nadia struggles with a mugger. Nadia's wearing white, the mugger - all black.

Charlie pauses at first, then decides to help. The mugger looks a lot like his brother, or even Charlie - they're both dressed in the same black outfit. This is Charlie facing himself. The dark figure retreats down the alley. Even at such a rough time in his life Charlie makes the decision to be the better person. Nadia reminds him of this, telling him that no matter what anyone tells him he'll always be a hero.

The black/white, dark/light, good/evil imagery in LOST hasn't let up a bit. If anything it's gotten more and more prominent."

GH#5: "The day I met you."

We see the first moment of Claire and Charlie's relationship.


3) Is Charlie going to do what 2pac can't? Imagine Drive Shaft's record sales when he returns from the dead. Looks like anyone can become an icon if they die young. Kurt Cobain?

4) So how many people thought Charlie was going to die when he swam down into the Looking Glass station through the Moon Pool? Maybe he will, if Bonnie and Greta decide to shoot him. Desmond's vision may still come true, if the air pressure in the Looking Glass is compromised. We can still lose Charlie. Also...the wight belt represents the people in Charlie's life, especially his family, who all brought him down.

5) Speaking of "Into the Looking Glass" , it's a book by John Ringo. It's about a huge explosion in Florida which opens alternate realities. Hmmm...coincidence? I think not. Yes...it's also a reference to Alice in Wonderland. White Rabbit. "Through the Looking Glass", Alice's portal into another world. Also, check out the book "The Moon Pool", apparently it's very similar to LOST.

6) Is the DS ring a jinx? Is Aaron (or Claire) jinxed now?

7) Will Alex and Rousseau's reunion happen before Season 4?

8) Next week is the FINALE!!!! The episode is called "Through the Looking Glass" I think it's obvious that Jack's flashbacks are the theme of the 2 hour long episode. Apparently, be it during real time events or in flashbacks, we're supposed to have a monumental reveal about Jack.