S03E17: 'Catch-22'

Desmond has a premonition in which Charlie dies during a trek in the jungle after stumbling into one of Rousseau’s booby traps in which an arrow is shot into his neck. The vision ends with the sight of someone having parachuted onto the island, only to become entangled within a tree.

Back in reality, Desmond picks up a first aid kit from Jack and reveals to Hurley – who was present in his hike premonition – that he has to ensure everything happens in the same way. He fails to mention the outcome of the trip, but manages to soon get Jin on board for the camping expedition. Charlie is cautious and doubts Desmond’s motives when he’s approached about coming along. However, the Scot tells him the same as he told Hurley, again being economical with the truth.

The four men, now on their trip, hear the sound of a helicopter up above, hearing a big splash in the ocean soon after. They do spot a flashing object falling through the sky into the jungle though, and they set out to find it.

Back in the camp, Kate tells Sawyer that Jack saw their canoodling whilst they were detained by The Others and then gives him the brush off when he tries to ignite a spark of romance. Kate later heads over to spend time with Jack, but he is more interested in heading off to see Juliet. Kate then heads off to make a move on Sawyer, although he later accuses her of being upset that Jack has become close to Juliet.

Desmond has flashbacks of his life in the monastery, including a moment when a man stormed in to deliver a hefty punch on him. It emerges that this man knows a woman who was jilted by Desmond just a week before they were supposed to get married. Desmond visits the woman to explain why he left but is shouted at. Hitting the bottle later on causes the Scot to be kicked out of the monastery, but he bumps into a Penelope Widmore for the first time on his way out.

In the jungle, Desmond discovers a rucksack strewn in a tree that contains a non-operational satellite phone and a photograph of himself and Penelope Widmore inside a book. As they continue, Charlie sets off the arrow trap that left him dead in the vision. However, Desmond pushes him to the ground a split second before the arrow would have killed him.

The group then find the parachutist from the helicopter alongside a flashing beacon. Cutting the still figure down from a tree, Desmond is convinced that Penelope lies behind the helmet. However, when it is removed the barely conscious woman turns out to be someone else, but refers to Desmond by his name when she sees him.