Desmond Hume
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Template:Infobox Lost character Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to the crash as the result of a shipwreck.
Fictional character biography
Prior to shipwrecking
Desmond did not graduate from university because he had to support his three brothers after his father left them. The cause of the elder Hume's departure remains unknown. Desmond also served as a set designer for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Desmond was engaged to be married to his girlfriend of six years, Ruth. He was suffering from cold feet and went on a drinking binge soon before the wedding. He passed out and woke up in the street, where he was helped up by a monk named Brother Campbell. At that moment, Desmond felt that he had a higher calling and decided to become a monk himself. Although Brother Campbell had his doubts, Desmond passed his vow of silence and became a monk. However, while labelling wine bottles one day, he is visited and assaulted by Ruth's brother, Derek, who was angry that Desmond left Ruth without an explanation. Desmond decides to visit Ruth and explain why he became a monk, but Ruth scolds him and accuses him of being a coward. That night, a depressed Desmond breaks into the monsatery's wine cellar and gets drunk, and as consequence, is kicked out of the abbey. Brother Campbell says he believes that Desmond has a higher calling, but it must be elsewhere. Before Desmond leaves, he is asked to help load the crates of wine into the car of Penelope "Penny" Widmore, and the two meet for the first time. Although he is no longer a monk, the habit of calling someone "brother" sticks with Desmond.
Desmond and Penny date for two years prior to meeting her father, wealthy industrialist Charles Widmore, who was apparently unaware of their relationship. When he finally meets Charles to ask for permission to marry Penny, he bluntly tells Desmond that he is not good enough for Penny and does not want him to even be with her. Desmond sadly comes to the same conclusion when he is unable to afford even a picture of him and Penny together, so he breaks up with her.
Presumably to prove himself to Mr. Widmore, Desmond joined the Royal Scots Regiment of the British Army and became dishonorably discharged for refusing to follow orders. He served a prison sentence. Among the few possessions Desmond had returned to him upon his release was the book Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. When asked by the guard releasing him why he did not take it with him to prison, he replied that he intends it to be the last thing he ever reads. Charles Widmore approaches him and reveals that he intercepted and hid every letter Desmond wrote to Penny from prison. Thinking that he has forgotten her, Penny becomes engaged to another man. Charles bribes/threatens Desmond to stay away from his daughter.
Desmond travels to America to compete in a race around the world, hoping to win it to regain his honor and anger Charles, who is hosting the event. Desmond needs a boat for the race, which he gets from Libby, whom he meets in a coffee shop soon after arriving in America. She acquired the boat when her husband David died, and believes that Desmond was meant to have it.
Before training one night in a stadium, Desmond is approached by Penny, who has tracked him down. She asks why he never wrote, but instead of explaining himself, Desmond tells her to wait one year for him (when the race will be over). While running the steps in the stadium, Desmond meets Jack, who is also running. The two have a brief but meaningful conversation where Jack explains about a patient that he cannot "fix". Desmond tells him to believe in miracles, and then talks about his training for the race. He finishes by saying "See you in another life, yeah?"
Later, during the race, Desmond's boat, Elizabeth, is caught in a fierce storm and he is knocked unconscious. He has his book and photo of him and Penelope with him.
On the island, prior to the crash
Sometime in 2001, Desmond washes ashore on the island without his boat. A man named Kelvin Joe Inman (Clancy Brown) emerges from the jungle in a HAZMAT suit and takes him back to the hatch. He asks if Desmond is "him" and is upset when he realizes that he is not. Desmond watches as Kelvin inputs the numbers into a computer. When Desmond asked, "What was all that about?" Kelvin responded, "Just saving the world." He tells Desmond to inoculate himself with an unnamed vaccine every nine days, since he was out in the "quarantined" island for so long, and may be infected.
Kelvin trains Desmond about the operations of the hatch, including the button (which he explains safely discharges an unusually strong magnetic fluctuation situated beneath them) and ways to trigger a lockdown. Desmond also witnesses Kelvin painting the blacklight picture on the bulkhead doors, which was started by Kelvin's old partner, Radzinsky. Desmond asks what happened to him. Kelvin points to a stain on the ceiling, explaining it is all that is left of Radzinsky, as this is the spot where he took his own life.
Three years pass, and Desmond desperately wants to go above ground, but Kelvin never allows it, although he himself leaves for hours each day in his HAZMAT suit.
Desmond catches Kelvin drunk one night in a secret crawlspace below the floor, dangling a key above a fail-safe mechanism. Kelvin explains that if the fail-safe mechanism is activated, the hatch will be destroyed, destroying the electromagnetic fluctuation beneath them.
When Kelvin leaves one day, Desmond notices that Kelvin's HAZMAT suit has a tear on its leg. He follows Kelvin above ground, where he discovers Kelvin removing the suit and finds the air is safe to breathe. Desmond follows him to a cove, where he sees his sailboat in perfect shape. Kelvin had been leaving the hatch to fix the boat a little each day, planning to escape the island and leave Desmond behind. Kelvin startles Desmond and tells him that he knew he was being followed, and then invites Desmond to escape with him, but Desmond is worried about the button. After Kelvin expresses his doubts about the validity of the button, Desmond becomes enraged that he may have spent three years of his life on the island unnecessarily and attacks Kelvin. They struggle, and Desmond accidentally smashes Kelvin's head on a rock, killing him. Desmond takes the key for the fail-safe mechanism from around Kelvin's neck and races back to the hatch, where the timer has recently reached zero and the computer is registering a system failure. A massive magnetic field builds up, attracting all metal objects to the sealed door inside the hatch, including Oceanic Flight 815, which he discovers later. Desmond manages to stop it by inputting the code, which turns off the magnetic field. However, the plane has crashed onto the island.
After the crash
Season 2
For forty-one days, Desmond lingers in the hatch. He gradually falls into a deep depression to the point of even contemplating his own suicide. As he opens up Our Mutual Friend, it being the last book he plans to read, he finds a note that Penny had hidden inside, telling him not to despair, as well as reminding him that she will always wait for him and that she loves him. Even more depressed now, he goes into a rage and makes a mess out of the hatch. As he collapses, Desmond then hears someone shouting from the top of the hatch. Unknown to Desmond, it is Locke asking the hatch for help after Boone's fatal plane injury. When Desmond turns on a light to see who it is, Locke, thinking his prayers have been answered, quiets down. Desmond, similarly, considers the voice to be a sign that he is no longer alone, and regains hope.
When the survivors enter the hatch in "Man of Science, Man of Faith" and "Adrift", they accidentally damage the computer after a brief firefight with a panicked Desmond. Convinced that the world is going to end, Desmond frantically flees the hatch in "Orientation". Jack catches up with him; Desmond tells him the code, and to enter it every 108 minutes. He then recognizes Jack from their encounter at the stadium, and he asks him about the patient he had mentioned operating on. Desmond leaves saying, "See you in another life, yeah?" as he had in their first encounter. Although it was not shown exactly how, Desmond manages his way back to the Elizabeth and attempts to sail to Fiji. However, his plans go awry.
A drunken Desmond returns in his boat in "Live Together, Die Alone", having been unable to navigate away from the island, making him compare it and its waters to "a bloody snow globe." Later he is confronted by Locke who tells him of the station 5 (The Pearl) orientation film he and Eko saw, and Desmond begins to lose his faith in the button. While Desmond wavers back and forth with his conviction on the button, he and Locke trigger another lockdown, trapping Eko outside the computer room, and they wait for the countdown to hit zero, to see what will happen. Eko uses dynamite from the Black Rock to attempt to get back into the computer room, but he fails.
As the countdown reaches zero, Locke shows the printout he obtained from The Pearl. Desmond realizes that the date of the prior "system failure" was the same day as the plane crash, September 22, 2004. Desmond believes that his failure to push the button that day resulted in a magnetic field that pulled down Oceanic Flight 815. He is insistent that the button must be pressed, but Locke angrily reacts by destroying the computer. Desmond retrieves the key to the fail-safe mechanism, wanting to save Locke because Locke saved him the night he shouted at the hatch door. As Desmond uses the key, a bright white light envelops his face.
Season 3
Immediately after turning the fail-safe key, Desmond finds himself back in 1996 when he was living with Penny Widmore in London. Disoriented, he doesn't, at first, remember the island. When he runs into Charlie it all comes back. Along the way to correcting his past mistakes, he meets Mrs. Hawking, who tells him that his fate is to be on the island and that the universe always finds a way to fulfill fate one way or another. Teetering between accepting this and making his own fate, he gets whacked in the head and wakes up back on the Island after the implosion of the Hatch, naked and disoriented. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
Eventually, he meets Hurley, who gives him some clothes to wear, and escorts him back to the beach camp. En route, Desmond displays some evidence of precognition or déjà vu, talking about a "speech" that Locke has yet to give. When Hurley questions him about it, Desmond back-pedals, seeming to recognize both the phenomenon and the necessity of hiding it; but after the speech Hurley realizes that Desmond had foreknowledge of it ("Further Instructions"). This precognitive ability is continued in "Every Man for Himself", in which he apparently foresees lightning striking Claire's tent. He borrows a golf club from Paulo in order to construct a lightning rod, which later diverts the bolt, thus saving Claire, Aaron and Charlie.
In the episode "The Cost of Living", Desmond tells Sayid that he thinks the computer in the Swan was also used to communicate with other hatches on the island. He and Locke go to the Pearl station and try to use the computer in there to communicate with the Others in attempts to rescue Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. Sayid joins Locke and Desmond and, along with Nikki and Paulo, venture to the Pearl. While there, Desmond and the others witness Mr. Eko's death. Desmond and the group bury Eko in "I Do". Following this, Desmond brings Charlie and Hurley into the jungle, where they are told about Eko's fate. However, Desmond sprints back to the beach and rescues a drowning Claire. He is later approached by Charlie and Hurley, and they get him drunk in order for him to reveal his secret. After violently lashing out at Charlie, he informs him of his inevitable demise ("Flashes Before Your Eyes").
Desmond is frequently approached by Charlie regarding his death, but Desmond is unable to offer any details by request. One morning, while Charlie and Claire are about to begin a picnic, Desmond interrupts and takes Charlie away to hunt boar. However, Desmond deliberately interferes with Claire's plans to capture a bird. He eventually catches one for her and also tells Claire about Charlie's foreseen deaths ("Par Avion"). Later, Desmond witnesses an argument between Nikki and Sawyer, and informs Hurley when he is approached regarding Nikki's and Paulo's mysterious "deaths" ("Exposé"). The next morning, Sawyer goes boar hunting with Desmond, much to his surprise ("Left Behind").
The next day, Desmond experiences more flashes. He gathers Hurley, Jin and Charlie to go on a "camping trip", but only because they were a part of his visions. That night, after finding the cable, the four of them witness a helicopter crashing into the sea, and a parachutist bailing into the jungle. The next morning, they trek inland to find her, encountering some scattered belongings along the way. After Desmond saves Charlie from one of Rousseau's traps, the two argue over Charlie's role in the group. However, they soon find the parachutist hanging from the trees, and Desmond cuts her loose ("Catch-22"). She coughs out Desmond's name, but they are interrupted when Mikhail arrives. Desmond arranges for his release after he helps the parachutist. After doing so, Desmond, Charlie and Jin carry her back to the beach ("D.O.C.").
They hide her in Hurley's tent, and refrain from informing Jack - instead, Sayid is brought to her and he begins questioning her ("The Brig"). That night, Naomi speaks to the camp when they are interrupted by Jack and Juliet ("The Man Behind the Curtain"). The next day, Desmond and the rest of the camp are brought into the jungle, where they are informed about the destructive plan to rid them of the Others. Desmond experiences more flashes, and tells Charlie that he must die in order to secure Claire and Aaron's departure of the island. Desmond and Charlie offer to swim down to the Looking Glass station and unblock the out-going signals ("Greatest Hits").
Desmond offers to take Charlie's place as the sacrifice, but is knocked out. Desmond wakes up and finds himself under attack by Mikhail. Desmond dives down after Charlie and hides in a cupboard while Charlie is interrogated. After Mikhail arrives, Desmond shoots him with a speargun and begins covering the dead bodies. However, Desmond discovers that Mikhail isn't dead yet. When Charlie informs Desmond of Penny's transmission, he desperately tries to speak with her, but is shut out after Mikhail blows the window with a grenade, flooding the room. Before drowning, Charlie informs Desmond that the boat offshore isn't Penny's("Through the Looking Glass").
Philosophy
In keeping with the show's habit of naming important characters after important philosophers whose philosophies are broadly consistent with their namesake characters (e.g., John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau), Desmond David Hume is named after the famous Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, economist, and historian David Hume.
Trivia
- In 2006, Henry Ian Cusick was nominated for an Emmy award for his portrayal of Desmond in the season two finale.
- Desmond began as a recurring character in season two, appearing in four episodes (including the season finale of season two in which he was the main focus of the episode) and was added to the main cast in season three.
- Henry Ian Cusick took the role because it allowed him to use his real accent.
- Desmond has the habit of calling others around him "brother" (or "sister"). It was revealed in the episode "Catch-22" that he probably does this as a result of his time living in a monastery.
- Desmond is the only current main character to explicitly show any paranormal and supernatural behaviour. After the hatch is destroyed he begins to have premonitions.
- Desmond's character is loosely based on the character of Odysseus, from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. They both have lovers named Penelope, and both travel around the earth for certain reasons.
- Desmond's character is also partly based on Johnny Smith from Stephen King's the Dead Zone, Both are gone for an amount of time and return to find there lovers with another man, and they both have precognitive abilities.
- It is revealed in the episode "Catch-22" that Desmond is a fan of the Scottish football team Glasgow Celtic Football Club. This is shown in both a scene in the monastery, where Desmond drunkenly sings the club anthem, and in a scene where Desmond's ex-fiancee mentions that the only time that he had ever had a religious experience was "when Celtic won the Cup". This also ties in with the fact that Henry Ian Cusick is a fan of the club himself.
- When Desmond is "fired" from the monastery in "Catch-22" by Brother Campbell, visible on Campbell's desk is a photograph of himself with Mrs. Hawking, the jewelry store owner who explains to Desmond the nature of his precognitive abilities in "Flashes Before Your Eyes".
