In a sibling to "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant," this episode involves Desmond jumping from time to time - not through flashbacks or flashforwards or flashsideways, but going straight there, back and forth.
On island, Widmore, Zoe and their group drag Desmond into a room (eerily similar to Jacob's "Cabin Fever" shack) for apparent experiments with electromagnetism. Desmond immediately travels to the Sideways universe, where things are considerably different for him.
It's almost the opposite, in fact: he does not know (nor has ever met) Penny, he has a friendly relationship with Charles Widmore and is in fact his right-hand man, and he even is offered Charles' precious whiskey. There are other differences, too: we find out Penny's last name is Milton and Daniel's is Widmore, implying there is some sort of spouse or parent swap going on.
Desmond does, however, meet Charlie and has flashes of Charlie's drowning death in "Through the Looking Glass." (For many, the words "Not Penny's Boat" will be one of the series' most memorable phrases.) Charlie seems to have a sense of that other world, and that is perhaps we he seems resigned to a fate of death.
Daniel, too, seems aware that their lives are not quite right, that he may have already set off a chain of events that led to the detonation of Jughead. The only one who seems to have a true idea of what's going on is poofy-haired Mrs. Hawking. She tells Desmond that asking to meet Penny is a "violation." Just as in "Flashes Before Your Eyes," she seems to have a cryptic sense of what's going on, but doesn't bother to share it. Does Charles know too? It's enough to send Desmond to his chauffeur, George (the first victim of time travel nosebleed-itis) to acquire the Oceanic Flight 815 manifest. It seems he has something to share with his fellow passengers.
Back on island, with a new sense of purpose, Desmond happily agrees to go along with Charles, then seems keen to follow Sayid when that lost soul ambushes the Widmore group. It may be soon time for Desmond's sacrifice for the island.
Other notes:
-It was still unexplained what happened to Desmond on the plane in the season premiere. He seemed to disappear. Maybe we will later learn he was flashing back and forth between realities?
-On the plane, Desmond wore a wedding ring. What gives?
-When Daniel mentioned seeing Charlotte, she was eating chocolate. Her last words before her island death were about eating chocolate. Since Juliet's last words were about "going dutch" at coffee, maybe that is a hint of her Sideways flash?
-The gleeful title of this episode strikes me as ominous. Desmond's sacrifice, I fear, may be death. Or as Batman's Adam West would say, "Or worse." A-
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