CR 4-81516-23 42
Before the crash
- Loved Penelope, who is a Widmore heiress.
- Dishonorably discharged from the Scottish military (at the rank of Lance Corporal) after serving time in Sounthway Garrison (a military prison) for a crime that is unclear ("failing to follow orders" according to Kelvin; possibly insubordination).
- Was offered money by Charles Widmore to never contact his daughter again upon his release from prison.
- Said that he was training for a "race around the world" when he first met Jack. at a stadium in Los Angeles the day of Sarah's back surgery.
- Asks Libby for $42,000, after she gave him $4 for a cup of coffee in cafe after he realizes he has no American currency (two of the numbers). In the ensuing conversation, he tells Libby about a boat race he wants to enter sponsored by Charles Widmore, and in turn she gives him her boat.
- Gave Jack a drink of "water" from his water bottle at the stadium.
- Told Jack he would not be able to catch up with him (suggesting some kind of superior stamina)
- Uses the phrase "See you in another life" twice
- Said that he was "almost a doctor once".
- Had a coat of arms on his polo shirt when he meets Jack in the US.
- Calls Jack "brother" on many occasions.
- Tells Jack "You have to lift it up".
- Desmond's shares two of his names with the famous Scottish philospher, David Hume, a return to the earlier recurring motif of naming characters after famous philosophers (e.g., John Locke).
On the island
- Was brought to the Swan by Kelvin, after being found washed up on the beach, and lived there for three years.
- Prior to the survivors opening the hatch, only left it once, to follow Kelvin.
- Injects a vaccine into his arm from a vial labeled "CR 4-81516-23 42" every 9 days.
- Entered the Numbers into a computer every 108 minutes.
- After getting up, he plays Mama Cass Elliot's Make Your Own Kind of Music on a record player; the song is interrupted by a blast (Locke and the others blowing up the hatch).
- When Locke encounters Desmond in the Hatch, Desmond asks "Are you him?", indicating that he was expecting someone male.
- Also asks Locke "What did one snowman say to the other snowman?" to which Locke replies "I don't know what you're talking about". Desmond's reaction indicates that Locke was probably not the person he was originally expecting. The question was originally asked of him by Kelvin, to which the answer is "Smells like carrots".
- Is in possession of photograph of Penelope Widmore and himself.
- Fled The Swan in panic after he accidently shot and failed to repair the computer, stating that they were all going to die.
- By failing to Push the Button in time, he inadvertently caused the magnetic pulse that resulted in Flight 815 being torn apart in the skies above the island.
- Activated the Fail Safe device shortly after the counter got to zero, afterwards there was a very bright light seen everywhere on the island. The door to The Hatch was seen plummeting to the beach.
- Locke and Eko were in the hatch at the time, its unknown if they died or not. It is likely that Desmond is dead.
Theories
- Even though Desmond seems to be expecting someone in "Man of Science, Man of Faith", it does not seem to be John, Jack, or Kate.
- Keeping Desmond in the dark regarding when his replacements will arrive is consistent with a well-executed Skinner Box-like experiment.
- The fact that Desmond is seen doing his work out routine could be evidence against him being an Other. Though living underground might get quite boring, it's not that bizarre for him to want to stay in shape.
- When Jack meets Desmond in the stadium, Desmond is wearing a white polo shirt with a red emblem of some sort of bird on it. There also seems to be a hand-drawn pentagon around the image.
- The crest of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is that of a two-headed falcon, which resembles the bird in the emblem. Perhaps he belongs to a sect?
- The official (and DHARMA-esque) creed of the AASRF is: Human progress is our cause, liberty of thought our supreme wish, freedom of conscience our mission, and the guarantee of equal rights to all people everywhere our ultimate goal.
- The bird could be a firebird. Since firebirds (such as the phoenix) are a symbol of rebirth, Desmond may be connected to an organization that is working on reanimation (or cloning).
- The crest of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is that of a two-headed falcon, which resembles the bird in the emblem. Perhaps he belongs to a sect?
- In the stadium, Desmond says to Jack that he is training for a race around the world. In the Swan station, he says that his boat crashed into a reef close to the island.
- Desmond may be the person who Sarah was seeing when she left Jack.
- When Desmond told Jack he would not be able to catch up with him, this may suggest he was in training for the island and maybe was already getting those CR 4-81516-23 42 injections.
- Seemed relieved that "the world is still out there". Is this a clue that he forgot to push/was late pushing the button at some point?
- Took a stuffed rabbit from the bed when packing to leave. There may be something inside the rabbit to help him.
- Or it could just be something of importance to him (like a toy that somebody gave to him, maybe his wife/girlfriend), or just a lucky charm
- Desmond's farewell of choice is "See you in another life", which is also what Dave says to Hurley before jumping off of a cliff and into the ocean. Does the choice of phrase indicate a connection between Desmond and Dave?
- Desmond was aware he was being observed from The Pearl; if he did work on the blast door map, he only did when obscured from the camera.