Hume, Desmond David
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Resided in: Unknown
Occupation: Unknown
Reason for Travel: Solo Race Around the World (sailing)
Flight Seat #: NA
Before Flashes:
Before Desmond entered the Royal Army, he attended but did not graduate from a university because he was forced to support his three bothers. He did, however, obtain a job for the Royal Shakespeare Company as a set designer. He met and fell in love with Penelope “Penny” Widmore, the daughter of Charles Widmore. They dated for two years before Penny moved into Desmond’s home.
Sometime after Penny moved in, Desmond made an appointment to see Mr. Widmore under the pretenses of getting a job. While in Mr. Widmore’s office, Desmond is offered a job in the administration department. He refused the job and stated that the real reason that he was there was to request Penny’s hand in marriage. Widmore took out two glasses, poured an expensive MacCutheon whiskey in only one of them and told Desmond that he was not fit to drink his whiskey let alone to marry his daughter. Disheartened, Desmond left the building throwing his tie on the ground. After that, he saw a musician performing on the street outside of the Widmore Corporation offices.
He returned home and told Penny that he did not get the job. Desmond decided to ask Penny to marry him anyway and goes to buy a ring for her, but changes his mind and leaves the store. Later Desmond meets Penny near the Thames. They get their picture taken after choosing a marina as the backdrop which Penny pays for, as Desmond cannot. Desmond realized that he is not able to take care of Penny and he tells her so. She is understandably upset and storms off.
Desmond ends up at a pub where he watched a soccer game on television. While Desmond was there Jimmy Lennon entered the bar with a cricket bat and hits the bartender because he owed Jimmy money.
Desmond joined the Royal Army but he went to jail sometime later (details unexplained), and on his release, was discharged from the military. After he got out, Mr. Widmore showed him that none of the letters he wrote Penelope made it to her. He then bribed him never to see his daughter again, who he claimed was getting married to another man. Mr. Widmore told Desmond that he was a coward.
Desmond resolved to participate in a solo sailing race around the world, which was sponsored by Mr. Widmore. He didn't have a boat, but ran into Libby in a coffee shop. Even though she was a stranger to him, after hearing his story, she offered to give him a sailboat. She said it was called The Elizabeth (named after her) and belonged to her recently deceased husband David.
Desmond went to a stadium late one night to get in shape for the sailing race. Penelope tracked him down and found him in the parking lot, and asked him not to go. He never told her about the letters he wrote her, and let her know he knew about her marriage plans. He told her he must win the sailing race to win back his honor.
In the stadium, he ended up running steps at the same time as Jack, and they met in this way. He told Jack about the sailing race, and then talked to Jack about Sarah, asking Jack what it would be like if a miracle happened and Sarah was able to walk again. He departed, saying "See you in another life, brother".
During his race, Desmond wrecked on the island and was taken to the Swan by Kelvin. Inside the facility, they had electricity, running water, food, music, and Desmond was taught to inject himself with the medication every 9 days. He learned from Kelvin that the button protocol consisted of them taking shifts and entering the numbers into a computer every 108 minutes.
Kelvin taught him many of the secrets of the Swan station (which he in turn, learned from Radzinsky), including how to make the lockdown happen, and that a secret map was being painted with detergent on the blast door (which can only be seen under black lights). Kelvin told him Radzinsky commited suicide. Kelvin got drunk one night and told him that entering the Numbers in the computer released built up electromagnetism in the hidden room that would otherwise leak and cause another Incident; he then shows him the failsafe key procedure.
Kelvin went on exploring trips outside the station, but was always seen with a biohazard suit on, according to him, because of "the sickness." He refused to let Desmond go, but one day Desmond followed him, after seeing that Kelvin had a break in his suit. He saw Kelvin remove the suit and Kelvin then caught him following him. Desmond confronted him that he knew he was lying about "the sickness." Kelvin told him that he played him for a fool because he needed someone to keep pushing the button after he ran away in his boat (which Kelvin had repaired). In a scuffle, Desmond hit Kelvin's head against a rock; Desmond believes he killed him. Running back to the station after this incident, he realized he was too late to reset the countdown clock, and saw the words SYSTEM FAILURE on the screen; metal objects in the room were affected by the electromagnetic force that was set free in the station, though it somehow resets after he tries entering the numbers again.
From that point on, Desmond was alone, despondant, and contemplating suicide himself. He looked in his favorite book, Our Mutual Friend (which he guarded on his trip all these years), and found a love letter Penelope placed inside years ago, saying that she would wait for him always. He was at a low point, when he suddenly heard Locke banging on the hatch door from above, and thought it was his salvation.
When Kate, Locke and Jack later enter the hatch, Desmond confronts them at gunpoint with the question "What did one snowman say to another." When Locke fails to know the answer ("It smells like carrots" is the passphrase DHARMA employees should know), Desmond knows he is not one of the replacements for the Swan.
After the computer is destroyed by a stray bullet, Desmond panicks. He tells them briefly about his history with Kelvin and about the orientation film before fleeing into the jungle, leaving the survivors to fix the computer and continue the protocol. As it turns out, he was headed for his boat, and wanted to leave the island.
Weeks later, Desmond's boat is spotted by those on the beach camp during Libby's funeral. Desmond says that he was sailing due West for 2 1/2 weeks at 9 knots, and should have been in Fiji by now, but ended up back where he started.
Locke recounts his findings from the Pearl Stationto him, and then Desmond too is disillusioned by the button pushing protocol he performed for so many years without questioning. Desmond helps Locke to lock Eko out of the Swan station in an effort to let the clock run down. He realizes at the last minute from Locke's printout from the Pearl that the date he failed to prevent system failure was the same date of the plane crash. He believes he caused it by failing to stop the giant magnet. The countdown clock again runs down at that moment, and when the electromagnetic force starts up this time, Desmond realizes their error, and decides to turn the failsafe key.
After Flashes:
When Desmond turned the failsafe key under the Swan Hatch, he seemed to have been thrown back into his past. He woke up on the floor of his flat after having apparently fallen from a ladder and is surrounded by red paint. When Penny asked him if he was alright he kissed her, obviously delighted to see her. There are some fragments of memory that remind him of the Island; the sound of the microwave that resembles the sound of the count down clock alarm, clock that reads 1:08 and a delivery man with a package “for 815”. His appointment with Charles Widmore and its outcome remain unchanged. Once again, Desmond exited the building and threw his tie on the ground. This time, however, when he saw the musician on the street corner he recognized him as Charlie. This led him to recognize that he was reliving his past.
Desmond arranged a meeting with his “mate” Donovan, who it is presumed is a physics professor, to discuss the possibility of time travel. Donovan asked Desmond to tell him what was going to happen next. Desmond incorrectly stated that Graybridge was going to win the soccer game and then Jimmy Lennon was going to hit the bartender with a cricket bat. When none of this occurred, Donovan dismissed the issue and told Desmond that he should just get on with his life and marry Penny. Desmond takes Donovan’s advice and decides to buy Penny and engagement ring. Looking for a ring, Desmond is greeted by Ms. Hawking. She showed him a ring but told him that he is not supposed to buy it or marry Penny. Ms. Hawking leaves the store and talks to Desmond about his fate and how the universe “course corrects” even if something intervenes with that fate. Desmond kept the ring anyway, but after his argument with Penny by the River Thames, he decided that he would have no choice but to accept his destiny and threw the ring in the river.
Later, Desmond returns to the pub once again. This time the soccer match ends the way he predicted they would, but as Jimmy Lennon enters to hit the bartender Desmond warns him and he ducks. Desmond is struck instead sending him back to the island after the hatch has imploded.
Even though the Swan Station implodes, those around appear to all survive the initial blast. Desmond, however, seems to develop an unusual ability to predict the future. He knows that Locke will give a speech before he gives it, and then later predicts that lightening will hit near Claire's tent, and erects a makeshift lightening rod to prevent injury.
Desmond, Sayid and Locke discuss the possibility of staging a rescue operation for Jack, Sawyer and Kate. Desmond tells Sayid that the Pearl Station’s equipment could possibly be useful in finding them and they, along with Nikki and Paulo head out to investigate. After some statement of the obvious by Nikki, Desmond and Sayid patch the monitors in to the other feeds around the island. As Sayid attempts to find a signal, a mysterious face of a one-eyed man appears briefly on one of the screens. Soon after this, Desmond heard the sound of the Monster and rushed out of the hatch, along with the rest of the group, just in time to see Eko’s demise. Desmond staid behind with Nikki and Paulo while Sayid and Locke went to get equipment for Eko’s burial.
Charlie and Hurley accompany Locke and Desmond back to the Eko’s body. While they are discussing the impact of Eko’s death on the camp, Desmond appeared increasingly nervous. Suddenly, he ran toward the beach and pulled an unconscious Claire out of the ocean and administers CPR. Charlie and Hurley become suspicious of Desmond’s precognitive ability and set out to get him drunk using the MacCutcheon whiskey that they found in Sawyer’s stash. Demanding to know what has happened to Desmond, Charlie calls him a coward and a physical altercation ensues. Desmond sobs and tells Charlie that he does not want to know what happened to him when he turned the fail safe key.
After Hurley stopped the fight, Charlie took Desmond back to his tent. Desmond tells Charlie that when he turned the key his life “flashed before his eyes” but since then the flashes have not stopped. Desmond tells Charlie that it is him not Claire that he has been trying to save; but he is afraid that he will not be able to keep cheating fate for much longer.
Sometime later, Desmond prevented Charlie from helping Claire catch the migrating seagulls after he foresaw that Charlie would die if he attempted to do so. Claire confronts Desmond when he caught one of the birds and she forced him to tell her his secret.
On the day that Nikki and Paulo were buried, Desmond tells Hurley that he saw Nikki arguing with Sawyer that morning. Desmond attends the funeral for Nikki and Paulo along with the rest of the camp.
When Sawyer was trying to win the “hearts and minds” of his fellow camp mates, he asks Desmond to take him boar hunting. They shoot a boar and host a feast for the Losties.
