Ah, Desmond. I don’t envy you in the least. When you’re not spending your time trying to save the life of Driveshaft former member Charlie, you’re experiencing some weird “flashes” that would drive any lesser man insane and which may cause you to sacrifice someone else’s life in order to achieve a higher goal.

But that’s the nature of a prophet, I suppose. We learned a bit more about the former monk on last night’s episode of Lost (“Catch-22″) that featured the arrival of a mysterious new castaway, Naomi (played by Marsha Thomason of Las Vegas), who was not — as Demond had hoped — his former fiancee Penny Widmore. (Damn!) Last night’s episode was written by Jeff Pinkner and new staff writer Brian K. Vaughan (yes, the creator of Runaways and Y: The Last Man). Hence all of the fun Superman vs. Flash moments between Charlie and Hurley, which added some nice levity, along with the campfire ghost stories, to a rather ominous episode.

Naomi. The enigmatic Naomi not only recognized Des when she regained consciousness, but was also carrying that iconic photograph of Desmond and Penny, the same one that Des has held onto so dearly. Curious. Add to those occurrences the fact that her backpack contained a Portuguese edition of Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22″ and you’re left with the undeniable conclusion that Naomi was likely working for Penelope Widmore, perhaps at that electromagnetic research station we saw at the end of Season Two. Just how Naomi made it to the island and what she’s doing there will have to wait for another time.

Desmond. In this week’s flashback, we’re given a peek into how Desmond met Penny (and why he refers to everyone as “brother”), and I never would have predicted that it had anything to do with our man Des joining a monastery or that he was engaged to be married to someone other than Penny. Namely, the biblically-named Ruth, whose brother ends up decking Desmond right in the winemaking monastery (which conveniently only bottled 108 cases a year). Desmond claims that right before the wedding, he experienced a blackout and found himself lying in the middle of the street; a man wearing a monk’s cassock offered him a hand and Desmond felt he was receiving a calling from God. But God’s will apparently doesn’t involve him staying on at the abbey, and he’s “fired” from his vocation by Brother Campbell. The next day, he turns in his robes and ends up helping a lovely woman pack her car full of cases of the monastery’s wine (called Moriah, after the mountain where Abraham nearly sacrifices Isaac). It’s Penelope, of course, and they hit it off immediately. Ah, doomed love.

Ms. Hawking. Yes, that was the creepy Ms. Hawking seen in the photograph on Brother Campbell’s desk when Desmond turned in his robes. I had to rewind to be certain, but there’s no doubt whatsoever that it’s the ouroboros-wearing Ms. Hawking (played by Fionnula Flanagan). Which begs the question: is Ms. Hawking a fictional construct of Desmond’s psyche or does she actually exist in the “real world”?

Love triangles. I loved how jealous Kate got at seeing Jack and Juliet being such shiny, happy people together as they enjoyed a dinner of homemade oatmeal … and the fact that she licked the spoon one last time before giving it to Jack. I never thought I’d feel bad for Sawyer, but our favorite con man has realized once again that he’s second-best and the only reason Kate sought out Sawyer that night (after turning down his offer of some afternoon delight) was because she was upset about Jack and Juliet. Poor guy. It’s never a good sign when the object of your affections starts crying before she has sex with you. Just a clue. But I did love that he managed to find a mix tape for Kate, even if it was a best of Phil Collins album … and if it was stolen from Bernard. (Yay, finally, a mention that he still exists!)

Charlie. I know some of you out there are serious Charlie-haters, but I don’t want the little hobbit to die. He’s survived death five times now (if you count that pesky Season One hanging by Ethan), and I like his prickly demeanor and overprotectiveness of Claire. Desmond did find the survivor of the helicopter crash (even if it wasn’t Penny) without sacrificing Charlie’s life, as Abraham did on Moriah. (Was he tested?) What do you think? Should Charlie live or die?

Satellite Phone. Naomi’s bag also contained a satellite phone that made me want the new Apple iPhone even more than I already did. But while the phone has a signal strength of three bars, it quickly powers down when Hurley tries to use it. Coincidence? Or part of the electromagnetic anomaly? Think the Others have a charger at the Barracks? I’m still also a little weirded out by the fact that the helicopter’s beacon seemed suspiciously like that of the food drop. Could Naomi — and by extension Penelope Widmore — be part of the Dharma Initiative? And why exactly did the helicopter crash? And was Naomi the only one aboard?

Next week on Lost (“D.O.C.”), Sun reluctantly allows Juliet to examine her after learning that all of the Other’s pregnant women have died before giving birth on the island, while Desmond enters an uneasy alliance in order to save Naomi’s life.

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Jace is an LA-based television development and acquisitions junior exec who watches way too much television for his own good and would love a TiVo for every room in the house. (He’s halfway there.) His blog, Televisionary, can be found at televisionary.blogspot.com.