Uncharted Island

As several of our commenters pointed out, Henry Ian Cusick did indeed get an Emmy nod for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Desmond David Hume, the first Hatch Monkey we met. And his Emmy-worthy acting is one of the reasons why we love Desmond.

There is some debate in the more superficial looks category as to whether or not clean-cut Desmond is preferable to scruffy, drunk, dirty Desmond. Both versions of Desmond have their own charm. Whether he’s fresh out of the brig or two weeks out in his boat with a bottle of DHARMA booze, he looks good in my book.

So why is Desmond so great?

Mystery. When we first met Desmond, we didn’t get to see his face. I know I thought we were watching a flashback until we saw all the way up the hatch to where Jack and Locke were peering in. He was a big unknown for a while, running off after the computer got shot at the beginning of season two. We didn’t really get to know him. What kind of person would push a button for so long without more of an explanation than that orientation film? The mystery was what made him so intriguing for quite some time.

Honor. We don’t know how he ended up in military prison except that he didn’t follow orders. In his mind, he had to make up for his dishonorable behavior by doing an honorable task - the Widmore boat race around the world. The fact that he has a sense of honor at all makes him more honorable than most of our Lostaways in my mind.

That Accent. The guys think it’s cool. The gals find it dreamy. “Just saving the world. His words, not mine.” Brutha.

The Stuffed Bunny. We don’t know anything about it, but he grabbed the stuffed bunny when he vacated the hatch… must have sentimental value. Aww.

True Love. Not since The Princess Bride have I felt so sappy for an on-screen couple as I feel for Desmond and Penny. Buttercup thought she lost Wesley to the Dread Pirate Roberts; Penny thought she lost Desmond to a shipwreck. Although Penny, unlike Buttercup, doesn’t seem to have given up on her man. Desmond still has Penny’s picture after all this time. And reading her letter was heart-wrenching enough to drive him to suicide. Luckily he didn’t follow through.

Courage When It Counts. Though he ran away from the hatch once when he thought all was lost, Desmond stuck around when the metal started to fly. He thought he was signing his own death sentence to save Locke (and the world!) when he went to turn that fail-safe key. Did anyone catch his life-flashing-before-his-eyes sequence? He made the noble, courageous choice at last… Let’s hope he survived it!