Desmond Timeline doesn't add up!

Desmond’s Timeline from 1995-2001

1989
Desmond begins dating Ruth. ("Catch-22")

1995
Celtics win the Scottish Cup ("Catch-22")
A week before his wedding to Ruth, Desmond gets drunk and is found in the street by Brother Campbell. Desmond joins the monastery. ("Catch-22")
Upon being expelled from the monastery, Desmond meets Penelope Widmore. ("Catch-22")
The vintage of the wine bottles and Ruth's mention of Celtic winning the Cup date this flashback to 1995, where he first meets Penny. Desmond's later flashback where he breaks up with Penny takes place in 1996. Normally wine is dated based on the date of the grape harvest, and Cabernet Sauvignon is usually aged in barrels for years before being released, so the date on the bottle is likely a production error meant to show the date of the flashback and not a realistic vintage date.
Desmond is in a monastery in Eddington, Scotland in 1995.
RUTH: We dated for six years, and the closest you ever came to a religious experience was Celtic winning the cup.
DESMOND: OK, yes, I was scared about the wedding, so I had a few pints too many, maybe I, I raised my eyes, and I asked am I doing the right thing, and that's the last thing I remember. And when I woke up, I was lying on my back in the street, and I dunno how I got there and, there was this man standing over me, Ruth. And he reached out his hand and he said to me, can I help you brother. And the first thing I noticed was the rope tied round his waist, and I looked at him and I knew, I knew, I was supposed to go with him. I was supposed to go with him, I was supposed to leave everything that mattered behind, sacrifice all of it, for a greater calling.

Either way if we go with the fact that this all took place sometime after May 1995 it does not add up for when Penny & Des got together by what is said in Flashes before your Eyes!!

1996
Desmond proposes to Penny, and applies to Charles Widmore for a job. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes"), (Official Lost Podcast transcript/February 20, 2007)
DESMOND: No, sir. I came here to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage. We've been together 2 years now and Pen's moving in and I love her. Your permission would mean everything to me.
According to the producers, Desmond did really travel back in time, and the events he relived occurred in 1996. (Official Lost Podcast/February 20, 2007)
How can Desmond and Penny have been together for 2 years when they did not meet until after May 1995????

1999
April 4th - Desmond completes his prison sentence and is dishonorably discharged from the military. Charles Widmore immediately attempts to bribe Desmond to run away and forget Penelope Widmore. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

2001
Desmond meets Libby at a coffee shop shortly after arriving in the United States (Los Angeles?). She loans him her boat. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

Penelope tracks down Desmond at the stadium. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

Jack meets Desmond at the stadium ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")

Desmond begins the boat race in Libby's boat. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

Desmond arrives on the Island and begins pushing the button with Kelvin Joe Inman. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

Flashes Before Your Eyes Inconsistancys

In 1995 Penelope Widmore met Desmond at a monastery in Scotland, where Desmond had lived as a novice but had recently been 'fired' from the order. Penny had arrived to pick up a shipment of Moriah Wine purchased by her father, and convinced Desmond to travel with her to Carlisle to deliver the wine. ("Catch-22") ……….Penny dated Desmond for two years prior to him meeting her father in 1996. Eventually, Penelope moved into Desmond's flat (he was apparently too proud to move into her larger one). After Desmond failed to get a job at the Widmore Corporation (or permission to marry Penny) she was rather pleased because she disliked the company of her father, and they decided to celebrate. Later, they met in London and had a photograph taken. Desmond had still been planning to marry Penny, but suddenly changed his mind just as he was about to purchase the ring. At the split up, Penelope told him he did that because he was a coward. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") Right here is the contradiction about when these events occurred!!According to the producers, Desmond did really travel back in time, and the events he relived occurred in 1996. (Official Lost Podcast/February 20, 2007) They say he did relive events that occurred in 1996 but is that when he went back?
What "butterfly effects" will occur as a result of the changes Desmond made? He talked to Charlie, so Charlie should remember that now, and he took the hit from Jimmy Lennon, sparing the bartender. Why doesn’t Charlie remember that conversation if it happened?

So here is what I have found from Flashes Before Your Eyes.. This does make sense and it all stems from this episode.. All the blue text is my comments.. I bold Italic'd the info that I thought was important.

Oh wow. So do you think this was intentional or a mistake by the writers or what? Great job on taking the time to do this btw ur the best Wednighter!

Well I am not sure why there are these "issues" with the timeline.. I will be posting more about this in the next day.. Another way to look at each timeline from each Desmond centric episode.. See if it will make sense then..

Quote:

Originally Posted by BabyYo

Oh wow. So do you think this was intentional or a mistake by the writers or what? Great job on taking the time to do this btw ur the best Wednighter!

Thank you BabyYo

08:36 AM

I agree that the timelines don't add up. However, I think it's a case of the year dates being inconsistent with the "we've been together two years" types of comments.

I...think...perhaps...the writers started dropping in specific years without really thinking about the other time periods which had been mentioned in Flashes Before Your Eyes.

Sort of like after Walkabout. The flashbacks suddenly have him with a comb-over hairstyle but you don't really know how far back in Locke's life they are taking this. So we have Locke donating a kidney, stalking his father, going to group therapy for a year, becoming a house inspector (and seeing Nadia in the U.S.), joining a commune, and running guns...all before he was pushed out a window by his father four years before Flight 815. So...how many years of Locke's history have we been shown?

Another problem with Desmond's timeline is they still have to fit in his stint in the Armed Forces and imprisonment. Obviously it comes after 1995-6, but there isn't much time left (I think) to fit in his training, his trial, and his imprisonment. And didn't Whitmore tell him about the round-the-world boat race just before Desmond asked if he could marry Penny (in Flashes Before Your Eyes)? Where would the soldiering and prison time fit in between that flashback and his entering the race?

That could be another inconsistency.

Check this picture out. It shows 1989 on the wine crate. Is this supposed to be a year too or what.
found picture at buddytv.com

Thanks for the pic Folie!!

sure, no prob.

So is the 1989 printed on the crate a year? And if it is why is it different from the 1995 printed on the label? Weird. Maybe it is just a lot number or something on the crate. :>)

Wouldn't it be strange if the grapes were processed in 1989 and then bottled in 1995... That would also be some of Desmonds dates.. In 1989 would be when he met Ruth and 1995 when he left her a week before the wedding..