LAST EDITED ON 04-13-10 AT 10:49 AM (EST)

I basically agree with all who were let down by this episode. It served the following purposes:

1. Reintroduce Desmond to the current storyline,
2. Reestablish that Desmond is different from other characters,
3. Again utilize sideways reality to bring back an actor who otherwise would have to portray a ghost (more final season reunion).

The first two could have been accomplished in a few minutes, the third in another minute.

One thing I did get a little kick from, though, was the semi-nod to "The Time Tunnel." That, I believe, was intentional, and perhaps foreshadowing.

"The Time Tunnel," for those of you unfamiliar with it, was a science fiction series that lasted one season, 1966-67. It was pretty cheap even by '60s standards. Two researchers of a government time project bounced through time, generally from one historical event to another (though a few times into situations which more fitted "The Twilight Zone"), while Time Tunnel personnel monitored their adventures and tried to figure out how to get them back home. One of the themes of the series was changing history. In the first episode the time travellers were aboard the Titanic and though they tried and tried they were unable to prevent the sinking of the ship. Lesson learned. It soon turned out that the time travellers would have to make certain that historical events happened as they were supposed to, as history has them unfold, which isn't always obvious as for instance when you are dealing with mythical Greek gods or space aliens (who are invariably evil).

Okay, granted "Quantum Leap" did a much better job exploring the same themes dealing with history on a smaller scale (personal histories rather than major historical events), but QL not only had the advantage of a bigger budget and better writers, QL had Ziggy (a variation of the Enterprise computer which could supply any data requisite to the story). Exposition aside, one major difference between TTT and QL were how the series concluded. QL had an open-ended conclusion which, had the series been picked up for another season, was intended to take the series to another level. In TTT the final jump through time landed the time travellers...

back on the Titanic!

It was a loop!

Is this foreshadowing?