Lost in Thought: "LA X"

The long wait to the new season of Lost was well worth it after taking in the two hour season premiere. I am excited to see where this season goes and what they do with the story. However, I wanted to actually write down my thoughts about the new episodes as they come along just to see how well I can understand where the story is going. Each week, I want to write about various topics that come up in the show. Obviously, these posts are going to mean nothing to people who are not current with the show and if you are trying to catch up, then please, do not read these because it's going to riddled with spoilers. With that, let's start.

This week, I am going to tackle the big turn in the story which is a direct result of the season 5 finale. I was wondering how they were going to handle the bomb detonating at the pocket of electromagnetism. From various sources, there was an implication that the bomb would reset the timeline and that flight 815 would land in Los Angeles safe. The problem with that though would be that the island would be abandoned and the idea that this show centers around the island would not work or they would really have to stretch to make it work for the characters to go back and in addition you would the problem of a time paradox. However, if the bomb failed, then all the main characters would be dead with the story nowhere to go.

That's where the timeline split comes in, which does not completely surprise me, but I was unsure of how they'd handle it. I mean, you are tracking two stories of characters in two different realities and I can potentially see that being confusing for much of the audience (although I assume that much of the audience who watch the show are fairly intelligent). The two realities (or parallel timelines) that were created by the incident at the Swan site and both need to exist on a metaphysic level otherwise it would cause a time paradox as I previously mentioned. The first reality is one where the bomb successfully detonated and ultimately sinks the island to below the seas' surface in 1977. Since the island sinks, there is no hatch constructed on it, thus no button for Desmond to press and thus it did not bring down Flight 815. The plane lands safely in the Los Angeles airport and things are relatively normal for the passengers. However, minor differences are apparent in the lives of the characters due to the ripple effect of the island never playing a role in the lives. I will call this parallel universe the "no island" reality.

However, this would mean that since the plane did not wreck on the island, it also means that Jack and his crew would not go on the series of events that leads them to going back to 1977 and thus detonate the bomb that sinks the island. It's a time paradox, so on a metaphysical level, there needs to be a reality where the island still exists and the hatch is created and the plane crashes and the events of the first 5 seasons occur. They get bumped back to 2007 and exist in the same reality as Sun, LaPedus, and Ben because in relativity that is how much time has passed for both the Ajira crew and for Jack and the others. This is the "island exists" reality.

Ok, that was basically a review of what actually happened on the episode and doesn't really have a theory in it, but what does this idea mean for some of the other mysteries of the island? I don't know yet, I will have to think about it more. The other major development is the identity of the smoke monster as being Jacob's nemesis and the fake Locke. I will deal with that next time.

What I really look forward to in this season is the development of the two alternative timelines because I have not seen this in any other show or movie really. It will be interesting to see what the characters would have done without the impact of the island on their lives. It is also a tool for the main debate of the whole show which is fate vs. free will. If we have a specific fate, then you will be seeing the two realities parallel each other. You will see Boone die in the "no island" reality, along with Charlie, and the others that died in the original "island exists". It will be very much like the Final Destination franchise in that regard and there will be nothing that can be done to prevent it. However, if the philosophy of the show leans towards free will, then you are going to see vastly different outcomes for the characters in the two realities. Maybe in one, the character has a tragic end, but then you can see that they have a second chance in another life.

Can we change fate? That's what Lost has asked from the start and I am looking forward to see how the writers tackle it.

"See you in another life, brotha," - Desmond