LOST Follow the Leader, first thoughts

As always, *SPOILERS* if you aren't caught up.  And also, shame on you for that.

I guess let's start in 1977 and then we'll hit 2007.

1977-

So, immediately after killing Faraday, Eloise confirms that it is her son that she shot by seeing her own handwriting in his journal.  Dr. Jack tells her that it can be changed.

At this point, does anyone feel like anything has been done differently then it would have always happened?  As for now, I don't.  It seems like each event that has taken place is exactly the same as it would have always occurred.  Eloise Hawking knew that she was sending her son to be killed at her own hands as soon as she told him that he should listen to Charles Widmore and go to the Island.  And according to what Richard told Sun 30 years later, she knew that she was sending Dr. Jack and the others to their deaths as well.  Now, I believe that she's doing this holding out hope that her son was right and everything can be changed and they would all have to be there in the past in order to change it, but they were all also there when they failed to change anything, as evidenced by the fact that the Incident occurred and Richard remembers them all dying.

Desmond is, of course, the wild card (the Variable, if you will) who can (and has) changed things.  Faraday knew this, so if it is in his journal, then perhaps Eloise does too, and maybe she was just hoping when she told him, "The Island isn't through with you yet."

As for Richard saying that he saw the '77 LOSTies die, I have a theory about that.  Still working from Faraday's "Whatever Happened, Happened" theory, what if it wasn't the drilling that caused the Incident, but the LOSTies themselves using Jughead?  After all, it was the actions of Sayid, then Kate, Juliet, and Sawyer that turned Benry into the monster that he becomes, and the current actions of our dubious heroes are stirring up the animosity of Dharma and the Hostiles towards each other in what will no doubt ultimately lead to the Purge, so if they are directly responsible for those two things, it certainly stands to reason that they would have been responsible for the Incident at the Swan as well.  (And then indirectly, responsible for the crashing of their own plane 27 years later.)

Sayid shot Young Ben (innocent at the time of the shooting in more ways then one) hoping to change the future, but all that he really did was put that future into motion.  If Sayid had never shot Ben, then he never would have been taken to Richard and changed in the Temple into the same sort of person that Rousseau's crew was transformed into, someone with no innocence left, able to do monsterous things.  In attempting to change that future, Sayid actually helped make that future.

I'm afraid that Dr. Jack is doing the same thing.  He had that same wild hope that he had towards the end of Season 3, that hope that he could finally save everyone, that he could finally become the leader that everyone kept telling him that he was (although he had his doubts).  As I surmised in the Facebook comments section of the post last week, Dr. Jack would see this as a way to save everyone, including those who had passed away, Charlie, Ana Lucia, Libby, Boone, Shannon, Eko, even (sadly) Paulo and Nikki.  And that is too much for him to pass up.

Way back in the first consistent LOST post that I did, the post that turned this into a regular thing, I talked about Dr. Jack wanting that opportunity to save everyone who had died, and how he didn't realize how much better things were (especially for many of those who died).  (Sure I was wrong about a lot in that post, but I did bring up this wish of Dr. Jack's, now realized, and the idea that they would have to recreate the 815 flight, which would occur in a different manner then I envisioned, but still, in 316.)  I've talked in the past (in a post that actually occurred before I started writing about LOST after every episode) about my belief that for Eko, that death was a release, even a reward.  He had come to terms with his life, and having nothing left to learn was content with it ending.  The same case could certainly be made for Boone and Charlie as well.  So, like Sayid before him, I believe that Dr. Jack in trying to change the future is in fact taking the same steps that helped create that very future.

If they do in fact create the very Incident that they are trying to keep from happening, then they will go through the same purple skied flash that sent Desmond time travelling the first time (as well as giving Locke and Eko quite a ride).  It could also be the thing that sends our LOSTies back to the time that they belong (having completed their duty in making sure that Whatever Happened, Happened).  If Richard sees them attempting to set off a Hydrogen bomb and dissappear in a huge Purple (go Frogs, by the way) explosion, why wouldn't he assume that he saw them die, vaporized by the bomb?  That is exactly what he would assume, in my opinion.

So, I think that they are still doing the same things that they have ever done, and in order to change history, they'll need the help of Desmond.  Until they get it, I just don't believe that they'll succeed.

I could, of course, be completely wrong.

To finish up '77, even while the poorly CGIed sub (although, as poor as it was, those effects are better then the ones in Wolverine, *shudder*) was heading away from the Island, I had no doubt that somehow Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate wouldn't get far.  Looks like the previews confirm that.

And I'm glad that Miles knows his dad loved him, now.  Glad at least one father-son relationship can be healthy on this show (actually, Hurley and his dad are on much better terms now too, so, that's nice.)

2007-

Well, everything we thought we knew about Jacob might just be a lie.

I always assumed that Jacob was working in the best interest of the Island, as either the personification of the Island or as its representative.  I'm no longer sure about that.

When John takes Benry and Richard to the Beechcraft in order to save himself, Benry asks how John knew when he would arrive.  John answers (in that infuriating way that he has), "The Island told me.  Doesn't the Island ever tell you things, Ben?"

So, he is still receiving intel from the Island, and good, hard to predict intel at that.

Yet he wants to kill Jacob.

Would the Island be helping Locke in the way that it is (hell, it even brought him back to life!) if it didn't approve of this plan?  I don't think so.  That means that Jacob is not working in the interest of the Island and is therefore perhaps an enemy to the Island.

When Christian landed (in his casket) on the Island, the Island finally had someone with whom it could combat Jacob's manipulations, causing Jacob to be in trouble (and beg John to, "Help me!").  Now, it has brought John back to life giving it an even more powerful person to act on its behalf.  I would say this means that Christian is actually in opposition to Jacob and not his steward (in answer to my post on Christian and Jacob a couple of months back).

This is a huge revelation, and to be honest, one that I really didn't see coming.  I can't wait to see how it plays out.

As for Benry, man is it strange to see him unsure, because he clearly has no clue what to make of John right now and this is very different then any Benry we've ever seen on the show.  I'm enjoying it, but still expecting at some point the in control and sure of himself evil Benry to resurface.

Until Next Time, the two hour season finale is next week, and I, for one, am not ready for this season to be over, as I believe it has been the best season the show has ever had.