LOST: Change Begets Change

Next week will bring the Season 5 finale of LOST, and after that, only one season will remain. "Follow the Leader" was an episode that was about putting all the pieces in place for the season finale, but it was still an overall good episode. The scenes of Locke, Ben, and Richard were great, and watching Jack become a shadow of Locke's former self is an interesting turn for the character. My biggest complaint is that I was led to believe it would be a Richard Alpert-centric episode. In a sense it was, because he tied the two timelines together, but I was under the impression we would finally get a sense of how old he was (among other things; in a former post to this site, I put up a link to an article that gave a hint to a plot point about Alpert I've been waiting all season for; it may still happen in next week's episode, but the LOST producers have told us on many occasions that things would happen in a season only to have them pushed back or not happen at all).

The main purpose of this post is to reiterate what I said last time about how I hope that the survivors are unable to alter history and to give examples of where the various characters would be had Oceanic 815 landed safely in Los Angeles back in 2004. Jack seems to think that altering history will solve everyone's problems, but he forgets that although the miseries (and joys) that happened to them on the island won't have happened, all kinds of other miseries may occur. Kate realizes this, and I'm surprised she doesn't say more to Jack because she has so much to lose by altering history. Let's take a look:

Kate: She'll likely be in jail. She was being taken back to the States in chains by Marshal Mars. The big reason she was acquited when the Oceanic 6 returned was because Jack testified on her behalf that she did a lot of good on the Island and because the judge ruled that her "time served" on the Island was a sufficient removal from society.

Sayid: Probably still looking for Nadia. He was going to LA to find her, but she sought him out when he returned.

Charlie: Alive, but probably still a junkie. In fact, he may die from an overdose, as opposed to dying a hero.

Sawyer: Possibly in jail again. He was being deported from Australia after getting in a bar fight, and he probably went back to conning. He also would still have the burden of his parents death over his head because he wouldn't have finally met the real Sawyer.

Locke: Possibly dead from suicide, because he was extremely depressed after, once again, being told what he couldn't do and he never regained the use of his legs.

Boone and Shannon: Probably alive, but still really awkward from sleeping together.

Michael and Walt: Not getting along because they could never have bonded the way they did on the island.

Claire: Living alone in Australia after giving Aaron up for adoption.

Hurley: Living with his parents in their old house after giving away all his money (he may actually be better off from the alteration).

Jin and Sun: Probably estranged because they would never have been able to work out their troubles. Or Jin may even have died for trying to defy Mr. Paik.

Ana-Lucia: Alive, but still working for the airport and hating herself.

Libby: Um, crazy?

Mr. Eko: Doing stuff in America while still pretending to be a priest and blaming himself for Yemi's death.

Desmond: Still stuck on the island. He wouldn't be pushing the button, but his boat would still have crashed on the Island.

Juliet: This depends on how the event that made pregnancies a fatal disease came to pass. If it happened because of the Incident at the Swan, then she would be better off by altering history. If the event is unrelated to the Swan, she'd still be stuck on the island.

Nikki and Paulo: Hopefully in prison.

Ben: Dead because Jack never got to operate on him.

Daniel: Still alive, but also still crazy from his time travel experiments. Also, he would never meet Charlotte, the love of his life.

Miles: Probably no difference but for coming to the island.

Charlotte: Alive but still probably searching for the island.

Rose and Bernard: Rose would be dead from cancer.

Jack: Still fixing people in the hospital, but likely alone.

And none of them would know each other. Jack/Sawyer would not fall for Kate and Juliet. Kate and Juliet would not fall for Jack/Sawyer. Sayid and Shannon would not meet. Hurley and Libby, Hurley and Charlie, Michael and Jin, etc.

Up next: J.D. says goodbye...