Lost in Lost – Can you change the future?

I didn’t even realize that we only have two weeks of Lost left until after this week’s episode, when I had to look it up. I’m choosing not to acknowledge that reality, or I would have to face the fact that I’m suffering Lost withdrawal before the season is even over. Enough of that type of talk, though — let’s discuss some of the crazy stuff that is going down in these last couple episodes.

The big question that seems to be lingering is whether or not the castaways in 1977 will be able to alter the future and, therefore, their own lives. Will they be able to prevent the original crashing of Oceanic 815?

As the season plays out, I think the losties are going to be debating whether or not to follow through on Daniel’s plan to attempt to alter the future by blowing the atom bomb, “Jughead.” Whatever does happen with the bomb, I’m guessing that it’s going to play a big part in “the incident” of Dharma Initiative fame. As an aside, I have to say I love that the characters we’ve known for so long are going to be playing a role in an event that we’ve been wondering about since season two. I love this show!

Let’s talk about the two options:

• You can change the future: This would certainly be a monumental game changer for the show, which is why I think it won’t happen. Time travel can get really sticky, and with as much faith as I have in the writers of this show, I don’t think they could pull off the complete reversal of events. Let me be clear: I don’t think any writer could handle the intricate plot questions that would come up. Where would the show pick up? Would any of our characters know each other? What would be the point of even having a season six? This seems like a much better option for an end-of-series, not end-of-season episode.
• You cannot change the future (“whatever happened, happened”): We’ve been having this drilled into us since the beginning of the season, since the castaways started jumping in time. With the exception of Desmond, nothing in the past can affect the future, or so we have been lead to believe. Personally, I think that Daniel was desperate to change the future; I don’t think he believed it could actually happen. I think he still hadn’t gotten over the loss of Charlotte and was willing to try anything to prevent her death. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the future can’t be changed, but I think we’ll find out for sure before the season ends.

The last couple episodes are sure to be interesting. With Lost winding down its run, I can’t wait to get to season six.

Clacked by Bob Degon
on May 04, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT