"LOST" COMMENTARY: "CONFUSION OVER TIME TRAVEL"
I did a recent rewatch of the "LOST" Season Five episodes, (5.02) "The Lie" and (5.03) "Jughead". After viewing it, I had come to a realization about the Oceanic 815 and the S.S. Kahana castaways left behind on the island, following the Oceanic Six and Ben Linus' departures.
The second half of "The Lie" featured the Oceanic castaways, former member of the Others Juliet Burke and the Kahana freighter survivors being under attack by the Others in 1954 with flaming arrows. I can recall seeing many figures attempt fleeing or attempting to into the jungle in order to survive. But now . . . I find myself wondering why did all of the remaining inhabitants at the Oceanic beach camp had skipped through time. Why all of them? And why am I questioning this writing decision?
The season's sixth episode, (5.06) "316", saw the Oceanic Six (sans Aaron Littleton), former Others leader Ben Linus, and pilot Frank Lapidus (who had been part of the Kahana crew three years earlier) return to the island on Ajira Flight 316 during the fall of 2007. Of this group, only Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes and Sayid Jarrah had disappeared from the plane and traveled back in time to 1977. Thanks to Frank's piloting skills; he, Sun-Hwa Kwon, Ben, and the rest of the Ajira 316 passengers and crew had landed on Hydra Island, the small island close to the main one. At least those who had survived. They did not time traveled back to 1977. Instead, they had remained in 2007.
Here is another interesting tidbit. In "The Lie", both James "Sawyer" Ford and Dr. Juliet Burke had noted that the zodiac inflatable boat that Dr. Daniel Faraday had been using to transport Neil Frogurt and other Oceanic 815 castaways from their beach camp to the S.S. Kahana during the Season Four finale, (4.12-4.14) "There's No Place Like Home", had also traveled through time with the castaways. Even while it was beached. Juliet had pointed out that it must have traveled along with them because Daniel and the five Oceanic castaways had been traveling toward the freighter when the time traveling began.
I had also realized that only certain characters had played roles in the incident regarding the Dharma Initiative's drilling into the island and the detonation of the Jughead in 1977. They included:
*John Locke
*Dr. Daniel Faraday
*Dr. Jack Shephard
*Kate Austen
*Sayid Jarrah
*James "Sawyer" Ford
*Dr. Juliet Burke
*Miles Straume
*Hugo "Hurley" Reyes
*Jin-Soo Kwon
*John Locke
*Dr. Charlotte Lewis
*Rose Nadler
*Bernard Nadler
How did they play a role?
*Locke, with the help of his fellow castaways, had left on the island, using the Donkey Wheel and electromagnetic energy inside the Orchid Station. He wanted to contact the Oceanic Six and convince them to return to the island in order to save those left behind. His death in Los Angeles set in motion the events that led to "the Incident".
*Unlike her fellow time travelers, Charlotte had never ended up in the 1970s and become part of the Dharma Initiative, due to her death from the time jumps. But her death had led Daniel to join the Dharma Initiative's scientific staff at its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan and consider the possibility of changing the timeline to save her.
*Daniel was the one who became aware of the Dharma Initiative's dangerous drilling into the island's electromagnetic energy in 1977. He was also the one who tried to warn Dr. Pierre Chang about the dangers of this drilling. And he was the one who came up with the idea to use an old U.S. Army hydrogen bomb named Jughead to stop the drilling and destroy the island's electromagnetic energy, in order to reset time and prevent the crash of Oceanic 815's crash in 2004 and Charlotte's death from time travel.
*Following Daniel's death at the hands of his mother, former Others leader Eloise Hawking; Jack decided to continue with Daniel's plans by contacting the Others in order to get hold of the Jughead bomb. Like Daniel, he saw this as an opportunity to destroy the island's electromagnetic energy and prevent Oceanic 815's crash in 2004.
*At first, Kate was willing to help Daniel and Jack acquire the Jughead bomb. Following Daniel's death, she found his idea implausible and dangerous and sought out Sawyer and Juliet's help to stop Jack's plan to detonate the bomb. Her appearance aboard the Dharma submarine had convinced Juliet and a very reluctant Sawyer to return to the island.
*Sayid Jarrah, who had been hiding from the Dharma Initiative ever since his attempt to kill the 12 year-old Ben Linus, had appeared to help Kate break away from Jack and the paranoid members of the Others, led by Eloise Hawking. He was also the one who had dismantled the core from the Jughead bomb and tried to rig it for detonation upon impact.
*Although Rose and Bernard Nadler had experienced the time skips during the first five episodes of Season Five, they had separated from their fellow castaways/time travelers following the Others' attack upon the castaways in 1954. Kate, Sawyer and Juliet eventually encountered the couple in 1977, where they had established their own cabin near the beach. A comment by Rose had produced a brief and affectionate glance between Kate and Sawyer, producing jealousy within Juliet. This led the latter to eventually embrace Daniel and Jack's plans regarding the bomb and convince Sawyer to help Jack. She had believed a time reset would spare her the possible pain of being rejected by Sawyer, in favor of Kate.
*Sawyer had served as the Dharma Initiative's Head of Security, until the latter discovered he was personally acquainted with the recently arrived members of the Oceanic Six. He had made a deal for him and Juliet to leave the island by their submarine. But Kate had convinced the couple to help her prevent Jack from detonating the bomb. Sawyer led the group that eventually came to Jack's aid at the Swan Station construction site, when the latter found himself trapped by armed Dharma personnel.
*Miles Straume (Dr. Chang's son), Jin-Soo Kwon and "Hurley" Reyes had all joined Sawyer, Juliet and Kate in their defense of Jack at the Swan Station construction site.
*During their three years with the Dharma Initiative, Juliet and Sawyer had fallen in love. It was not surprising Juliet had developed a fear that Sawyer would renew his romantic interest in Kate. This fear had finally took complete hold of her when she witnessed Sawyer and Kate's exchange of affectionate smiles at the Nadlers' beach camp. This fear had driven Juliet to finally participate in Daniel and Jack's plans to use the Jughead bomb to change the timeline. And this fear also drove Juliet to detonate the bomb, herself, when it had failed to do so after Jack had tossed it into one of the construction site's pits.
What is the point of all of this? The above people had played a role in the incident regarding the Dharma Initiative's drilling and the Jughead bomb's detonation at the barely constructed Swan Station. This detonation had finally stopped Dharma's drilling into the island and prevented a world-ending event in 1977. In other words, the above people had played roles - major or minor - in saving the island and the world during that period.
This meant Sun, the adult Ben, Lapidus and other passengers aboard Ajira 316 did not play a role in "the Incident" in 1977. Neither did any of the other Oceanic castaways who had been left behind at their beach camp. Which leads me to wonder why showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had not allowed Ajira occupants Sun, Ben and Lapidus to travel back in time; but had allowed other nameless Oceanic castaways to time travel with Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Jin, Miles. I understand why Frogurt and the four other Oceanic castaways had traveled through time. They had been inside the Zodiac with Daniel, when the time skips began. And since they had played no role in "the Incident", it was not surprising that Lindelof and Cuse had allowed the Others to kill them off in 1954.
But what about the rest of the Oceanic castaways who had been left behind on the beach? Lindelof and Cuse should not have allowed them to experience the time skips at all. They had played no role in "the Incident". Nor had they been inside the Zodiac boat with Daniel. They should have remained behind at the Oceanic beach camp, in December 2004-January 2005.
