Perhaps I have the presidential inauguration and President Obama on my mind, but the word “change” was easily the keyword of last night’s two-hour “Lost” premiere.
For two hours, the stories shifted back-and-forth in time and locale, much the same way the island kept shifting back-and-forth as it got “unstuck” in time. As those who remained on the island tried adjusting to the intermittent purple flashes that propelled them back and forth through time, leaving them without a constant, Daniel Faraday the physicist was (thankfully) on hand to explain what was happening.
At one point, the island “landed” at a time in the past when Desmond’s hatch hadn’t been found/open/exploded. Even though Sawyer attempted to get Desmond’s help, Faraday stopped Sawyer and explained, “You can’t change the past.” By changing Desmond’s past, the future might be temporarily altered, but eventually time would course-correct itself to reflect what it’s supposed to be. In a way, this is another thread in the theme of free will and fate/destiny that “Lost” touches upon–one may have the free will to change past and future circumstances, but fate will eventually bring about what’s-meant-to-be. However, making changes in the past is more dangerous than changing the future–you never know what you might change for the worse.
Still, even after Faraday explained the “rule” to Sawyer (perhaps one of the “rules” Dr. Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle/etc. meant), he realized that Desmond’s past didn’t apply to their situation. Since Desmond had arrived to the island prior to Oceanic 815, he was the “constant” or the fulcrum that grounded the islanders and Faraday to the past and the future. Therefore, the rules that forced everyone not to change the past didn’t apply to Desmond–and Faraday was able to give Desmond a message before the island shifted in time again. Present-day Desmond woke up to “remember” that he had the ability to change the future and save everyone on the island. (Confusing, isn’t it?)
As the islanders learned they couldn’t change the past, Ben and Jack banded together to change the future. The death of Locke convinced Jack that the Oceanic 6 needed to get back to the island, which would be the only way the island would stop being “unstuck” in time. Of course, their mission is off to a rocky start as Sayid lapses into a coma from a poisonous dart, Kate goes on the run with Aaron, Sun partners with Charles Widmore to kill Ben, and Hurley gets himself (purposely) arrested.
Whether or not the past and future will be changed (either intentionally or unintentionally), at least there is one thing that is still ever-present: hope. Hope that everything will turn out to be ok–the Oceanic 6 will find a way to go back to the island to rescue everyone, the island will be eventually be grounded in time, and the world will be saved. Change and hope–two themes to hold on to for the new season of “Lost” (and among other things, too).
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