(If you've never seen the television series Lost from beginning to end, proceed with caution as spoilers abound)
As I mentioned earlier this week, I finished up a recent viewing of Lost, and while I could've just left it at a recap, I was feeling ambitious, and while I'm feeling ambitious I thought...why not do something a little wild to close the Lost chapter of the blog? So we're going to combine franchises. The What If TV series is one of the lesser-discussed aspects of the MCU, but if you look at my collection of comic books, you'll find that it is the most prominently-featured title. That's because I loved the What If comic books as a kid. Unlike the TV series, they were more-than-willing to play with stakes. The TV show frequently will make characters you love into ones that you learn to hate, because it's a parallel universe, but the TV series, seeing only dollar signs at risk, doesn't play that way. But there was potential here, particularly in a world like Lost where we have time travel, and multiple key character deaths that lead to a lot of very specific outcomes. I know Daniel Faraday would warn me against such things, but I want to understand-what would happen if we could change the plot of the show?
I'm going to explore below ten very plausible shifts in the plot, and what would've happened as a result of them. You will notice a few things missing. First, I'm focusing on the entirety of the show, but given the long-term impact there's very little from the show's final two seasons in terms of set-up because there's not that much to run-on. I think there's a world where, for example, Jack not breaking the Lighthouse mirrors might have given him more information, or letting Sayid die rather than become infected may have saved a lot more lives in total...but there's so little room to play with there. I also don't list deaths that (in the larger run) aren't consequential to the plot of the show. Boone, Shannon, & Juliet, specifically, don't really change the trajectory of the program. The first two were on so little that it's hard to know how getting rid of them might've altered the future, and the latter would've just made Sawyer want to leave more, but I can't really think of anything in the final season that Sawyer would've done differently if Juliet was alive. No, the ten things I have listed below are all things that I think would've actually changed the show's outcome if you shifted what happened, and so they're more fun to ponder.
Previously on Lost: As you may recall, in Season 2, Hurley wants to go on a romantic date with Libby, with a picnic on the beach. However, Hurley forgets the blanket, which causes Libby to go back to the Hatch to retrieve them. In the process, she is Michael's second murder victim when he kills her & Ana Lucia while breaking out Ben in exchange for Walt.
What Happened Next: In this scenario, we still have Ben out, Ana Lucia dead, and Michael tasked with bringing Kate, Sawyer, Jack, & Hurley to the Others in a trick. Libby being alive & well throws a pretty big wrench into this plan, though. First, Libby's death was the whole reason that Hurley went to the Others camp, as revenge for what they did to him. Without that, it's hard to see a world where Hurley goes with Michael. He wouldn't want to be avenged & Libby (knowing what a fragile state Hurley is in after the "Dave" episode), is going to fight back on that too. It's entirely possible that Michael will either have to force Hurley to go (giving up his cover), or (more likely) he only takes the other three, in which case he might not get Walt back as Hurley is crucial so the castaways know that their people have been kidnapped. We are also in a situation where if Libby lives, she knows Desmond (she gave him her boat), and we would have an opening into her very mysterious backstory, and establishing a clear connection to Charles Widmore as many Lost fans have wondered if she was his connection to the Oceanic 815 crash.
Previously on Lost: Completely devoid of his faith, while Ben destroyed his confidence & made him feel inferior to Jack, Locke decides that his destiny is to destroy the Hatch, rather than to push a button every 108 minutes. Despite the protestations of Charlie, Desmond, & Mr. Eko, Locke succeeds in blowing up the Hatch, causing it to explode and triggering basically the entire rest of the show, including Locke's continued sense of self-discovery and doubt.
What Happened Next: So in this scenario, two things stand out to me as crucial. First, the castaways never really used the Hatch for what it's most obvious use could be-they didn't use it as a safe zone. In the coming season, the biggest issue for the castaways is that they don't have protection (think of the "Flaming Arrow Attack" in Season 5). The Hatch is hard to break into, they have tons of guns, and it has shelter, a pantry, & running water; there's a real possibility that they could've used it in future seasons as a base camp that the Others would struggle to use against them. Secondly, the Incident is probably impossible without the Hatch exploding, which would mean the entire team would stay in the 1970's indefinitely (which would totally throw off the sixth season to the point of not really having an ending to the show but would definitely result in Daniel & Juliet staying alive), and would result in the Man in Black theoretically destroying the world...unless the aged versions of themselves in 2004 decide to buy a ticket on Oceanic Flight 815 themselves, which would've been a completely crazy ending.
Previously on Lost: In season two, Ana Lucia spends a large amount of her time guarding Ben, who at that point is going by the guise of Henry & staying in the locked cell in the Hatch. They have multiple encounters, some violent, and securing his freedom becomes crucial enough for the Others that they send in Michael, who ends up killing Ana Lucia.
What Happened Next: Given the demons she's working through, it's totally plausible that Ana Lucia, at some point in a violent rage, kills Ben, either by accident or on purpose, the consequences be damned. This would be huge as Ben was an enormous factor in the final seasons of the show. Without Ben, there's no one around who knows how to move the Island, so the Kahana crew get to the shore and either kill everyone on the Island (or the casataways kill them back...either way a lot is going down). Walt & Michael are stuck on the Island because they have no bartering power, and the Others are listless without an obvious leader. Potentially in this case Juliet is able to get off the Island before anything goes down (as the Hatch hasn't blown up yet), and honestly most of the incidents in the final season never actually happen. It's worth noting that this isn't the only way Ben dies-had the castaways realized right away that Michael was lying, he probably is killed by Jack or John at that point...Ben escaping death was a huge part of the show, and he did it twice in his first season.
Previously on Lost: At the end of Season 2, when Michael is leading Kate, Jack, Hurley, & Sawyer through the jungle, there is a side adventure happening where Sayid, Sun, & Jin are on Desmond's boat, and are trying to navigate to find the Others. During this time frame, they come across a giant statue of a foot with four toes on a beach. Though this becomes a key supporting player later as we learn its connection to Jacob, none of these three ever actually talk about it again, and before we realize its connection to Jacob it's only referenced once more (during the time flashes when it's seen by Juliet, Sawyer, & Miles).
What Happened Next: This is one of the few times in the series I genuinely think they left a major plot gap because they didn't know what to do. The statue is important because it's the home of Jacob. Though Jacob is seemingly all-knowing, he does appear to be something of a mortal man (he eats, he can be killed), so there's a real possibility if they went to the statue again, they would've met him. Whether or not Jacob could be trusted or not, imagine what a difference knowing who Jacob was would mean in Season 3, that he is a real person, and that Ben is faking his connection with him would've destroyed his relationship with the Others, and would've also changed the course of John's life. In general, though, the lack of curiosity about the island itself (that they didn't explore at all-only Sayid even bothered to try) always felt weird to me. What if there was a Holiday Inn on this island that they had totally missed?!?
Previously on Lost: Edward Mars, for those who are wondering who I'm talking about, is the guy in the picture next to this question (makes sense). In Season 1, and throughout the series in flashback, he is the FBI agent that is assigned to track down Kate, and is taking her back to LA and prison in the pilot episode. He is clearly going to die from injuries sustained in the crash, but that is exacerbated when he is shot by Sawyer (at Kate's bequest), and Jack ends up euthanizing him.
What Happened Next: Obviously there's a world where Mars doesn't die, simply where he gets out of the plane crash with only some scrapes & bruises. In this world, the biggest question is what happens to Kate's storyline. I think Mars staying alive adds a dimension that honestly wasn't really on the show. Jack was meant to be the morality police in the first season, but Mars (in flashback) is shown to be a more ruthless, authoritarian figure that honestly wouldn't be a thing until later (with someone like Ana Lucia). He would've outed Kate as a murderer, making her initially a pariah, but I honestly think much of his problem would've been butting up against Sawyer & Jack, as one would be too criminal for him, and the latter being too moral in his attitude toward the Others and handling figures that disobeyed like Sawyer, Kate, & Locke. I don't think Mars would've eventually made it to the end, as characters like this never survive long (he would've had no obvious allies), but he would've added an element to the story that definitely wasn't there in the first season.
Previously on Lost: Mr. Eko was one of the "Tailies" and while fans of the show hated some of the Tailies (Ana Lucia, Bernard had his detractors), pretty much everyone welcomed Mr. Eko into the fold. The enigmatic former priest, whose back story led to one of Season 2's best episodes (The 23rd Psalm) was ultimately written out of the show early in Season 3, when real-life actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje wanted to be written out of the show, as he did not like living in Hawaii.
What Happened Next: The writers have been very clear that they had a five-season plan for Eko, so it's worth pondering what it might've been. I suspect that Eko would've taken on some combination of roles from either Locke or Ben given this was already written. It's easy to see Locke, a man constantly struggling with his faith, transferring some of his moments of doubt (or misguided certainty) onto Eko, an actual priest who struggled with his faith. It also would've been easy for Ben, who was manipulated by the Man in Black into both killing Jacob AND following his orders for years, into transferring that power-of-persuasion to Eko, given that Eko thought the Smoke Monster was actually his brother Remy. I would assume this would've coalesced his power over the Castaways faster, and maybe have made the Man in Black genuinely successful in getting off of the island.
Previously on Lost: A major part of Season 2 of Lost is that we find out that the tail section of the plane had some survivors. Sawyer, Michael, & Jin are trapped by them before they confirm that they are, in fact, who they say they are, and then they go across the jungle to rejoin the front-of-the-plane. But, of course, there's the possibility that the plane doesn't split (but still crashes), and the Tailies are part of the original castaways the entire time.
What Happened Next: Weirdly, a lot of things shift with this move. For starters, you get a few characters that live automatically here. Cindy is harder to kidnap in this scenario, and Ethan probably never joins the castaways at all because Ben would be likelier to want to punish Goodwin than Ethan. We also don't have Shannon dead in this scenario, because she was killed by Ana Lucia traipsing through the jungle. Perhaps most importantly, it changes the dynamics of a few key figures. Ana Lucia is granted less power here, which would mean that Nathan probably lives (and if he's a member of Charles Widmore's crew, we'd find out) since calmer heads like Jack & Sayid would prevail, and Libby & Hurley's relationship would start earlier. I think it's also probable that the war with the Others comes much sooner, as all of the castaways together would be far more formidable against them. Honestly-this speeds up pretty much every timeline...it's lucky for Widmore & the Others that this didn't happen as both of their plans become a problem in this scenario.
Previously on Lost: The Pearl Station, which is an observation center where you can see all of the other stations on the island, is first discovered by Nikki & Paulo, but they don't go into it or discuss it with anyone else. It is also walked over by Boone & Locke, but during that time frame Boone dies, which becomes the more pressing matter, and later that night Locke finally sees the light in the Hatch. The castaways (in this case Locke & Mr. Eko) don't actually go into the Pearl station until late in season two, where it causes John to lose faith in the button itself.
What Happened Next: Here's the deal-this is maybe the biggest shift in the story of any of these questions because it likely leads to completely different stories for all involved. For starters, let's assume that the actual discovery of the Pearl takes place with Locke & Boone, that they discover it before Boone goes into the Beechcraft. In this scenario, Boone lives, adding a new element and ally for John for the rest of the series, and also the castaways learn about not only Desmond & the Flame (Mikhael's station), but if the cameras still work, the Tail section survivors as I would assume (it's hard to tell upon rewatch, but it'd be logical) that you could see into the Arrow from here. This would give the castaways a vast upper-hand in the story. They could retrieve the rest of the Oceanic survivors pretty quickly from the Arrow once they ascertained where it was, and know to look for both the Flame & the Swan before the Swan exploded, which would result in them being able to communicate with the outside world the same way the Others had been doing. Keep in mind that this all happens after Ethan is dead, but before Walt is kidnapped, a rare gap in the story where they'd have the complete upper-hand over Ben without realizing it.
Previously on Lost: Season 4 of Lost was considerably shorter than the previous seasons. This was both by design (from my understanding, they had already negotiated with the series' creators that there would be less episodes than the previous three seasons), and because of the 2007-08 writer's strike that caused the season to be trimmed. The original 16 episodes were shortened to a 13 episode run, which means for fans of Lost, they were unable to see the three episodes that were cut from the series.
What Happened Next: In terms of practical impact, there's nothing really happening here-the Lost main plot from my understanding was just moved up, rather than altered dramatically as a result of the cuts (this is not the same thing as the alleged inclusion of a volcano explosion in Season 6, which was cut because ABC wouldn't approve the budget). Some will argue that they were cheated out of only two episodes due to the studios not paying the writers enough, though I doubt that (I would assume "There's No Place Like Home" would've just been shorter, rather than getting an extra hour of runtime like what happened in reality). The show's creators have never outright stated exactly how they would've planned these three episodes, but the consensus from interviews/panel discussions is that we would've gotten a Charlotte-centric episode, one that talked about her background, and an additional Ben-centric episode that would've been focused on more of Ben's personal life, including the reappearances of both Harper & Annie, two Others that felt like they didn't have resolution on the Island. The third episode's central character isn't clear, but it seems to have either been focused on Michael & Libby (who both had small roles in Season 4) coming to terms with Libby's death and/or Danielle & Alex Rousseau having some sort of reunion (possibly in the Ben-centric episode). Here's the deal-none of this really impacts the larger plot, but in all of these cases they are answers to questions that were clearly glossed over on the show, and it would've been nice (especially with Annie & Charlotte) to get some answers. So it doesn't change the plot, but it does change the show and provide some of the rare questions they truly left unanswered from the series.
Previously on Lost: When the Island disappears, there were six survivors of Oceanic 815 (Jack, Kate, Sun, Hurley, Sayid, & Aaron), along with Desmond & Frank, that lived and were proclaimed "the Oceanic Six" by the press. All six of these figures during Seasons 4 & 5 were seen back in their real lives, but in many cases (with Jack especially), they struggled to survive, and had a need to eventually go back to the island. In the end, five of them (save for Aaron) returned to the Island, along with Ben & Ilana, and set off the events of Season 6.
What Happened Next: There's by my estimation two really big variables that could've happened here that might've changed the course of the Oceanic 6. The most obvious one is if it'd been the Oceanic 7. A few minutes of delay, and Jin would've been on that helicopter, and Sun & Jin both make it back. It's hard to imagine the two of them returning for the rest of the people they left behind in that scenario given they have a child. The second is Kate-at that point in the story, Kate could've been pregnant with Sawyer's baby (they even hint, to a degree, that this is the case at the beginning of "Eggtown"), just like Sun had gotten pregnant...a pregnant Kate would've made the Aaron story impossible (and quite frankly, would've made her trial scenes more believable), but she almost certainly doesn't leave to go back. Let's keep in mind that Hurley had to be prodded by Jacob to return, and Sayid does not return of his own accord (he's arrested and brought back by Ilana against his will). Without the true Oceanic Six...would they have even crashed the Ajira flight? Then again, as we found out with Desmond, if the Island wants you back...it'll find a way to get you back. Perhaps a pregnant Kate or a reunited Jin & Sun would've still been on that plane because that's what fate had decided.
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