You Think You're a Radical, But You're Not So Radical, In Fact You're Fanatical, Fanatical!

(Flaming Lips, Free Radicals)

And now for more LOST ramblings.

I'm going public with my new radical theory that I developed (and then immediately discredited) this morning. I watched last week's episode again on Sunday, b/c Eric and Shari hadn't seen it yet, and they came over to watch. I know I said it wasn't that good of an episode, but after re-watching it, I definitely enjoyed it more, and started thinking a little more about it. Here's the new radical theory (discrediting to follow):

Jack is dead (or in a coma) and the flash-forwards are his "life" flashing before his eyes (or his coma-induced dreams).

Jack either did not survive his appendectomy procedure, or slipped into a coma during it, as it wasn't exactly done under the most stable or sterile conditions. First of all, like Rose said, people don't get sick on The Island, they get better. So, if Jack's sick, there's a reason, and it's probably pretty bad.

The flash-forwards are a product of Jack's subconscious, either how he thinks things will play out, or, more likely, how he wants things to play out. Think about this. The people who get off The Island are all people Jack likes. Kate, he's in love with. Hurley, he has always liked. Sayid has always been loyal to Jack in times of trouble (when they had Ben as their prisoner, and when Jack and Locke split off into separate camps at the beginning of this season), and Sun he wants to get off The Island so she doesn't die during childbirth.

Conversely, look at the people, by and large, who do NOT get off The Island. Juliet, who is Kate's rival for Jack's affection. Sawyer, who is Jack's rival for Kate's affection. Locke, who Jack clearly hates and even tried to kill earlier this season.

So, Jack's subconscious creates this future where the people he cares for get rescued and the people he doesn't care for do not get rescued for one reason or another. He said in the last episode that Sawyer made a choice to stay on The Island? That's very convenient, and probably would make Jack very happy, but Jack, due to his surgery, didn't yet know that Sawyer has realized that Locke is completely insane, and is helping Claire make their way back to the beach to be with the rest of the group. To me, that doesn't sound like someone who wants to stay, it sounds like someone who wants to be rescued when the time comes.

Now, because it's his own subconscious, all of his demons are still there in the future. He still sees visions of his father, and he still develops the pills/drinking problem (which he inherited from daddy as well). His subconscious also invents a reason for him not to trust "future Kate" (she's helping Sawyer!!) and be too controlling (which was the same problem he had with his first wife before the plane crash). His guilt over Charlie's death explains why his subconscious led "future Hurley" back to the nuthouse with visions of Charlie telling of bad things to come. His subconscious is also so untrusting of Ben that "future Sayid" is now working for Ben as an assassin, putting his torture/weaponry skills to work.

Now for the discrediting:

"Future Jack" made a point of telling "future Kate" that she's not even related to Aaron, implying that he knows he is related to Aaron. That realization has not yet happened in Island time, unless it has happened and we don't know about it yet, and it might be revealed to us in an on-island flashback. If that is the case (which it probably isn't), then add Aaron to the list of people Jack cares about, since he's his nephew. Or maybe even wants a little kid to be taken to safety - could you blame him for that?

I know that the producers have said that the explanation of the Island is not going to involve being in someone's dreams or in someone's head. BUT, this theory isn't an explanation of The Island, it's an explanation of the future events we've seen. Still possible that it could happen.