LAST EDITED ON 02-10-10 AT 08:54 PM (EST)

Jack - seems softer and more vulnerable. I think he has carry-over unconscious memories of the plane crash, and that's why he's nervous. His reaction to the news that his father isn't on the plane is not as forceful as the Jack who had a meltdown in Sydney when they refused to let the coffin on the plane. Remember what a scene he made?

It seems to me that this Jack has learned that he doesn't always get his way, that sometimes things happen that he can't control. The old Jack thought that he could control everything, at least he tried. The old Jack had lost faith in his ability to work miracles, because of the patients he couldn't save. I'm not sure the original Jack would have held out hope to Locke as he did.

Sawyer and Hugo -
I agree that Sawyer will target Hurley. He looked at him. Con is for confidence. Step one is to build the mark's confidence in you. Sawyer did that by warning Hugo to avoid people who are after him, implying that he Sawyer is an honest person who is concerned for Hugo.

However, there may be part of Sawyer that is not the hardened con man any more. If you think about it, Sawyer right after the crash was as selfish and anti-social as a person could be. Sawyer on the plane doesn't use any nicknames even though he is meeting Hugo for the first time! How different is that? He had time to call Hurley something derogatory before he found out about the lottery - a chicken joke, something.

Kate - if you recall the Pilot episode, the relationship between her and the Marshall was very acrimonious. He was almost sadistic to her. This Marshall wasn't mean on the plane, and I don't think they were in first class any more. The Marshall in original reality wouldn't have let her go to the bathroom or have given her enough time to free her hands. He gave her a lot of time. The original Marshall treated Kate like she was the most devious bad girl ever.

Kate who had not gone through the bonding experiences on the island would most likely not have gone back for Claire or taken her to hospital or stayed for Claire. While it's true that Kate helped Cassidy out, as a fellow outlaw, Kate was really centered mostly on her own agenda and her own self-preservation.

The new Kate was visibly softened by Claire's pregnancy. The name Aaron resonated with her. It feels to me like some of the effects of their experiences prior to the bomb detonation have stayed with them. Kate loved Aaron and devoted herself to him. She went back to the island to find Claire. Now she has a feeling of connection to Claire and her unborn baby, and she likes the name Aaron - for reasons that probably make no sense based on her past life as she recalls it.

Claire - did not want to keep her baby because she couldn't handle it. Now she's alone in a strange big city in a foreign country, and she seems to be considering keeping the baby. I would spec this is because in the other reality she did keep Aaron and as we know loved him.

Locke - is different because he's more accepting and less in denial. He tells Jack that he's irretrievably broken with an air of someone who has accepted. The original Locke accepted nothing. Also he and Jack bond even though Jack and Locke put each other off from the get-go after the crash.

Charlie - on the original flight, he wasn't suicidal. He was controlled by his habit and dealing with his depression by getting high. Once could ask, is he suicidal here or was he trying to swallow his stash before going through customs? I think his comment that Jack should have let him die tells us he made a suicide attempt. Remember that they wanted Driveshaft to make a comeback and that's why he's going to LA. Even without Liam, he should have something to pursue, but it seems like he's finished with himself. But there would have been nothing noble about this new death.

Bernard and Rose -
We don't see much of Bernard, but Rose is cheerful. Remember that she went to Australia to get her cancer cured, and was told nothing could be done for her, yet she doesn't seem to be carrying an emotional burden. She seems perfectly OK.

Michael and Walt - we don't see them, whether because they aren't on the plane or because they can't make the actor look like 2004 Walt. I just hope someone claims Vincent at LAX.

It's also possible that Walt's mother didn't die, which is why they are on the flight. I always thought his mother worked for a sinister company, possibly owned by Widmore or the Others, the mysterious international law firm.

Boone and Shannon - Lindelof laughed and said "maybe the actress is unavailable" in an interview aired on premiere night. Have a feeling Maggie Grace was working elsewhere. He said they "hope" to see Shannon later in the season.

Boone seems different too. He seems less angry about Shannon. He clicks with Locke, as he did on the island (FP pointed that out to me). As a plot point, recall that Shannon set the airport security on Sayid. Wasn't it so that she could get in first class? I don't remember how that worked, but Sayid was hassled because of Shannon. So if she never took the flight, then Sayid would be spared that.

Arzt - interesting that they brought this character back.

Sayid - we don't see much of him, but it looks like he will go look up Nadia, as he had found out that she was in LA and that's why he's going there.

Ethan - should not be in LA. He was in Otherton when the plane crashed. Granted that the state of the Others in 2004 is a big question mark, but if nothing had changed, there was not time for him to travel to LA. The Others of 2004 used the submarine to go off island. Is Ethan an Other? We know that he spent time off island as he was there with Juliet, so I don't think we know.

Desmond - the producers say his presence is very important. Why did he go to Sydney, and why is this Scotsman flying to LA? The race around the world was a few years ago, back before Jack married Sarah. If he even went on the race. He met Jack because he was prepping for it, and yet he has no memory of Jack. Whereas in the original timeline he recognized Jack even in a somewhat demented state, and Jack recognized him. It looks like they've never met, which could mean that he married Penny and never went on the race to impress her father. Or something else.

Also, Desmond did not say his trademark line of "see you in another life, brother."

btw, Penny's mother was not an Other. I remember from something that Widmore got flack for consorting with a non-islander. Penny has no prior connection to the island, so I can't think of a reason why Desmond wouldn't have met her.

Remember that in Flashes Before My Eyes, Eloise tells Desmond that the world as they know it will end (or something like that) if he marries Penny. It's his destiny to go to the island. Then the same Eloise sends Jack and company back to the island to rectify things. Eloise seems to have a keen understanding of how it all works.

Something to ponder - if Jack going back means the Hatch is never built, then what about Desmond's part that was so necessary? And what did Desmond do to save the world? Was it that he accidentally didn't input the numbers and thus crashed the plane? Or was it that he operated the failsafe and kept the Hatch electromagnetism from destroying the island?

Speaking of which, there is something more powerful than an atom bomb, and if the EM energy of the Hatch got out of control, perhaps that could account for a sunken island.