LAST EDITED ON 02-11-10 AT 09:19 AM (EST)

Am watching it again ...
hah, I knew it was weird that Sawyer didn't use any nicknames, but I just realized that Hurley called SAWYER a nickname. He called him "Levis dude" - so they have a role reversal as Jack and Rose did over the turbulence. Also, Sawyer bumps into Kate in the elevator and says I was on your flight but doesn't call her Freckles. He doesn't push the envelope with any personal exchange.

Forgot to note that Hugo is famous now. He does commercials for his chicken chain that make him easily recognizable, even an Australian version. He was anonymous before. He talks business -- something about the Outback name -- while on the phone when Kate is at the curb going for the taxi. Not like Hurley.

Rose and Bernard are all lovey-dovey. They always loved each other, but their mode of relating was habitual bickering -- like an old married couple. Now they don't bicker or sigh at each other's ways, not even once.

Jack is definitely a different guy than he was the first time. You can tell that everything is striking him as slightly off, out of sync. He reacts during the turbulence not just as a frequent flyer but like oh here we go, it's happening again. He doesn't have conscious memory of a prior crash, but he has some kind of deep memory or unconscious memory or awareness.

I also notice the plane is not particularly full. I think the original flight 815 was pretty packed. Jack has two empty seats next to him, enough for Desmond to move out of his own seat. None of the people sitting in the plane look like the red shirts we've always seen. There are Asian businessmen wearing headphones, an Asian couple other than Sun and Jin. (I realize that a lot of passengers died in the crash, but the survivors were largely Caucasian American. This group is more ethnic.)

Note: the shark patrolling the sunken statue still has the DHARMA logo.

Big change - it seems Jin and Sun are not married! At customs, after Jin is taken off, the clerk addresses her as Miss Paik. As this is customs, she is clearly getting her name from Sun's passport. Either Sun and Jin aren't married or for some reason Sun is traveling under an incorrect travel document, which seems unlikely.

Lastly, one of the hallmarks of original Lostie interaction was that they were all suspicious of each other and didn't share information well -- even harmless information. On the plane, we see Boone share info about Shannon with only a casual question, and Locke doing the same (lying maybe, but responding without reserve). Jack and Locke have a candid exchange while dealing with the lost luggage. Arzt questions Hugo and gets an autograph.

Not revealing squat except under duress was a hallmark of these people. They seem profoundly changed. And Jack really is much more mellow about the coffin loss than the original Jack would have been. Rewatch the scene where he's told that the coffin isn't going on the plane and compare his intensity to the way he handles the news that the airline lost the coffin. Subtle but very different, and I would say the difference is Jack's ability to accept that things aren't going as he planned.