Christian Shepard has long been an enigma on the show. However, I think a look at time travel and the inherent possibilities will shed light on some of Christian's past actions.
Let us say, hypothetically, that some of the 06, now in the days of Dharma, meet up with a younger Christian Shepard. This Christian Shepard does not drink and is highly optimistic. We know that Christian once valued optimism: as he told Jack before Sarah's surgery, "sometimes people just need a little hope." Even if it is false hope - it is hope nonetheless. Christian speaks as a man who, in his younger years, perhaps had a lot of hope - only to have it crushed.
Perhaps his hopes were crushed by one of the 06, who tells Christian about what will happen in the future. Now Christian knows his destiny. He will try to change it, but he can't - that is why he will start drinking. Before long, he will find himself in a bar with Sawyer, saying jadedly that "some people are just born to suffer." As we all know, in his later years Christian Shepard is a fatalist - he believes that his destiny cannot be avoided, no matter what he does. He sounds a lot like Desmond, who said he couldn't save Charlie - perhaps Christian too knows about course correction; perhaps, instead of seeing his future, he was told his future by an 06 member. Perhaps that is why in past flashbacks he has been so pessimistic and so adamant that nothing can be changed.
Jack, however, is the opposite. Jack does not believe in fate. He has not (until recently) believed in destiny. Jack is notoriously stubborn. He pounded on Charlie's chest repeatedly until life returned; he worked relentlessly to save Sarah from paralysis; he repeatedly tried to find out who Sarah had been having an affair with. Jack is a man who thinks he can make his own destiny.
So what do you think? Will we see a young Christian Shepard? Will he find out his future? Will these seemingly insignificant flashback scenes now suddenly make more sense in the whole mythos? Theory by AShepherd
Let us say, hypothetically, that some of the 06, now in the days of Dharma, meet up with a younger Christian Shepard. This Christian Shepard does not drink and is highly optimistic. We know that Christian once valued optimism: as he told Jack before Sarah's surgery, "sometimes people just need a little hope." Even if it is false hope - it is hope nonetheless. Christian speaks as a man who, in his younger years, perhaps had a lot of hope - only to have it crushed.
Perhaps his hopes were crushed by one of the 06, who tells Christian about what will happen in the future. Now Christian knows his destiny. He will try to change it, but he can't - that is why he will start drinking. Before long, he will find himself in a bar with Sawyer, saying jadedly that "some people are just born to suffer." As we all know, in his later years Christian Shepard is a fatalist - he believes that his destiny cannot be avoided, no matter what he does. He sounds a lot like Desmond, who said he couldn't save Charlie - perhaps Christian too knows about course correction; perhaps, instead of seeing his future, he was told his future by an 06 member. Perhaps that is why in past flashbacks he has been so pessimistic and so adamant that nothing can be changed.
Jack, however, is the opposite. Jack does not believe in fate. He has not (until recently) believed in destiny. Jack is notoriously stubborn. He pounded on Charlie's chest repeatedly until life returned; he worked relentlessly to save Sarah from paralysis; he repeatedly tried to find out who Sarah had been having an affair with. Jack is a man who thinks he can make his own destiny.
So what do you think? Will we see a young Christian Shepard? Will he find out his future? Will these seemingly insignificant flashback scenes now suddenly make more sense in the whole mythos? Theory by AShepherd