The Loop. Part of the Problem? Or Part of the Solution? by Locke4God

It occurred to me that there are 2 fundamentally different ways to look at the time loop of Season 5, and other loops as well.

There are a number of theories floating around that the end of Lost will take place in the past, where the loop is undone, or at a new and presumably better timeline is created.

There are also a number of theories that state that due to the loop Jacob or the MIB or both or neither will eventually win the war that's going on in the present and into the future.

Scenerio 1, implies that you see the loop as a problem that needs to be fixed, or is otherwise an unnatural event that needs correcting more than any other situation in the show. Scenerio 2 however, implies that you think the loop is merely part of the ongoing scheme to win the war for the good guys (whoever they are), or possibly the bad guys, but either way, you see the loop as something affecting the future and not as some cancerous anamoly that needs to be removed.

So the question then is really simple. Is the goal of the show's outcome to remove the loop, or use it?

The simple solution would be to use the loop. In that way the show can simply move forward, keeping everything from Seasons 1-5 intact without additional explanation, but being able to fill in backstory as needed.

The more complex solution would be to remove the loop, which sets up an array of even more interesting questions such as how time would be altered, where characters would end up after the removal of the loop, and in general how any of the past events that we've seen so far fit in.

The problem with using the loop is that it might seem too simple. Flocke, the 316ers, Ben, and presumably the returned Losties are all right there in the same spot, leaving you to wonder what would happen over the course of an entire season.

The bonus of using the loop is that despite the potential for confusion, it could be potentially far more interesting, even allowing for alternate endings.

But that's why I think we'll see the (by Lost standards) more simple solution unfold. Looking at the loop as a problem, means they would have to fix it, which means they would eliminate it, which means they would have to explain 5 seasons worth of time changes and it opens up a gigantic can of worms into a show that is going to spend Season 6 putting the worms already on the loose back in the can.

And so I urge to think of the Loop as part of the plan. Something that was set up in advance as a vital piece to the solution of the show. Whoever the good guy is, needed to use the loop as a way to subtly alter the past, or simply to hide the losties for awhile so that they could pop out at an opportune moment. An alternate timeline theory could still apply, so it doesn't eliminate any theories related to that, with the exception of reset theories that suggest that all of this is going to be undone.