Lost has me lost

I’m a huge Lost fan and have been since the beginning. I’m watching this season with equal parts excitement and dread. Excitement because we will finally get the answers to the questions we’ve had for 5 seasons. Dread because I know it’s going to be over. It’s kind of like losing a friend.

This season they have been doing these sideway flashes where it shows the characters and what they would be doing if the plane hadn’t crashed. So far it’s been fairly straightforward. Jack is a doctor returning from Australia with his father’s body – just like when the plane crashed. Except that Jack has a son he didn’t have before. Huh?? Locke is in a wheelchair and returning from a failed walkabout in Australia – just like before the crash. Except he is engaged!! Kate is a criminal being brought back to the US for trial and apparently everything with her is exactly the same.

Then last week, or the week before, we find Ben Linus as a high school teacher. Huh? Last week we learned that he has a PhD. Huh? His father took him to the island but they apparently left. So Ben’s past changed completely because the plane didn’t crash?? Then tonight we learn about Sawyer. He’s a cop in this flash sideway. His past changed entirely because the plane didn’t crash!?!?!?!?! I’m not completely getting this. Is it because their lives weren’t touched by Jacob so the past was altered and the plane didn’t crash?

I do hope this is all explained….