I'm sure we all noticed that odd space between LA and X, but so far I haven't heard much theorizing about it--possibly because nobody really thought it was worth theorizing about. But hey, let's try anyway! ;)

I wonder if the X is supposed to be the Roman numeral for ten, which would make it "Los Angeles 10", sorta like "Oceanic 6". If that's the case, perhaps there are ten people in this alternate timeline to which we need to pay attention. I tried finding a nice, neat list of ten people, but there are more than ten. So instead I'll group them together in a way that makes sense to me and see what the rest of you think. Oh, and this list will be limited to those people who were actually on the plane.

Losties at the Swan site in 1977
Jack
Kate
Sawyer
Sayid
Hurley
Jin

Losties on the Island in 1977
Bernard
Rose

Losties who have died on the show
Locke
Charlie
Boone

Wild cards (don't fit other categories)
Sun (who wasn't in 1977)
Desmond (who wasn't in 1977, nor was he on the plane in season one)
Claire (who we don't know if she died, and we didn't actually see her on the plane)

So there you go folks, fourteen possibilities for the Los Angeles 10! Which ones do you think should be on the list? And are there others that you would add that I didn't include?

I took it as there being two stories, one in LA and one the X factor aka the island.
(or) X represents the constant of the island and LA is the variable.

X often represents a variable in an equation and since Los Angeles is still there and (apparently) the same I would say that Meano Franko is right; X represents the island which is above water in one timeline and below water in the other timeline.

or maybe the X is for eXtra....as in an extra set of losties.....when they were seen before in different timelines it was individual people affected...now they are the same set of losties in 2 separate time lines.

i'm thinkin.. LA X as in.. an alternate reality of those characters.. noticed jack and charlies haircuts.. it definately could'nt be the same plane..

Maybe...

X could be the variable
X is 10 as in Oceanic Version 10.0 (the 10th iteration of this flight)
X could be mean a cancelled flight or one that didn't reach it's destination (as in the 1st flight 815)

It could also mean LA "ex" as in my ex-lover from Los Angeles.

It could also mean LA "ex" as in my ex-lover from Los Angeles.

:clap:

I was looking for buried treasure! Rats!
I agree with X being a variable... perhaps in time? A tenth dimension (vs. Fifth?) ? Nah.... :71:

X marks the spot?

I had to laugh when reading everybody's replies, because when I wrote the first post, I had just assumed there was only one possibility for what the "X" meant. Stupid me!! :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I had to think about it for a while, and I'm starting to like everyone's suggestion of X = variable, and here's why: I think Jack is the variable in this particular iteration. Currently I believe that Jack's consciousness came from the "regular" iteration (the one we've been watching for five seasons) and went into his body in this alternate iteration. As such, he is now a variable in the equation, the one who can change the outcome in his own timeline (because of what he'll learn in this alternate timeline). And he's in Los Angeles. So Jack is "LA X", or the Los Angeles Variable! Hmm...that sounds a little cheesy, but I think you get my point.

I had X for the Roman 10. 'Pompey' (nickname for the city of Portsmouth), the Roman general also knows as Magnus and assassinated in Egypt would have known all about he practice of decimation, and while well short of the 'reduction by a third' I vaguely recall from a LOST ARG, it would serve to thin out our number most unpleasantly.

But X for the unknown quantity suits me just as well.

10 in LA had me thinking: Hugo, Jack, Kate, James and Jin, but I got some surprises on that plane! :biggrin:

I think the two locations fits best. LA and ....wherever the heck the Island is (better pack your snorkel if you wanna go look at it now though) however I'd be lax if I didn't mention this fellow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lax

Love his time-dependent Lax Pairs. ;)

I like all of these theories, but I'm also willing to believe there is a perfectly boring explanation. For example, maybe just to differentiate the title from the word "lax."

I found an article on what the letters in an airports three-letter code means and this made me chuckle given the speculation here about what the X in "LA X" stands for.

The airport codes for Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; Sarasota, Florida; and Cheyenne, Wyoming, respectively, do all have one thing in common. The last letter of each of these cities’ airport codes are just filler letters that mean nothing at all.

http://www.gonomad.com/traveldesk/0505/what_airport_codes_mean.html

I found an article on what the letters in an airports three-letter code means and this made me chuckle given the speculation here about what the X in "LA X" stands for.



http://www.gonomad.com/traveldesk/0505/what_airport_codes_mean.html

Kind of like every one of my posts!

I found an article on what the letters in an airports three-letter code means and this made me chuckle given the speculation here about what the X in "LA X" stands for.

http://www.gonomad.com/traveldesk/0505/what_airport_codes_mean.html

Yes exactly i also found this on wikipedia:

The "X" in LAX

Before the 1930s, existing airports used a two-letter abbreviation based on the weather station at the airports. So, at that time, LA served as the designation for Los Angeles International Airport. But, with the rapid growth in the aviation industry, the designations expanded to three letters, and LA became LAX. The letter X does not otherwise have any specific meaning in this identifier. Portland International Airport in Oregon also has a similar code: PDX. "LAX" is also used for the International Port of Los Angeles located in San Pedro and for the Amtrak-serving Union Station in downtown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_International_Airport#The_.22X.22_in_L AX

I also like the X as a varible but in a different manner. To me it means an alternate to the original timeline. Since the Swan was never built and the Island is underwater, all their lives are different. It's like a different branch of the original timeline.

They say that your life turns out the way it does because of the paths you take. With no Jacob to intercede in their lives and manipulate circumstances they went down another path.

There has to be something different other than just the island being sunk. There are too many differences that can't be explained by that. Why was Desmond on the plane (and subsequently not?) Why wasn't Shannon on the plane? Why were there slight alterations to the conversation between Jack and Rose?

There is some sort of design at work in the LA timeline, more than just one "random" factor.

The "LA" part looks pretty obvious, so, focusing on the "X":
crossing
times sign
former, as in "ex":
#1 means the characters cross paths. Duh. Not significant unless it was the first time, which it seems it wasn't.#2 is more interesting, suggesting they do it more than once.#3 would seem to indicate this to have been a former flight 815, precedent to the flight shown in the first season of Lost.

I think it connotes separation -- i.e., two timelines. As a poster named rowantree perceptively noted on my blog, going "dutch" (i.e., splitting the bill) has a similar connotation.

I think it connotes separation -- i.e., two timelines.

that's a good idea!;)

I took it as a play on 'Earth X' ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_X ) which shows an alternate timeline in the Marvel universe.

Obviously multiple interpretations, but the one that I have read in many reviews, etc. over the internet is the one above^^:

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/LA_X,_Parts_1_&_2 (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/LA_X,_Parts_1_&_2)

Earth X: The "X" in 'LA X' stands for an alternate reality. It is commonly used in comic books including Marvel Comics which have an alternate history/timeline called "Earth X". DC Comics also had two parallel earths with similar names, Earth-X, introduced in 1936, and Jimmy Olsen's Earth-X, introduced in 1966.(Books)

I thought it was the airport...:confused:

I thought it was the airport...:confused:

"LAX" is the airport. "LA[space]X" is the name of the episode.