QuarterRoy00
CAGiversary!
You would think so, but probably not, BECAUSE they had 2 years of lead time is the main reason I was so disappointed with the final episode asthe transition to "personal purgatories" was not an "AHA, I should have seen this coming via signs" moment, it was a "but you were literally JUST implying parallel realities 5 minutes ago" WTF moment. Why does Jack get simultaneously harmed for no reason if the second parallel event would have happened months and months later in "purgatory time." As the events of the island happened (with slash), then indeterminate amount of time, then purgatory side-flash trials (near the end of which the slash catches up for a repeat), then purgatory class reunion.
By that rationale, everyone in sideways would have already known everyone in regular. The sideways was kind of parallel in that they needed to have these big personal events to connect the two and bring back the lives and memories of their living selves into their waiting selves. The cut appearing again to Waiting Jack is just part of his journey of reawakening. As you recall, he was one of the last ones to "wake."