WHO?? I know who.
Who's your favorite character on LOST?
My favorite episode from season 1 is Walkabout, and up until the end of season 1, Locke was my favorite character. Mysterious, not quite good but certainly not evil or malicious; "The Great White Hunter" as Charlie calls him. I loved how he sprung into action when the boars showed up (revealing the knives in his briefcase is definitely one of the top "holy shit!" moments of season 1 for me), and more importantly, the bridge to the pilot episode, when Jack calls him over to help get one of the survivors (was it Steve or Scott? LOL) out from under some jet wreckage.
But since then, the Locke train has obviously gone off the tracks. He's now technically responsible for Boone's death, even though I could care less about Boone. FYI: in the commentary for the pilot episode, Lindelof and Abrams say that Boone's introduction is basically the character in a nutshell -- useless. Ironic, considering how many times we've heard "Captain America" blast his sister about being just that. Further, Locke's questionable faith and dedication to the island is suspicious as all hell, and why is it that he has yet to tell anyone --in detail -- about his first encounter with the "monster?" What did he see? And is it similar to the "pillar of black smoke" that was revealed in season 1's finale? Can he "speak" to the island, or is he just talking to it for shits and giggles? Furthermore, Locke's impatience in entering the hatch is also a hasty decision that jeopardizes the safety of the flight 815 survivors. Although we naturally feel for someone who was at one time in a wheelchair, there's a hint of uncertainty about Locke that makes me -- and likely others as well -- distrust him entirely.
So with that said, I've since sided with Jack and his logical, scientific justifications. But even still, Jack's not my favorite character. How many people has this guy saved? He saved Rose in the beginning, which made us all recognize that he's, at the very least, a decent doctor that knows CPR. He did save Charlie when Ethan kidnapped him, and he saved his future fiance -- but did he do that, or did fate? How does Desmond connect with Jack's medical abilities? Jack also failed to save the girl that was drowning, failed to save the marshall, failed to save Boone, and most importantly -- failed to save his father. He even got himself stuck in that cave after convincing everyone to move there, and I don't remember seeing him ever help out with the construction of the raft, unless you count the time when he helps them shove off. Is Jack really that great a guy, or is he just as incompetent as any of the other islanders?
With that said, it's obvious that no one character on LOST has a perfect track record, hence making them more interesting characters than the usual TV sterotypes. My new favorite character -- or I should say characterS, are...
Take two people who have lived their entire lives on the run, put 'em on an island where there's nowhere to run to, and that makes for some interesting TV. I find myself more and more fascinated by the "good deeds" of these bad people as the story progresses. Sawyer's sympathetic -- albeit stubborn -- reflection of the raft explosion was a good opportunity to see that he's not as cold and uncaring as he likes us all to believe. Here's a man that, although he feels the need to always be packin' heat, actually sympathizes with his fellow survivors to an extent. He may be frustrated with being stuck on the island, he may hoard all the goods and be really bad at shooting people, but the only real, tangible concern he has is punishing himself, which is, in a lot of ways, more redeeming than anybody else's concerns on the show. Note that he generally doesn't partake in any "island activities" unless Kate's involved. Which leads me to...
Kate, who's past has yet to be divulged in detail. What I find especially interesting about her -- other than the fact that she's smoking hot -- is that she hasn't 1.) gone crazy being stuck in one place for longer than a day, and 2.) she didn't try harder to get on the raft last season. Her curious nature and boldness make her a great candidate for voluntary island exploration, allowing her to be around whenever the crazy stuff happens. Unlike Sawyer, she's involved with anything and everything, which makes her the tentpole between Jack, Locke, and Sayid.
Has anyone noticed how information is filtered through Jack, Kate, Locke, and Sayid? Even Sayid is kind of "out of the loop." Isn't it funny how even though they've only been stuck on the island for a month or so, they've already divided up in terms of leadership? The select few know all the secrets, and the rest of the survivors only know bits and pieces. What could possibly be going through their minds?
j.
THE "GOOD" GUYS
My favorite episode from season 1 is Walkabout, and up until the end of season 1, Locke was my favorite character. Mysterious, not quite good but certainly not evil or malicious; "The Great White Hunter" as Charlie calls him. I loved how he sprung into action when the boars showed up (revealing the knives in his briefcase is definitely one of the top "holy shit!" moments of season 1 for me), and more importantly, the bridge to the pilot episode, when Jack calls him over to help get one of the survivors (was it Steve or Scott? LOL) out from under some jet wreckage.
But since then, the Locke train has obviously gone off the tracks. He's now technically responsible for Boone's death, even though I could care less about Boone. FYI: in the commentary for the pilot episode, Lindelof and Abrams say that Boone's introduction is basically the character in a nutshell -- useless. Ironic, considering how many times we've heard "Captain America" blast his sister about being just that. Further, Locke's questionable faith and dedication to the island is suspicious as all hell, and why is it that he has yet to tell anyone --in detail -- about his first encounter with the "monster?" What did he see? And is it similar to the "pillar of black smoke" that was revealed in season 1's finale? Can he "speak" to the island, or is he just talking to it for shits and giggles? Furthermore, Locke's impatience in entering the hatch is also a hasty decision that jeopardizes the safety of the flight 815 survivors. Although we naturally feel for someone who was at one time in a wheelchair, there's a hint of uncertainty about Locke that makes me -- and likely others as well -- distrust him entirely.
So with that said, I've since sided with Jack and his logical, scientific justifications. But even still, Jack's not my favorite character. How many people has this guy saved? He saved Rose in the beginning, which made us all recognize that he's, at the very least, a decent doctor that knows CPR. He did save Charlie when Ethan kidnapped him, and he saved his future fiance -- but did he do that, or did fate? How does Desmond connect with Jack's medical abilities? Jack also failed to save the girl that was drowning, failed to save the marshall, failed to save Boone, and most importantly -- failed to save his father. He even got himself stuck in that cave after convincing everyone to move there, and I don't remember seeing him ever help out with the construction of the raft, unless you count the time when he helps them shove off. Is Jack really that great a guy, or is he just as incompetent as any of the other islanders?
With that said, it's obvious that no one character on LOST has a perfect track record, hence making them more interesting characters than the usual TV sterotypes. My new favorite character -- or I should say characterS, are...
THE "BAD" GUYS
Take two people who have lived their entire lives on the run, put 'em on an island where there's nowhere to run to, and that makes for some interesting TV. I find myself more and more fascinated by the "good deeds" of these bad people as the story progresses. Sawyer's sympathetic -- albeit stubborn -- reflection of the raft explosion was a good opportunity to see that he's not as cold and uncaring as he likes us all to believe. Here's a man that, although he feels the need to always be packin' heat, actually sympathizes with his fellow survivors to an extent. He may be frustrated with being stuck on the island, he may hoard all the goods and be really bad at shooting people, but the only real, tangible concern he has is punishing himself, which is, in a lot of ways, more redeeming than anybody else's concerns on the show. Note that he generally doesn't partake in any "island activities" unless Kate's involved. Which leads me to...
Kate, who's past has yet to be divulged in detail. What I find especially interesting about her -- other than the fact that she's smoking hot -- is that she hasn't 1.) gone crazy being stuck in one place for longer than a day, and 2.) she didn't try harder to get on the raft last season. Her curious nature and boldness make her a great candidate for voluntary island exploration, allowing her to be around whenever the crazy stuff happens. Unlike Sawyer, she's involved with anything and everything, which makes her the tentpole between Jack, Locke, and Sayid.
Has anyone noticed how information is filtered through Jack, Kate, Locke, and Sayid? Even Sayid is kind of "out of the loop." Isn't it funny how even though they've only been stuck on the island for a month or so, they've already divided up in terms of leadership? The select few know all the secrets, and the rest of the survivors only know bits and pieces. What could possibly be going through their minds?
j.
posted by jonniechang at 3:30 PM
4 Comments:
Damn, you wrote all this? Things must be slow at Crapmatic today.... Now I read
Yeah. I'm bored. Not bad, eh? Didn't take me that long, this thing's getting pretty easy to use...
Sam, sorry but I changed the color of the background and that deleted all the links, which I didn't realize it would do. I tried to put in what I could remember, but can you plug in your links again? Sorry man...
Love the new color. Makes me hungry for avocados... weird.
I'm a loyal Locke fan... sure I initially made him my favorite for the sole reason that he's an Alias alum, but it grew to be more than that. He has the most heart-wrenching, mind-boggling backstory. And sure, he seems to have allied himself with the island, much to the displeasure of Jack, Boy Scout Extraordinaire, but ya know what, the island has done a lot for Locke in order to make him a believer. Not only did the island give him back his ability to walk, it took it away when he was headed towards danger so that it could protect him. The Island hearts Locke. And so do I.
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