'Lost': Party of five

Seems kinda crazy, Lost fans, but it's true. I mean, I myself have a hard time believing it. I spent the majority of the day perplexed by this conundrum, unable to fathom the truth which lay before me. I walked around downtown Boston, in a Dharma daze. I bumped into strangers on the street, head firmly facing down, unable to look my fellow citizens in the eye. How could I?

I mean, I've been blogging about Lost for nearly nine months here at Zap2It and never, ever did a "With whom would you want to be stranded on an Island?" article! Insanity! So consider this making up for lost time. (Or Lost time. Either way.)

The rules are this: you can pick five people from the Lost universe to be with you on this island. You're not on THE Island; but something akin to the one in Cast Away. It's in the real world, obeys normal physical laws, and has both food and water in ample supply should you have the skill, knowledge, and work ethic to obtain them. The five people you pick need not be Lostaways: they can be Others, Freighters, people seen in flash backs/flash forwards.

Now, here's the slightly tricky part: in this exercise, the events on the Island never happened. But you can use how people act in the show as a barometer for your five fellow survivors. Think about how they act in the show, both on and/or off the Island. Your goal is to find five people with whom you could sustain a decent amount of time (roughly the amount spent on the show) with eyes of finding rescue as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

We good? Good. Now, before getting to my list, here are three that nearly made the cut but ultimately didn't.

John Locke. Amazing hunter, natural outdoorsman. Unfortunately, wouldn't have use of his legs and would be dead on the inside, crippled physically as well as emotionally. Which makes for kind of dead weight, even if he could simply dispense his knowledge to others to hunt/gather for him.

Michael Dawson. His engineering skills would be excellent in both constructing shelter and building a makeshift raft. Unfortunately, he might sell you up the river as soon as he could if given the proper pressure. Let's just say you wouldn't be surprised if he formed an alliance against you.

Mikhail Bakunin. It's nice to have someone all but indestructible on your side. He'd be your "hey, please do this really dangerous thing for us" man, since he can seemingly cheat death. Also? Fiercely loyal. But also? Fiercely nuts.

So those are the alternates, should one of the following people, you know, eat another. In alphabetical order, here they are.

Juliet Burke. Given her Season 3 actions, you might be surprised by this choice. But I choose to look at the "what if" of her never being contacting by Mittelos Biosciences, combined with the innate strength shown in defying Benjamin Linus, as my doctor of choice in this particular group. After all, you need someone with a medical background in this type of life-and-death situation, yes?

Daniel Faraday. He could determine your global position via looking at the stars, calculate optimal tide patterns in his head, and would offer a compassionate ear when able to actually focus on the conversation at hand. While hardly bad company, he'd be a person more likely to help you get off the Island than enjoy your time on it.

Sun-Hwa Kwon. Naturally gifted at herbology, which could come in handy in treating everyday maladies. Naturally compassionate, a trait which would work wonders in an unusual environment such as this. On top of this, she has a willful side (bordering on Machiavellian) that could come in handy should push come to shove. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures, and while her response might be extreme, it won't necessarily be devoid of morality.

Sayid Jarrah. The muscle. The heavy. (The accent!) In lieu of Locke, or even Kate, a man who could help hunt and kill any wildlife on the island. In addition, he's a natural leader in the right circumstances, and would establish, along with Juliet, a type of top-down social structure to prevent breakdown amongst the group.

Hugo Reyes. If "Solitary" taught us anything, it's that you absolutely NEED someone like Hurley should you crash in the middle of nowhere. Faraday might pique your interest, but Hurley would tickle your funny bone and touch your heart. He's the person to stop you from descending to the primal level of the game which you hunt to stay alive.

OK, there you go. That's my Party of Five, as it were. Sure, it doesn't have Matthew Fox, but it's MY Party of Five, darnit. Now your turn! Leave your list, and any explanations for those you choose, below!

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude.