Lost - Zap2it's Guide to Lost

'This Week is Death' on 'Lost': Most WTF?

By Ryan McGee

   |  

June 18, 2009 8:13 PM

Terryoquinn_lost_290 We are at the final destination in this week about final destinations, my "Lost" chickadees. In the final installment of "This Week is Death," we're looking at the biggest WTF deaths that the show ever dropped. These were deaths that, while powerful, left us also confused, annoyed, and basically shouting WTF at the screen. These are the most controversial deaths that the show has delivered, leaving the audience frustrated at the outcomes of some of their most beloved characters.

Death is obviously a huge part of the show; otherwise, how could I squeeze a week's worth of entries out of the topic? While death is a necessary part of the story, the following five deaths left many an audience member upset at the ways these characters went out. Either they died too soon, died in a way not befitting their character, or just plain made us mad that a beloved figure would no longer grace the show as they previously had.

Honorable mentions: Caesar, Michael, Charlotte, Jacob

Mr. Eko. When Eko appeared in Season 2, he instantly fired up the imagination of "Lost" fans everywhere. Possibly the most beloved character short of Ben introduced that season, he was suddenly gone after essentially one episode's worth of appearances in Season 3. Real-world issues clearly affected the planned storyline for this character, but I am eternally curious what "Lost" would look like had he received the visions originally planned for him but later given to Desmond.

Daniel Faraday. He was my favorite of the Freighter Four: a perfect marriage of actor to character, and a brilliant way to introduce heady scientific concepts in an organic way. "The Constant" and "Jughead" was were two high points in the show's history, both Faraday-centric. But after "LaFleur," he all but disappeared from the show, returning in "The Variable" to essentially recant everything he every said before executing a suicide mission into The Others' camp. His character, and the audience, deserved better than that.

John Locke. If you think about it, Locke's been dead since Season 3. Suck on THAT, "Pulp Fiction." But the man long set-up as the co-lead of the show alongside Jack died a pawn, a schlub, a victim of countless cons, misdirection, and power plays that left him a broken man in a broken-down hotel room. While Terry O'Quinn will continue on the show, the John Locke we knew is gone, and gone forever. A bold choice, but is "Lost" a better show for it?

Libby. Ah, Libby. The very name gives Darlton facial tics. They insist she's never coming back. I insist Darlton like to kick puppies. In "Dave," the show teased her prior involvement in Hurley's life, and "Live Together, Die Alone" further solidified her place in the central mystery of the show. But as far as Darlton are concerned, her part is over. Her brief appearance in "Meet Kevin Johnson" didn't slake audience thirst; instead, it just left a sour taste in its mouth.

Danielle Rousseau. Many of us thought that her death in Season 4 meant we'd never see any Danielle flashbacks. And while that was technically true, we did see her at various critical points of Season 5. But for a character that managed to stay alive for 16 years in solitude, she kinda went out with a whimper, no? I get that her sudden death was meant to show the fragility of life on the Island, but felt a little cheap for one of the show's most colorful characters.

Your turn, fans: what's the biggest WTF death in the show's history?

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude. He invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed.


30 Comments

RANDOM COMMENT/QUESTION:....ABC replays season 1 episodes lately and in one of the first episodes Jack goes out in the ocean and saves Boone, whilst a unknown woman drowns. My point/question is that CHARLIE comes running up to Jack asking for help and clearly states he can't swim. Um...what? In later season's he is seen learning to swim with his dad and he freggin swims down to the Looking Gl***...I'm sure this was covered before..but is that a continuity error or is it there on purpose and have a much greater meaning???????

Can anyone shed some light on this?


1) Charlie's a liar and a coward at that point.
2) The writers screwed up.


WTF Death: Rousseau plain and simple ... as you said she survived 16 years on the island alone and then in one instance BOOM ... she's gone! :(


I think I always knew Faraday was going to die. He was my 2nd favorite character after Eko died, but I just accepted that his knowledge of time & space and how to poke it with the proverbial stick would always lead to ruin. What upsets me (although the time loopiness of it was cool), is HOW he died. He was basically gunned down by the Others, when you get to the basics of it :(

As for Locke, words can't express how ****ed I was to see him roll out of that metal box. I knew the second the camera did the slow pan that it was going to be him, and I just couldn't accept it. Don't get me wrong, I like Terry O'Quinn and the New Coke version of Locke he's going to play in the final season, but I'll miss the flesh and blood John Locke who wandered the jungle, hunting boar and casually expelling philosophy.


I'm surprised Alex and "young Ben" didn't get at least honorable mentions. For me they definitely make the WTF list!


My mistake (I blame lack of sleep) I know "young Ben" didn't die and can't therefore be on the list, but his shooting was definitely a huge WTF moment. I stick by my Alex vote, however... :)


Am I the only person who really doesn't care about the Libby story? It was brief, intriguing, but ultimately insignificant. Hurley's awesome, and I look forward to seeing more how's and why's about his character, but Libby isn't necessarily one of those things.


Marino, Gregg Nations has answered your question on The Fuselage, I think. I'm pretty sure that that line in Season One was ad libbed and was not in the script, so they missed it in their continuity checks. Does anyone else remember this, or am I misremembering it?


It's tough to choose between Locke and Faraday. Locke seems to be the one with the most WTF when you think about it and likely impact on the entire show. I don't like the way that they made Daniel a bit of an idiot just before he died--he wasn't stupid enough to wander around brandishing a gun, after all.

Most of the others we saw coming to some extent, except for Libby. I almost fell off my couch when Michael shot and and then Libby.

Decisions, decisions!


I picked Faraday. Even though his death felt inevitable as the episode progressed, I was still angered by it. I had grown to see him as the voice of Darlton through the characters. He explained what we needed to know. With his death, I knew that we had experienced a shift in the way things were going to work going forward.


Post a comment

 optional
 optional
 
Find it fast

Zap2it on Facebook
twitter Zap2it Twitter Talk
Recent posts