Posted June 25, 20223 yr Almost 18 years ago, a new drama series debuted on ABC in the US. Oceanic flight 815 crashes on a mysterious island, and over six seasons, audiences were gripped by continued twists and turns as the mystery of the island continued to deepen and the characters became more and more embroiled. It received rave reviews for much of its run and continues to influence new series today with its expert take on an ensemble cast and the ability to shock an audience around every corner. Thanks to a recommendation from our very own Haus, I've just finished watching Lost for the very first time. I loved it, it's safe to say, and I've got so many thoughts to share on it. Instead of bumping an old thread, or making a new one just to type a few paragraphs, I thought I'd do something more interesting and share my rank of all the main characters from the show's run. Along the way, I'll give my thoughts on the character, their story arc, and the storylines they were involved in. The characters I'm ranking are all of those credited as main cast members at the start of each episode (excluding the recurring cast members that were promoted solely for the series finale, so no Rose, Bernard, etc). This leaves us with 28 characters. Alphabetically, they are: Ana Lucia Cortez Benjamin Linus Boone Carlyle Charlie Pace Charlotte Lewis Claire Littleton Daniel Faraday Desmond Hume Elizabeth "Libby" Smith Frank Lapidus Hugo "Hurley" Reyes Ilana Verdansky Jack Shephard James "Sawyer" Ford Jin-Soo Kwon John Locke Juliet Burke Kate Austen Michael Dawson Miles Straume Mr. Eko Nikki Fernandez Paulo Richard Alpert Sayid Jarrah Shannon Rutherford Sun-Hwa Kwon Walt Lloyd Of course, along the way I would *LOVE* to hear your thoughts too. I've wanted to read up on so much about this show as I missed the hype when it was around (I mean, I was 7 when it started so not that surprising) and I want to hear your thoughts too. Who do you want to see up high? Who do you want OUT asap? Let me know! Needless to say that there will be plot spoilers flying everywhere in this thread, so don't read if you plan to watch Lost, but the show ended over a decade ago so I'm sure this goes without saying.
June 25, 20223 yr I watched this when it was first shown on Channel 4 so I can't remember all the characters but I think my favourite was John Locke.
June 25, 20223 yr I am so excited for this thread to unravel. What a show! Ranks in my top 3 of all time and I was so happy when you gave it a chance after my recommendation and even happier when you loved it. This is the perfect way to commenorate the show because in the end, it was all about the characters (whether we wanted it to be or not against the lore and mystery-side of things).
June 25, 20223 yr I am so excited for this thread to unravel. What a show! Ranks in my top 3 of all time and I was so happy when you gave it a chance after my recommendation and even happier when you loved it. This is the perfect way to commenorate the show because in the end, it was all about the characters (whether we wanted it to be or not against the lore and mystery-side of things). Yes!! The characterisation is perfect, they all have such interesting arcs (aside from poor brave Nikki & Paulo) and the flashbacks are so essential in seeing how life on the island has changed them.
June 25, 20223 yr Ooh wonderful idea, Lost definitely had its ups and downs throughout its run, but the characters were (mainly) done incredibly. It's amazing how a single show managed to have such a large cast of the characters and all of them feel so fleshed out. It's actually hard for me to pick a top few as there's so many great ones (Nikki and Paulo though have no competition for the top spot B-))
June 25, 20223 yr Author 28 Paulo Played by: Rodrigo Santoro Main: Season 3 27 Nikki Fernandez Played by: Kiele Sanchez Main: Season 3 Every character's going to get their own post in this countdown but quite honestly, I'd struggle to think of much to say about one of these that I wouldn't be saying about the other. Poor brave Nikki & Paulo didn't even last a full season from their introduction because fan reception was so poor that the writers cut short their planned story arc to kill them off in their first flashback episode. Watching without any foreknowledge made this shocking - I was anticipating their involvement to increase and the episode Exposé looked to be a great sign of things changing... until *that* ending and they were gone. I can't lie, I find the behind-the-scenes story of Nikki and Paulo absolutely fascinating - how quickly the producers acted based on audience response feels surprising even many years after the fact. How I feel about them, I'm still not sure. Paulo seemed disinterested for most of their scenes while Nikki at least tried to integrate with the group, so that's why I've given her the higher slot. I didn't mind them randomly appearing and talking with established characters as if we knew them - it was a fair assumption that they'd previously interacted off screen, as there were a number of survivors that were simply never involved in anything significant and they *had* to be doing something, so the idea of a couple more being introduced made perfect sense. The issue was how little they did with them - they were both wholly unremarkable for most of their run. The Exposé episode with their flashbacks was great, and although it felt like a filler episode in some aspects, the revelation of them being paralysed instead of dead, as they were being buried, was undoubtedly one of the most jaw-dropping moments of the whole run. Was I sad to see them go? No, not at all, but I do feel the writers could have instead taken the constructive criticism and given them something more interesting and integral to do, developing their characters in the process. Perhaps it was a sign that there was no real direction in the first place? Who knows, but I'll always find the story of Nikki and Paulo fascinating even if the characters themselves were absolutely nothing to write home about.
June 25, 20223 yr Thinking of my time watching Lost (just during the first lockdown in 2020) just makes me want a mango!
June 25, 20223 yr I didn't watch LOST during it's original run either, I started watching it back when it was available on UK Netflix in 2013 and quickly became obsessed and binged through the whole thing. I rewatched it again not long after and then rewatched it a third time much later last year. I think the point of Nikki and Paulo was supposed to be a response to the criticism that the main group of survivors ran around having all these antics while the other 30 people barely said a word but it didn't really work. It was also the point they ran out of steam with the flashbacks and came up with things that really added nothing to the characterisation or main plot like "how did Jack get his tattoos?" Wisely they mixed up the format after that in Season 4.
June 26, 20223 yr Not them sharing a post and everyone else getting their own What a ride their journey was - over before it even began. I remember being SO SHOOK UP the first time I watched it because I could not grasp that that was it for them? I thought they'd return or have some significance after that episode. But.. they didn't? I think on rewatch their episode becomes even more filler than it was the first time round because you realise it has no baring whatsover on the events of the show. But having said that, Exposé is a fun episode despite its pointless nature. Away from the their eventual demise, there are some fun moments like Paulo in the Pearl station toilets which is later revealed to be a hiding spot for the diamonds. It was also interesting to have them introduced and helped us to understand that there are other survivors in the background that have their own lives and dramas too. Ultimately however they are the duds of the cast. They didn't even return for the finale? Paulo is definitely the worse of the pair, constantly moaning, doing nothing productive and just generally being a bit insufferable! With them gone, its onwards and upwards now ~ Also: #poorbraveNikki&Paulo
June 26, 20223 yr Exposé was actually the first episode I ever saw of the show as I only caught it when my dad was watching it. I remember thinking it was a really dark way for the two characters to exit, and I thought they were two major characters. Then a few years later when I was actually watching the full series and I came to Exposé and I realised it was for the two duds, it really lessened the impact :lol: #poorbraveNikki&Paulo
June 26, 20223 yr Imagine having Exposé as the first exposure to the show :lol: You'd think the show was completely different to what it was. I suppose it is a thrilling ride and would draw you in to wanting to give it a go as a whole! For me it was the moment that confirmed flashbacks were starting to become a tiny bit redundant and the producers probably felt this too because obviously Season 4 switched it up completely.
June 26, 20223 yr Author Exposé really is the ultimate filler episode, even on the more fillery flashback episodes there was usually something interesting/important happening on the island to counteract it and make it an essential watch regardless. You could skip Exposé and you'd miss nothing much of note, just a couple of characters who were essentially background characters by that point anyway suddenly vanish :lol: It's a fun watch and does work nicely as a bit of a breather so I don't resent it at all, and it's one of the only episodes where I've actively remembered the title since viewing it, so that says a lot...!
June 26, 20223 yr You’ve started with the rough point where I stopped watching the show. I can remember the episode and thought the series was finally doing something interesting (I was finding the whole thing a chore by this point after loving Season 1 and half of season 2) but then they died and I was left thinking that was all pointless YET AGAIN
June 26, 20223 yr Oh yes me too, I stopped watching not long after this in Season 4. It had gotten quite samey and I was annoyed at a few (other) character decisions back then. Paolo & Nikki weren't bad on their own, just inconsequential, though they were a symptom of some of the show's problems at the time and killing them off helped nothing with addressing why they were there, which makes them failures in that sense I suppose.
June 26, 20223 yr The last episode of Season 3 was one of the best twists I've seen on TV that did prompt me to keep going, I hope those that stopped at least saw that one! :o I remember Nikki and Paolo featuring in what I think was Mr. Eco's episode and they literally just seemed to tag along with the main group with them not saying a word to them and quote expositional dialogue for the audience, it was hilarious! I didn't hate Exposé, mainly just for how cruel it was and how they almost completely gave viewers what they wanted!
June 26, 20223 yr Maybe if Expose had aired a bit earlier in Season 3 the audience response might not have been so overwhelmingly negative. As in the originally planned Expose that is which was just establishing their backstory and not killing them off at the end. I think them being inserted randomly up to that point didn't help. #poorbraveNikki&Paulo
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