8 Charlie Pace

Played by: Dominic Monaghan

Main: Seasons 1-3

Guest: Seasons 4, 6

 

When we meet Charlie in the first episode, he's very keen to get stuck in and help out. His true intentions were quickly revealed, though - he wanted to go to the plane wreckage to retrieve his stash of heroin. A musician past his prime, Charlie was reeled into the rock and roll lifestyle by his bandmate and brother, and though he'd got clean, he relapsed the night before he got onto the plane. Locke attempts to help him get clean, and Charlie burns his drugs after helping save Jack's life when part of the caves collapse. Charlie forms a strong bond with Claire, helping deliver Aaron and raising him as if he were the dad. Charlie helps Eko to build a church and he destroys his remaining heroin stash, throwing the Virgin Mary statues into the ocean. Desmond begins to have visions of Charlie dying after the hatch implodes and he saves his life numerous times, but at the underwarer Looking Glass station where Charlie switches off a device that's blocking transmissions to and from the island, Charlie drowns, but not before passing on a key message to Desmond: the freighter was "Not Penny's Boat."

 

Despite how flawed he was at numerous times, I found it difficult not to love Charlie throughout. His heart was almost always in a good place and I was shipping him and Claire from an early point, I wish they'd got a happy ending (well I suppose they did, sort of, via the afterlife...!). The bonds he formed with so many characters were brilliant to watch - Claire notably of course, but also with Jack, Locke, Eko and Desmond, as well as the wonderful friendship with Hurley. Charlie was something of a centrepiece to the show for the first few seasons, and as far as the deaths in the show go, Charlie's was one of the most hard-hitting and emotional even if they'd seeded it numerous episodes beforehand...!! The twists and turns leading up to his ultimate demise were so gripping and the season 3 finale stands as one of the best episodes of the show without a doubt. A gripping character portrayed perfectly by Dominic Monaghan with a well planned departure too - you can't really ask for more.

 

Now, all together, "you all everybody..."

That is a very hot picture of him ooof.

At the time I was just like “what the hell is the assistant from Hetty Wainthrop Investigates’ doing in this?!!!

 

Didn’t he do well!

Charlie :heart:

 

Responsible for the most intense scene ever and it was one we were warned about for the entire season and yet it was *still* so shocking and unbelievable. "Not Penny's boat" was the icing on the cake for that plot - what a GAG.

 

Elsewhere Charlie was great on the island. I couldn't really stand him in the flashbacks and his episodes did tend to bore me a fair bit with his insufferable brother too but on the island he was a shining beacon. His relationship with Claire was beautiful and I also admired his growth as a person with his drugs struggle. And then as you mention his relationships with Eko, Desmond, Locke and of course Hurley too :wub:

 

#youalleverybody

Next!

 

7 Kate Austen

Played by: Evangeline Lilly

Main: Seasons 1-6

 

When we first see Kate in the very first episode, Jack helps her to stitch his wound. Immediately, the two form a connection and Kate takes an active part in ensuring the survival of the passengers of Flight 815. However, quickly, her criminal record is revealed - she was on the plane alongside a marshal, whose custody she was in, though the marshal died not long after the crash. Kate delivers Claire's baby and forms a love/hate bond with Sawyer, who she becomes romantically involved in, though she kisses Jack in the jungle in season 2. She is one of the group handed over by Michael to the Others and is kept prisoner, forced to work, but Jack gives her a chance to escape back to the main island. She leads Sayid, Locke and Rousseau back to Jack to rescue him, but becomes jealous of his relationship developing with Juliet. Kate becomes baby Aaron's primary carer when she rescues him from the island as part of the Oceanic Six, and is put on trial when she arrives back home. She refuses to head back to the island, but when a DNA test is demanded between her and Aaron, she quickly realises she needs to save Claire so returns to the island, eventually finding her in a rabid state living wild. At the end of season 6, Kate is on the plane that leaves the island alongside Claire and others, while she reunites with Jack in the afterlife.

 

There aren't many examples of strong women in Lost. It had a very male-dominated cast, so characters like Kate really shone through. I loved her determination to be involved especially against the will of the men who wanted to protect her, and she more than holds her own in difficult situations. I can't lie, she's let down just a little by her flashbacks which prove to be some of the more repetitive ones, but I do love the contrast between her pre-island and post-island lives and characterisation. Kate and Jack were a pretty obvious couple and I respect them for making it more of a slow-burn than I was expecting, seeing as Kate seemed to spend more time actively involved with Sawyer on the island than Jack. That said, the Sawyer and Kate dynamic was far more gripping to me! I also loved seeing Kate be a mother figure to Aaron, and how determined she was to save Claire even when Claire was quite happy to kill Kate in her rabid state Kate's one of the most defining characters undoubtedly and her mark on the show was one of the biggest.

(has been one of the busiest weeks I've had in ages so sorry for the delays! I'll pick up the pace now x)

Evie Lilly did a great job with awfully repetitive material.

I always found Kate very engaging, much more so than Jack, as she was much less of an archetypal hero what with her past and it was really good seeing her change and grow more selfless throughout the show. I do agree that they didn't write the female characters anywhere near as strongly as the males, so it was to Lily's credit that she made her that way.

 

Charlie was amusing and I grew to really like him, though he was cringy and embarrassing in his earlier episodes and a few of his flashbacks.

I would have Kate in the top 5 for sure. She was pretty much the only female character that had a very central role from the start to end of the show (Though Sun came closest, she didn't have anywhere near the same focus or screen time). I do see what you mean about the flashbacks being repetitive, but there became a point where I found 80% of the flashbacks quite tiring. I still think miss anti-vax did a great job with the character and made her very passionate and empathetic.

 

6 James "Sawyer" Ford

Played by: Josh Holloway

Main: Seasons 1-6

 

From the start, Sawyer was the source of conflict among the survivors. His self-serving nature and lack of filter cause many an argument, not to mention the stash of supplies he keeps for himself from the plane wreckage. Despite this, though, Sawyer is keen to throw himself in and help out, and he forms a bond with Kate in particular (perhaps the most famous of his many nicknames, "Freckles"). He buys his way onto Michael's raft with his supplies, though the raft of course doesn't succeed and he ends up washed up on the other side of the island, captured by Ana Lucia and Eko. He is one of the group exchanged by Michael for Walt, leaving Sawyer a prisoner of the Others alongside Kate, but he escapes alongside Kate with Jack's help, and after Kate goes back to rescue Jack, he's outraged to find Juliet returning with them. Of course, Sawyer later forms a close bond with Juliet, especially during the time jump where they become stuck in 1974 together and start a relationship. Sawyer is devastated when Jack's failed attempt at the hydrogen bomb doesn't work and only leads to Juliet's death. At the end of the series, Sawyer is on the Ajira flight that leaves the island, and in the afterlife, he is reunited with Juliet.

 

Summarising Sawyer in just one paragraph was not easy so I've undoubtedly left loads of important stuff out (I didn't even get into his backstory...!), but he's such a complex and interesting character through the show's run that a quick summary is near impossible! From the start, I didn't like Sawyer much, but despite his selfish nature and insulting nicknames, Sawyer's softer side was shown regularly, particularly with Kate and the begrudging respect he had for characters like Jack and Hurley. One of his best relationships was with Jin, especially when Jin couldn't speak much English, and I really enjoyed his rapport with Miles after they'd been stuck in the 70s together. I really enjoyed Sawyer and Juliet as a couple and I was gutted that her death meant we couldn't see that develop any further. Sawyer was the perfect anti-hero for the show, causing a lot of drama and being VERY far from an angel, but one of the most watchable characters and most (not all) of the time, I still found myself rooting for him.

Kate's flashbacks were her weakest parts but on the island she was a true Tomb Raider-esque heroine keeping everyone on their toes. Her love triangle (eventually a square/pentagon) with Jack and Sawyer was actually totally watchable and she played the part brilliantly. I'd say after Jack she's the main character of the entire show and she carries it so well. I think she loses her way a tad with the Aaron storyline towards the end though and I preferred her much more as a rebel without a cause but it did show how caring she was and how much she was affected by the parenting and upbringing she had herself; a full circle story.

 

Sawyer is undeniably brilliant. Someone we all LOVE to hate and his one-liners are some of my favourite lines of the whole show. Sawyer and Juliet is also a brilliant pairing - two of my favourite characters :wub: Someone whose flashbacks were incredibly gritty and hard-hitting at times. My favourite scenes of his are when he meets Christian in the bar and the pair talk about Christian's son and how he's too weak to call him! Then later he goes to kill the man who he thinks led to his parents' death at the Shrimp(?) van. The Outlaws episode is brilliant and has some of his best flashback moments, it's pure adrenaline and a great example of how the flashbacks not only provide a backstory but help us to make sense of what is happening on the island. The Anthony Cooper twist is a brilliant one too! Aside, I also had the biggest crush on him when I first watched the show! :blush:

Sawyer was awesome, I mean yes a clear bigot and arsehole at first, but he had the best arc out of anyone and he was amazingly played. I think he'd be in my top 5.

 

I still think miss anti-vax did a great job with the character and made her very passionate and empathetic.

 

Oh...gotta love it when you find out this just after you did a post praising them!

Sawyer was one of my favourites.

 

As good as some of the nicknames were it was all about this...

 

 

5 Jin-Soo Kwon

Played by: Daniel Dae Kim

Main: Seasons 1-6

 

Jin was travelling on Flight 815 with his wife Sun, and their relationship was immediately seen to be frosty. Not speaking a word of English, Jin struggled to connect with other survivors, and his abrasive nature towards Sun wound Michael up the wrong way, particularly as he was growing close to her himself. In flashbacks, we saw that Jin was working for Sun's powerful father, forced to carry out unpleasant tasks in order to keep the woman he loved, though his unsociable work hours pushed them apart somewhat anyway. Nevertheless, on the island, Jin helped to build the raft and formed a friendship with Michael and Sawyer, while Sun gave him an English phrasebook for the trip. She helps him learn English during their time together on the island, and is delighted when he finds out she's pregnant. Jin is on the freighter when it explodes, and Sun believes he has died, but he's retrieved by a young Rousseau from a floating piece of the wreckage, alive. He reunites with Sawyer, Juliet and others through a time jump and gets stuck in 1974 for three years, during which time he becomes fluent in English. Jin finally reunites with Sun at the end of season 6, though they're both killed when the submarine is destroyed and Sun is trapped, with Jin refusing to leave her again.

 

Jin has one of my favourite arcs of any character in the show. For a character that spoke almost no English for most of the show's run, I still managed to fall in love with Jin and the amount his character had come on since we first saw him. I disliked him a lot in the early episodes, his abrasiveness to Sun was unpleasant even when flashbacks offered context to their frayed relationship. However, as time went on, Jin grew more caring and understanding of Sun, and I loved seeing him form relationships with other islanders, especially the likes of Sawyer. His "death" at the end of season 4 was heartbreaking, even when a flash-forward foreshadowed it, and I was delighted when it turned out he was alive after all! Jin and Sun's reunion in season 6 is one of the most beautiful scenes, and I'm still recovering from their tragic deaths - an incredible arc and Daniel Dae Kim did so much with the character despite having so few English lines for most of the show.

Sawyer and Kate would probably be my top 2

Jin I wouldn't even put in my top 20 so very surprised hes top 5

Jin started Season 1 as an enemy - his attitude towards Sun was so backwards but as time went on, his growth was simply magical to see. Him learning the language, learning to communicate with others, learning the beauty of Sun, the magic of his friends, the joy in sharing moments with others and letting Sun be free. His story arc was inspirational and showed that anyone could learn the error of their ways. This relates to his life outside of the island too - controlled by those at the top and made to act a certain way for them.

 

His becoming of a father is beautiful too. Obviously, as with many of the characters, there are huge pitfalls along the way, plenty of heartache and misery but Sun remains throughout a joyous character and his smile alone is enough to make him worthy of a top 10 place.

 

The freighter scene and Sun's scream (will probably return to this when she is revealed) - wow I have never cried harder :drama:

 

A great start to the top 5, omg hyped for the rest now.

 

4 Juliet Burke

Played by: Elizabeth Mitchell

Main: Seasons 3-5

Guest: Season 6

 

Juliet is in charge of watching and interrogating Jack when he's captured by the Others. With Jack hesitant to co-operate, Juliet helps get through to him and the two form a bond. She convinces him to operate on Ben, but, subverting the CCTV footage, she uses cue cards to tell Jack to kill Ben during the surgery. Juliet's backstory reveals that she was brought to the island by Richard and Ethan for a six month job that she thought would be in Portland, but was actually on the island to investigate the fertility problem that causes pregnant women to die. Her research doesn't help and she is desperate to go home, having been kept on the island by Ben for three years. Juliet gains trust by helping Kate and Sawyer escape back to the main island, and when she and Jack escape and make it back to the beach, Juliet discovers that Sun is pregnant and tells her she will die before giving birth. Juliet helped the survivors to take out the Others by betraying them in the season 3 finale. She ensures Sun gets the first raft off the island in season 4 and stays behind to make sure everyone else is safely off the island. When the island moves, her and Sawyer experience time flashes and become stranded in 1974, where they become a couple and live in the Dharma Initiative. Juliet is killed when Jack sets off the hydrogen bomb and she becomes trapped by metal chains that were being pulled magnetically down a hole, leaving Sawyer furious.

 

What I love about Juliet is that she subverts our expectations in a way that's different to most characters on the show. There's normally a twist, a secret backstory or a hidden agenda among the characters. The twist with Juliet, when she arrived in season 3 was that... there was no hidden agenda. She was kind-hearted and caught up in Ben's plan and the world of the Others despite simply wanting to go home. She proved herself an ally among the survivors and slotted in as if she'd been there since day 1. Her flashback stories were among the best of any character, with plenty of emotion through her sister's pregnancy and cancer story. One of my favourite relationships on the show, though, was Juliet and Sawyer. Her and Jack had a good bond and, with Jack being the moral compass of the show much of the time, it allowed us to trust Juliet before most of the characters, but it was with Sawyer where we really saw the best of her good-hearted nature. An unlikely pairing but one that made so much sense, and carried so much weight when her death came around (still not over it btw, fuming x).

I think Juliet may be the best written female character on the show. You are never 100% sure what she is thinking and which side she is truly on - particularly in series 3 and 4. I find myself yo-yoing on how I feel about her as a character which I guess was totally the intention I’m guessing.

:wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub:

 

In every watch of the series, Juliet has further cemented herself as one of my all-time favourite characters. Firstly she is so COMPLEX. During most of S3 you cannot predict which side she is on, her ice-cold glare is chilling and yet there is something so humbling about her. Is she there to help Jack, does she really resent Ben - WHAT SIDE IS SHE ON?

 

Her flashbacks are the most heart-breaking of ALL the characters. The storyline with her sister and how Juliet has ended up on the island cuts deep into my heart evey time I watch it. She is so selfless and caring and it ends up being her downfall. When she becomes a member of the Losties, she grows further as she proves against the odds that she is a good person even though no one trusts her. Her scenes with Sun during her pregnancy are some of my favourite too - tear jerkers follow this character.

 

Brilliantly acted, forever complex and unpredictable and a true example of how this show delivered and constructed their characters.

 

And her centric episodes? Some of the best: "Not in Portland", "One of Us", "The Other Woman" :clap: The former in particular!