schmiss

Look at me guys, actually entering a picspammy challenge! The very last day! Ahem. I wanted to do something Lost-related, since it is the Fandom of My Heart and no more so than right now in the throes of its last season. Originally, I planned on doing something Juliet-related, but most of the ideas seemed to be taken. Then I considered "Top 5 Juliet crack!ships", but realized that most of them would involve explaining who the characters were and why I found them interesting enough to pair with her. Then I realized that what I really wanted to do was expound upon the characters who didn't get enough love... thus... this idea. My top five "supporting" Lost characters.

Secondary or supporting characters in expansive works have always been an interest of mine. They're usually included to move the plot along, or spell out a theme for the audience; but sometimes they can exceed their role and become scene-stealers interesting enough to rival the primary stars. Part of that is 'cause of the actors: no matter how talented you are, if you're not young/sexy/marketable you end up doing a lot of supporting work - just see Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson's pre-Lost filmographies. And part of it is 'cause the show's production team have more freedom writing them, and I think they take the opportunity to write a character who isn't wrapped up in manpain/angst/convoluted storylines and roll with it. But maybe the most fascinating thing is that we know so little about these characters. Often, they show up with only half-explained motives and are either killed off before we get to know them or disappear into the writers' box of plot devices. Instead of being annoying, as these circumstances would be with a purported main character (cough, Libby) it only makes them more ~intriguing.

Lost is, to put it mildly, an expansive work, and it's got no lack of supporting actors: on the island, in flashbacks, in flash-forwards, and in altered timelines. With a few Bai Ling-shaped exceptions, I'd say they've done a damn good job of casting these characters and using them to augment the primary storylines. Some of these characters, especially the ones who have been around for a while, appeared enough and accrued enough goodwill from fans to basically be primary characters: Danielle, Rose & Bernard, and Richard (who actually became a main character) come to mind. However I wanted to cover the five characters I love who are probably a "huh? oh, him/her" to the casual fan. Despite not having their own storylines and flashbacks, they all made the show that much more interesting for their presence.



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