LOST Primer PART 1

  Are you "lost" at the water cooler Thursday morning because you didn't get into LOST on the ground floor?  Have no fear, for it is not too late!  The first season is not even halfway over and you can still get on board.  Here is everything you need to know to join in on the fun.  But please don't slip up anymore.  LOST returns from its one week hiatus this Wednesday at 8pm eastern on ABC.  Make sure you are there...

  A plane on route from Australia to Los Angeles breaks apart in mid-air and crash lands on a strange tropical island in the South Pacific.  Incredibly, 48 people survived.  This is their story...

  Part 1: The Characters: 

1) Dr. Jack Shepherd- Jack was the first character we met.  He is a spinal surgeon by trade and due to his ability to help the injured immediately after the crash, he has become the de facto leader of the survivors.  Unfortunately, Jack was not very prepared for this role because he has a lot of "daddy issues".  

Backstory: Growing up, Jack's desire to play the hero was shot down repeatedly by his father, who was also a doctor.  Dad encouraged Jack to disregard his desire to "save everybody" because a doctor cannot possibly succeed all the time and Jack was showing little ability to cope with this.  More recently, Jack's father's personal demons brought him to Australia where he drank himself to death.  Jack was returning the body to the States when the plane went down. 

On the island: Jack is looked up to by almost everyone, even if he doesn't have all the answers.  The pressure has caused him to lose a lot of sleep and even see his father walking around the island.  But it may not have been a hallucination- while chasing his father through the jungle, Jack came across a much-neeeded waterfall and discovered Dad's coffin in the wreckage- completely empty...

Defining moment: Returning from chasing the image of his father, Jack gives a rallying speech about how everyone has to work together, solidifying himself as the leader.

2) Kate:  Kate is not just a pretty face- she has a huge secret. She is a prisoner who was being escorted back to the U.S by a federal marshall at the time of the crash.

Backstory: Kate was hiding out in Australia when she was captured by the marshall.  The farmer who had hired her turned her in for the reward.  Kate didn't hold a grudge though.  When she purposfully crashed the man's truck, she pulled him from the flaming wreckage, which was why she was caught.  Even though Jack has asked, Kate has not told anyone what her crime was.

On the island: Kate has shown a take charge attitude and little ability to sit still... she has gone on almost every expedition into the mysterious jungle.  She seems to be attracted to both Jack and Sayid and has a love-hate relationship with Sawyer.

Defining moment:  Kate can be sweet but she is also one tough cookie.  When forced to kiss Sawyer, she really made it worth his while, but when she found out he didn't have what she was after, she wasted no time belting him in the mouth.

3) Charlie:  Charlie plays bass for an English band called Driveshaft.  He has a drug problem, but when his spirits are up he has been quite eager to please.

Backstory:  Charlie was once a very religious straight arrow, but his love of music led him down the wrong road.  He was in Australia to try and convince his brother Liam to get the band back together.  Liam, who had cleaned himself up at this point, declined the invitation but couldn't get Charlie to hang around for his own rehab.

On the island:  Charlie battled his drug problems early on, risking his life in the jungle just to get his stash out of its hiding place in the bathroom near the cockpit.  Though he tried to remain secretive about it, Mr. Locke recognized the addiction and helped Charlie overcome it.  Charlie also likes the ladies- he spent an episode capturing a fish for the alluring Shannon and has shown repeated interest in Claire despite the fact that she is very pregnant. 

Defining moment:  Charlie crawled through a narrow tunnel to rescue Jack from a collapsed cave.  Then he had to dig his own way out.  Saving the day and feeling useful was enough of an inspiration for Charlie to throw the last of his drugs into the campfire.

4) Mr. Locke:  Easily the most mysterious of the survivors, Mr. Locke has provided most of the food and spiritual guidance to anyone he has crossed paths with.

Backstory: Locke was an office schmo confined to a wheelchair but that didn't stop him from dreaming.  He boned up on all things nature and booked himself on a "walkabout"- a safari in Australia.  The only reason he was on the plane home was because the tour guide didn't share in Locke's confidence in his abilities.  Once the plane crashed, Locke was stunned to discover that his legs worked once again and he could go hunting after all.

On the island: Now that he can walk again, Locke has wasted no time opening up his trunk full of hunting knives and gone on the prowl.  He has stopped occasionally to help Jack sort through his leadership problems and even more notably, helped Charlie fight his drug addiction.  More than anyone else, Locke seems to know more than he is letting on about the strange powers and presences felt on the island.

Defining moment:   Locke is the only one who has come face to face with the unseen giant monster inhabiting the island.  He lived through this experience and perhaps not coincidentally, the monster has not returned since.

5) "Sawyer":  Sawyer is the resident bad boy of the group.  His motives are almost always selfish and he has made no attempt to interact with anyone in a positive manner.  If you need a snide remark or an offensive nickname, he's your man.

Backstory: Sawyer's name is in quotations above because it has been learned that this is not his real name.  He has spent a good part of his life pursuing the con man who tore his family apart by sleeping with his mother.  He even carries the letter he wrote to the man with him at all times.  However, on his life's path, Sawyer has resorted to conning dumb women with dumber husbands himself.  He realizes what he has become and has taken the name of the man who started it all: Sawyer.

On the island: Sawyer was one of the only ones brave enough to crawl through the wreckage and salvage what he could.  Unfortunately, he hid everything he found and uses it to barter with for his own personal gain.  He has gone on several of the expeditions but adds little to the group, other than the time he shot a polar bear.  When asked to hand over Shannon's inhalers, he allowed himself to be tortured rather than admit that he didn't even have them.

Defining moment:  Once the torture was over, Sawyer contemplated burning the letter he has carried with him so long, but he just couldn't do it.  

6) Sayid: Sayid is a former Iraqi soldier who speaks flawless English and is quite handy with all things electronic.  He has worked tirelessly to try and get a distress call out over the raido retrieved from the cockpit.

Backstory:  Part of Sayid's job as a communications expert was to torture prisoners.  When he was ordered to kill an uncooperative victim, who just happened to be a childhood female friend who Sayid shared an affection with, Sayid chose to kill his superior officer, shoot himself and let the woman (Nadia) escape.

On the island: Sayid has tried to be the leader and has been frustrated by Jack assuming this role.  After taking an active part in the torturing of Sawyer, Sayid chose to remove himself from the group and wander off to map the island.  It was then that he encountered Danielle, a French scientist who has been stranded on the island for sixteen years.  She provided more questions than answers before they parted ways.  Sayid was last seen in the heart of the jungle, hearing voices and looking panicked. 

Defining moment: Sayid swore he would never torture anyone again.  When his knife almost accidentally killed Sawyer, Sayid knew he could not yet trust himself around people he didn't get along with. 

7) The Others: Though we have not met all 48 survivors yet, there are quite a few more characters who have or will play important roles in the future.

Michael: Michael is a hard working construction worker, who was in Australia to claim custody of the ten year old son he hardly knows.  The boy's mother has died, forcing the two of them into this new position which is not quite hostile, but not quite lovey-dovey either.

Walt:   Walt is Michael's young son.  He has been resistant to embrace his father, showing more of an interest in Mr. Locke.

Hurley: Hurley may be overweight, but that has not stopped him from playing an important role.  He was the first to realize that everyone needed to relax instead of worrying all the time, so he created a small golf course, which soon became the talk of the island.  In the role of comic relief, Hurley has gotten most of the best lines on the show.

Sun and Jin:  A Korean couple who do not speak English.  Well, actually, Sun does but has only revealed this to Michael because her husband is an overbearing control freak who Sun almost walked out on right before take-off.  The lack of communication has not stopped Sun from helping, though.  She knows a lot about plants and has helped ease Shannon's asthma and taught everyone how to brush their teeth island-style.

Boone and Shannon: This brother and sister duo do little more than bicker.  Boone has tried his best to be helpful, but almost drowned himself while trying to rescue someone from drowning,  couldn't properly perform CPR at the crash site and tried to ration the drinking water by stealing it all.  Shannon, on the other hand has tried her best to NOT be helpful.  She patiently waits for the rescue team that is obviously not coming while working on her tan on a daily basis. 

Claire: Claire is so pregnant, she is about to burst.  She has not been seen much but she has taken a liking to Charlie in most of her scenes.  Her best moments came when she took the initiative to gather information about the deceased and presided over a memorial service.

Rose: Rose is one of the older survivors.  Jack saved her from dying at the crash site and now she spends most of her time staring out at the ocean and thinking about her husband who she refuses to believe is dead.

Ethan: Not much is known about this guy.  In the last episode he was introduced as a man with hunting experience who has been joining Mr. Locke in the jungle.

Joanna:  Joanna's love of swimming cost her her life.  She drowned despite Jack and Boone's best efforts to save her.  She was never introduced as an actual character, she only served to prove to Jack that he can't save everyone.

The pilot:   The pilot ironically enough died in the pilot.  Just when he had been found alive, he was sucked out of the cockpit by what I like to call GIM- the Giant Invisible Monster.

Rash Guy: Pretty sure this guy hasn't been given an official name yet.  He was seen in the last episode being treated by Jack for a rash.  Jack called him a hypochondriac.  Later, Rash Guy asked if he could play golf too.

Steve and Scott:  Two extras who helped dig Jack out from the collapsed cave.  They are so interchangeable that Michael got their names mixed up.

The marshall:   The marshall was escorting Kate back to the U.S., but his injuries were too great from the crash for him to survive.  Sawyer tried to shoot him out of his miserybecause his moaning was disturbing everyone, but he only made things worse.  Jack had to suck it up and finish the job himself.

Danielle: Danielle is a French scientist who was not on the plane.  She was in a shipwreck sixteen years ago and has been broadcasting a distress call on an endless loop.  "It", whatever that is, killed everyone else in her party and she has been alone for a very long time.  She somehow has electricity and other things she has no business having, but Sayid did not get much info out of her while she was torturing him, asking him where Alex was.

GIM: Giant Invisible Monster, sometimes called "it" or "that thing" is the strangest part of the LOST tale.  He has never been seen on camera and only Locke knows for sure what it looks like.  I think.  Whatever GIM is, he is huge, he pushes trees effortlessly aside and can apparently make it rain.  He sucked the pilot right outof the cockpit but only killed him.  Instead of eating him, he deposited him in a nearby tree. 

Okay, I think I got everyone....probably left someone really important out.  Coming soon: Part 2- everything that has happened so far plotwise.