Lost Odds

Lost makes its second-season debut tonight. There's probably been more written about this series, lately, than any other, even Desperate Housewives. (By the way, I didn't like it at first but it's become my favorite show since then.) It's certainly had more influence than DH, with every network premiering a Lost knockoff or two.

The first season was well-received, but now everyone wonders if they can keep up the mystery and answer questions at the same time. But this isn't what I meant to discuss.

The show is about castaways on a strange island. To show their plight is serious, the producers killed off one of the main characters in the first season. The rumor is they will do it again this season. (If nothing else, this must mean it's tough to be an actor on this show--if the ratings don't kill you the producers will.) The question is who?

There's always that chance they'll introduce a new character and kill him off. They even did it in the first season, where they had Arzt (Daniel Roebuck) appear a few times before they blew him up. But that's a cheat.

Another possibility is there's an actor wants to leave anyway, so why not kill him? But as far as I understand, the actors are quite happy to be on a hit.

More informative is in the regular they did kill, Boone (Ian Somerhalder), they avoided killing any of the more popular or central characters. I had nothing against Boone, and his episodes with the character Locke were giving him some depth, but he was far removed from the central triangle of Jack-Kate-Sawyer, for instance. Essentially, he was one male-model too many on the island.

So who's next? Let's list the characters, alphabetically, and their chances.

Naveen Andrews as Sayid. Fairly Safe. One of two Emmy nominees. He's their Third World poster boy and a strong character who offers many plot possibilities.

Emile de Ravin as Claire. Not safe. She was a rare Australian on the Australian flight. She's also cute, but there are plenty of hot babes on the island, and the show can add more. Her main character trait in the first season was being pregnant, and she's had the baby.

Matthew Fox as Jack. Safe. If there's a lead, he is. He may not be the most intriguing character, but he's the moral center of the show and leader of the island (at present). The producers wanted to kill him off in the pilot, and realized it wouldn't work.

Jorge Garcia as Hurley. Fairly safe. Hurley is beloved, and essentially the only comic relief they've got.

Maggie Grace as Shannon. Fairly safe. She's one of the babes and has a character with a long way to grow. The two things that protect her most are 1) they fake-killed her in the first season, so it'd be weird to kill her again, and 2) they already killed her brother, so it'd be cruel to kill off the whole family.

Josh Holloway as Sawyer. Safe. He's not only part of the central Jack-Kate-Sawyer triangle (which might be less important in the second season), he's also the bad boy who's become the favorite of the ladies. Killing him off would make a lot of women stop watching.

Malcolm David Kelley as Walt. Fairly safe. I'd have said not safe at all, since he's a kid who'll be growing up faster in real life than the plot allows, except I heard the producers say they had a way of taking care of it (short of killing him). Also, though he's been kidnaped, he seems to have mysterious powers that have yet to be explored.

Daniel Dae Kim as Jin. Not safe. While having a Korean couple adds to the diversity of the cast, losing one would still allow for the other to stick around. And since Jin can't speak English and his wife can, he may be more expendable. Also, his character is liked, but I don't think he gets the amount of swooning fan letters that the other handsome men get.

Yunjim Kim as Sun. Somewhat safe. She could be killed for the same reason they can afford to kill Jin. In either case, a death opens up plot possibilities. But she does speak English and has been, I'd say, on the whole, the more intriguing character in her marriage. It helps that she's a babe, but as mentioned before, there are other babes around.

Evangeline Lilly as Kate. Safe. She's the female lead of the show (if there is one), the babe of all babes, and the face of the show. If anything, one would expect the producers to explore her more this season, not kill her.

Dominic Monaghan as Charlie. Fairly safe. I think they did a lot with this character and I'm not sure if the audience wants to see that much more. In his favor, however, is he may be the most famous actor in the show (due to his work in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy) and therefore helps with its international popularity. Furthermore, he was fake-killed in the first season, and it would be cruel to kill him again.

Terry O'Quinn as Locke. Safe. One of the two Emmy nominees, and the heart of the show. He was the most intriguing character in the first season and the second season is setting itself up to be the battle of faith (Locke) and reason (Jack). More than anyone, Locke is the spice that makes the show special, and killing him would be quite a blow.

Harold Perrineau as Michael. Not safe. While one of the most respected actors in the cast, he never quite found his footing, certainly not as well as Sawyer or Sayid did. Might be tough to lose the single black adult character, but not impossible.