MEET KEVIN, DISSECT KEVIN'S STORY

"Meet Kevin Johnson" was one of those strange episodes that started a twisted plot arc but turned into a braided contextual nightmare.

The character of Michael started off as a man dispossessed of his new born son. It was a contrast to the other characters "daddy issues" when in fact Michael at least tried to have a relationship with Walt, but his mother and her career separated any normal family setting. As a failed artist and kicking around from job to job, Michael could not stand in the (economic) way for Walt to have a better life. It is clear that Walt resented the fact he grew up without his "real" father. But Walt never understood that it was his mother who pushed them away. It is also clear that Michael "regretted" that he gave up with parental rights to Walt.

Walt grew up moving from country to country. It appears he did not make friends. When his mother died, his adoptive father abandoned him (which legally and morally he could not do) back to Michael, who assumed the responsibility to take care of his son, though he had no legal or moral obligation to do so. This sets up the odd relationship for Walt: two fathers, two prior abandonments, and an uncertain future.

So when Michael is bringing Walt back the the United States, both are on edge. Both do not how to communicate with each other because they were strangers. So what better "bonding" experience than surviving a plane crash and camping on an island with deadly smoke monsters and murderous Others?

Michael's overriding obsession is to get off the island and rescue his son. He does it by building a raft, but that leads to Walt being captured by the Others. He does it by making a deal with the Others to get Ben out of the Hatch prison in exchange for safe passage off the island. In executing the deal, Michael kills Ana Lucia and Libby. When he arranges for a posse to get their "killer" and to save Walt, Michael betrays his own people (Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley) and gives them up to the Others.  At the dock, Michael is rewarded with a boat and passage off the island. To the stunned silence of the 815ers, Michael receives instructions from Ben to take the boat and follow a bearing of 325, so both he and his son can find rescue. They leave the island and their "friends" at the hands of a recently tortured Ben and his group.

The structure of Michael's sub-plot story followed the traditional literary paths. There was a beginning, conflict, a middle, a reunion, then heartbreak tearing a part, then a dangerous climax to the resolution Michael had hoped for - - - getting off the island with his son. Michael's story and role in LOST should have ended there, in Season 4. His character did change: from anguished father letting go of his son to a murderous protector of his son against adverse odds. In Michael's mind, the ends justified the means, which was standard operating procedure for many of the Island's characters. People may not like what Michael did, but there was some logical basis for his actions.

The end of Michael's island time did give us a few key points. First, apparently Ben is a man of his word. Since Mrs. Klugh made a deal with Michael, he would honor it. (Or would he?) Second, despite Desmond's claim that the Island was in "a bloody snow globe" and there was no way back to civilization, Ben told Michael to use bearing 325 to get home. Third, there is a foreshadowing of the importance of "lists," especially in the realm of Jacob's candidates. The four 815ers brought to the dock as payment for Walt were all candidates. It is unclear whether Ben ever knew who were candidates or what Jacob's grand plan for everyone, but it could be that Ben took his captives to "test them" on behalf of either Jacob or MIB. Could they be corrupted?

So the end of Michael's island story end gave us several important clues into the Island, the ability to leave the island, and the militaristic honor among the Others.

But then the reincorporation of Michael into the series led to major story structural problems.

One could understand Walt's rejection of Michael once Walt was told the cost of their freedom (two lives and four friends being held captive). But it does not explain Michael's need to return to the Island.

Once rejected by Walt, Michael goes on a downward spiral (much like Jack would do when he leaved the island with the O6). He is distraught and cannot live with the fact he killed two women. He is now estranged from Walt because of those actions. He writes a note to Walt, gets into his car, and at very high speed crashes into a shipping container. Instead of dying, he wakes in the hospital only to find that his nurse is dead Libby. He screams, and then truly awakens but refuses to answer anyone's question of what happened to him. After his release, Michael trades Jin's watch for a hand gun. He goes into an alley to shoot himself, but is interrupted by Mr. Friendly. Michael demands that Mr. Friendly, Tom, shoot him. But Tom replies "the island is not done" with Michael. Tom says Michael "still has work to do" (which is the same line Tall Walt gives a shot Locke when he is lying in the purge mass grave). A short time later, Michael tries to commit suicide in his apartment but the gun does not work. We are lead to believe that it is the Island intervention. Then Michael sees a news report that the remains of Flight 815 was found with confirmation that all 324 passengers and crew had perished in the crash.

Michael goes to see Tom. Tom explains to Michael that the television report was wrong. Widmore had created a fake crash site in order to keep the island to himself. Michael demands proof, and Tom calmy shows him files of exhumed graves, plane receipts and official looking documentation (which has the eerie vibe of a Sawyer con job). Michael is told that Widmore's plan is to send a force to the island and kill everyone on it.

Tom gives Michael an offer. He can get on the freighter as a crew member and stop Widmore from killing everyone on the island. Michael asks why he should do it, and Tom reminds him that this would be a chance to redeem himself for the actions he took on the island. Tom says that Michael will not return to the island, but destroy the freighter and everyone on board. He is handed a passport and an alias, Kevin Johnson.

In this set-up, we are led to believe many improbable and impossible factors. First, that Ben and the Others kept minute tabs on Michael after he left the island. There was no reason to do so. Michael was never going back to the island, or disclose its location because that would admit his guilt in two murders. If Ben thought Michael was a threat, then he should have let Michael commit suicide. Problem solved. Second, that the Island is a supernatural power that intervenes to stop Michael's numerous suicide attempts. How? Why? So in Season 4, the TPTB basically tells us that the Island and its premise was just one big McGuffin? Third, how gullible are Michael and the viewers to believe that a detailed oriented man like Widmore who could fake a plane crash would not check every crew member on his freighter's mission to seize the Island? It is not credible that Ben could "sneak" his own agent on board Widmore's freighter. Fourth, we were told that no one could find the island so why would Michael believe the freighter could? Also, there were more "loyal" soldiers in the Others camp to be the saboteur than Michael.

Once on the boat, Michael realizes that Widmore's crew is filled with soldiers who plan on killing the island inhabitants. This is not a rescue mission as helicopter pilot Frank told him. Back in his room, Michael opens his crate and finds a case in it. He takes the case to the engine room and finds a bomb inside. Michael inputs the combination for the bomb, but hesitates to push the EXECUTE button to set off the bomb. Suddenly, he hears the same Mama Cass song he was listening to in the car when he tried to commit suicide. He sees another vision of Libby who tells him not to do it, and then disappears. Michael says, "I love you, Walt" and pushes the button. The bomb's 15-second timer expires, but the bomb doesn't explode. Instead, a flag pops up with a note around it which reads "NOT YET."

This scene adds another thick layer of disbelief. It should never matter where the freighter exploded so long as it never reaches the island. The non-explosion was a mean trick on the viewers to add suspense then not deliver (in the hope of adding more filler).  The scene also adds to the growing visions of dead people within the series. It strengthens the evidence that the characters are not in the real world but in supernatural place where dead souls reside and interact.

We are then included into another layer of a con. When Michael is taken to the radio room to take a call from "Walt," Michael rushes in to speak to his son (even though we know Walt has no idea where Michael is or how to contact him). For some reason, Michael thinks Walt is on the line. Ben informs Michael there are innocent people on the freighter, and that the plan was never to kill them all, because Ben isn't "that kind of person." He says he gave the fake bomb to Michael to show that unlike Widmore, he does not want to kill innocents. Ben then orders Michael to get him a list of everyone on board, report the list back to him, and then disable both the radio and engine so that the ship cannot get to the Island. Michael is obviously shaken up, but Ben tells him that he can now consider himself "one of the good guys."


We know Ben is a master liar and manipulator. We can tell that Ben is using Michael to do his dirty work. But if Ben truly wanted no one to reach the island, then he should have given Michael those instructions to disable the freighter from the beginning instead of the fake bomb. And the need for a freighter list seems to be an excessive-compulsive waste of time. It gets further unnecessarily complicated when the helicopter lands on the island, and Desmond and Sayid go to the freighter. In the simple scheme of not allowing anyone on or off the island, Ben has made a huge mess of it. Unless, Ben himself is being manipulated by Jacob who really wants to bring new people to the island for his game with MIB. (Which would make some sense since we were told ONLY Jacob had the power to bring people to the island.)

Later, Sayid and Desmond find Michael in the engine room and confront him about why he is on the boat. Michael tells his story about being Ben's "man on the boat." When he learns Michael is working for Ben. Sayid grabs Michael and drags him into Captain Gault's room, revealing Michael's true identity as the saboteur, a spy, a traitor, and a survivor of Oceanic 815. This action pushes two sets of dangerous dominoes into motion. It disrupts Ben's plan to thwart Widmore's forces from getting to the island. It also sets into motion the safe passage of the soldiers to the island to confront Ben.

Ben has to give up his secrecy when his plan begins to fall a part. Locke takes a leadership role.
Locke holds a meeting with everyone at the Barracks to share information. Miles confirms the people from the freighter are after Ben. Sawyer suggests they just turn Ben over to the freighter people. Ben says the orders of the freighter people are to capture him, then kill everyone else on the Island; Miles does not deny it.

Ben persuades Alex to go to a location he calls "the Temple" with Karl and Danielle, and tells her the rest of the Others are already there. He provides them with a map. Ben tells Alex she is in danger because the people who are coming to the Island will use her to get to him. He assures her that her mother will protect them. He is dead wrong.

Some time into their journey, Danielle, Alex, and Karl take a break. Sudden gunfire erupts from the jungle and Karl is shot in the chest. Danielle and Alex hide behind a tree and quickly decide they need to make a run for it. They get to their feet, but Danielle is immediately hit by gunfire and falls to the ground. Alex stands up, puts her hands in the air and yells, "I'm Ben's daughter!"


This episode is one where everything goes wrong from its stated purpose. Michael's voyage of redemption has turned into a savage murderous spectacle. Michael's failure to stop the freighter (which was part of Ben's disjointed plan) caused the deaths of many more innocent people. The fate of the innocent were sealed when Sayid betrayed Michael like Michael had done to the 815ers. Michael was played for the fool by everyone.


From a failed artist, to construction worker, then to sailboat builder, to freighter engine expert to finally alleged bomb detention specialist, Michael's skill set continued to grow beyond belief when the story line needed some authoritative explanation. The more grand Michael's expertise grew in the series, the more the show stumbled toward pure fantasy over even science fiction. Especially in the end, when ghost Christian, speaking as the Island, allows Michael to end his life by allowing the jury and scientifically inaccurate bomb device, to blow up the freighter.

The last thing Kevin Johnson gave the story was the ghost meeting with Hurley near the end of the series. Michael tells Hurley that he is a whisper, a ghost, trapped on the island. Michael accepts his fate to be trapped as a lost soul on the island. However, this conclusion runs contrary to what happens to Ben. Ben did more heinous things on and off the island than Michael did, yet Ben was "rewarded" by continuing to live on the island and then later going to the sideways world to being his after life.


It is one of the great problems with LOST. It set forth canon about "rules," but never explained them or even followed them consistently from character to character. The uneven application of the rules weakens the story foundation for the series. Why would Michael have to remain a ghost on the island for eternity while Ben and other evil people get a second, third or fourth chance at redemption?


The idea that Michael was not "ready" to move on is also suspect because Ben himself states the same thing Hurley outside the church. The concept that Michael needed to re-connect in his own sideways world with Walt also has no basis because Michael was not a part of the sideways world. We are not shown any tangible proof that Michael had the  ability to create  his own purgatory realm. He may never had a chance because Hurley was going to shut down the island operations. Just as Walt was abandoned by his fathers, Michael's character was abandoned by the writers. And Michael was not alone in the inconsistent treatment and altered resolutions of many characters.