It would seem that the guide presented the main characters in order of importance to the show's theme's and projected main story line. The guide clearly sets forth that mandate:
The first words etched on the blank white board in the Writer's Room were these -
- - "CHARACTER FIRST."
At the end of the day, LOST will sink or swim purely on the merit of its characters... and taking a page from the successful playbook of Reality Television, we've stocked our island with the ingredients for limitless conflict. No conflict, no drama.
We can't be the "Adventure Hour" every week - - in fact, many of our stories will feature the simple human drama of being forced into survival dynamics with complete strangers.
At the end of the day, LOST will sink or swim purely on the merit of its characters... and taking a page from the successful playbook of Reality Television, we've stocked our island with the ingredients for limitless conflict. No conflict, no drama.
We can't be the "Adventure Hour" every week - - in fact, many of our stories will feature the simple human drama of being forced into survival dynamics with complete strangers.
We've worked out fairly detailed biographies for each character that inhabits our island, so here's a
. thumbnail sketch of each one to present an idea of not only who they are, but where they're going.
The guide then lists summaries of the main characters in the following order:
The guide then lists summaries of the main characters in the following order:
1. Jack
2. Kate
3. Charlie
4. Sawyer
5. Boone
6. Shannon
7. Locke
8. Sayid
9. Sun
10. Jin
11. Hurley
12. Claire
13. Michael
14. Walt
First, not surprising that Jack and Kate are the top two characters as the writers guide clearly indicated that those two characters were going to be the lead focus of the show, and be part of each episode interacting with the other characters.
Second, also not surprising was Sun and Jin being near the second half of main character importance. The idea of having a couple, with the perception of a foreign language barrier, coping or fitting into the new survivor community could be a jumping off point for conflict, miscommunication and distrust, which the show did mildly handle in the first season.
Third, what is surprising was the higher "value" placed on Charlie, Boone and Shannon's characters. Charlie was the drug addict musician who did not seem to fit into island survival mode. Boone and his stepsister were from privilege, and also did not fit into new island realities. But it seems these "fish out of water" character traits is what the writers thought would create the "reality television" vibe the producers wanted to feed the conflict engine: snobby, opinionated, lazy, paranoid, people used to comfort over scraping an existence in the work place.
Fourth, what is also surprising is the lower value placed on Locke and Hurley. Locke would become a fan favorite early on in the series, especially after his mysterious recovery. He would become the leadership foil for Jack (which lessened Kate's role in the original story structure). Hurley would become the fan's proxy on the island - - - in the background as an even keel to help figure out time and place of the events.
Fifth, the strange isolation of Michael and Walt's story line. Recall, Walt became a focal point early on because of his "special" mental properties, i.e. killing birds by thought. Walt was deemed special by the Others, that is why they captured him and tested him. Walt seemed to have a pivotal role to play in the main story line, until he had a growth spurt and literally grew out of the day to day episode format of the show. Michael's character was to center around protecting the son he really did not know from all the dangers on the island, to a point of delusional madness to get off the island by any means.
In the next two weeks we will go through the writers' guide character summary to contrast and compare how LOST writers kept true to the original character studies.
