TROUBLED RELATIONSHIPS

As with the previous post on Jack and Kate's relationship, the other controversial pair ending was Shannon and Sayid.

To the vast majority of viewers, it made no sense.

Throughout the series, Sayid was shown pining for Nadia, a woman from his home land. A woman for whom Sayid tortured, then let escape - - -  turning himself into a cold blood killer (by taking out a superior officer to allow her to escape.) After the war, Sayid spent his entire life trying to find Nadia, considered by all to be "the love of his life." He went so far as to work for the CIA, a dirty deal to double cross a childhood friend in order to get a chance to meet Nadia. So, Sayid was deeply in love with Nadia.

But that is just one side of the story. Sayid's attraction and affection for Nadia was clear. But what was Nadia's true feelings toward Sayid. As a child, it would seem she had a crush on Sayid. Even in the school yard, Sayid was different: strong and a provider. But when there was political change in Iraq, Sayid would wind up on the other side: with the Guard, while Nadia and her family were in the rebel camp. This basic ideological divide would doom most couples.

But even when Sayid was ordered to torture her to get information about the rebels, Nadia seemed to forgive Sayid. As a result, Sayid's heart overwhelmed his training and rank to allow her freedom. However, some could argue that Nadia was using her past relationship to manipulate Sayid to grant her freedom - - - a ruse, a classic spy move - - - not out of love but necessity.

But the latter evidence seems to contradict this faux spy story. When Sayid was rescued as part of the O6, he was met at the airport by Nadia. They embraced. They began to start their new life together in LA. Now, various theorists don't understand how this even happened . . . why the airline would find a stranger, such as Nadia, to greet Sayid in Hawaii is a mystery. Perhaps the CIA knew her whereabouts under a protective custody program, but not an airline.

One theory has it that the O6 never made it to the awkward press conference in Honolulu. That when the freighter was blown up, the survivors were in bad shape. Penny's boat was actually a trailing shadow craft to pick up survivors for Widmore so as to reprogram the brains in a virtual reality "rescue" so as to have them volunteer to return to the island to fight Jacob/MIB. If Widmore could "fake" an underwater crash site including passenger bodies, then he could easily brain wash island survivors.

When Nadia was killed by a motor vehicle in a cross walk when Sayid was pulled by Jacob, Sayid was totally lost. He had lost his one, true love. He was a broken man. He could never love another woman. He turned into a zombie - - - easily manipulated to become Ben's assassin under the guise of getting revenge of those who killed Nadia. (This also shows a direct link between Jacob's influence to Ben's missions with Sayid.)

Even back on the island, Sayid never forgot about Nadia. So it was a shock to find Sayid winding up with Shannon in the End.  They only had a week long island affair. It was spurred by a matter of convenience and loneliness. Shannon's brother, her one protector, had died. Sayid was still seen as an outcast within the group. Shannon was in need of finding someone to take care of her since she was accustomed to the life of luxury. She used her one commodity, her beauty, as currency to find another man to be with her. But when she was killed in the jungle, Sayid was cut down to his core in emotional grief. Some think that Sayid's physical relationship with Shannon could have clouded his long term memories, or that he was actually re-living the terror of losing Nadia all over again.

Sayid was doomed at that point. Any woman he loved would die in his arms. He thought it was his fault. He could never love again because the pain was too great. In order to cut out the pain, he had to cut out his own heart - - - die and be reincarnated as an empty soul.

But when the cast was reunited in purgatory/heaven of the sideways world, the image-character of Nadia was present. But she was married to Sayid's brother, who was in trouble with the mob. Sayid had to "fix" it - - - to make Nadia happy. It was like the one woman he loved he could never have - - - but there was no evidence of that in the "real" world. So in that respect, Nadia's soul must have bonded with Sayid's brother while she waited for him to show up in the next level of existence. That must have paved the way for Sayid to release his feelings toward her, opening up the possibility of finding his second love, Shannon. But that is a weak appraisal of the overall Sayid-Nadia story line.

A week of passion with a different stranger is more important than a life long longing over a love that you finally found after years of searching? Sayid and Nadia were together in LA. They were happy. They went to Hurley and Sun's parties. So why did that love and affection carry over into the next world?

Sayid and Nadia's relationship was troubled from the beginning. He was a soldier, she was a freedom fighter. He was a poor boy, she was from an upper class family. He was repressed by his emotions, she was outgoing in her beliefs. In a world where opposites attract, they would be a perfect pair. But in reality, opposites often cause conflict in their own relationship. Deep, lasting relationships have as a foundation core similar values, goals, beliefs and mutual dreams. Perhaps Sayid's feelings toward Nadia were a dreamer's lust for something that could have been instead of actual love.

And in that regard, Shannon was the only person Sayid knew who loved him for what he truly was - - - she knew his background, she knew about all the bad things he had done, but she still took him in and loved him. Even that short term bond between two troubled souls could have a lasting impact.

SHANNON PORTRAIT

Shannon may have been one of the best characters to symbolize low self-esteem. All the money in the world, or even a doting parent, her father, could give her the independent character to survive on her own.

Shannon had a reverse daddy issue. Her father spoiled her. He gave her money. He protected her against the real world. He got her out of trouble. When he remarried, he was the buffer between his daughter and her step-mother. But when in the emergency room, Jack made the choice to "save" Sarah instead of Shannon's father (since both were critically injured), this set Shannon's life on a slow, downward deadspin.

It appears she never held a real job. Being a cute girlfriend, a rich bitch or a party girl were not lasting career choices. She did have the gift of flirtation and sexual promise. But as in the series itself, she was more a cardboard cut-out, a centerfold without a soul, a wasted opportunity to have an interesting life story.

After her father passed away, Shannon was left on a family island. Her stepmother treated her poorly. She was put down. She had no place in the family business. Shannon was not a hard worker because her old life had been handed to her. Without a drive, personal goals or dreams she would wander aimlessly from bad boyfriend to bad relationship.

Lostpedia summarized her as follows:

Before the (Flight 815) crash, her father had died in a car crash and she had been cut off by her stepmother, who also refused to give her any of her father's money. She used men, especially Boone, to get what she wanted, which eventually led to a one night-stand with Boone. After the crash, she was very selfish at times, refusing to help the other survivors, as she insisted they would be rescued. However, she assisted in trying to get a signal on the transceiver, and used her French skills to translate Rousseau's signal. She also had an asthma attack when her inhaler ran out, but Sun eased her symptoms. She eventually formed a romantic relationship with Sayid which helped her realize her selfishness and led to a change in attitude. As she and Sayid went for a picnic, Boone fell out of a plane and died of injuries. After Boone died, Shannon sought revenge on John Locke, attempting to shoot him, but Sayid interfered. She eventually forgave Sayid, but began to have strange visions of Walt who she thought was on the raft. On Day 48 she ran from camp with Sayid to search for Walt; however she collided with the Tailies and was unintentionally shot in the stomach and killed by Ana Lucia Cortez after chasing another image of Walt.  She died in Sayid's arms having finally gained his confidence and belief in her. 

Many viewers did not find Shannon's character compelling; many felt that the death scene was merely an actor's clip reel (since so many of the characters would succumb in the next episodes). She was a "taker" and not a giver. She had to rely on other people (Boone, Sun, Sayid) in order to cope with the very basic daily routines most people take for granted. Her loss was not taken as a great defining moment in the series. 

Even after her death, her character drew ire from some fans. Why would a week long island affair be more important to Sayid than his lifelong quest to find his true love, Nadia? When Sayid wound up with Shannon in the after life, most fans were disillusioned because it really made no sense. Shannon had made no great leap or redemption in the sideways world to merit "a reward" of companionship in the next world. Further, it upset people that Shannon got what she wanted (a man to care for her forever) while Boone sat alone in the sideways church. Boone, the guy who cared and loved Shannon, and who died trying to get her rescued, got nothing for his effort.

It is a sad commentary that Shannon, the spoiled rich girl can be the Cinderella in the end by not doing anything.

FALLING OUT

How easy is it to fall in and out of love.

Shannon knew she was a beautiful young woman. She used to it to gain the attention of suitors, boyfriends and a lazy, carefree lifestyle. But she continually made bad choices, ran out of money and had boyfriend issues because her relationships were so superficial.

Kate knew she was cute, but never dolled herself up as a beauty queen. She used her charm to get men to do her bidding, and falling in love with her was not on her agenda. She was independent and did not need the admiration of a man to make her happy. Or so she thought, until it was too late. Her relationships were hit and miss, and the men in her life literally got caught in the cross fire and paid a heavy price trying to capture her heart.

Juliet never expressed herself as attractive since she was engrossed with her work. As a student, she fell for her smart scientific husband, but that puppy love did not equate into a meaningful, story book relationship. His work and her work did not allow the couple to work on their own personal feelings for each other. It ended in divorce. And to further to cut the ties, Ben had Juliet's ex hit by a bus in order for her to accept Alpert's invitation to join the island research.

The only woman who truly had a deep, caring and loving relationship with a man was Rose. She found her soul mate late in life. They was a strong and natural bond between them. When Rose got sick, she accepted her fate while Bernard tried in vain to find a miracle. In one regard, the island was the couple's final paradise - - - together, alone, forever.

Juliet and Sawyer's final relationship started as a matter of convenience and security, then bonded when the time travel arc ended with the Swan construction site implosion. Only in death would Juliet be happy with her Sawyer.

Shannon's true love story was much weaker. A week long affair with Sayid was somehow transformed into the epic tale of lost lovers - - -  even though Sayid had pined for 6 seasons for a woman named Nadia.

But just as improbable, Kate's relationship with Jack was also weak. In the O6 story line, they had a major falling out because of Jack's addictive jealousy personality and Kate's inner will to be independent. Kate was trapped in the suburban homemaker lifestyle of her mother which Kate detested. The "divorce" in the O6 arc was clean and absolute, as Jack spun off into his own personal darkness.  They fell out of love harder than a person jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Why Kate and Jack reunited in the after life is one of those music chair moments - - - because there was nobody us to pair up.

ALTERNATIVE LEADS

If one was going to shift the main focus of LOST to two different lead characters, then the "bad" chemistry between Boone and Shannon could have been a good alternative.

Through a roundabout way, Jack and Kate became the lead-romantic figures in the series. Jack was saved from being axed early on for dramatic effect (which ironically Boone would serve that role) while Kate was originally to be the lead lead character, but got downplayed to partial secondary lead (on the missions as surrogate for the fans).

Boone and Shannon could have leveraged their rich arrogance into strong willed aristocratic rule upon the beach survivors.  Shannon was quite the manipulative rich girl who was used to getting her way. Her wiles were downplayed in the series to only be a doting, spoiled, lazy brat. Her character could have been written in a more bold fashion. She could have used her sex appeal to bond loyalty with various male characters, such as Sawyer, Sayid and even Locke. Once she got muscle behind her, she could set herself up in island luxury (almost in the same mold as Ben).

Boone was smart enough to run a large business for his mother, he should have had the skill set to "manage" the castaways in an efficient manner where they would look up to him for their survival, instead of Jack. In fact, Jack was still afraid of authority figures due to his father's belittlement of his skills. Boone could have been the skilled politician who cut the deals to keep everyone in line.

Such a cutthroat couple was not foreign in the writers, since they used that concept with the misguided introduction of Nikki and Paulo, who conspired to kill a wealthy man for his diamonds and wealth.

A ruthless Boone-Shannon couple, linked by their dark secret of a sibling affair, would have added a new layer of darkness to the series. It could be used to keep them together, or later, pull them a part.

GUILT & SHAME

One of the undercurrents in LOST was the troubled back stories of the main characters. One of the most pulp fiction background relationships was between Boone and his stepsister, Shannon.

In the category, the Rich have hard lives, this relationship had a creepy guilt and shame dynamic.

Boone Carlyle was Shannon's stepbrother. Before Flight 815,  he had been used by Shannon for money and as a result of this, his love for her was revealed and they had a one-night stand.

Boone Carlyle was the son of Sabrina Carlyle, and stepson of Adam Rutherford, a man who was killed in the auto accident in which Jack "saved" Sarah. When Sabrina and Adam  married when Boone was ten, and Shannon, who was two years his junior, became his step-sister. His parents frequently left him with a nanny when he was young, and Boone, angry at being left alone, called her to his room repeatedly without cause. During one of these calls, when Boone was six, the nanny fell and broke her neck.  This may be the impetus of Boone's character trait of helping Shannon throughout her life; guilt.

By the time he had turned 20, Boone was living in New York. After flying back to Los Angeles for Adam Rutherford's  funeral, Boone comforted Shanno by giving his underage stepsister some alcohol to mollify her grief. He told Shannon she could live with him in New York if it would help get her career as a dance instructor started. After Shannon got the job, Boone was then offered a job by his mother. He accepted the job as the Chief Operating Officer of the wedding clothing subsidiary and he had to move from New York. Shannon had asked him to ask his mother for some money, but he came back empty handed. He that said his mother knew why he asked for the money. Boone then offered Shannon some of his own money to get her started in New York without him, but she refused because she wanted to prove herself. Shannon would fail in her attempts (feeble at best) to be self-sufficient and independent. She was daddy's little girl, who got anything she wanted from him, but when he was gone she was mad that her life had been so disrupted by his death. She would be seeking out other men to take care of her. She polished a devious streak to get what she wanted from men.

Although he would not openly admit it to anyone, Boone was in love with Shannon and he would do anything to help her out of her jams.  He paid men to end Shannon's abusive relationships. Shannon would take advantage of Boone's feelings. He received a phone call from Shannon pleading for him to come and help her with her boyfriend, Bryan,  in Sydney. Boone flew to Australia and, although she initially denied there was anything wrong, Shannon showed him a bruise on her forehead discreetly, as Bryan kicked Boone out of their house. He went to the police station to file a report but the Detective was unwilling to help because Boone and Shannon were not blood related, and joked, they were not the "dating police." Boone decided to take matters into his own hands.

He tried to bribe Bryan to leave Shannon. He took the money, but when Boone came to pick up Shannon, Bryan was still there - - - willing to share the loot with Shannon. In other words, Boone was conned into giving Shannon $50,000. There was a fight, and Boone lost.  Later that night, Shannon appeared at Boone's hotel room and told him that Byran had left her, taking all the money. They had drinks, and the alone Shannon seduced Boone. Afterward, Boone felt confused and dejected when Shannon suggested that they return to LA and act if nothing happened that night.

Throughout his time on the Island, Boone would spend a lot of his time with Shannon before finally getting over his love for her and letting her go. He later became Locke's apprentice when the two discovered the Hatch and they formed a close friendship.  Unable to open the Hatch, they followed a dream Locke had and found a small plane sitting on a cliff. Boone climbed up into the plane but suffered severe injuries when the plane fell to the ground. Despite Jack's  best attempts to save him, Boone realized he was going to die and told Jack to let him go. After Boone's death, Locke described him as a "sacrifice the Island demanded."

Shannon's time on the island was not one of personal growth. She kept to her spoiled trust fund persona, rarely helping out. Boone's death did affect her deeply, but it may have been slightly more shame on how she treated him that deep affection. For Shannon, being totally alone, began to seek out company of someone to support her. That person was Sayid, but their relationship was very brief, as Shannon was killed accidently by Ana Lucia.  Sayid's grief over Shannon's death was much more than Shannon had when Boone perished.

So despite the close relationship between Boone and Shannon, they were not "together" in the after life reunion. For little apparent reason, Sayid was reunited with Shannon (and not Nadia). And Boone, like his friend Locke, had no one to sit next to during the final church sequence. Why Boone, who only tried to help his step sister throughout her life, was punished with a lonely eternity, is one of those major downers in the story. And Shannon, who used men to support her, and had little moral principles in doing so, was rewarded in the after life. Life is not fair.

WORST COUPLE

PROBABLY the worst LOST couple was Sayid and Shannon. In just about every level, it made no sense.

Shannon was the stereotypical rich, white, affluent, trust fund bitch who had no drive, no vision and no goals except to make herself happy. Once her father died, she was cut off from the easy allowance, but had no skill sets to change. She went from one abusive boyfriend to another. It was only Boone who kept bailing her out. And despite that, Shannon was cold and unappreciative because that was her true character. Her self worth was tied to her material worth. She would have been brought up in a class system which looked down upon the common man who lacked the sophistication that only wealth and culture can bring.

Sayid was an troubled Iraqi soldier. He came from a large family, but it seemed he had to do his siblings' dirty work. He hated himself for becoming a torturer; but he could never change his tortured soul. He would have resented the manipulations of the American soldiers who captured him. He had nothing in common with a spoiled rich girl. Besides, for the entire series we were told that Sayid pined for his one and only true love, Nadia. Nadia, the woman he finally found after he thought he lost her forever when Flight 815 crashed, was killed in LA by Jacob stopping Sayid from crossing the street with her. Nadia's tragic death caused Sayid to revert in a cold blooded killer.

So when it came time for the "happy ending" to the series, one short island hook up trumps an entire life of long lost love?

It is totally unbelievable. Sayid should have wound up with Nadia.

Shannon should have wound up alone because she really did not have any strong connections to anyone. In the church, both Boone and Locke had no one to share the next stage of existence. Boone and Locke sat alone in the church, waiting while Shannon cuddled with Sayid.  It would have been better if Shannon and Boone sat together, and Sayid, the tortured soul who could never find happiness, sat alone in the back.  That would have made more sense.

To Shannon's personality, she would have been more apt to find a "sugar daddy" than a boyfriend - - - but lottery winner Hurley had Libby (but again, apparently you can take your wealth with you to the afterlife) or even an easily manipulated doctor in Jack.

The Sayid and Shannon thing was a major head scratcher. If Nadia was Sayid's true love, and if Sayid did actually get together with her in the O6 arc, then Sayid would have met her in heaven. Then this leads to the conclusion that many dislike: that Sayid never got together with Nadia, that she was figment of his imagination or dream. It disrupts the storytelling if major portions of the story cannot be proven to be real or an illusion. If it was an illusion, then Sayid's only physical love of his life was Shannon - - - then that is why they were together?

HURLEY'S ISLAND

Fifty years ago, American television debuted a new show called Gilligan's Island. The premise was simple: several passengers get on a charter boat for a three hour cruise. But the ship gets caught up in a violent storm. It is shipwrecked on an uncharted island. The survivors have to learn to make do with coconuts, palm leaves and goofy comedy.

Gilligan's Island represents the basic shipwreck story, but in a comedy as the first mate, Gilligan, is a hapless buffoon who keeps getting the group in trouble. In some ways, the success of this episodic series showed that this premise could work on prime time television.

It was never suggested that LOST should have been a reboot of Gilligan's Island. Until now.

The original cast featured the ship's captain, first mate Gilligan, a professor, a model Ginger, a farm girl Mary Ann and a rich couple, the Howells. We can re-cast the main characters of LOST into these roles.

There was only one married couple on the island. Rose and Bernard would be the Howells. However, they would not be the flamboyant multimillionaires, but a quiet retired couple searching for peace.

The farm girl would be played by Kate because she grew up in rural Iowa, and acts like a tomboy. She would probably be more aggressive than Mary Ann.

The model would be played by Shannon, because she grew up as a spoiled, jet set brat. She would probably be more snooty than Ginger.

The professor would be played by Sayid, since he had the encyclopedic knowledge of all things electrical and mechanical. He would mirror the professor's role of finding impossible ways to make machines out of nothing.

The goofy guy that always gets in trouble would fall to Charlie. Charlie never fit in with any group except with his best bud, Hurley. Charlie was never that strong, he never led on missions, and he had personal demons he needed to keep secret. He was insecure and lonely. He tried too hard to be a part of a group.

So this leads the heavyset skipper role to Hurley, which in some ways fits into LOST because Hurley winds up as the island guardian. As the skipper, Hurley would be a reluctant leader with a sense of humor. Like on the LOST island, Hurley would be the glue that keeps the group together because of his even demeanor and kind outlook.

Taking parts of LOST's cast to re-imagine Gilligan's Island is not that hard.

MODERN ROMANCE

For some viewers, LOST was a romantic adventure series.

If we examine this theme, there are many nontraditional points played out between the main characters.

First, we have the typical "girl next door" stereotype, Kate. She is from rural Iowa. She is part tomboy, part charmer. She learns early on that her feminine wilds can make men do crazy things for her. She is the last person in the world who wants to settle down with her high school sweetheart, live in a white picket fence house, and raise of bundle of kids. She starts early in criminal misbehavior by trying to steal from a local store. She implicates a boy in her deeds, learning the lesson that he can control boys.

To add to her issues, Kate did not have an ideal childhood parental structure. The man, Sam Austen,  she thought was her father was not; and the abusive alcoholic mother's boyfriend Wayne was her biological parent. This confusion led her to not trust men. In an alleged abusive relationship where Kate never learned about nurturing love, Kate let her primal dark instincts destroy her home and father as a means of running away from the societal norms of family life. Her situation was not a Rockwell family painting, but a Manson family wall scrawl.

But at one point she did stop running and opted for a "traditional" marriage to a Florida policeman, Kevin Callis. We must believe that she was in love with him otherwise she would not have married him. But for her past being unraveled by Kevin's affection and rewards, Kate thought she found her perfect hideout. She had a new name, new provider and a new life. She started to live the suburban life as Monica, but after a pregnancy scare and Kevin wanting to have a foreign honeymoon (she could not get a passport), Kate fled without a word. She abandoned her future to run away from the past. She never spoke of Kevin again. One could argue that love to Kate was a mere commodity; a means to get to an end.

And on the island there was evidence that she used her female charm to get men to do her bidding; the deal with Ben, the affair with Sawyer, and her relationship with Jack in order to take the pressure off her past problems. These men cared for her, but she cared less about them. In some ways, Kate was a modern independent woman, who got what she wanted from men: security, comfort, affection without the cultural handcuffs of being a proper woman.

Second, we have the more modern woman stereotype, Shannon. She is a rich girl who was brought up to become a spoiled brat. She was daddy's little girl until daddy suddenly passed away leaving her stepmother in charge. Shannon only had one asset to get by in this world: her body. She used her charms to seduce boyfriend after boyfriend to be with her, to support her, to love her. But in the end, none of these relationships worked out. The men who were attracted to her lacked commitment. Shannon expressed herself as being needy, wanting and selfish. It was very difficult for her to find a person who could put up with her faults.

Trust fund children often have an aura of entitlement. Life was easy for them. Money took care of problems and buried the emotional pain of having real relationships. From what we saw of Shannon, her self-centered nature repelled against the notion of having a normal family life, raising children or having a single man in her life. She liked living on the drunken edge as a party girl. Her excitement was causing trouble. But like all stale acts, men grew tiresome of her.

On the island, she tried to use her past charms but she found a limited audience. The other beach survivors were more concerned about their individual welfare and rescue than fawning over a little rich girl who did nothing to help them in camp. We cannot say for certain that her very short hook-up with Sayid was meaningful in any way because at the time she was alone after Boone's death.

Kate and Shannon started off at opposite ends of the spectrum but basically wound up in the same place with men the initially never cared for, and attempted to use for their own benefit. Many viewers still question why Kate wound up with Jack and Shannon wound up with Sayid. If modern romance tells us anything, there are no clear rules.

So it is hard to tell whether LOST has enough classic elements to be considered an adventure-romance series since the main characters relationships were more like ships passing in the night.

LOSTOZ

For an unrelated reason, the childhood film, The Wizard of Oz, popped into my head.

Many fans have thought to find parallels of other literary works in LOST. The Hollywood saying is that nothing is ever original. I don't recall whether anyone actually made an illusions to the Oz story framework to the LOST adventure story.

It does have some of the general elements. There is a dog. There is a girl. And there are some mixed up people found in a weird, supernatural place.

As Oz is a nickname for Australia, which played a prominent setting in the series.

So whether the LOST saga is a re-telling of the Oz story is going to be a stretch. But, why not?

The easiest connection to both is the dog; Vincent as Toto. But that leads to an immediate problem. Walt was the owner of Vincent, and he left the island fairly early in the story line. Toto's owner, Dorothy, was the centerpiece character. Walt was not. But later in the series, Shannon took over care and custody of Walt.

Shannon was supposed to be a more important character in the original writer's guide. She was not the girl next store type (like Kate), but an attractive, selfish, rich snob who would have been totally out of place on the island. The idea that the island survival world would be filtered through such a character would have been okay.

Which character needed some courage? Hurley would have been a prime example of a shy, self-conscious individual who needed support to do just about anything, including asking a girl out on a date. The island would give Hurley many opportunities to learn and apply courage.

Which character needed some heart? Sawyer only held a black heart close to his vest. He did not feel for any other person; it was all a means to a con man's end. His life was solely focused on revenge for his parents deaths. The island would give Sawyer the opportunity to feel compassion and purpose.

Which character needed a brain? Locke did not think things fully through (most of the time). He had difficulty putting his ideas into reasonable action plans. He was a horrible judge of character. He rarely learned from his mistakes. The island would give Locke opportunities to learn about himself, learn to interact with other people, and learn to judge character.

So it is possible to fit LOST characters into the format of the Oz story. In fact, the original story line had Sawyer and Shannon becoming a couple, which would solve two problems: Shannon "finding" a purpose in her life, and Sawyer finding a person he could love. Hurley would find the courage to ask Libby out; and later, the courage to accept responsibility to the island protector. Locke would let his emotion override his brain's common sense, but he was the first person to figure out that the island was a magical place that needed his protection.

But the Oz story had a linear path. The gold pavers were to lead the cast to the Wizard, and for Dorothy, her wish to return home. In LOST, there was no golden road to a castle. The closest thing would have been the lighthouse and Jacob as the man behind the curtain.  But of the LostOz cast, only Hurley got to that lighthouse. And that meeting with Jacob did not give Hurley any more courage to forge ahead to confront MIB.

One could argue the golden brick road was symbolic as the characters path to heaven. Heaven (sideways world view) was the alleged end game to LOST, but not to Oz.