Roles in Lost

Lost has come and gone. It was a phenomenon, it became a staple, and now it's a memory. It was arguably one of the most influential shows of the first decade of this century. (The aughts?) The characterization was entirely believable. Every one of them was broken, but every one of them could be liked.

Note: spoilers!

One thing I enjoyed about the show was its symmetry. There were three male leads, and every one of them changed roles by the end of the show. (Amusingly, every one of them also has a first name starting with J. There are other names out there for male leads, writers...) Look at how they all start.

Jack: he started out as the guy who wants nothing more than to get off this island. He's the leader by default. He cares for those who are his, and will crush anyone who gets in the way of that. I'm not sure if he helps people because he cares in the same way other people do, because it's an emotional burden. I suspect he sees it as one more task, and he's the guy who can get it done. That doesn't mean he's a sociopath! But it does mean he's goal-focused enough that any absolute standard of morality goes completely out the window. He's a good man who's completely willing to torture or kill to accomplish his goals

(Arguably, Jack is one of a larger category of characters: the guy who will do bad things without hesitation, even though he's nominally the hero of the story. Sherlock, for a lighter example. Or possibly Dexter, or Wesley from Angel. Walt on Breaking Bad fits this mold, as well. One difference between Jack and Walt is that Walt's circle of give-a-damn is only six people wide. But that's another post.)

John Locke: John is the irrationally faithful one. He needs no evidence, he needs only to believe, and he only believes because he needs to. This makes him just as dangerous as Jack, because he's willing to risk others' lives, even kill people, if his irrational beliefs tell him it's right. He's the religious fanatic.

Sawyer: Sawyer is the trickster. His actions are dictated by the fact that he cares. He cares about his parents, he cares that someone killed them, and he cares that he killed that someone in return. He genuinely doesn't think he deserves anything good. Strange as it seems at first, Sawyer is defined by his need to be good.

Now look at how they all end.

Sawyer: He's overcome his past, and become the leader. And now, he's desperate to get off the island at all costs. Sawyer is now Jack, though not quite so sociopathic.

Locke: His faith has failed him, and he's died. But the guy who now looks like Locke? He's the trickster, the manipulator, the deceiver. Locke is now Sawyer. (Though also driven by his need to get off the island at all costs, and most definitely a sociopath!)

Jack: He's now the religious fanatic, the irrationally faithful. He no longer wants to leave. He's the one that led them back, because of his belief that it was necessary. Jack is now Locke.

And Hurley? He's still the same guy he always was.