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Up to date as of February 07, 2010

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This article is about how characters are connected. For the special feature on Disc 7 of the Season 2 DVD see: Lost Connections

Character connections refers to the "degrees of separation" between the characters in Lost. This concept describes the shortness of social distance between any two people on Earth, based on their acquaintances. The average is 6, and this has inspired many theories about human interaction, including a popular culture game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon". Some, if not all of the characters have one or two degrees of separation between them. The likelihood of this occurring between passengers on a jetliner is fairly astronomical. The shortness of the separation between the characters is likely a large part of the puzzle/mystery of the show.

"Have you ever sat next to someone at a bar and felt that your paths have crossed before? Has the thought ever crossed your mind that the stranger behind you at the store would become a significant part of your life?...seemingly random people. Do you know any of them? Do any of them know you? Do any of them know someone you know? Odds are that the answer to anyone of these questions is yes... Throughout the world, connections are constantly being made. Which begs the question; are chance encounters a matter of coincidence, or a matter of fate? " - Carlton Cuse, Lost Connections

Contents

Occurrences

Characters Connections prior to Australian Airport
Characters Connections through Season Two

The following connections between characters happened in locations other than the hotel, airport, or airplane during or immediately before the flight. This list is sorted according to when the connection was first noted (by the second episode, in which the 'cross' is recognized).

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

  • Jacob approaches many of the characters off island, though they do not know of their connection. Kate as a child in the store, James as a child at his parents' funeral, Jin and Sun at their wedding, Locke when he is pushed from the window, Jack at the hospital, Sayid at the moment when Nadia was killed by a hit-and-run driver, and Hurley as he leaves prison.

Direct connections

Encounters or joint sightings at the hotel, airport or airplane

The following connections happened immediately before, or during the flight, and do not count as a notable connection.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon

Main article: Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon

The Game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is based on a similar idea, that every working actor can be connected to Kevin Bacon to within six degrees, by the other actors they've appeared in film with. Although unrelated to the character connections, it's interesting to note that every one of the cast members of Lost can be connected to Kevin Bacon by either 2 or 3 degrees, although none of them have worked with him directly, as yet.

Storyteller connections

Like the past and present connections between the castaways as well as other Island inhabitants and flashback characters, many of the people who create the stories and characters of Lost have also worked on other projects together in the past. Also, many of these people have also worked on some of the same projects, though they might not have appeared together or interacted in these projects, similar to how the lives of the castaways have sometimes nearly touched or indirectly influenced each other. Perhaps in some cases, the Lost producers did this knowingly or as Easter eggs, paralleling the interconnectedness of the storytellers and their ties to pop culture to the story itself. Many of these projects share themes, genres, references, actors, writers, producers, and directors with Lost. It's interesting to note how some of these connections parallel things on the show and also reflect the meta-narrative and post-modern qualities of it.

  • Many of the actors on Lost have appeared together in other television shows and movies. Sometimes their characters have interacted with each other, sometimes they appeared in the same episodes or films, other times they have appeared at different times in a show's run and sometimes they are characters whose storylines are related but who may not have interacted. Some shows (like most procedurals) often have characters that only appear for that show's mystery of the week, and many of the Losties have popped up on these shows. In Lost's case, some flashback of the week characters have strong connections to certain Lost characters, and have also appeared and are currently appearing together in other shows and films with other Lost actors. To a second degree, there are many actors who have appeared in different projects with many of the actors who have appeared on Lost, though they themselves have not appeared on the show (yet). The most significant actor connection is the tv show Oz, which starred Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje and Harold Perrineau and which included appearances by Ken Leung and Lance Reddick.
  • Many of the producers and writers on the show have also worked together in the past, and usually on many of the shows featuring Lost actors. Many of them have since gone on to other projects, most of which also have connections to Lost.

Actor connections

Many actors on the show have connections to some of the other actors in projects outside of Lost. Sometimes, their characters interacted directly with each other, though most hadn't appeared together before Lost started. There are also instances where their characters were in the same movie, series, or episode but did not share any scenes together. Some of these times there are indirect connections between the characters of those shows. In a way, it shows that people who play the characters on Lost have lives that are as connected to each other as their fictional alter egos, and may reflect an intent on the part of the show's creators to make these existing connections also tell the story. This is not to say that these connections are all the producers look at when casting, but the sheer number of them suggest that the producers of Lost are splicing in bits and pieces and ideas of other television and film works into its story, much as it has the numerous literary references, and some of the actors as well as the characters they play and the projects they are in closely parallel and inform the story of the show.

Also, it shows that people in real-life (the actors) have the same kinds of connections to each other that the characters in the story do (granted, they do all work in the Entertainment industry, but there are a handful of projects that seem to have an extremely high number of Losties). It also shows that the fictional characters an actor has interpreted may inform their story and character somehow, and that sometimes the relationships of characters that are paralleled, contrasted, or repeated in Lost lends new insight into them and the plot or offers up more evidence of the interrelatedness between Lost, pop culture, and real people. In this way, Lost takes on the nature of a meta-narrative, and blurs the line between the story, the storytellers, and the audience even more.

Direct connections

Main article: Cast crossovers

OZ

  • Harold Perrineau and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Augustus Hill (40 episodes) and Simon Adebisi (27 epsiodes) respectively as regulars on HBO's prison drama. They shared many scenes together and both appeared in almost every single episode until their characters' deaths. Augustus Hill was also the narrator of OZ. It is interesting to note that Eko first appears after the Raft survivors come aground and is with Michael (even going off to look for him) until the Tailies reunite with the other castaways.
  • Zeljko Ivanek (Edmund Burke) was recurring in 25 episodes playing Governor James Devlin, a corrupt and sneaky politician. His storylines intersected with both Adebisi's and Augustus Hill's. Edmund Burke shares this sleaziness and wanting to take credit for others' successes with Governor Devlin (OZ creator/writer/producer Tom Fontana stated that "there is the devil in Devlin"). Ivanek has guest starred on many shows that have also featured Lost actors.
  • Augustus is in a wheelchair, like Locke before the crash, after being thrown off a building for killing a police officer. He is also a recovering drug addict, like Charlie.
  • Adebisi is similar to Mr. Eko in that they were African gangsters involved in the drug trade. In a way, Adebisi could be Eko if he had never become a priest.
  • One of the main characters and the on-and-off leader of the Muslims is named Kareem Said (pronounced exactly like "Sayid").
  • We see how the many characters came to OZ through flashbacks of the crime they were convicted for. These flashbacks sometimes appear a long time after we have been introduced to a character.
  • There are many "tribes" in the prison, usually based on ethnic background or religious beliefs, whose leaders often change. These men manipulate and ally themselves with others, though the allegiances and leaders tend to change constantly. This is similar to what has happened to Ben and the Others in Season 3, and has been happening to the castaways since Jack returned.
  • Many characters con each other to get what they want or to get someone else to do what they want.
  • "Oz" is a nickname for Australia.
  • "Oz", short for Oswald State Penitentiary and later Oswald Correctional Facility, is also a refrence to "The Wizard of Oz", also alluded to on Lost. The experimental wing where most of the stories take place is referred to as "Emerald City".
  • Shares the themes of imprisonment, cons and deceptions, isolation, psychology, good and bad people, black and white, faith, revenge, coincidences, rivalries, secrets, fate and free will, parent issues, and character connections with Lost.

24

Party of Five

See also

External links

  • Interactive graphic with connections and biographies at the end of 5th season
  • .pdf file of Lost Connections Flow Chart at larger size
  • ABC.com's Lost Connections
Lost
Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Missing Pieces • Season 4 • Season 5 • Season 6
Apophenia • Bloopers/Errors • Previously on Lost • Timeline • Transcripts • Verisimilitude
Themes
Lists & tallies
Literary techniques

This article uses material from the "Character connections" article on the Lostpedia wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.







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