Season four of LOST did a lot of things right. I think death, however,was not one of these things, with of course the exception of a couple moments presented terrifically. Differing from the three seasons preceding it, season four uses death less as a thematic device than before. The stories the writers tell this season rely more on the suspense and drama of who the people of the freighter are, whether they have good intentions, what the deal is with the “Oceanic Six,” and a sense of “Hey, check out how fresh the show is now that we flash forward instead of back.” With all this other focus, using death to tell stories about character and emotion takes a back seat for the most part. However, two key instances really shine through: Jin and Alex.

Alex pleads as Keamy has no mercy.

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Season 3 saw the death of main character Charlie

The writers and producers of LOST have consistently demonstrated an apt ability to use death as a tool for exploring the emotional complexities of characters, as well as recognizing the overall social consequences of death for a group and solidarity. Once season three of the show commences, however, the element of death takes more of the role of antagonist over mere condition.

Countless theories strive to ascertain the experience of death. The German philosopher Heidegger illustrates a mode of being called “being toward death” in which a person faces his or her own reality of the possibility of non-existence. This mode of being is very personal, since no one can truly experience the death of another. At best, people can experience their own sense of loss at another’s death. However, in perhaps the most interesting use of death to date on LOST, Desmond inherits the ability to experience Charlie’s death(s) in a very personal way, albeit still as a spectator. Desmond’s new sixth sense provides the foundation for some excellently executed stories, which inevitably culminate in a profoundly heroic and personal event as Charlie comes face to face with his own mortality.

I remember back when the third season of LOST first aired on television. The producers capitalized on an inspired idea and decided to air the episodes new each week without reruns. Unfortunately, though, this began the infamous six episodes in the fall, sixteen in the spring approach. The fall duration of the show marks some of the less-than-excellent moments of the program, and it also coincided with the beginnings of the first season of HEROES – I’ll save my rant on this show for a different venue, but for the purposes of this article the show’s first season delivered a decent amount of intrigue and cool elements. Long story long, by the time the spring episodes of LOST aired, I was thrilled to see some very interesting super natural elements and some solid story telling to boot. I still stand by my belief that Desmond’s newfound power was the most interesting ability on television that year – aside from the ability of Tina Fey to make comedy gold with 30 Rock, but I digress…

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A couple of weeks ago, I initiated a topic of how the tremendously important theme of death played out over the course of LOST so far. After looking at the role of death in season one and taking a break to discuss leadership and LOST politics, I am ready to further the topic of death as it emerges during Season Two.

If death in season one served more of a social solidifying purpose, season two provides very little in this regard. Rather than examine how death impacts the group as a whole, death in season two seemed more about looking at the effect of death on individual characters.

For better or worse, death was used most memorably this season to stir up drama by putting an early expiration date on some romantic relationships. The sixth episode of season 2, “Abandoned,” closes with a cliffhanger featuring the oft-neurotic Shannon being shot by ever-so-lady-like Ana Lucia. This death event is dragged out to the point where it is featured in three episodes. The shooting takes place in “Abandoned,” is highlighted in a montage in “The Other 48 Days, ” and commences the episode “Collision.” The produces of the show clearly wanted to make the shooting of Shannon a big deal, and I imagine an important factor is the emotional impact the audience should feel for Sayid, who found Shannon’s affections to be a temporary escape from his musings of Nadia. Shannon’s actual death occurs in “Collision,” with a proper mourning from Sayid, who elects not to enact revenge on Ana Lucia’s accident, solemnly stating, “What good would it be to kill you, if we’re both already dead?”

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Editor’s Note: Brandon is the newest member of the Lost Blog writing team. Every week he will be covering some of the larger thematic elements that run throughout the show. His first article, as the title implies, is the theme of death in Season 1. Enjoy!

Dealing with death has been a consistently controversial theme throughout the course of the show. Early in season one, in the episode “Walkabout,” Jack, Kate, and Sayid argue about what to do with a number of corpses that died during the crash of the plane. Sayid believes they should be buried while Jack insists that burning the bodies is the safest option to avoid attracting predators. Jack laments, “Look, I know this seems harsh, but that fuselage in the sun… it’s not about what they deserve. They’re gone, and we’re not.” Sayid replies, “What you say may be true, but for us to decide how these people are laid to rest… it’s not right. No regard for their wishes? Their religions?” This is an interesting point that raises some moral questions, but Jack brushes this thought aside with, “We don’t have time to sort out everybody’s god.”

The dead are initially neglected in favor of the living, the sheer need to survive. However, at the end of the episode, the characters hold a memorial service for those strangers who none of the knew, but who touched all of their lives in some way through death. The survivors were comforted through the funeral-like ritual of remembrance. The sociologist Durkheim wrote on the theory of how death and ritual can create solidarity. Durkheim writes, “When someone dies, the family group to which he belongs feels itself lessened, and to react against this loss, it assembles. A common misfortune has the same effects as the approach of a happy event: Collective sentiments are renewed which then lead new men to seek one another and to assemble together.”

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