Nobody Does It Alone: Whispers from the LOST Community

By Meg Donhauser, Heather Hersey and Cathy Stutzman

In 2004, ABC aired the premiere episode of LOST, a show that would go on to capture the imaginations of millions of fans for six seasons. Years after its final episode, LOST continues to occupy the hearts and minds of those fans who dubbed themselves "Losties." This is their story. Culled from over 200 hundred responses collected around the globe, Nobody Does It Alone: Whispers from the LOST Community tells the story of this phenomenon through the eyes of its most devoted followers. Fans discuss their favorite memories, share close encounters with the stars of the show, and reflect on how the themes and mysteries of LOST intersect with their own lives. Go back to the Island one more time and recapture the magic of one of television's most beloved stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brien Gorham
• Release date: Sep 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310668210

Book preview

Nobody Does It Alone:

Whispers from the LOST Community

Meg Donhauser, Brien Gorham, Heather Hersey, and Cathy Stutzman

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 Meg Donhauser, Brien Gorham, Heather Hersey, and Cathy Stutzman

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

Acknowledgements

The writers would like to thank the following people: J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof for creating the greatest television show ever made, and Carlton Cuse for carrying on the torch; the incredible LOST community, especially those who took the time to contribute to this project; our dear friend Marci Zane, who brainstormed, categorized, and provided feedback for us, and all the other Losties who experienced the show with us; Cocco’s Cafe in Flemington, New Jersey; our pets Ember, Kitty, Scout, and Jack; Samuel Cox for providing the soundtrack to all Stutz’s writing sessions; and everybody who put up with our incessant discussion of the show; our parents, Ruth and Russ Donhauser, Ursula and Peter Gorham, Dot Hersey, and Jan and Dave Stutzman.

A special thanks to those who introduced Cathy and Meg to the show: Dan Sullivan and Debbie and Randy Ruetsch.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Community

It's Not Just a Drama, Ya Know?

Lostpedia: How to Spot a Lostie

Relationships

Who the Hell Is Nikki?

Leadership

Confronting Evil and Overcoming the Other

Interview with a Lost Hater

Encountering the Other: Actors in the Real World

Purpose

Of Science and Of Faith

Death, Loss, and the Afterlife

Redemption

What Does the Island Mean to You?

References

Introduction

This project began as a love letter of sorts for the LOST community. At the time, the authors of this book were a group of educators from central New Jersey who would meet with a larger group of Losties each week to watch and discuss their favorite show. Over and over, we were all moved by the LOST community— their dedication to a show that had long since gone off the air; their support of the actors, writers, and other crew members; and their friendships with strangers that blossomed over their mutual love of LOST. We wanted to share the stories of the fans and how the show had impacted their lives. So we created a survey and set up a Facebook page (Facebook.com/nobodydoesitalone) in order to reach hundreds of fan from all over the world. Over the last three years, we authors have had big changes in our lives: cross-country moves, new homes, and career changes, but this project always remained close to our hearts. We want to thank every fan that contributed and supported us along the way. This is for all of you.

A note on this text: We began receiving contributions in March of 2012. Over 200 Losties from 27 countries chimed in. Though we could write an endless amount of commentary for the show, the content is based on the contributions we received from Losties, so we apologize to any characters that were left out! If a contributor was under 18 at the time of the survey, we erred on the side of caution and only used an initial for the last name if given. Safety first! Additionally, each author of this text is or once was an English teacher. As a result, grammatical and spelling errors were changed in the quotes. They are the only changes that were made. (Sorry— we just can’t help ourselves!)

Back to Table of Contents

Community

"Nobody does it alone, Jack."

~Christian Shephard, The End, 6.17

Through all its menagerie of themes and mysteries, LOST is— at its heart— a show about community, about the forces that unite us— divide us— and make us Family. Consider the opening and closing scenes of the show. We begin with a scene of chaos, scores of strangers struggling to survive on a foreign beach. We end in a church— a symbol of order— where those strangers who became family prepare for the next phase of their journey together. Through six seasons of twists and turns, communities formed, split, expanded, fought, and forgave. They worked past race, religion and language to form these bonds. Tailies, Others, the Oceanic Six: all had a role to play in reflecting the larger community of castaways.

Consider The Moth (1.07). Just two episodes after Jack’s famous Live together, die alone speech, and one episode after that first group of survivors splits into two (the Beachies and the Cavies, if you will), it’s the group’s outsiders, the ones who seem most useless— Shannon, Sawyer, and Charlie— who all contribute to save the day. Some might say that a community is only as strong as its weakest link. Perhaps LOST tries to teach us that a strong community is one that embraces and believes in its weak links and uses the power of that community to forge stronger links.

Jason G.'s on the "LOST" beach

The true beauty of LOST, however, is how its community building broke the fourth wall to unite the fans— to create a new family out of complete strangers and to strengthen bonds in already existing friendships. In reading through the many wonderful responses we received, a pattern emerged: people are not simply passive viewers of this show— they actively engage with the philosophies and mysteries the show presents. Some watched with friends and discussed the show afterwards, others may have watched alone, but their online discussions were no less inspiring or engaging. In fact, the myriad ways that fan communities formed during and even after the show’s run reflect the show’s many communities.

The Original Losties

"We’re the survivors of the crash of Oceanic flight 815!"

~Boone Carlyle, Deus Ex Machina, 1.19

Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, Jin, Michael, Walt, Shannon, Charlie, Claire, Boone, Locke...those original fourteen characters whose lives became so entwined with our own… Some were hated, others beloved...some won us over with time, while others cruelly betrayed our trust.

Jason G.'s Crash Site Picture

They were a cross section of our global culture and an amazing array of characters: a doctor, a debutante, a drug addict, a torturer, a con man, a thug, a single mother, a murderer—they were modern day pilgrims trapped on a deserted Canterbury. Of course we knew none of this in that first episode. All we saw were strangers in a perilous situation. The present day mystery of the Island was but a counterpoint to the real struggle each of these individuals faced in learning to overcome their past mistakes. As the history of each character unfolded, we began to see the threads— both coincidental and metaphysical— that drew their lives together. In the same way, fans from all over the world were starting to draw together in a new kind of community.

Those watching the show from the beginning recount the show’s hold over them:

I started watching LOST at the very beginning of its run— I wasn't as knowledgeable about the TV world as I am today and only tuned in because I was a huge Lord of the Rings fan who heard Dominic Monaghan was going to star in a new series. The pilot hooked me in almost immediately, but it was the fourth episode Walkabout that totally sold me. From there, I became obsessed with the series and fell in love with the characters, developing an intense love that carried me over all six seasons. (Andrea Towers, New York)

I started watching since the beginning! 2004 and for 6 years!!! I saw the advances and I thought it was a movie! Then when Episode 1 finished I said: I have to watch this. (Pamela, Argentina)

Hooked the first time I saw Jack's eye! (Lorilooski, Burlington, Iowa)

Steve VunCannon from Michigan says, I originally did not want to watch the show but I reluctantly watched it on the advice of my wife. Well, she had the remote that night. And well she did, for Steve would go on to be "a champion of LOST to my co-workers after the first season. It was the typical ‘You have to watch this show; it’s so weird’. Some, like Ruthie D. from Branchburg, New Jersey, maybe needed a little coaxing: I watched the first episode and thought it was just another dinosaur drama. My daughter told me to watch it again and then I got hooked. Chase B. from New Jersey has a similar story. After he discovered LOST through [his] Freshman English teacher, Chase recounted how, My girlfriend and I started watching the show together and we got many of our friends to do the same. They love it almost as much as we do. Though some people took a bit longer to bond with the show and its characters, many of us identified with the show from Day One, seeing ourselves in that initial gathering of strangers and sensing that their journey would be our journey in the coming years. Of course, one of the true beauties of LOST is that it’s never too late to come to the party.

The Tailies

WE'RE the survivors of flight 815!

~Bernard Nadler, The Other 48 Days, 2.07

Early in the second season, a second group of survivors from Flight 815 emerge, those affectionately known as The Tailies. Similarly, not every future LOST fanatic started watching on Day 1, as many joined in on the fun in later seasons. Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, Libby, Bernard: some would be embraced, others rejected…some taken from us too soon. Many out there may have heard talk of this LOST and wanted to check it out, and some would embrace the show, while others would reject it.

Perhaps many can relate to David O’Shea’s (Ireland) tale: "I started watching LOST (reluctantly) at the suggestion of my mother when it premiered in the UK after she had heard great things about it from American viewers. I was instantly hooked. I never thanked Ma for that actually… We should all thank people like David’s mother— those who loved the show from the start, who inspired others to watch the show in its later seasons and played a large role in creating the legacy of the show we celebrate today. For example, Ken McMeans from Oceanside, California bought all of the individual seasons on disc. Those became our loaners when my family bought the Complete LOST Collection after it was off the air. We have converted many non-believers into fans and the show is so much easier to follow when you have the discs and don't have to wait a week between shows."

Caitlin Shaffer’s (Maryland) story may also sound familiar: I discovered it when Season 3 was airing, and my mom had gotten Season 1 from the library and said it was really good, so I started watching the DVDs up until Season 4, and then I watched the rest live on TV. But her story doesn’t stop there. Once she was hooked, she inspired those around her: "I got every single one of my friends obsessed with LOST. It was all I ever talked about and I forced them to watch the pilot. After that they were hooked themselves. To get others hooked, all Nishit Kamdar from Mumbai, India had to do was show them the black smoke." On the other hand, Rob McDermott from Hawaii was inspired to watch by his sister, but it only took one episode to get him hooked:

I started watching LOST on 8 December 2004 when All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (Season 1, Episode 11) first aired. Moments before the episode began, my sister piqued my interest in the show. She told me about a polar bear living on a tropical island, a paraplegic man who miraculously gained his ability to walk, and of Ethan Rom, whose name is an anagram of Other Man. All of these mysteries excited me to watch my first episode of LOST. But the scene I remember most from that episode had nothing to do with the mysteries at all. It was the scene where Jack and Kate found Charlie hanging from a tree, unconscious, that I'll never forget. There was a sense of real sadness floating around the room where I was watching. It was a feeling I never experienced through television before. It was magical.

And what about Losties: The Next Generation? Darius T-G. from London "first discovered the amazing show LOST in 2010…sadly when it finished. I bought the box set and have seen all 6 seasons twice! Eileen from Kailua, another new convert, also brought the family with her: Just started watching LOST with my kids on Netflix Instant Queue. We live on Oahu and didn't watch it when it originally aired. Kids were too young, hubby wasn't interested. But now my three sons, ages 13, 13, and 9, are enthralled."

There is something particularly exciting about those who were too young during the original run discovering the show now and sharing it with their friends, like a torch passed down to the next generation. Joshua E. from Australia got his first taste of LOST when he was a child, only to rediscover the show later:

I remember watching the first episode with my older brother when it first aired, I think it was about when I was 6 or 7 years old. I remember Jack running through the jungle to get to the plane wreckage, I also remember a mysterious monster. I was really enjoying the show but eventually lost track of it. I am 15 now, but 2 years ago, I saw Lost on TV somewhere in season 3, I immediately remembered the show. Jack was not really shown at all through the episode and I remember thinking Isn't there some guy with black hair who is like the main guy? After watching the episode I went to JB-HI-FI and bought all seasons on DVD in the box set. Now I love Lost.

Lulu from Seattle also inherited this metaphorical torch from a sibling: "I watched LOST entirely after the airing of the last episode. My sister was a fanatic and had advised me to watch it. I saw that the entire series was available On Demand, and I'd heard such strong buzz about the show I decided to watch it. And that's how my journey began! Will Gibson from Wichita, Kansas had a similar situation but seems happy that he was part of the later-Lostie" generation:

I remember watching it when it began with my mom, but I was young and not into shows like that. Plus commercials and waiting a week, I wasn't into that. I watched every season this year! I downloaded every season on the internet and watched episode by episode. It took me about a week to watch them all. I watched like an entire season non-stop.

The Others

"We’re not the only people on this Island and we all know it!"

~John Locke, ...In Translation, 1.17

And that’s how communities work in LOST. They aren’t static. They don’t stand still. They evolve and transform. Strangers are invited in. Characters like Juliet are encouraged to become part of the journey— even if they weren’t there from the very beginning. Perhaps these are the Others, the ones who exist outside our sphere. We question whether we should invite them in—will they be hostile to this thing I love, or will they embrace it as I have? Many who embraced LOST took that risk (and are still taking that risk!) to bring new members into the fold.

There’s Peter from The Island, who brought in new recruits with Jacob-like deftness: "Simply, by touching them on a shoulder, a hand or somewhere so that it's not obvious, they make their choice to come over to LOST. Some, like Adam from Portland, OR resorted to Ben Linus-like coercion: Yes! My twin brother and his wife. They were LOST poo-poo'ers for some time, but I told them, get through Episode 4 and if you aren't hooked, I'll give you $10 for each episode." More devious was the strategy of Rob Zyckowski, Jr. from Saint Paul Minnesota, whose tactics even Sayid would have found distasteful:

After I received Season 1 on DVD in the mail, I had to watch it right away. I popped the 1st disc in that 1st night and ended up watching like 5 ep's till like 2am. Let's just say I spent the next few nights staying up late into the night finishing up Season 1. I can still remember it was 2am and I was ready to go to bed and wait until the next night to continue, but then Claire came stumbling out of the Jungle.... I was up until 4am that night. My wife was pissed. Later that week, after I had finished Season 1, I came home from work and there was my wife watching LOST. She was 6 hours in and hooked!

Well played, Rob… Well played indeed...

Remember David