Monday, July 9, 2012

"Losties" vs. "Others": Body Count

So, Brooke and I are doing another lost re-watch.  We started one which sputtered out last year, but this will be the first re-watch of the entire series, and the first time we have re-watched season 6 at all.

Several things have struck me during this re-watch, but what I want to post about here is the actual body count of "Others" vs. "Losties."

Lost is a great example of how point of view/perspective can shape our realities.  In Lost, we are, at least for the first 3 seasons, given the point of view of the "Losties."  From their perspective, the "Others" are a brutal and malicious group of practically wild savages, while the "Losties" themselves are a reasonable and logical group of people merely defending themselves.  Yet, one surprising statistic might be all that is needed to show how perspective can change everything.

<> At the end of season 3, the body count of the "Losties" is 18, to 3 for the "Others."  That is, the Losties have killed 18 of the "Others" while the "Others" have only killed 3 of the "Losties."  That statistic might sound surprising to those who have watched the show, but I have kept a fairly rigid count during this re-watch. I have not counted some kills such as "Losties" on "Losties," like Ana Lucia's killing Shannon, Michael's killing of Ana Lucia and Libby.  Nor have I counted "Others" on "Others" kills such as Juliette killing Danny or Mikael killing the two women in the Looking Glass station.  Beyond season 3, keeping a body count becomes pointless as the groups have essentially dissolved or been realigned. 

Some notable kills:

"Others":
1) Ethan kills Scott or Steve, can't remember which.
2) Goodwin kills Nathan
3) Mikael kills Charlie

That was all the "Others" kills in the first three seasons.  Sure, Ethan tried to kill Charlie, Danny would have shot Kate and Sawyer, but I am going with actual kills.

"Losties":
Charlie kills Ethan
Eko kills two "Others" on the beach in self defense
Ana Lucia kills an "Other" on the beach during a raid
Ana Lucia kills Goodwin
Sun kills Danny's wife on the boat
The grand killing spree comes in the finale of season three when 7 "Others" are killed on their beach raid trying to take the pregnant women and are blown up with dynamite.  3 more "Others," including Tom and Ryan, are killed subsequently as Hurley runs over Ryan, Sayeed snaps the neck of another, and Sawyer shoots Tom at point blank range.
The other 2 kills are of "Other" extras during various skirmishes, one as Kate, Jack, Sawyer and Hurly are on their way to the "Others'" camp, and one during Kate and Sawyer's escape attempt.

So, which group is more malicious, bloodthirsty, and brutal?

1 comment:

  1. The number surprised me.

    I still don't understand how the "others", who felt so scary at the beginning of the show became so "ordinary" at the end of it.

    Of course, the show left a lot of things to be explained.

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