Five Characters In Search Of An Exit

Summer Of Lost Update 05/20/2009

Tonight we enter an unknown realm as small as an island and as infinite as the universe as we blend the saga of the castaways of Lost and the classic science fiction series The Twilight Zone.

The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. The same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight's offering is titled: Five Characters In Search Of An Exit.

Originally aired 12/22/1961 (Season 3) (Episode 79)

Prologue:
Clown. Hobo. Ballet Dancer. Bagpiper. And an Army Major. A collection of question marks. Five improbable entities stuck together into a pit of darkness. No logic, no reason, no explanation. Just a prolonged nightmare in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows. In a moment, we'll start collecting clues as to the whys, the whats, and the wheres. We will not end the nightmare, we'll only explain it, because this is the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:
The Major awakens. He does not know exactly who he is or how he got to this place. And what kind of place it is? He is in the bottom of a featureless steel cylinder whose open end is many, many feet above. It’s a strange kind of prison.

But the Major is not alone. He first encounters a Clown… a sardonic, sarcastic joker who also has no idea what his real name is. Also present in the Cylinder are the Hobo, the Ballerina, and the Bagpipe Player. They have all been here for a long time but no one knows how long. There are many theories as to the why and where they are, but none are for sure. The ballet dancer thinks they all might be on a spaceship hurtling through space. The Major chimes in that perhaps they are all in hell.

And then there is the ear-shattering peal of a ringing bell that sounds at odd intervals. The Major is determined to escape the cylinder and learn the secret of where they are. The others have long ago given up hope but the Major’s fierce spirit energizes them. They concoct a plan where they will stand atop each other’s shoulders and use a rope made of fabric to throw a grappling hook over the edge of the cylinder.

After several heart-breaking failures, the Major maneuvers himself to the edge of the cylinder. He sees something! Something he cannot believe! He prepares to tell his fellow prisoners, but the giant roaring of the bells come again… and he loses his balance and falls outside the cylinder into the snow below. Here comes the Twilight Zone twist: They characters are dolls left in a Christmas charity drive donation barrel. A child picks up the major and puts him back into the barrel seeing that the doll has fallen out.

Epilogue:
Just a barrel, a dark depository where are kept the counterfeit, make-believe pieces of plaster and cloth, wrought in the distorted image of human life. But this added, hopeful note: perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children there can be nothing but love. A clown, a tramp, a bagpipe player, a ballet dancer and a major. Tonight's cast of players on the odd stage known as the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:
Can you spot the similarities between Lost and the Twilight Zone?
The five characters represent the Lost castaways. A diverse bunch of people indeed. First and foremost, the TZ characters inquire where they are, and how they got there? Same goes for Lost. Some even say on screen, "Where the hell are we?" But let's get to the characters.

The Major, the focal point of the episode, is of course the alter ego of Jack Sheppard. Jack, the skilled surgeon, woke up on the island much like the army Major. Jack took charge of the castaways much like the army Major did. Jack energizes the castaways and sets them on to the task at hand, to secure survival.

Jack also got off the island just as the army Major got out of the cylinder only to find the twist of fate that set them right back where they started. Jack returned to the island winding up just as he arrived previously, opening his eyes on the island flat on his back. The army Major was tossed back into the cylinder by the little girl just as he arrived in the beginning.

The Clown:
Doesn’t the clown remind you of Sawyer? The wisecracking name calling know it all. A man hiding behind his feelings. And those funny glasses he wears to read. The clown as well as Sawyer seem to be skeptical of the plans and hierarchy of this small dynamic group of characters. Both the clown and Sawyer have to be pushed to assist. Both clown and Sawyer are not friendly people, and seem to have an agenda on their own.

The Hobo:
The hobo can only be Hugo Reyes. Hurley is dressed in semi ragged clothes, his hair is unkept, and his beard is unshaven. Hurley just wanted to escape it all. You can always find Hugo foraging for food and tinkering with beat up hunk a junk vans.

The Ballerina:
Shannon is the obvious choice here, (She was a ballet instructor) although Kate and Claire could certainly be inserted here as well. Shannon was the delicate pretty woman on the island. She really had no value other than a pretty face. However, she was useful when she was needed to translate the French distress call from the radio tower. The ballerina was also just a pretty face until they needed fabric from her outfit to make the rope needed to escape.

The Bagpiper:
Charlie Pace is a perfect fit. Charlie was a rock star who played guitar. Charlie, like the bagpiper, blended into the background scenery and was content to play second or third fiddle. (Pun intended) However, with Charlie, their goal could not have been achieved, and possibly like Lost when Charlie gave up his life to save the others, the outcome was the same.

The Bell:
On Lost, when Desmond turned the fail safe key, a mighty sound came from the heavens. It signaled the island shifting into a new time line. The bell, the mighty sound from the heavens on TZ, signaled another new arrival into the barrel.

The Barrel:
On TZ, the barrel, the round cylinder, was the universe of the dolls. They had no escape, no hope of rescue. For the Lost castaways, the island was their universe. They had no hope for rescue and were stranded on the island.

Until next week, Get Lost...

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