LOST in the background

When watching LOST I always enjoy noticing what the other castaways are doing. You know..the ones in the background...who are toiling away......digging in the sand, chatting it up, nodding a lot when Jack is explaining stuff or just plain hanging about doing nothing. They don't mingle with the cool kids like Sayid, Kate and Sawyer, rather they keep their distance. They don't head off with "the gang" to find food, explore DHARMA stations or any of the useful survival sorts of things. No they basically loiter about waiting to either A. run from the smoke monster B. run from the Others or anyone else that is shooting at them C. nod their heads when Jack is explaining stuff. They are..the ambient castaways.

Now the ambient castaways don't have to be in the background forever. They can elevate themselves to the next level, which is convenient castaway. This can happen when one of the primary characters actually speaks to one of them, for what seems like, the very first time. "Find Kate...person I have never talked to until now." Or they may voice concerns at a tense moment, to which a primary character must respond.

Take last nights season premiere were we are introduced to Neil. He is pissed about the time shifting and is not gonna take it laying down...in the background, where no one can see or hear him. He is up front yelling at Bernard and trading barbs with Sawyer.

This could mean one of two things. Neil is being elevated to official secondary castaway ala Rose and Bernard or.....he will be dead momentarily. Unfortunately for Neil the ladder was true..as he shifted from convenient castaway to expendable. Neil-cabob anyone?

And this is the risk you take as an ambient castaway trying to make the leap to secondary castaway. It is not an easy move by any means, especially if you happen to be annoying. Like Arzt. Remember him? Mr Science Teacher...I'm sooo smart...careful with that dynamite blah blah blah BOOM...your dead.

Or perhaps Nikki and Paolo.

These two made a good effort, slinking their way from the background to the foreground almost overnight. They even went trekking through the jungle with some of the primary characters which is mostly unheard of for anyone below secondary level. A couple episodes later they are being buried alive by Sawyer and Hurley....ewwww nice try.

Now there are those times when the ambient castaway will find himself in the worst predicament of all. This is when they are elevated to conveniently expendable. A sure sign that this is about to happen, is whenever there is a lot of shooting. We may be led to believe that a primary character will be injured or killed, only to have a expendable castaway conveniently get in the way. This is an ambient castaway's worst nightmare.

Background characters, I enjoy watching you hanging about and I want you to be safe, so please heed my advice. Just stay back there. If you absolutely have to talk to a primary character keep it short, do not make eye contact and do not let them learn your name. When an attack comes be sure you are not running nearby any primary character, in fact hang back when the attack first starts as the primaries are always likely to be leading the way. Remember no one is aiming at you because your a nobody....keep it that way and you just might survive.