Perrienau Not Happy With Character Arc on “Lost”

Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Assistant Editor)

**SPOILER ALERT** for those who have yet to see the “Lost” Season Finale:

“Lost” wrapped up its fourth season last week with a two-hour finale that contained a few answers, and as usual, even more questions. It also highlighted the on-screen death of at least three major characters. While many fans of the show were happy with how the final installment of the fourth season played out, one of the actors from the show has expressed his discontent with his character arc from this season.

Actor Harold Perrineau, who plays Michael on “Lost,” told TV Guide On-Line that he wasn’t happy with the resolution to Michael’s storyline on the show. If fans remember back far enough, Perrineau also complained about how his character was treated in the first two seasons of the show.

“It’s like, what the hell? I came back for that?” he said.

Perrineau’s character, Michael, was one of the orignal survivors of the Oceanic 815 with his son Walt. In season two, Michael made a deal with the leader of the Others, Ben, to leave the island with his son. This season, Michael returned to the show on a ship at sea that was supposed to rescue the castaways. It was revealed that Michael was working for Ben and that despite multiple attempts to end his own life, the island wouldn’t allow him to die. At least until the season finale.

In the final moments of season four, Michael sacrificed himself, trying to defuse a C-4 bomb on the boat supposedly sent to rescue the castways.

Perrineau stated he wasn’t happy with Michael’s role on the show this year nor the demise of his character.

“I’m disappointed, mostly because I wanted Michael and Walt to have a happy ending. I was hoping Michael would get it together and actually want to be a father to his kid and try to figure out a way to get back [home]. But this is [the producers’] story. If I were writing it, I would write it differently,” said Perrienau.

Evidently Harold forgot he was on the set of “Lost,” the home of thrilling but unhappy endings.

“Listen, if I’m being really candid, there are all these questions about how they respond to black people on the show. Sayid gets to meet Nadia again, and Desmond and Penny hook up again, but a little black boy and his father hooking up, that wasn’t interesting? Instead, Walt just winds up being another fatherless child. It plays into a really big, weird stereotype and, being a black person myself, that wasn’t so interesting.”

Again, sounds like more sour grapes. Did he forget that Jin Kwon went down with the ship with Michael? He too left behind a wife who will now have to deliver and raise their child on her own. Oh, and there have been a ton of white people and other people of color knocked-off on the show over the last four seasons. Two by Michael’s own hand.

Perrinau said he felt like producers wasted the potential storylines for Michael and they were also responding too much to fan feedback about his character. In season two, Michael shot and killed two characters as part of his deal with Ben to leave the island.

“I thought it was disappointing and a waste to come back, only to get beat up a few times and then killed,” he said. “I felt like it was sort of pandering to some fans who wanted to see Michael punished because he betrayed people.”

“I honestly feel like Michael’s death served a really weird bloodlust for the fans,” he added.”

Executive producer Carleton Cuse responded to the criticism, saying, “We pride ourselves on having a very racially diverse cast. It’s painful when any actor’s storyline ends on the show. Harold is a fantastic actor whose presence added enormously to Lost.”

Perrineau may be unhappy with how he has been treated on “Lost” but he isn’t disgusted enough to turn down another job offer from ABC. He is set to star in the one-hour pilot “The Unusuals,” a comedy-drama set at a New York police precinct. He will also be seen on the big screen in Sony Pictures’ prison drama titled “Felon.”

The fourth season of “Lost” will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray in December. The fifth season debuts on ABC in 2009.