Character connections

This article is about how characters are connected. For the special feature on Disc 7 of the Season 2 DVD see: Lost Connections

Character connections refers to the "degrees of separation" between the characters in Lost. This concept describes the shortness of social distance between any two people on Earth, based on their acquaintances. The average is 6, and this has inspired many theories about human interaction, including a popular culture game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon". Some, if not all, of the characters have one or two degrees of separation between them. These connections turned out to be no mere coincidence: a man had been watching the characters their whole lives and had purposely drawn them to the Island.

"Have you ever sat next to someone at a bar and felt that your paths have crossed before? Has the thought ever crossed your mind that the stranger behind you at the store would become a significant part of your life?...seemingly random people. Do you know any of them? Do any of them know you? Do any of them know someone you know? Odds are that the answer to anyone of these questions is yes... Throughout the world, connections are constantly being made. Which begs the question; are chance encounters a matter of coincidence, or a matter of fate? " - Carlton Cuse, Lost Connections

Occurrences

Characters Connections prior to Australian Airport.

Characters Connections through Season Two.

The following connections between characters happened in locations other than the hotel, airport, or airplane during or immediately before the flight. This list is sorted according to when the connection was first noted (by the second episode, in which the 'cross' is recognized).

Season 1

• Sawyer passed Boone in the Australian police station. ("Hearts and Minds")
• Sawyer met Jack's father, Christian Shephard, in an Australian bar. ("Outlaws")

Sawyer is manhandled past Boone in a police station. ("Hearts and Minds")

• The daughter of the man Jin was supposed to assassinate was seen watching a news piece on TV about Hurley winning the lottery. ("...In Translation")
• Mary Jo went with Sawyer to his hotel room; she was also the Lotto Girl who pulls Hurley's winning numbers. ("Outlaws")  ("Numbers")
• Ken Halperin, Hurley's financial adviser, mentioned he now owns a box company in Tustin, presumably the one Locke worked for, since when Hurley was checking the flight manifest, Locke said he resided in Tustin. ("Walkabout")  ("Raised by Another")  ("Numbers")

Season 2

Jack meets Desmond for the first time. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")

• When Sarah was in the car accident, she hit Adam Rutherford, Shannon's father/Boone's stepfather; Jack opted to save Sarah, resulting in Adam Rutherford's death. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")  ("Abandoned")
• Jack met Desmond while running up and down the steps in a stadium sometime in 2001. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
• Hurley's manager Randy at Mr. Cluck's was also Locke's manager at the box factory in Tustin (where Locke lives), which Hurley owns. ("Walkabout")  ("Numbers")  ("Everybody Hates Hugo")

Sayid is seen on TV at Sam Austen's work as Kate enters. ("What Kate Did")

• Hurley commented on a Drive Shaft CD in a music store. ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
• Sayid was on a television while Kate was in Sam Austen's office. ("What Kate Did")
• The Beechcraft that Locke and Boone found was the Nigerian drug plane that contained Eko's brother Yemi. Charlie and Eko find Goldie not far from there, the man Eko worked with who pushed him off the plane, took Yemi with him, and therefore saved Eko's life. ("Deus Ex Machina")  ("The 23rd Psalm")

Sun's pregnancy test. ("The Whole Truth")

• The pregnancy test that Sun takes is made by Widmore Labs. ("The Whole Truth")
• Sawyer met Gordy at a diner where Kate's mom, Diane, was a waitress. ("What Kate Did")  ("The Long Con")
• Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack and Widmore Labs were sponsors for Henry Gale's balloon. ("Everybody Hates Hugo")  ("Fire + Water")  ("Lockdown")
• Sayid encountered Army Sergeant Sam Austen, Kate's father, who was carrying a younger picture of Kate. ("What Kate Did")  ("One of Them")
• Locke inspected a house that Sayid's unrequited love, Nadia, was planning to buy. ("Solitary")  ("Lockdown")

Ana and Christian meet. ("Two for the Road")

• Hurley, Locke's mother (Emily Annabeth Locke), and Libby all went to Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. ("Numbers")  ("Deus Ex Machina")  ("Dave")
• Ana Lucia traveled to Australia with Jack's father, Christian Shephard. ("Two for the Road")
• Christian Shephard hit Sawyer with the door of the car when he opened it in front of the bar where they later share drinks. ("Two for the Road")
• Richard Malkin was the psychic who Claire visited several times and forced her to take Flight 815. Later Eko went to visit Malkin's daughter Charlotte and was told by Malkin that his daughter's resurrection was a fraud, as are his psychic powers. ("Raised by Another")  ("?")
• Libby met Desmond in a cafe and gave a race boat to him. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
• Kelvin Inman interacted with both Sayid and Sam Austen during the Gulf War. He later trained Desmond in the operation of the Swan station. ("One of Them")  ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")

Season 3

• Sawyer referred to the Tampa Job in his conversation with Hibbs, saying "what could possibly make us even for the Tampa Job?" Kevin Callis, Kate's former husband, mentioned completing Police IRs on "that fugitive recovery in Tampa," which may refer to the Tampa Job and Sawyer. ("Outlaws")  ("I Do")
• Rachel Carlson, Juliet's sister, used a Widmore Labs pregnancy test, the same brand used by Kate and Sun. ("Not in Portland")
• Desmond recognized Charlie performing on the street in London. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")

Christian is revealed as Claire's father. ("Par Avion")

• Desmond attempted to purchase an engagement ring for Penny Widmore from Eloise Hawking, who refused to sell it to him because he was meant to end up on the island. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
• Christian Shephard was both Claire and Jack's father. ("Par Avion")
• Locke, his father, and Sawyer end up on the same island. ("The Man from Tallahassee")
• Locke and Hurley watched Exposé, which Nikki guest starred in. ("The Man from Tallahassee")  ("Exposé")
• Kate saved Sawyer's former lover, Cassidy, from being caught practicing the jewelry con Sawyer had taught her; Cassidy, in turn, helped Kate visit her mother, Diane Janssen, at the diner. ("Left Behind")

Nadia is saved by Charlie in London. ("Greatest Hits")

• Locke's father is the original con man that conned Sawyer's parents. ("The Brig")
• Emily gave birth to Ben just outside of Portland, which is also the supposed location of Mittelos Bioscience, the company Richard hired Juliet to work for. ("Not in Portland")  ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
• Charlie stops a mugger from attacking Nadia, Sayid's old love. ("Greatest Hits")

Season 4

• After escaping the island, Hurley is chased by the police on the streets of Los Angeles; this is recorded by Randy Nations, Hurley's former manager/employee at Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack and John Locke's supervisor at the Box company. ("The Beginning of the End")

Abaddon wheels Locke. ("Cabin Fever")

• Hurley is taken into custody and questioned by Mike Walton, Ana Lucia's former policing partner. Mike, in fact, questions Hurley whether he had met Ana at the airport or aboard the plane but Hurley lies and denies having ever met her. ("The Beginning of the End")
• Hurley is visited by a man named Matthew Abaddon after the crash, who is later revealed to have recruited Naomi, Miles, Charlotte, Daniel and Frank sometime before they came to the island. Abaddon is also the one who talked Locke into trying to go on the walkabout. ("The Beginning of the End") ("Confirmed Dead") ("Cabin Fever")
• When Desmond is time shifting he goes to see Daniel at Oxford University in 1996 after Daniel told him to find him there. ("The Constant")
• Sun appears to be watching an episode of Exposé, with Nikki, dubbed over in Korean. ("Ji Yeon")
• Richard Alpert was at the hospital where Locke was born and saw him when he was 5. ("Cabin Fever")

Season 5

• Ms. Hawking, the woman who tells Desmond that the universe has a way of course-correcting itself ("Flashes Before Your Eyes"), warns Ben that he only has 70 hours to get the Oceanic Six back to the Island, or "God help us all." ("The Lie")
  • Ms. Hawking is also Daniel Faraday's mother.
• Hurley's father starts to watch Exposé before Hurley comes in with an unconscious Sayid. ("The Lie")

Jacob distracts Sayid while Nadia is hit by a speeding car. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2")

• Dan Norton is the lawyer for both Ben and Carole Littleton. ("The Little Prince")
• While struggling to maintain her grasp on a single time/space during the time shifts, Charlotte Lewis announces that she loves Geronimo Jackson. She also tells Daniel Faraday that she met him on the Island when she was a child. ("This Place Is Death")
  • She says that Faraday told her to leave the island and never come back. This event is later seen from Daniel's perspective in "The Variable".
• Jacob approaches many of the characters off island, though they do not know of their connection. Kate as a child in the store, James as a child at his parents' funeral, Jin and Sun at their wedding, Locke when he is pushed from the window, Jack at the hospital, Sayid at the moment when Nadia was killed by a hit-and-run driver, and Hurley as he leaves prison. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2")

Season 6

Hugo gives Locke a number for employment. ("The Substitute")

• Rose is a manager at the temp agency where Locke was sent by Hurley. ("The Substitute")
• At St. Sebastian Hospital, Dr. Shephard passes by Sayid and Nadia. ("Sundown")
• Detective Ford passes by Liam Pace at the police station. Liam was the brother of a person who was arrested aboard Oceanic flight 815, which James was also on. ("Recon")
• Sayid finds Jin tied up in a refrigerator at Keamy's restaurant. ("The Package")

Hugo and Desmond discuss his confusing dinner. ("Everybody Loves Hugo")

• Pierre Chang is the MC for a benefit dinner honoring Hurley. ("Everybody Loves Hugo")
• Desmond sits down with Hurley briefly while he waits for his order at a Mr. Cluck's restaurant. ("Everybody Loves Hugo")
• Sayid is seen on a video surveillance tape by James at the police station. ("The Last Recruit")
• Jack preps for surgery and realizes that Locke, whom he met at the airport after flight 815, is on the table. ("The Last Recruit")
• Jack goes to visit Locke's dentist, which turns out to be another passenger of flight 815. ("The Candidate")

Direct connections

• Boone Carlyle and Shannon Rutherford are step-siblings.
• Jin-Soo Kwon and Sun-Hwa Kwon are married.
• Rose Nadler and Bernard Nadler are married.
• Michael Dawson is Walt Lloyd's father.
• Claire Littleton is Aaron Littleton's mother.
• Jack Shephard and Claire Littleton are half-siblings.
• Jack Shephard is Aaron Littleton's half-uncle.
• Danielle Rousseau is Alex Rousseau's mother
• Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are lovers.
• Amy and Horace Goodspeed are Ethan Rom's parents.
• Pierre Chang is Miles Straume's father.
• Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore are Daniel Faraday's parents.
• Penelope Widmore-Hume is Daniel Faraday's half-sister.
• Desmond Hume is Daniel Faraday's brother in-law.

Encounters or joint sightings at the hotel, airport or airplane

The following connections happened immediately before, or during the flight, and do not count as a notable connection.

Season 1

• Jack sat next to Rose on the plane. ("Pilot, Part 1")
• Charlie ran past Jack, Rose, Boone and Shannon on the plane. ("Pilot, Part 2")
• Jin waited in line behind Jack. ("White Rabbit") ("House of the Rising Sun")
• Jack met Ana Lucia in the airport lounge before they boarded the plane. ("Exodus, Part 1")
• At the airport, Sayid asked Shannon to watch his bags for a moment. ("Exodus, Part 1")
• The fight Michael and Walt have at a hotel the night before the flight wakes up Steve. ("Exodus, Part 1")
• When Hurley was running late to catch his flight, he tried to enter a crowded elevator occupied by Charlie. ("Exodus, Part 2")
• At the airport, Locke passed near Michael who was on the phone with his mom. ("Exodus, Part 2")
• At the airport, while Jin was walking to the bathroom, he walked in front of Sayid. ("Exodus, Part 2")
• Hurley attempted to jump ahead of Arzt at customs. ("Exodus, Part 2")
• On the plane, Arzt helped Claire put her luggage in the overhead compartment. ("Exodus, Part 2")
• Hurley gave Walt thumbs up as he walked past him on the plane. ("Exodus, Part 2")

Season 2

• Rose accidentally dropped her pills at the airport and Locke, still in his wheelchair, picked them up for her. ("S.O.S.")
• Ana Lucia was in line behind Jack and Jin when Jack was pleading with the airline employee about his father's coffin. ("Two for the Road")
• At the airport, Libby interrupted a conversation Eko was having with Charlotte Malkin. ("?")

Boone and Shannon approach Nikki and Paulo. ("Exposé")

Season 3

• Nikki and Paulo bumped into Shannon and Boone in the waiting room. ("Exposé")

Season 6 (flash sideways)

• Kate tries to jump in front of Frogurt at the cab line. ("LA X, Part 1")
• Hurley points Desmond towards their flight's luggage carousel. ("Happily Ever After")
• Desmond helps Claire with her bags after the flight. ("Happily Ever After")

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

The game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" is based on the idea that every working actor can be connected to Kevin Bacon within six degrees of separation. Although unrelated to the character connections, it's interesting to note that every one of the cast members of Lost can be connected to Kevin Bacon by either 2 or 3 degrees, although none of them have worked with him directly, as yet.

Trivia

• On the April 20, 2007 podcast, show-runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse clarified and implied that there's no character connection through Charles Widmore's Office that hangs a painting ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") by Claire's ex-boyfriend Thomas ("Raised by Another"). They explained Jack Bender, the producing director in Hawaii, likes to add his own paintings to the show.

See also

• Coincidence
• Crossover (disambiguation)
• Family Trees
• Lost Connections
• Regularly spoken phrases

External links

• Interactive graphic with connections and biographies at the end of 5th season
• .pdf file of Lost Connections Flow Chart at larger size
• ABC.com's Lost Connections