Lost’s original Jack Shepard design would have made it a very different show and probably not as good

The writer of Lost Originally planned to kill their main character, Jack Shepherd, in the pilot episode (and the show would have been much worse off if they had). when Lost was first in development, Michael Keaton was cast as Jack. In the original script, Jack had more or less the same role he had in the final product, but he would not survive the pilot. The idea was to shock audiences by killing the biggest star in the cast – the one they were led to believe would be the main character of the series – in the very first episode.

In the end, the writers decided against killing off Jack, because they were afraid that the audience would tune out if they became attached to a protagonist who didn’t even make it to the first episode. This led Keaton to leave the role, as he did not want to commit to an ongoing TV series (one that would last six years and 121 episodes). But despite costing the show its most famous cast member, it’s arguably the right call. Lost It wouldn’t have been the same without Jack leading the group – or Matthew Fox playing him.

It’s impossible to imagine Lost without Matthew Fox’s Jack

Jack became the heart of the show

yet Lost Ran for six iconic seasons with Fox taking center stage as Jack, it’s impossible to imagine the show without him. It’s like picturing The Walking Dead Without Andrew Lincoln Rick Grimes or Peaky Blinders Without Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby; They are the charismatic stars of the show, and the glue holding the sprawling ensemble together. Jack became the heart of Lost – He cared deeply for his young survivors and would do whatever it took to keep them safe, but he also struggled with his own inner demons..

Jack was the closest thing that Lost has to an everyman protagonist, but Fox brought enough depth and nuance to the character to keep him consistently compelling. In the hands of a lesser actor, Jack could have been Losts most boring character, however Fox always ensured there was more to Jack than straightforward heroism. After Fox led the charge for its entire run, it’s hard to picture why Lost Would have been the same without him – but it probably wouldn’t have been as great.

What would have been lost would have been if it had followed its original Jack plan

Kate would have been the leader in Jack’s place

If Lost Has followed through on his original plan and killed off Jack in the first episode, then The survivors would have needed a different leader to take charge. The burden would probably have fallen to Kate. She is arguably the second-most important character after Jack and the second best suited to lead the group. Season 1 Sawyer was too much of a lone wolf to galvanize everyone, Season 1 Hurley was well-meaning but pretty spoiled, and Season 1 Charlie was going through heroin withdrawals, so It would be up to Kate to become the leader in Jack’s absence.

But that would make Kate a much less interesting character. As soon as the rest of the survivors found out that Kate was a fugitive who was transported to a prison sentence on the flight, they were cautious about trusting her. Kate had to spend the entire first season earning the trust of her fellow survivors. But if Jack had been killed in the first episode and the plot required Kate to step up and lead the way, the writers probably would have taken a shortcut to build that trust and it would have made for a much less compelling storyline.

Killing Jack in episode 1 wouldn’t have added much to Lost

It would have added shock value, but would have hurt the show in the long run

Killing of Jack in the first episode of Lost Wouldn’t have added much to the series beyond the initial shock value. In retrospect, the writers’ original reasoning for wanting to kill Jack doesn’t hold much water. The idea was to show that anyone on the show could die, but it never did Losts biggest selling point anyway; shows how Game of Thrones, Breaking badAnd The Walking Dead Kept viewers on the hook with the promise that no character is safe, however Lost Has its main characters defying death at every turn, so the show can keep them around.

of course, Lost Killed off a lot of major characters along the way and got some of the most shocking moments from the character deaths, but it’s not such a signature part of the show that it needed to be put in the pilot. The mysteries of the island were a big part of the show’s appeal, however LostIts popularity is really down to its lovable characters. If it killed off characters left and right, it would be hard for the audience to make a lasting emotional connection with them.