Everbody loves Ben

We’ve been running a poll with the question “Who is your favorite Other?” since December 15. With over 920 votes I think we’re starting to get a pretty clear picture of which ones of the mysterious “Others” we Lost fans like the most.

The Favorites - Ben and Juliet

The race was very close between Ben and Juliet for a long time with Ben always staying 2-5 votes ahead of Juliet. But in the last few days things changed a bit and Michael Emerson’s creepy character became the clear winner with 324 votes (35%) while Elizabeth Mitchell’s “Juliet” ended up with twenty votes less at 306 (33%).

Something tells me that the popularity of Ben and Juliet isn’t due to people wanting to be friends with them or have them over for dinner. What intrigues me personally about them, besides the fact that they are extremely well played, is that both characters are manipulative, evil and at the same time very charming.

While Ben entered the world of Lost as the captured “Henry Gale” and quickly became a fan favorite, Juliet was introduced just six episodes ago but has already managed to gain almost the same popularity as Ben through her manipulative mind games with Dr.Jack. I voted for Juliet, but to be honest I can’t decide between the two.

The other Others

While I expected Ben and Juliet to be popular, I was a bit surprised to find out that 21% of the voters favor Alex Rousseau. The explanation is probably that she appears to be a good person among the evil “Others”. After all, she did save Claire from captivity and tried to help Kate and Sawyer escape, so if we’re looking at it from the perspective of Kate, Sawyer and the other losties, Alex Rousseau would obviously be their favorite among The Others.

Tom, also known as Mr.Friendly or Zeke has been with us all the way from the season one finale where he kidnapped Walt. He also captured Kate and threatened Jack, but has started to show a friendlier side in recent episodes. In the poll M.C. Gainey’s character ended up with 7% of the votes.

Danny Pickett is probably one of the most hated characters on Lost right now. As a result, he only got 19 votes in the poll. Sure, his wife Colleen was killed by Sun, but beating up Sawyer and almost shooting him won’t exactly put you in a good position with the Lost fans. That doesn’t mean that he is a bad character. The antagonistic Picket is quite well played by Michael Bowen, we just like to dislike him!

Also ending up with 19 votes was Ms.Klugh, the lady who was nice enough to hold Walt captive and tell Michael to bring them Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. The fact is that we have seen so little of Ms.Klugh that it’s hard to know what we should think about her.

Ethan and Goodwin

As I’m writing this, it occurs to me that I never thought about including the dead Others Ethan and Goodwin in the poll. Both were very intriguing and well played characters, and Ethan in particular has been a major force of drama on the Lost island, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they ranked high among the favorite Others. However, they are dead so that poll will be posted during the zombie season.

Conclusion

While it didn’t come as a surprise, It was interesting to see that Ben and in particular Juliet, who was introduced fairly recently, are so popular among the fans.

The others have become, and in the mind of the writers probably have always been, a large and important element of Lost. They are the antagonists that make life difficult for our beloved survivors. At first glance they seem evil, but at the same time there is an incredible depth to them. Why are they on the island? Who are they? Are they really “the good guys” like Ben says or have we only seen a preview of what they are really capable of?

The second half of Lost season 3 promises more answers, and with under two weeks left, I can hardly wait.