Themes
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Luck
Good luck and bad luck are major themes of the show. They both tie in quite nicely with the Fate / Destiny theme as well.
In "House of the Rising Sun," Jack returns to tell others about where he found water. When Kate asks him how he found it, he replies, "Luck" (doesn't go into detail about seeing his father). Also, the interior designer calls Sun a "Lucky wife" in her flashback of this episode.
In "The Moth," Sayid asks Kate why they are alive with only minor scrapes, if they were in a plane crash. Kate: "Blind, dumb luck?" Sayid: "No one's that lucky. We shouldn't have survived." Charlie goes after Jack in the cave-in in this episode, and asks "Anything else?" Michael and Hurley make a point of wishing him good luck.
In "All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues," Walt keeps winning at backgammon and rolling double 6's, which Hurley can't believe. Walt says he is lucky, but Hurley says "No one is that lucky." Walt replies, "My dad [Brian] said I was the luckiest person he ever knew."
In "Hearts and Minds," in a flashback, Boone can't believe Nicole ran down the last ball and hit it to win. "Lucky shot," she says; "Yeah, I wish it was luck," he replies.
"The Numbers" is almost entirely about luck, good and bad. Hurley wins 156 million dollars in a lottery, but feels he is being chased by misfortune since. After his grandfather Tito dies of a heart attack, Hurley tells his mother, "You know, ever since I won the lottery it seems like we've had nothing but bad luck. Like, I don't know, like the money's cursed or something." His mother then breaks her ankle, he finds the new home he's bought her is burning to the ground, and police mistakingly arrest him as a drug dealer. Later, his financial advisor tells him a series of business ironies, where other people's misfortunes indirectly lead to him making a profit. Hurley later goes to Australia to visit Martha Toomey, widow of Sam, who originally heard the numbers with Leonard (and believed he was cursed from them as well, so much so that the commited suicide). She tells him, "You make your own luck, Mr. Reyes. Don't blame it on the damn numbers. You're looking for an excuse that doesn't exist." Later in the episode, Locke tries to comfort Claire by saying that her baby has a birthday that's close to hers, "that's good luck." When she asks him if he believes in luck, he says "I believe in a lot of things."
In "The Greater Good," when Sayid asks Locke how he found the plane, Locke replies, "Luck." (instead of going into detail about his prophetic dream)
In "Exodus," many different characters repeatedly wish each other good luck before their departures on the raft or the expedition to The Black Rock. Also, Jack, Kate and Locke agree to draw straws to determine who will carry the dynamite, allowing luck to pick who will risk their lives. When Jack "loses out," Kate says sorry, and Jack replies, "Luck of the draw," though secretly, he has put the dynamite in his own pack, against the results of the straw drawing. Also, in an airport flashback, Hurley runs up to airline gate just as it is closing, and the attendant who calls in to allow him on board says "This is your lucky day."
In "Orientation," the orientation film ends with Dr. Candle saying "Namaste. And good luck." When Ana-Lucia asks Sawyer where he got his gun, he replies that there was a federal marshal on board, and "Yeah, I'm lucky."
In "Abandoned," Locke is winning at backgammon against Charlie with double-6's, and Locke grins, "Lucky."
In "One of Them," Inman leaves Sayid in Iraq after he learns how to torture and interrogate. He says, "Guess you're lucky you have a new skill set you can use."
Item Last Updated: April 22, 2006, 02:22:57 AM by Pandora
