Could Lost have worked as a straight forward survival show?
To be clear, I’m not asking if it would have been a better show, we know it wouldn’t have been so that’s not the question.
However, if the show had gone down the original vision, Survivor as a drama series, with the same talented show runners and writing team, actors and characters, in depth back stories and arcs, same storylines but with a psychological explanation rather than supernatural, would the Lost fandom have got behind it and could it have been as successful?
- Main focus is on the character relationships and conflicts, particularly on power play for leadership
- Same conflict with the Others, an insane religious cult based on the island
- The survivors are hunted by a dangerous predator rather than the Smoke Monster and are attacked by wild vicious animals living on the island instead of polar bears
- More emphasis on food sourcing and hunting and danger of starvation/malnutrition
- Locke’s disability is psychosomatic and his belief he has been cured leads to a sinister obsession that he and the island are special/chosen which puts everyone else in danger
- The hatch is an insane psychological experiment which Desmond is the unfortunate victim of
- The pressure of trying to survive affects the characters already damaged psyche so some characters begin to imagine things that aren’t there and have delusions of persecution and identity.
- The influence of Dharma still haunts the island through the infrastructure and lore.
Obviously there’s no straightforward transition for events from S4 onwards and storylines would have had to change but could they have made it work initially?
TLDR If JJ, Damon and Carlton had gone with the original network idea of making Lord of the Flies rather than Lord of the Rings, would it have been a success and adopted by current fandom?