Anyway, in less torture related news, I found this link to a March Madness style Lost character bracket yesterday where you can vote for you favorite characters to advance. I wish that I had seen this sooner so I could have picked from the very beginning instead of picking in up in the Sweet 16, but it's still worth it if you like the show. There are 64 characters, and they're broken down into four regions, just like the real NCAA tournament.
Do I agree with the groupings? No. Do I agree with the rankings? Also no. Still though I'm not upset with where its headed. I wish I had the chance to vote for Locke, but he had a tough second round matchup with Sayid, who is supercool. The only other thing that really bothered me was Jin's first round loss to Sun. Jin is arguably just as supercool as Sayid (and Desmond, who may make the Final Four!), and I've always liked him over Sun. I think if people had seen last night's episode before they had the chance to vote, then Jin would've been a major sleeper in his region. Here now are my Final Four picks based on the progress so far.
From the 815 Survivors Region: I think Sawyer holds on to beat Kate and then advances to the F4 with a close win over Sayid in what should be a hard fought regional championship game. Who am I kidding? I'd be happy either way as long as Jack doesn't win.
From the Freighties and Dead Survivors Region: Even though Faraday has had a nice run for the mid-major character that he is, Charlie will win that matchup but then lose to Mr. Eko who got hot at just the right time and is blowing everyone out (including Dr. Christian Shepard who was getting a lot of darkhorse buzz heading into the tourney).
From the Others Region: This has probably been the region that has gone the way of the chalk the most so far. Ben Linus came in as the number one seed overall after dominating the Dharma Initiative and his father in the classic "Purge Game," as well as his flawless manipulation of the 815 Survivors (Locke especially), plus his alleged faking of the Oceanic Flight 815 crash site, racking up 324 dead bodies along the way. Though on paper it looks like he might have a tight matchup with his mentor, Jacob, I think the student passes the teacher and Ben easily wins the region.
My only problem with this bracket was Mikhail's disappointing first round loss to Richard Alpert. Mikhail is the classic "spurtability" character because just when you think he's out of it, he literally comes back from the dead and goes on a nice run. Who could forget his regular season finale matchup with Charlie when he won on an explosive buzzer beater after having been left for dead just before halftime? I guess Richard's guyliner though beats Mikhail eyepatch.
From the Other Crucial Players Region: This bracket was made for Desmond. After his blowout (and near shutout) of his biggest rival, Charles Widmore, it's been smooth sailing (for once) for Desmond. For those who question how Desmond would respond after his blowout of the love of his life, Penny, in the second round, it didn't seem to slow him down as much as they thought because he has another commanding lead on the only other true contender from this bracket, Smokey. He faces yet another easy matchup in the regional finals when he will most likely face Rousseau, whose Pete Carril Princeton style survival strategy has to run out at sometime. Desmond won't let those backdoor plays go undefended, unless of course if he flashes back to 1997.
As for the rest of the way, I think Ben beats Desmond, and Sawyer holds off a surging, machete-weilding, stick-bashing, Mr. Eko to make it to the finals. In the finals I see Ben easily conning Sawyer once again (this time without bunnies) and getting his one shining moment. Or at least that's how I'm voting.
Speaking of Mr. Eko, please enjoy this clip of Dikembe Mutombo:
