Carlton Cuse’s response was to the point: ”I don’t think there is anything more powerful in film than father-son relationships, maybe even in literature, too.” Now, I’m sure some of you might quibble, especially if you’re some brainy college student writing a dissertation deconstructing patriarchal ideologies and perspectives to smithereens. (You know who you are.) But keep in mind that in some ways, Lost comes from a very personal place for the producers. Damon Lindelof elaborated: ”Ironically, I had a fairly awesome (if not slightly complicated) relationship with my father. I suppose the fact that he died shortly before we began writing Lost had a great impact on where my head was at [at] the time, but he was an amazing guy who is pretty much responsible for my love of all things storytelling-related. He never even TRIED to steal my kidney. That being said, I think, mythically speaking, all great heroes have massive daddy issues. Hercules. Oedipus. Luke Skywalker. Indiana Jones. Spider-Man. It all comes with the territory. We dig flawed characters on Lost, and a large part of being flawed is the emotional damage inflicted on you by your folks.”

And then Lindelof added: ”For the record, Mommies don’t fare much better…we just haven’t focused on ‘em as much yet.”