Shannon Rutherford

The actress: Maggie Grace

Flashback Episodes: "Abandoned"

Appears in Boone's flashback in "Hearts and Minds". Appears in Paulo's and Nikki's flashback in "Expose".


Biography: Shannon Rutherford was a middle section survivor of OCeanic Flight 815, and was Boone's step-sister, who she frequently argued with. She was very selfish at times, though she eventually formed a romantic relationship with Sayid. Shannon was on the island for 48 days before she was unintentionally shot and killed by Ana-Lucia.

Hails from: Los Angeles, CA



Who she was before: Stepbrother-baiting spoiled brat; ballet instructor in Los Angeles, nanny to two small children in France, including LaRon (who was obsessed with Finding Nemo).


Who she was on the island: After the crash, Shannon was pretty rattled and soon got over it by preparing herself for rescue. She sunbathed, and even gave herself a pedicure. Her Step-Brother Boone even offered her a candy bar as a kind gesture in which she flat out rejected it believing they'd be rescued soon.

After being criticized by Boone for being worthless, she volunteered herself to go along with Sayid's trek into the jungle. Her coming along proved very useful indeed for she was the only one who could understand the french distress message they intercepted on the cockpit radio.

Once again, Shannon was being deemed useless by Boone this time about fending on her own. So the two made a deal and by the end of the day Shannon needed to catch a fish. Using her looks she charmed Charlie into catching one for her, while afterwards she failed to thank him for.

Boone later dropped an important yet simple task on Shannon when Sayid was triangulating the distress signal. Although she was distracted, she did manage to shoot off the bottle rocket.

Shannon soon began to fall victim to asthma attacks and as they got worse. Boone suspected that Sawyer, the resident pack rat, had stolen them. After much torture, Sawyer revealed he never had them. However, Sun knew an herbal remedy which stopped the asthma and probably saved her life.

When Sayid returned to the beach after he discovered Rousseau, he sought after Shannon to translate the maps she had written on. She agreed, but after a while, she became angry and took it out on Sayid. When Sayid had given up on her, she proved him wrong and finally translated the maps. She told him they were lyrics from a french song "La Mer," she then began to sing the song to him. Boone watched her do so in the distance.

Shannon soon began to find herself falling for Sayid, and Boone didn't like it one bit. He spoke with Sayid, telling him that she only falls for abusive guys, in which he began to think over the relationship they had forming. Shannon learns about this and heads off into the jungle to look for Boone only to find Locke who tells her everyone on the island gets a new life, and that she should start hers. When she returns to camp she finds Sayid and the two reconcile.

Why she was in Australia: Conspired with Aussie Brian to con Boone out of thousands.

Daddy issues: Her life was ruined when her father was killed in a car accident and she lost all her money and couldn’t pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina in "Abandoned." Jack had the option of operating on her father or his soon-to-be wife Sarah, and he chose Sarah.

Big secret: Seduced her step-brother, Boone, while in Australia before the crash.

Romantic entanglements:

Pre-island: Shannon went out with a lot of men, whom she would use to con Boone and take money from him. Boone was in love with her, and they made love in Sydney before the crash.

On the island: Came close with Sayid after he enlisted her to translate Danielle's maps, and had a relation with him; they made love, only to be killed the next day by Ana Lucia.


Status: DEAD

How she died: Had a too-close encounter with trigger-happy Ana-Lucia after seeing Walt in the jungle. (Even though Walt was thought to be on the raft)

Questions:
Why did Shannon die?
A: Shannon was really a nice character, after you got to know her. Why did they have to kill her off then? Well Sayid needed something to make him stronger, and this was how the makers of LOST did it. I don't think anyone really liked it.

Q: Why did they make Ana Lucia kill her?
A: Probably because they wanted you to hate Ana Lucia (if you didn't already). That is something that LOST makers are good at. They needed to make you feel sorry for a character, and to hate them. It all had a part, as you'll see if you look up Michael.

Gone but not forgotten--Help tell Shannon's story

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