Michael Dawson is really dead. And pissed.

We can wonder over the next seven or eight months about whether or not Jin is alive, but somebody else besides Locke is definitely dead - Michael, who was standing in the room on the freighter with the explosives when it blew up.

It's weird. Last July, I was at San Diego's Comic-Con and naturally went to a panel on Lost featuring Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. They talked a little about what was to come in Season 4, were typically coy about any major details, but then, as a treat, revealed that Harold Perrinneau was returning, and brought him on stage. Everybody exchanged hugs.

One audience member asked a very pointed question: will Harold be back as a full-time cast member or will he only appear a couple of sporadic times, like Boone? Cuse confirmed that Harold would indeed be a full-fledged regular cast member.

Fast-forward to...now. Michael appeared in five episodes of Season 4: "Ji Yeon," "Meet Kevin Johnson," "Cabin Fever," and the two "There's No Place Like Home"s. Of those episodes, he really only had a substantial part in "Meet Kevin Johnson." And now he's dead - blown up by staying inside the room in order to potentially save Jin, a small bit of redemption that wasn't really elaborated upon.

In other words, it was the long-awaited return that never went anywhere.

For Lost viewers, and even fans of Michael specifically, it's not really a huge deal - things happen, and he probably would've had more to do had it not been for the strike-shortened season. But Harold Perrinneau is, understandably, pretty annoyed about it. And he's being surprisingly open about it. Check this out from TV Guide:

TV Guide: You don't sound particularly pleased. Perrineau: I'm disappointed, mostly because I wanted Michael and Walt to have a happy ending. I was hoping Michael would get it together and actually want to be a father to his kid and try to figure out a way to get back [home]. But this is [the producers'] story. If I were writing it, I would write it differently.
TV Guide: So when did you get the news?
Perrineau: [Lindelof and fellow executive producer Carlton Cuse] called before the finale scripts were out. They said they weren't going to continue with Michael.

TV Guide: And what did you say to that?
Perrineau: At this point, I've been on the island, off the island, back on the island — so I just went, "Oh, ok." [Laughs] This is their show and they know what they can or cannot write. I thought it was disappointing and a waste to come back, only to get beat up a few times and then killed. I felt like it was sort of pandering to some fans who wanted to see Michael punished because he betrayed people.

TV Guide: Are you referring to when he shot and killed Ana Lucia and Libby in Season 2?
Perrineau: Exactly. I honestly feel like Michael's death served a really weird bloodlust for the fans.

TV Guide: Were you disappointed Michael and Walt didn't reconnect before your character died?
Perrineau: Listen, if I'm being really candid, there are all these questions about how they respond to black people on the show. Sayid gets to meet Nadia again, and Desmond and Penny hook up again, but a little black boy and his father hooking up, that wasn't interesting? Instead, Walt just winds up being another fatherless child. It plays into a really big, weird stereotype and, being a black person myself, that wasn't so interesting. [Responds Cuse: "We pride ourselves on having a very racially diverse cast. It's painful when any actor's storyline ends on the show. Harold is a fantastic actor whose presence added enormously to Lost."]

You know, frankly, you can't really fault what he's saying because it's all true. He got kind of screwed on this one. You should read the rest of the interview, though, because overall he doesn't sound like as much of a disgruntled former employee as this excerpted part makes out; he says he wouldn't be opposed to appearing again, hopes the show "continues to thrill people," and talks about the recent birth of his daughter.

TAGS: Harold Perrineau, Interview, Michael, Season 4 Finale
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