Michael Dawson (Lost) - Arc

Arc

Much of Michael's life before the plane crash is shown in flashbacks during "Special". Susan Lloyd leaves Michael after their son Walt is born, and travels to Amsterdam with Walt. Two years later, Susan tells him that she intends to get married. Michael becomes enraged, and is hit by a car, leaving him hospitalized for months. Susan tracks him down at the hospital and tries to convince him to give up his parental rights, so that her new husband can adopt Walt. Michael refuses, but in the resulting custody battle Susan convinces him that it is the best decision for Walt. Several years later, Susan dies, and her husband asks Michael to take custody of Walt, who is now living in Australia. Michael agrees, but just before the return flight, calls his mother and asks if she can take Walt instead.

Their plane crashes on an island in the South Pacific; Michael, Walt and Walt's dog Vincent are among the survivors. After Vincent runs into the jungle, Michael searches for him, but to no avail; it is later that Locke (Terry O'Quinn) returns Vincent to Michael. Despite this gesture, Michael is skeptical about Locke, and does not want Walt spending time with him. After Michael is attacked by a Korean survivor, Jin, over a gold watch Michael has started wearing, Jin's wife Sun approaches him to explain that it is her father's watch, and in doing so reveals that she speaks English. Michael begins constructing a raft, in hope that he and Walt can escape the Island. After witnessing his completed raft burned down, Michael blames Jin, but later Walt confesses that it was him. Although Walt did not want to leave the Island, he has now changed his mind. Michael and Jin bond after Sun reveals her ability to speak English, and the two men begin work on a second raft. They offer the final space on board to Sawyer (Josh Holloway). In the season finale "Exodus", Michael sets sail with Jin, Sawyer and Walt, and not far from the Island, they encounter a small fishing boat. The occupants of the fishing boat are the Others, who have long inhabited the Island. They kidnap Walt and destroy the raft.

At the beginning of season two, Michael and Sawyer are stranded in the middle of the ocean, with Jin missing. They wash ashore and discover Jin, then are knocked unconscious by one of the survivors from the tail section of the plane. After convincing the tail section survivors that they were on the same plane, they all return to the beach camp of the fuselage survivors. Later, Michael offers to take a shift in the hatch that the survivors have found. Here, he begins receiving computer messages from someone who he thinks is Walt, who gives him directions to where he is being held. Michael ventures off in search for him, but moments after leaving the camp, two of the Others kidnap him and hold him hostage. Michael is told to retrieve their leader, who is held prisoner in the hatch, then bring Sawyer, Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Jack (Matthew Fox) and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) to them, and they will return Walt and let them leave the Island. In order to free their leader, Ben (Michael Emerson), Michael convinces Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), who is guarding Ben, that he will kill Ben on her behalf, but instead kills her when she hands over the gun and the combination to the armory. When Libby (Cynthia Watros) walks in on them, Michael, startled, shoots her twice. He succeeds in bringing the four requested survivors to the Others, so Ben reunites him with Walt. Michael and Walt are given a boat and coordinates to freedom, and they sail away from the Island.

A flashback during "Meet Kevin Johnson" reveals that they manage to return to New York City, where Michael hands Walt over to Walt's grandmother. Michael then attempts suicide, unable to cope with the guilt of his murders. Tom (M. C. Gainey), one of the Others, arrives, and tells Michael he can redeem himself by saving the other survivors from an imminent threat. Tom gives Michael a passport with the new name of "Kevin Johnson" in order to infiltrate a freighter that is trying to find the Island. On the freighter he receives a call from Ben, who instructs him to send him information on all the crew, then to sabotage the radio room and the boat engines. In his first season four appearance, Michael meets Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), who have managed to get from the Island to the freighter. They tell the freighter's captain of Michael's true identity, who orders him to repair the engines. During the season finale, Michael and Jin attempt to disarm a bomb planted on the freighter. Michael slows the bomb's detonation with liquid nitrogen, then tells Jin to leave, when he is almost out of nitrogen. When the supply of nitrogen runs out, Christian Shephard (John Terry) appears to Michael and tells him he can go now. The bomb detonates, and Michael is killed in the explosion, having achieved the redemption he had been seeking. Michael reappears halfway through the sixth season as a ghost that only Hurley can see. He explains that the whispers on the island are the voices of those who have died on the island. As Hurley turns to depart, Michael stops him and apologizes for the pain he caused for both him and Libby.