Danielle Rousseau

Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan plays the scientist who shipwrecks on the island sixteen years prior to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. After Furlan decided to leave the show, the American actress Melissa Farman was chosen to portray a younger version of the character in the fifth season. Furlan later reappears for one episode in the sixth season. Rousseau is a recurring on-island character who has appeared in nineteen episodes in seasons one through four, as well as one episode where her voice alone is heard.

The character, who is commonly known as "The French Woman" among the survivors on the island, is introduced early in the first season. Sixteen years prior to the plane crash, Rousseau was a member of a French research vessel, whose ship ran aground on the island. Two months after being stranded, Rousseau gave birth to her daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde); however, Alex was taken by the island's original inhabitants, a group which Rousseau called the "Others". Rousseau's primary objective is to reunite with her daughter, which is achieved in the season three finale "Through the Looking Glass". The reunion is short-lived; Rousseau is shot and killed by a band of mercenaries in the middle of the fourth season.

The writers wrote Rousseau out of the series upon request by Furlan, who did not wish to travel to Hawaii to film her scenes, although she later called this an untrue rumor. The producers planned for Rousseau to get her own flashback episode in season four; however, this was delayed due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The writers stated that Rousseau would be in the fifth season, and her story would be told, but to say that it would be told through a flashback would be "disingenuous". In the fifth season of Lost, a younger version of Rousseau is shown. Critical reaction to the character has been generally positive; however, many have expressed disappointment in the execution of Rousseau's death scene.