I’d vote for Sawyer over Sayid.
The big bad guy (Ben) is essentially a con-artist so Sawyer’s more of an opponent to him, and overall he just has a much more interesting life story and persona. Jack is one step above an innamorati. And Sayid is just a soldier; he doesn’t lead.
Sayid can’t be in charge, because if he were they’d have been off the island long ago, and sipping Mai-Tais at the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio. He’s just that good. Like Superman in the Justice League, the writer’s main concern is how to neutralize him so the plot can be driven by the incompetents, dunderheads, and ninnies that are in charge.
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More like the professor on Gilligan’s Island. He was, apparently, a professor of “everything”.
I agree, and my main complaint is that Sayid isn’t given his division of labor. He should be the leader of the away team.
I would also be happier with Sawyer being more prominent than Jack though, as he is a bit more all-American and can drive a show.
My spare change:
Jack is a good leader because he appeals to everyone–saving their lives and being a doctor and all that–and gets them all working together: ‘we live together or we die alone’.
Sayid is a good second-in-command because he has the smarts and sensibility to actually work out the details of the plans, and provide information.
As for Sawyer, he’s more like the opposition party in a government; he plays well against Jack, just like Sayid.
I’d just be happy if each character were a little more consistent in terms of skills and reactions. Sayid is a trained soldier, but if I’m not mistaken, every time he’s done any kind of recon on his own, he’s been captured.
Jack is a brilliant surgeon – until a woman gets a knife in the back right in front of him, and he just assumes she’s dead without checking to see if maybe, he could, like help her or something.
The overall premise is great, and I don’t mind red herrings and surprises. There’s just too much lazy writing – making characters do things out of character for the sake of plotting convenience.
Of course, I’m still watching. . . .
Greek? His name is Reyesand his dad is played by Cheech Marin.
Oh, well played Sage Rat , but did you expect anyone to believe that the person who used the word innamorati six posts earlier doesn’t know the definition and function of a Greek chorus? Hardy har har, it is to laugh.
Ahah.
Well, the problem with lots and lots of random knowledge is that…it’s random. I would have called it the “Everyman.”
The main thing that bugs me about Sayid is that in his flashbacks, he’s always speaking English - even amongst other Arabs in Iraq or France! All the Jin and Sun episodes are in Korean with English subtitles, but most of Sayid’s episodes should be in Arabic with English subtitles.
I’m not sure that the actor, Naveen Andrews, even speaks the language. He’s British born and raised, and both his parents are Indian not Iraqi, so if anything he would speak Malayalam.
Well the guy playing Jin is not a native speaker of Korean either. He’s learned it specifically in order to play the part on LOST.
-FrL-
How to improve the lot of the Losties:
-Build an infirmary. Tie Jack up on a leash to the infirmary. Let him set broken bones and make bathtub penicillin from moldy papaya. He is forbidden to make decisions more strenuous than ‘would you like some more boar, Jack?’
-The new mayor would be the person who best appreciates the mystical nature of the island, without letting the woo-woo overrun common sense. Who is trusted by everyone implicitly: Rose.
-Sayid does whatever Rose tells him is the right thing to do, and Rose will agree with whatever Sayid recommends as appropriate action 9 time out of 10. No more blowing up buildings or wasting of precious resources (salad dressing is not for target practice!!)
I’ve honestly never understood why he isn’t the de-facto leader. He has the best electronic/survival skills, is most level-headed, has intuition skills that are borderline unbelievable, knows how to convince people of what needs to be done, etc…
This is just a WAG, but I guess having a confirmed killer/torturer as a moral leader would be too much for daytime television. It always astounds me just how many of the Losties have murdered someone “back home”, but AFAIK Jack and Locke are both innocents in that respect.
Ben has pwned Sawyer every time they’ve clashed. If Sawyer can’t mesmerize his ptential marks with his pecker he’s useless.
Come to think of it, has Sawyer been successful at pulling off any cons while on the island? His “I have Shannon’s inhalers” routine got him tortured, his mad poker skillz lost him most of his stash, he sucks at ping pong…
His biggest run was to steal all the guns from the hatch.
I agree, though, that he’s not done much else. But, he’s not the main character so he doesn’t need to be quite so awesome, and really you can’t expect any character to win against the bad guy in the first round.
Sayid brings the hotness, who cares about his storyline? 
Amen! Let’ lobby for more Sayid-shirtless-time!
Word! I always think that the show’s main problem is one of stupidity, but I think laziness is really the fundamental issue. They don’t make that effort to make characters believable, not just in terms of their skillset (as pointed out by the OP), but in the way they act and relate to one another.
I really think that they’re pretty clueless about how to write for this huge ensemble cast, especially since there is no rigid hierarchy (like a police department, or Mafia gang) that can help set up a system for interaction. That’s why characters always come off as being so stupid or totally spaced out; they concentrate on a scene or conflict for 2-4 of the characters, and don’t really think about how other characters would be reacting to it and even changing what’s happening. Thus, a lot of weird shit happens, character-wise.
The group scene where they decide to go with either Jack or Locke is a perfect example of this. It’s clearly a scene that focuses on the main guys, and the weird silent grouping that happened so unnaturally was just because the writers were too lazy to really think through how such a potentially massive scene would play out.
But yeah, I’m still watching, too… My lame act of defiance is to treat like a cartoon now. 
Don’t forget Scott.