Lost Star Is Still Upset About Brutal Plot Twist 20 Years Later
By Published Apr 28, 2026, 10:37 PM EDT Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2026, became a news writer in 2026, a senior staff writer in 2026, and an editor in 2026. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
20 years later, one star is still upset about a brutal plot twist in season 2.
The specific twist occurs in Lost season 2, episode 20, "Two for the Road," when Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) kills Ana Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez) and Libby Smith (Cynthia Watros). While Ana Lucia and Libby do occassionally appear in later seasons, their characters' deaths meant that they were no longer series regulars moving forward.
While speaking with , Perrineau reveals that one of the two actors is still so upset by the twist that they won't speak with him 20 years later, although he does not clarify whether it is Rodriguez or Watros. He laughs about the situation, emphasizing that he was not the one to write them out of the show and simply acted out what was written in the script for his character. Check out Perrineau's comments below:
This is really weird to say, but one of the actresses to this day still doesn’t talk to me. I’m like, "I didn’t write this! I’m doing what you’re doing – I’m doing my job!"
Perrineau was also asked about his reaction to learning that Michael would be killing two of his fellow Oceanic Flight 815 survivors, which came after Michael was absent for numerous episodes. He explains that "They rang me up and said, 'He's coming back and here's what he's going to do, and we are not telling anybody until the day we shoot it.'" This apparently did not go over well with the actor who still won't speak with him, as they felt "wildly betrayed" by what Michael did.
It is commonly believed that because the two actors were arrested for DUIs. However, showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse shared with in 2006 that they had planned the characters' deaths long before this and the legal troubles had nothing to do with the creative decision. Thanks to Perrineau, it is now known that while Lindelof and Cuse knew about it well in advance, Rodriguez and Watros didn't until the day it was filmed.
Michael killed Ana Lucia as part of a desperate attempt to get his son Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley) back from . He was reunited with Walt, and they were able to leave the island, with both entirely absent from season 3. In season 4, Michael returned to the island after being haunted by what he did to Ana Lucia and Libby, which damaged his relationship with Walt.
By the end of the season 4 finale, Michael dies while trying to save as many lives as possible aboard the Kahana freighter. It was meant to be a redemptive ending, but looking back on it 18 years later, Perrineau feels that his character "didn't get a fair shake. I just think it could have been more interesting. It was like, 'Ah, Ok.' Because there were so many brilliant moments in there.”
Michael's fate did not ruin being on the show for Perrineau, though, as he explains that "When there’s a problem, it gets amplified, but [ Michael’s death scene] is not now or ever gonna be the biggest part of Lost for me. Lost showed up and changed the landscape of TV. We were doing s*** that nobody was doing on TV before. So however it wound up, that doesn’t really matter."
As for Lost's ending, which proved to be deeply divisive (and widely misunderstood) when it was released, Perrineau says, "I did see the end and I didn’t disagree with Damon and Carlton's reasoning. It’s the journey, and however it ends, it ends. That’s how I feel about From too. People want all the answers and it’s like, ‘But there’ll be no show!’ Could it have been a better ending? I mean, maybe yeah. But six years of such fun.”
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As the leading star of , Perrineau plays Sheriff Boyd Stevens, who does his best to keep the residents alive, and maybe one day escape the Township where they are trapped, which is plagued by nocturnal monsters and other sinister forces. He is an executive producer on the series alongside Jeff Pinker and Jack Bender, both of whom worked on Lost. The MGM+ horror show is in its fourth season and has been renewed for a fifth and final one as well.
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Matthew Fox Jack Shephard -
Evangeline Lilly Kate Austen
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