Lost Day Poll: Who's Your Favorite Lostie?

Because we're friends, I want to share with you the dumbest thing I have ever written in a TV review. (OK, one of the top 10 dumb things. Or so.) From my initial review of Lost in fall 2004:

A desert island is a hermetic setting — not much room for fun Quentin Tarantino cameos there.

At this point, I'd seen the pilot, so I didn't see the flashbacks coming, or the Others, or—get off my back, will you! As it turned out, Lost managed to pack in a vast number of characters in its past, present (and presumably future), and while we didn't get Tarantino, we did get Billy Dee.

Emerson as Ben; all Others pale in comparison. / ABC/ART STREIBER

So who are your favorites? To keep this interesting, let's pick both major and minor characters. For me, while Locke is the most intriguing as a pure character on the page (and Terry O'Quinn is no slouch), I'm in heaven every time Ben appears. Of course, this is largely thanks to Michael Emerson; he teases so much out of every line reading that it's hard to imagine another actor in the role. Sarcastic, manipulative, nerdy, peevish and full of surprises, he's one of TV's best villains ever.

And minor characters? I've got to give it to cranky, prematurely blown-up science teacher Leslie Arzt; one of the highlights of Lost's Missing Pieces was seeing Daniel Roebuck make a curtain call. I've got some Arzt on me too. On my heart.