Rumors of Harold Perrineau returning to LOST as ‘Michael’ are alive yet again. Up to this point the scuttle was that Perrineau was upset with ABC’s plan to write his character out for an entire season, only to bring him back later. This is understandable since no actor is going to keep their slate clean for an entire year. Perrineau quickly set about making use of his post-LOST time, turning up in the forthcoming ’28 Weeks Later’, and costarring in the pilot to CBS’s supernatural outing ‘Demons’. At one point, rumors had Perrineau furious with LOST producers, refusing exorbiant amounts of money to reprise his role on LOST. Now, those rumors have vaporized.
While walking out on the red carpet for the premiere of ‘Meet the Robinsons’, Perrineau put himself on the record as being currently in negotiations for a return to LOST in season four. Perrineau told a Reuters’ reporter that “We’re trying to figure out if I can get back next season and do both.” That would be an interesting feat considering LOST shoots in Hawaii and Demons will no doubt shoot in Hollywood.
Of course that also raises questions about how pivotal Perrineau’s role will be in either production. If he is a season regular in Demons, appearing every episode, it is hard to imagine him having time to fly to Hawaii to put in anything more than an elaborate cameo for the island mystery.
Then again, where would Perrineau’s Michael fit into the LOST universe at this point in the story. After murdering both Ana Lucia and Libby in cold blood last season, releasing Ben Linus (then known as Henry Gale), and betraying Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, and Jack to ‘The Others’, and jangling even the most loyal fan’s nerves with his incessant overtures of ‘MY SON’, it is difficult to imagine him being greeted with open arms. If there is a ‘bad’ side starting to form as some have suggested, it would appear Michael would almost certainly fit in over there, with the bad guys.
And how does this address the growth of David Malcolm Kelley who plays Michael’s son Walt? Kelley will have leaped another year towards puberty in what show time will only equal a few weeks. Of course one way to handle both Michael’s image amongst his plane crash surviving peers, and deal with Walt’s growth, is to have Michael’s reappearance on the island be a heroic rescue attempt undertaken after dropping Walt off at the sitters.
Surely, how his appearance serves the story is a total mystery of LOST magnitude at this point as there has been no public outcry for the return off Michael. At best, fans have just asked for a little closure. With that in mind, this may be a case of ‘be careful what you ask for, as you might get more than you want.’
– Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Copyright © 2007 Reuters)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
