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Lost Trivia
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Lost Martin Keamy Biography
First Sergeant Martin Christopher Keamy is a
recurring fictional character played by Kevin Durand in the fourth
season of the American ABC television series Lost. Keamy is introduced
in the fifth episode of the fourth season as a crew member aboard the
freighter called the Kahana that is offshore the island where most of
Lost takes place. In the second half of the season, Keamy served as a
primary antagonist. He is the leader of a mercenary team hired by
billionaire Charles Widmore (played by Alan Dale) that is sent to the
island on a mission to capture Widmore's enemy Ben
Linus (Michael Emerson) from his home, then torch the island.
Unlike Lost's ensemble of characters who, according to the writers,
each have good and bad intentions, the writers have said that Keamy is
evil and knows it. Durand was contacted for the role after one of
Lost's show runners saw him in the 2007 film 3:10 to Yuma. Like other
Lost actors, Durand was not informed of his character's arc when he won
the role. Throughout Durand's nine-episode stint as a guest star,
little was revealed regarding his life prior to his arrival on the
island and Durand cited this as a reason why the audience "loved to
hate" his villainous character. Critics praised the writers for
breaking Lost tradition and creating a seemingly heartless character,
while Durand's performance and appearance were also reviewed
positively.
Arc
Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, Martin Keamy was a First Sergeant of
the United States Marine Corps, serving with distinction from 1996 to
2001. In the three years before the events of Lost in 2004, he worked
with various mercenary organizations in Uganda. In fall 2004, Keamy is
hired by Widmore to lead a mercenary team to the island via freighter
then helicopter and extract Ben for a large sum of money. Once he
captures Ben, Keamy has orders to kill everyone on the island
(including the forty-plus survivors of the September 22, 2004 crash of
Oceanic Airlines Flight 815: the protagonists of the series) by
torching it. It is notable that it was never revealed exactly where
Keamy and Naomi Dorrit fit in with each other. Both seemed to have
concuring yet opposite missions. Exactly whom was overall mission
leader was never revealed as of Season 4.
Keamy boards the freighter Kahana in Suva, Fiji sometime between
December 6 and December 10. On the night of December 25, helicopter
pilot Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) flies Keamy and his mercenary team,
which consists of Omar (Anthony Azizi), Lacour, Kocol, Redfern and
Mayhew, to the island. On December 27, the team ambushes several
islanders in the jungle, taking Ben's daughter Alex Linus (Tania
Raymonde) hostage and killing her boyfriend Karl (Blake Bashoff) and
her mother Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan). The team infiltrates the
Barracks compound where Ben resides, blowing up the house of 815
survivor Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) and fatally shooting three
815 survivors (played by extras). Keamy attempts to negotiate for Ben's
surrender in exchange for the safe release of Alex. Believing that he
is bluffing, Ben does not comply, and Keamy shoots Alex dead. Ben
retaliates by summoning the island's smoke monster, which brutally
assaults the mercenaries and fatally wounds Mayhew.
Upon returning to the freighter, Keamy unsuccessfully attempts to kill
Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau), whom he has discovered is Ben's spy,
then obtains the "secondary protocol" from a safe. The protocol
contains instructions from Widmore for finding Ben if he finds out
Keamy's intention to torch the island, which he apparently had. The
protocol contains details about a 1980s research station called the
"Orchid" that was previously run by a group of scientists working for
the Dharma Initiative. Keamy is also informed by Captain Gault that
Keamy and his mercenary squad may be suffering from some sort of mental
sickness, to which Keamy dismisses the notion. Later in the day, Omar
straps a dead man's switch to Keamy, rigged to detonate C4 on the
freighter if Keamy's heart stops beating. That night, Frank refuses to
fly the mercenaries to the island. In a display of power, Keamy slits
the throat of the ship's doctor Ray (Marc Vann) and throws him
overboard and later outdraws and shoots Captain Gault (Grant Bowler)
during a tense standoff. Frank flies the remaining five mercenaries
back to the island. On December 30, the team apprehends Ben at the
Orchid and takes him to the chopper where they are ambushed and killed
by Ben's people—referred to as the "Others" by the 815 survivors—and
815 survivors Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) and Sayid Jarrah (Naveen
Andrews). After a chase to recapture Ben and a brawl with Sayid, Keamy
is shot in the back by Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), who leaves
him for dead, unaware of Keamy's bulletproof vest. Later, Keamy
descends into the Orchid's underground level via its elevator to stalk
Ben, who hides in the shadows. Goading Ben with taunts about his
daughter's death, Keamy is ambushed by Ben, who beats him into
submission with a expandable baton before stabbing him repeatedly in
the neck. Though Locke attempts to save his life for the sake of the
freighter, Keamy dies and the dead man's trigger detonates the
explosives on the freighter, killing nearly everyone aboard.
Personality
During the casting process, Keamy was described as a military type in his late-twenties who does not question orders.[18] Chris Carabott of IGN wrote that "in a show that features characters fraught with uncertainty, Keamy is the polar opposite and his Marine mentality definitely sets him apart. His team has a physical advantage and with the help of Mr. Widmore, they have a tactical advantage as well. Keamy is like a bulldog being thrown into a cage full of kittens (except for [Iraqi military torturer] Sayid)". Jay Glatfelter of The Huffington Post, stated that "Keamy is Crazy! … out of all the bad guys on the Island—past, present, and future—Keamy has to be one of the most dangerous ones. Not because of how big he is, or the weaponry, but his willingness to kill at the drop of a hat. That doesn't bode well for our Losties protagonists." Co-show runner/executive producer/writer Carlton Cuse has stated that he and the other writers create "complex" characters because they "are interested in exploring how good and evil can be embodied in the same characters and [the writers are also intrigued] the struggles we all have, to overcome the dark parts of our souls"; however, he later clarified that there is an exception: "Keamy's bad, he knows he's bad, but he's … a guy that does the job." Damon Lindelof stated that "the great thing about Keamy is that he is like a … merciless survivor. There's this great moment in the season finale where he just sort of hackie-sacks a grenade thrown at him over to where his ally Omar is standing. Omar is certainly an acceptable casualty as far as Keamy is concerned." According to a featurette in the Lost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience DVD set, Keamy likes "heavy weaponry" and "physical fitness" and dislikes "negotiations" and "doctors".
Development
A remake of the 1957 film
3:10 to Yuma opened in theaters on September 7, 2007. Lost's
co-show runner/executive producer/head writer/co-creator Damon Lindelof
enjoyed Kevin Durand's supporting performance as Tucker and checked to
see if he was available for a role on Lost. The casting director had
Durand read a page of dialogue for the new character Keamy; Durand was
offered the role in early October and he traveled to Honolulu in
Hawaii—where Lost is filmed on location—by October 17, 2007. A former
stand-up comic and rapper from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, with the
stage name "Kevy D", Durand had seen only around six episodes of Lost
by the time that he won the part. When he was shooting, he was confused
by the story, later stating "I didn't want to know anything or be
attached to anybody. I'm glad I didn't. But now that I'm on it, I'll
watch all of it." Durand revealed his appreciation for the cast, crew
and scripts and the fact that he had the chance to act as someone with
a similar physical appearance to himself, as he had previously done
roles that had not prompted recognition from viewers on the street.
Durand was never informed of his character's arc and only learned more
of Keamy's importance to the plot as he received new scripts; thus, he
was thrilled when the role was expanded for his third appearance, in
"The Shape of Things to Come", when he kills Alex and Durand compared
his excitement to that of "a kid in a candy store." He also stated that
"you really don't know what's going to happen in the next episode and
you get the scripts pretty late, so it is pretty secretive and it's
kind of exciting that way [because] you're really forced to get in the
moment and say the words and play the guy". Durand was initially met
with negative reaction from fans on the street for this action and he
defended his murderous character by arguing that it was actually more
Ben's fault for failing to negotiate with Keamy; later, fans warmed up
to Keamy. Despite the antagonist's increasing popularity and fanbase,
it became apparent to Durand that fans were hoping for Keamy's death in
what promised to be a showdown in the season finale. Throughout his
nine-episode run, Keamy never receives an episode in which his
backstory is developed through flashbacks and Durand holds this
partially responsible for the negative reaction to his character,
saying that the audience "has not really seen anything outside of
Keamy's mission, so I think they definitely want him put down."
Following the season's conclusion, Durand stated that he would not be
surprised if his character returned in the fifth season and concluding
that "Lost was really fun. If I can have that experience in any genre,
I'd take it."
