Tom Friendly

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"Mr. Friendly" redirects here. For the song by Toto, see Isolation (Toto album).
Tom Friendly
Lost character
First appearance"Exodus: Part 2"
Last appearance"Meet Kevin Johnson"
Portrayed byM. C. Gainey
In-universe information
GenderMale

Tom Friendly,

Comic-Con in 2009, the Lost producers present the character's full name as "Tom Friendly".[1]

Gainey accepted the role despite knowing nothing about it; his sole motivation was a chance to work again with Lost producer Carlton Cuse. Speculation over Tom's sexuality arose when he commented to Kate that she was "not [his] type".[2] Gainey began playing the character as such, and in season four Tom is shown kissing another man on the cheek. Lost producer Damon Lindelof commented that this revelation was "not subtle, to say the least".[3] Tom was received positively by critics, particularly in his first appearance.

Arc

In a flashback during "

Matthew Fox), Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), Sawyer and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) to the Others in exchange for Walt.[8] In the second season finale "Live Together, Die Alone", Michael successfully leads Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley to the ambush point; various Others including Tom sedate them and take them to a pier.[9] There, Tom knocks Jack, Kate and Sawyer unconscious and transports them to a small island nearby.[9]

In season three, Tom supervises an operation on

Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson) are captured by the party, and Ben radios Tom to shoot them.[17] This prearranged code is the signal for Tom to shoot three bullets into the ground, only pretending to kill the hostages, to mislead the rest of the survivors, who have been met by Ben.[17] Afterwards Tom expresses regret at not finishing the hostages, as they killed seven of the Others.[17] The arrival of Hurley in a van, along with Sawyer and Juliet, sees the rest of the attack party killed.[17] Tom admits defeat and surrenders, but Sawyer shoots him in his heart, claiming his life as payment for taking Walt off of the raft.[17] Juliet later buries Tom near the jungle along with his team of deceased Others.[18]

Characteristics

Tom wearing his fake beard in "Three Minutes"

When Tom is introduced in the first season finale, he wears a fake beard and old clothes.[6] He continues to appear under this guise throughout the second season, only revealing his beard to be fake in the finale.[9] M. C. Gainey, the actor who portrays Tom, was only informed that his character's beard was fake near the end of season two.[19] The producers describe Tom as "friendly", earning him the nickname "Mr. Friendly".[20] One critic has described him as "sarcastic" and "bright".[21] Tom's dislike of blood causes him to struggle while supervising Ben's operation,[22] which Emerson believes makes him "cuddly".[23] Gainey does not think he is very similar to Tom, commenting, "He seems to be very loyal and I'm a very loyal person so I have that in common, but other than that, I don't really know what he's about. He seems much more socially awkward than I am."[19] After Tom was revealed to be gay during season four,[3] M. C. Gainey stated that "anytime you've got a group of people, somebody's got to be marching to a different drummer - that would be Tom Friendly."[24]

Development

M. C. Gainey first met Lost producer Carlton Cuse while working on

Comic-Con 2009.[1] He is nicknamed "Zeke" by Sawyer in "The Hunting Party",[7] which led to some critics using this name for him.[31][32] In the season two finale "Live Together, Die Alone", his name is revealed to be Tom.[9] On his character's death, Gainey noted that "just because they kill you on this show, don't mean they don't need you anymore 'cause everybody's got a past."[24]

In the third season premiere "

fourth season episode "Meet Kevin Johnson", Tom is seen kissing his New York lover Arturo (Francesco Simone).[12] After the broadcast of "Meet Kevin Johnson", Lindelof and Cuse confirmed that the line from the third season premiere is an allusion to Tom's sexuality, but felt that it needed to be explicitly confirmed in the show, although Lindelof noted that the confirmation scene in "Meet Kevin Johnson" "was not subtle, to say the least".[3] Lost writer Edward Kitsis stated that "It was great to see [Tom] and realize that... he is a true gentleman."[36]

Reception

Chris Carabott from

The Huffington Post noted this revelation "seemed a little oddly placed, kind of like 'Let's make one of our characters gay just for the heck of it' but still it's cool that the show has a perfectly normal (well for an 'Other') not over-the-top gay character."[42]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wilkes, Neil (July 25, 2009). "Live: 'Lost' panel at Comic-Con". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  2. ^ a b Jack Bender (director), J. J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof (writers) (October 4, 2006). "A Tale of Two Cities". Lost. Season 3. Episode 1. ABC.
  3. ^ a b c Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (March 21, 2008) "Official Lost Audio Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on March 24, 2008.
  4. ^ Eric Laneuville (director), Drew Goddard & Christina M. Kim (writers) (March 6, 2008). "The Other Woman". Lost. Season 4. Episode 6. ABC.
  5. ^ a b Jack Bender (director), Dawn Lambertsen Kelly & Matt Ragghianti (writers) (March 1, 2006). "Maternity Leave". Lost. Season 2. Episode 15. ABC.
  6. ^ a b c Jack Bender (director), Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse (writers) (May 25, 2005). "Exodus: Part 2". Lost. Season 1. Episode 24. ABC.
  7. ^ a b c Stephen Williams (director), Elizabeth Sarnoff & Christina M. Kim (writers) (January 18, 2006). "The Hunting Party". Lost. Season 2. Episode 11. ABC.
  8. ^
    Adam Horowitz (writers) (May 17, 2006). "Three Minutes". Lost
    . Season 2. Episode 22. ABC.
  9. ^ a b c d Jack Bender (director), Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse (writers) (May 24, 2006). "Live Together, Die Alone". Lost. Season 2. Episode 23. ABC.
  10. ^ Tucker Gates (director), Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse (writers) (November 8, 2006). "I Do". Lost. Season 3. Episode 6. ABC.
  11. ^ Paris Barclay (director), Elizabeth Sarnoff & Christina M. Kim (writers) (February 21, 2007). "Stranger in a Strange Land". Lost. Season 3. Episode 9. ABC.
  12. ^ a b c d e Stephen Williams (director), Elizabeth Sarnoff & Brian K. Vaughan (writers) (March 20, 2008). "Meet Kevin Johnson". Lost. Season 4. Episode 8. ABC.
  13. ^ Paul Edwards (director), Christina M. Kim & Jordan Rosenberg (writers) (March 14, 2007). "Par Avion". Lost. Season 3. Episode 12. ABC.
  14. ^ Eric Laneuville (director), Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse (writers) (May 2, 2007). "The Brig". Lost. Season 3. Episode 19. ABC.
  15. ^ a b Bobby Roth (director), Elizabeth Sarnoff & Drew Goddard (writers) (May 9, 2007). "The Man Behind the Curtain". Lost. Season 3. Episode 20. ABC.
  16. Adam Horowitz (writers) (May 16, 2007). "Greatest Hits". Lost
    . Season 3. Episode 21. ABC.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Jack Bender (director), Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof (writers) (May 23, 2007). "Through the Looking Glass". Lost. Season 3. Episode 22. ABC.
  18. ^ Jack Bender (director), Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse (writers) (January 31, 2008). "The Beginning of the End". Lost. Season 4. Episode 1. ABC.
  19. ^ a b c d e Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (April 16, 2007) "Official Lost Audio Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  20. ^ a b Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (January 23, 2006) "Official Lost Audio Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  21. ^ a b CTV, (November 14, 2006) "The Others". Retrieved on March 31, 2008.
  22. ^ Stephen Williams (director), Carlton Cuse & Jeff Pinkner (writers) (February 7, 2007). "Not in Portland". Lost. Season 3. Episode 7. ABC.
  23. Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Featurette
    , disc 7. Released on December 11, 2007
  24. ^
    Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Featurette
    , disc 6. Released on December 9, 2008.
  25. ^
    TV Squad
    . Retrieved on December 26, 2008.
  26. ^
    Morrison, Steve, (February 22, 2007) "The Preston and Steve Show
    ". Retrieved on December 26, 2008.
  27. ^ ABC Medianet, (May 9, 2005) "The castaways on the raft are surprised at sea by something they didn't expect. Meanwhile, remaining islanders try to blow open the hatch, and a visitor to the encampment might be a threat to Claire's infant son Archived 2009-01-18 at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  28. ^ ABC Medianet, (February 13, 2006) "Claire returns to the scene of her kidnapping with hopes of finding a cure to baby Aaron's mysterious illness, and Jack and Locke keep their prisoner a secret from the other survivors Archived 2009-01-18 at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  29. ^ ABC Medianet, (May 8, 2006) "Jack and Sayid come up with a plan to rescue Walt from "The Others", and Locke makes a dangerous decision regarding the hatch Archived 2009-01-18 at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  30. ^ Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (May 19, 2006) "Official Lost Audio Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  31. ^ Susman, Gary, (May 3, 2006) "'Lost': Zeke's been moonlighting", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  32. ^ Pastorek, Whitney, (January 19, 2006) ""Lost":The hunters and the hunted", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  33. ^ Kubicek, John, (March 21, 2008) "Lost Easter Eggs: 'Meet Kevin Johnson' #5 – Gay Tom", BuddyTV. Retrieved on April 12, 2008.
  34. ^ Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (October 30, 2006) "Official Lost Audio Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on March 24, 2008.
  35. Titan Magazines
    . Issue #13.
  36. Titan Magazines
    . Issue #18.
  37. ^ Carabott. Chris, (November 20, 2008) "Lost Flashback: "Exodus: Part 2" Review", IGN. Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  38. TV Squad
    . Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  39. ^ Stafford, Nikki, (March 7, 2008) "What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the Sun! And She is MINE, All MINE Archived 2008-03-10 at the Wayback Machine", Wizard. Retrieved on March 9, 2008.
  40. TV Squad
    . Retrieved on December 27, 2008.
  41. ^ Goodman, Tim, (March 21, 2008) "Lost: The Spoiled Bastard", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on December 28, 2008.
  42. The Huffington Post
    . Retrieved on March 21, 2008.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Friendly&oldid=1165450579"