Neo-Western dramaYellowstoneis full of compelling villains, but one of the most impressive is played by an actor who made his name in the TV masterpieceLost. More than a decade before his role as an antagonist to the Dutton family, Josh Holloway starred as an even more captivating plane crash survivor stuck onLost’s legendary desert island.
Holloway’s Roarke Morris suffers one ofYellowstone’s most shocking deathsin the show’s season four premiere. Meanwhile, his character inLostsurvives the series finale, and manages to escape the island at the center of its plot on an Ajira Airways plane which previously crash-landed there.
Still, the actor has left his mark on both shows, neither of which would be the same without him. That being said, Josh Holloway’s Roarke lasts just one season before he becomes one of the mostfamous actors to be killed off inYellowstone. Had Holloway’s tenure inLostbeen as brief, he wouldn’t be the star he is today.
Roarke Is An Iconic Yellowstone Villain Played By Josh Holloway
Roarke Morris is one ofYellowstone’s best villains, a ranching rival to the Duttons who doubles up as a hedge fund investor looking to make an enormous amount of money off their land. Josh Holloway’s character warns Beth Dutton not to mess with him and his fellow Market Equities investors before going after her family with everything he’s got.
After threats of litigation and financial muscle don’t seem to deter the Duttons from trying to hold onto their land, Roarke pays the Morrows, neighboring ranchers who were previously fired from Yellowstone ranch, to attack them and sabotage their holdings. These actions have deadly consequences for both Clint and Wade Morrow, and spell the beginning of the end for Roarke.
He doesn’t help himself by also attempting to woo Beth Dutton, after multiple flirtatious encounters between them. This grave mistake motivates Beth’s partner, Dutton rancher Rip Wheeler, to kill Roarke by unleashing a venomous rattlesnake on him while he’s fly fishing.Roarke’s horrifying death is one ofYellowstone’s most iconic moments.
Holloway Also Starred As James “Sawyer” Ford In Lost
More than a decade before he was cast as Roarke Morris inYellowstone, Josh Holloway became a household name thanks to his role as James “Sawyer” Ford inLost. Holloway features in the show from its groundbreaking pilot episode to its finale at the end of season 6.
Sawyer is one of the fewcharacters still alive at the end ofLostwho are in the show from the very start. His departure from the island via the same route he arrived there is a neat full-circle moment, yet it doesn’t even begin to tell the story of his development as a character during the course of the series.
Lost’s Sawyer was Josh Holloway’s first main role in a TV show or movie, at the age of 34.
AcrossLost’s six seasons, Sawyer undergoes a dramatic transformation, which takes him from being one of the most unlikable characters in the show to one of the most beloved. Josh Holloway enacts this transformation superbly, giving a lively, heartfelt, and often moving performance as a major underdog in the story.
Sawyer Is Lost’s Best Character Overall
In fact, Sawyer probablyranks asLost’s best main characteroverall, given his extraordinary redemption arc, as well as his overwhelming contribution to the show’s plot. Josh Holloway demonstrates the full breadth of his acting range in portraying the character, first as an obnoxious and profoundly self-centered villain, and then as a figure who gradually becomes more sympathetic.
Sawyer begins the series as a bigoted con-manprone to acts of appalling selfishness and cruelty. His list of nicknames for fellow crash survivors probably wouldn’t make it past the studio ifLostwere being made today, and his treatment of Kate Austen is particularly repugnant.
Even during the show’s early seasons, however,Sawyer’s wry sense of humor saves him from being wholly unlikable. What’s more, when we learn of the horrific childhood trauma he’s endured, his behavior starts to make a lot more sense.
Although he continues using nicknames to refer to other characters throughout Lost, Sawyer generally begins calling people by their real names after the time-jump in season 4.
It takes living among a small group struggling for its survival on a remote island to change Sawyer’s attitude towards other human beings.His relationship with Juliet Burke is ultimately the making of him, and her death in his arms at the start of season 6 proves to be one ofLost’s most devastating moments.
Lost Is An Unmissable TV Masterpiece
Even putting Josh Holloway’s outstanding portrayal of Sawyer to one side,Lostis a masterpiece of television. The show raised the bar for the entire medium during the noughties, and is one of the best examples of prestige TV ever made.Lost’s most unforgettable episodestake pride of place among the greatest in the history of the small screen.
From having arguably the best pilot episode of any TV drama series, to weaving sci-fi and supernatural elements into a dizzying survival epic for the ages,Losthas it all, and more than newcomers to the show could possibly imagine. This is a truly unmissable work of television, which most fans ofYellowstoneare bound to enjoy.
Lost
Cast
Lost is a mystery drama series created for TV that follows a group of survivors of a plane crash and tells its story between the past, present, and future via flashbacks. When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes and lands on a mysterious island in the pacific ocean, the castaways discover their new temporary home may have a mind of its own, as strange supernatural events keep them locked to the island. From an unknown black smoke creature to dangerous islanders, the passengers must work together to survive the island’s seemingly deadly intentions.
Yellowstone
Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, led by patriarch John Dutton, as they defend their expansive ranch against external threats from land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first national park. Released on August 15, 2025, this series examines the complex dynamics and violent conflicts surrounding the largest contiguous ranch in the United States.
