Coincidence

From Lostpedia

Ben: Two days after I found out I had a fatal tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky

Coincidences, often wildly improbable coincidences, occur frequently in the plot of Lost. The characters talk about coincidence, sometimes in the context of destiny, fate or religious faith. Coincidence is such a prevailing theme that it partly defines the Lost universe, and may be an important clue to the mysteries of the story.

Occurrences

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"Do you think we crashed on this place by coincidence?" -- John Locke

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The following list shows when characters have mentioned, or encountered coincidences.

Season 1

Hurley played the Numbers, which originated from the Island.("Dave") These numbers won the lottery ("Numbers"). Then, Hurley crashed on the same island where the Numbers originated.("Pilot, Part 1")
When discussing Charlie's addiction, Locke used a moth in its cocoon as a metaphor for the need to struggle to become strong enough for life. Later that day, a moth lead Charlie and Jack to escape the collapsed cave. ("The Moth")
Haddad told Sayid "Perhaps it's not happenstance that you and Essam met at the Mosque. Perhaps it is fate." ("The Greater Good")
While airborne, Hurley read a comic book featuring a polar bear. On their first excursion into the interior of the Island, Sawyer, Kate, Boone, Shannon, Charlie and Sayid encountered a polar bear and Sawyer shot it. ("Exodus, Part 2") ("Pilot, Part 2")
Charlie, a heroin addict, kicked his habit. Shortly thereafter, he discovered that there's a huge stash of heroin on the Island. He's Catholic; the heroin was hidden in Virgin Mary statues. ("Exodus, Part 2")
Locke said "Do you think we crashed on this place by coincidence?" ("Exodus, Part 2")

Season 2

Bernard turned on his handheld radio, which he only does "a few minutes a day." Coincidentally, in the few minutes that he's in the drug smugglers' plane before he falls to his death, Boone broadcasted an SOS, and Bernard heard it. ("The Other 48 Days")
While reinserting the missing piece of the Orientation film Locke said "Here's the missing piece right back where it belongs. What are the odds?" And Eko replies "Don't mistake coincidence for fate." ("What Kate Did")
Eko and his brother Yemi both ended up crashing on the same Island, at different times. ("The 23rd Psalm")
Dave told Hurley, "Whoa, wow, awesome, dude! What numbers did you play? Leonard's number, right -- from the hospital? What a coincidence." ("Dave")
After Ana Lucia told Christian that she stopped being a cop, Christian responded: "What a coincidence, I just stopped being a doctor." ("Two for the Road")
After Michael makes it back to camp, Locke said "So, it was just a coincidence that he came wandering out?" ("Two for the Road")
After a casual meeting, Libby gave Desmond a sailboat, the Elizabeth, which her late husband named after her. Desmond (marooned) and Libby (crashed) both later end up on the same island. During Libby's funeral, the Elizabeth coincidentally appeared. If Libby hadn't died then she would have recognized the boat and Desmond, and Des would have recognized her.("Three Minutes")

Season 3

Locke said "Don't mistake coincidence for fate." ("The Cost of Living")
Christian Shephard told Sawyer a metaphor for the futility of trying to change one's fate, when he says "That's why the Red Sox will never win the World Series". The footage that Ben shows Jack on the Hydra television (to prove their connection to the outside world) just happened to be of the Red Sox winning the World Series. ("Outlaws") ("The Glass Ballerina")
Ben learned he has spinal cancer. Two days later, Jack, a spinal surgeon, crashes on the Island. ("The Cost of Living")
In order to prove to Jack that Sawyer and Kate were safe, Kate told Jack the Count to Five story from the Pilot, Part 1 episode. While she was telling the story, Jack was fixing an artery on Ben's back that he deliberately cut during surgery to remove a tumor. ("Not in Portland")
Hurley feels unlucky. The restaurant he buys gets hit by a meteorite.("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")
Claire and Jack, who are half-siblings, happen to be on the same doomed flight together, and Claire happens to be on the same flight as the corpse of her father, Christian Shephard. ("Par Avion")
Nikki's character on Expose is killed off shortly before leaving Australia, then she dies on the Island. ("Exposé")
Cassidy is conned by Sawyer, then works a con with Kate. ("Left Behind")
Anthony Cooper, Locke's father, turns out to be the real Sawyer. ("The Brig")
The neurosurgeon who operated on Mrs. Arlen and Bernard have the same last name: Nadler. ("Through the Looking Glass")

Season 4

The detective who questions Hurley was Ana Lucia's former partner. ("The Beginning of the End")
Locke survives the shot from Ben because the kidney which was supposed to be there was removed. ("Confirmed Dead")
Dan is from Essex, Massachusets. Charlotte is from Essex, England. ("Confirmed Dead")
Charlotte earned her doctorate at Oxford. Daniel taught there. ("The Constant")
Both Ben and John are born prematurely to a woman named Emily. ("Cabin Fever")
Both John and Juliet are recruited by Richard Alpert to a Mittelos facility, supposedly in Portland. ("Cabin Fever")
The key to Hurley's Camaro is on a rabbit-foot key chain, as was the key to the van on the island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")
The sequence of numbers on the Camaro's odometers reads 4815162342. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")
Carole Littleton lingers after Christian's eulogy, unaware that the baby she compliments is her grandson Aaron. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")

Season 5

Ben and Carole Littleton have both hired the same attorney in Los Angeles. ("The Little Prince")
Desmond arrives at the church seeking Eloise Hawking at the same time Ben, Sun and Jack do. ("This Place Is Death")
Jack and Desmond unexpectedly run into each other in Los Angeles for a second time. ("This Place Is Death")
Upon arriving back on the island after flying on Ajira 316, Jack wakes up in the jungle in a similar fashion to when Oceanic 815 crashed - flat on his back, staring up at the trees above him. ("316")
Ajira 316 crash lands on the Hydra Island runway that one of the flight's passengers, Kate, helped build. ("The Glass Ballerina") ("Namaste")
Sayid murders a man inside the Oldham Pharmaceuticals building in Moscow then later Oldham forces him to take a drug on the island during his interrogation. ("He's Our You")
Sun decides to wait for Locke in Ben's house, in Alex's room. ("Dead Is Dead")
Daniel tells Chang and Miles that it is not just a coincidence that the adult and young Miles are both on the island at the same time. ("The Variable")

Names

Some names are given to two or more characters. Some notable coincidences:

Emily Locke is John Locke's mother. Emily Linus is Ben Linus's mother.
Charlie Pace is the rockstar survivor. Charles Widmore is Penelope Widmore's father. Charlie Hume is Desmond and Penelope's son.
Richard Alpert is the mysterious Other who seems to not age. Richard Malkin is the name of Claire's psychic.
Charlotte Lewis is the anthropologist team member of the freighter group. Charlotte Malkin is Richard Malkin's daughter who woke up during her own autopsy.
Tom was an Other who was killed by Sawyer. Thomas is Claire's ex-boyfriend and Aaron's father. Tom Brennan is Kate's childhood sweetheart. Tom Sawyer was an alias of Anthony Cooper. Tom is the alias that Christian Shepard used when he went to Australia with Ana-Lucia. Thomas Mittelwork, the former head of the Hanso Foundation, is a character from The Lost Experience. Sam Thomas, an IT technician from Oceanic Airlines, is a character from Find 815. Tommy was Charlie Pace's drug dealer.
Sarah is Jack's ex-wife. Sarah is the alias Ana-Lucia Cortez used when she went to Australia with Christian Shepard.
Frank is the name of a man Sawyer shot and the name of the Kahana's helicopter pilot.
Kevin Johnson is the alias that Michael Dawson used on the freighter. Kevin Callis is Kate's husband. Kevin is the name of Sarah's ex-fiance.
Dave is the name of Hurley's imaginary friend. David is the name of Libby's deceased husband. David is Desmond Hume's middle name. David Reyes is Hurley's father. David Lewis is Charlotte Lewis's father. David Massingham is a character in Find 815. David and Jessica was a couple that Sawyer tried to con.
Daniel Faraday is the physicist team member of the freighter group. Danielle Rousseau was an ally of the survivors. Danny Pickett was the mean-spirited Other who was killed by Juliet. Dan Norton is the attorney representing Ben in Los Angeles.
Michael Dawson was a survivor. Mikhail Bakunin was an Other. Mike Walton was Ana Lucia's police partner. Mike was the head of the commune that John Locke lived in.
Rachel Carlson is Juliet Burke's sister. Rachel Blake is a character from The Lost Experience. Rachel Brennan was the wife of Kate's childhood sweetheart. Rachel is Claire's friend who went with her when she visited the psychic.
Theresa Spencer is Daniel Faraday's girlfriend and research assistant who is sick due to Daniel's experiments. Teresa Cortez is Ana-Lucia's mother. Theresa is the name of Boone's nanny who died falling down stairs.
Nadia is the name of Sayid's love and Mikhail's cat.
Ray is the Kahana's doctor, Kate's acquaintance in Australia and Jack's grandfather.