 Shannon's flashbacks in "Abandoned" were used to allow the audience to get to a "really emotional level with the character, [to] finally understand ... why she was the way she was." Her death was planned before the start of season two, as the producers wanted the survivors in the tail section of the plane and the survivors of the fuselage to be forced to come together under difficult circumstances. Her death was also used to "spin Sayid off in another direction." Damon Lindelof commented "It's sort of understood on Lost that that's what you sign up for. There's going to be constant character turnover, because the stakes on the Island are life-or-death." Lindelof felt an "intense, emotional sense of loss" when watching her death. In her post-death appearance in "Collision," Maggie Grace was credited as "special guest star." She received the same billing when she returned in season three, appearing in Nikki and Paulo's flashbacks. Carlton Cuse noted "it was really fun for us to actually have Boone and Shannon reemerge in the stories." Shannon was originally in "LA X", the season premiere for the sixth and final season, but had to be written out as Grace was unavailable. The producers eventually arranged for Grace to appear in "The End".
