Bring back Mr. Eko!

If you live in the US and have cable service, chances are you watch the ABC’s extreme-freakingly popular show LOST. If you do and you’re African, weren’t you ecstatic when they found Nairas (Nigerian currency) on that airplane in the jungle? Man, you knew something good was coming. And surely enough Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (ridiculous in that 50 Cent movie by the way) was introduced (in the episode “Adrift”) soon after, which marked the beginning of “Ekomania”. Okay…it may have been somewhat of a silent movement, without hooplas and crazy merchandising, ridiculous trends (eg: Eko’s stick on ebay anyone?) or what have you, but you know deep in your heart you were happy as hell to see an African in the most popular show on TV get some significant screen time. You just had to love the guy, man of few words (perhaps because he adhered to the ideology that actions speak louder than words?) and kick-ass demeanor that not even Michelle Rodriguez could top.
Like many of you out there I grew fonder of the character of Mr. Eko and was looking forward to seeing what his next move was going to be every Wednesday night. Unfortunately, the writers of LOST decided to give Mr. Eko the boot to the disappointment of “Ekomaniacs” such as myself. Although I still watch the show, I strongly believe it was unnecessary to rid it of a major character such as Mr. Eko, he added a certain rawness and edge to LOST in my opinion that the show will need again, especially considering the lackluster episodes of late. ABC I got one solution for you: Bring Back Mr. Eko!