Well, maybe not as much as I thought.
As I was writing up for Shannon, it was less "here's this character who was terrible and annoying and could become the best character ever" and more "here's where Shannon's faults were, here's how I understand these actions and motivations of her character, here are my interpretations of why things happened, and here's a quick look at why I was looking forward to her in Season 2 and how I think it was setting something up but since I never watch past "Do No Harm" anymore except for "Exodus" I don't clearly remember anything that goes on here."
So... yes, I thought she had the underlying strengths and potential to become not a total badass, but a competent and favorable character to the masses and... you know what? Lost has that. Lost has a character who grew to become a de facto leader of the group from a solitary position, even though the difference between Shannon and this other character is that the character was already a favorite. This wasn't taking a bad character and making them great just to play with the audience. It was taking an already good character and just adding more to them.
And since there's nothing about the show or comparable character in question, I'll just post my thoughts on Shannon unedited.
*LOST SEASON 1 AND SEASON 2 SPOILERS*
Let's discuss Shannon Rutherford for just a moment. Shannon started off the whiny, bratty, entitled and self-absorbed eye candy of the show with a penchant for stealing money from her family, incest, and being useless. She was annoying, it's true. Not many people liked her outside her looks. Some may have even been jealous she got to **** Ian Somerhalder's character. I don't know; I've never beena Boone fan. But I could have been a major Shannon fan.
There were signs late in Season 1 that Shannon's character was going to grow. Early in the season, we saw how incompetent and self-interested she was and how much she relied on her brother for help, even if she turned his aid away at every opportunity. She wanted to be her own independent person, but she didn't have the strength or character to take responsibility for herself especially when free care was provided by her brother. When the discovery of the Hatch came and Boone started seeing other people, Shannon was left to her own devices. She has no confidence in herself and it's a bitter self-hate. She's pretty and can be charming, but she has no substance and that can be very frustrating.
When Sayid comes to see if she can translate the French notes left by Rousseau, her gut reaction is that this is a prank by Boone. Why? Because she has no self-worth. Why would anyone come to her for help when there are so many other people around who can do things like heal people or build things or hunt? And even after realizing that it's not a prank and she's the only person Sayid knows with a skillset that can help, she still can't think positive. She thinks he doesn't want her help because he has confidence in her; he wants her help because she's the only one who can do it. And for some reason, that's a negative. It's not about the responsibility of being able to do something, it's that she's the only one who can do it that makes her feel less about it because if there were someone else around who could do it, she wouldn't have even been asked. And yet, even finally taking on some responsibility and trying to participate in the society of the island, she self-sabotages. She explains away all her possible feats, she second guesses everything she does, she goes into a downward spiral of excuses and frustration partly because of herself and partly because she thinks she's failing. Why?
Because to both of them, the notes are gibberish. Rousseau's writing makes no sense.