Ilana is another one of those characters who sticks in my craw because of what she represents more than what she does. She is the perfect symbol for another huge flaw in the series, which you'll see as a recurring theme in these write-ups: needlessly wasted potential.
We're introduced to Ilana in season 5, seemingly too late to really have any meaningful character development, but the writers persisted anyway. After the unsurprising reveal that she actually knows more about the Island than she let on, we soon discover that she is essentially a bodyguard/protector of Jacob--the godlike, omniscient presence across several seasons by this point.
And that's where Ilana begins to enrage me. One would think that someone not only connected to Jacob outside the Island, but someone who is entrusted to protect him, would offer something interesting to the lore. Instead, we get nothing by way of background, character, or even a thematic revelation from her. She is just a plot device helping one set of characters get to another, with a passing reference to Jacob acting as a "father figure" to her. How? When? Why? These are questions that could have taken the character in so many places and could have perhaps even salvaged some of the weakest parts of seasons 5-6.
But no. The writers do nothing with Ilana. And then they explode her when she was done serving her purpose. Absolutely embarrassing trash writing.
