In Jack Thorne’s harsh and often harrowing adaptation of William Golding’s classic novel Lord of the Flieshomage to the source material was all the rage today: “Our biggest goal in telling this entire show was to be incredibly faithful to what Golding did,” says the Emmy-winning writer for Adolescence. But this does not always mean strict repetition of every scene, on the contrary. Each of the four episodes of the Netflix hit is told through the lens of one of the main boys who is stranded on an uninhabited island, making dangerous choices to govern themselves and survive. In this excerpt from Part Three, we see a pivotal interaction between cocky Jack (Lux Pratt) and relatively submissive Simon (Ike Talbot) that reinforces the themes of the original novel. “I tried to complicate the story rather than simplify it,” Thorne says. “Jack and Simon’s relationships with their parents have a lot of similarities to them.”
Jack has just relayed to Simon a story his father often tells him about a 10-day hiking trip from his youth that made him the man he is today, to point out that this too can be an experience to prove one’s mettle. It’s an insight we get into the character because he’s talking to Simon specifically. “This is the first time we’ve seen Jack and Simon alone,” Thorne says. “And we see that when they’re alone, they talk differently than they do when they’re around people — and that’s accepted by both of them.”
Simon challenges Jack in a way we haven’t heard him do before this point in the series. For Thorne, this role is crucial to the adaptation process for two reasons. The first: “Simon was me when I was a child – an outsider who didn’t really understand the logic of friendship.” Second, this new imagined landscape offered an opportunity to honor Golding’s writing in a new way. “Simon reveals a different side to his personality, but in the book he actually shows this slightly raw edge a few times,” Thorne explains.
“The lessons that Jack learned from his father are crucial to how Jack is understood on this island, and the lessons that Simon learned from his father are crucial to how Simon acts on this island,” Thorne says. “What Jack is doing in this moment is: ‘I’m here because I’m not going to let myself down and I’m going to pass this test.’ What Simon does, very gently, is stick a needle in it, and the balloon slowly dissolves in front of Jack. … He allows us to have a whole new understanding of Jack.”
Jack’s abstract, proud story about his father allows Simon to guide them to a brutal reality: they are not about to be saved. “I knew the scene had to get to the point: Our parents aren’t coming,” Thorne says. “It had to get to the point: ‘I know your truth and my truth, and you can put all sorts of things on to other boys, but I sat with you crying when I was eight when our parents wouldn’t come for us – and there’s no way they’ll come for us now.'”
The scene ends with Simon drawing on Jack’s face, after initially walking in on him trying to do it himself – much to his frustration. It is among the most intimate and warm scenes in the series, and one that has sparked significant speculation about its deeper meaning. “I ended up talking to a lot of people [viewers] On this topic, where they were looking for meaning: “Is it sexual?” Is this? Is this it? “What I do know is that they enjoyed physical intimacy, by which I don’t mean touching each other sexually — I mean hugging each other when they were upset or lying with each other when they were sick,” Thorne says. “But I don’t know what any of these boys’ sexuality was, and I don’t know that they knew at this moment what their sexuality was. They’re not there yet.”
This story first appeared in the June standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To obtain the magazine, click here to subscribe.
