I went into the show with a myriad of random ‘twists’ spoiled for me: there are Others on the island, Michael Emerson is the bad guy, the island has a “protector” (whatever that meant, I didn’t know), and everybody was dead the whole time. When I think back on it, these spoilers actually did me some good. They’re partly to thank for why I enjoyed the show more than a lot of people who watched it when it aired because they prepared me for the weirdness and mysticism that turned people off who’d watched since 2004.
Ironically, the promise of weird shit is what got me to watch the show. The advertisements I’d seen all portrayed it as ER meets Cast Away (which isn’t totally inaccurate, at least not in the first season). In fact, I vividly remember seeing TV spots featuring clips from various episodes, like “All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues,” which, when taken out of context, are comically melodramatic. Even for a teenager.
But then I found out that the guy from Youtube who made those videos I was jealous of (and who shared my favorite movie) was a LOST fan. And a big goddamn fan at that. Then I also found out that a new online friend of mine (the owner of this blog) was also a fan. (Side note: we’ve been doing this shit for 10+ years. Good lord, when is it our turn to “move on”?)
I decided to go to Blockbuster (woof!) and rent the first season. Suffice it to say, within a matter of months, I was a different person. That’s another way that my experience watching the show differed from those who saw it on television: at the rate at which I blew through each season, I was practically seeing the events on the island unfold in “real time.” My journey closely mirrored that of the Losties themselves. When it was all over, I was certain that the most important part of my life was the time I’d spent with these people.
All these years later, it turns out that wasn’t really true. But it’s still an important part of my pop culture library, and of pop culture generally.
I wasn’t originally planning to write anything about it, but then Stranger Things 4 happened. A big new cultural phenomenon that all my friends were into, and I won’t lie: as indifferent as I am to that series, the thought of being part of something again is insidiously enticing. Why “insidious”? Because I almost bought a Netflix subscription...
Luckily for me, I’m a grown man now - a broke-ass grown man - and I’m capable of rational thought. I took one look at these prices and audibly HAHA’d. This has got to be one of the biggest bluffs I’ve ever seen. A Premium subscription is barely worth the price of the Basic. So I said fuck that.
But I had to watch something, and Stranger Things is sort of LOST-adjacent, right? Well, anyway, the whole pop culture hoopla put me in the mood for something ‘like that.’ And I own all the seasons of LOST on DVD, and it was My Own Private 10th Anniversary after all, and I love making lists...
But before we get to The List, here’s a mini-recap of my experience revisiting the show: not much has changed, but some things have. Namely, my favorite episodes. Part of that is due to my evolution as a person, and part of it is due to the show itself: some episodes function better when you know nothing, while others become favorites once you know everything.
Though, a disclaimer: this list isn’t necessarily an exact reflection of seasonal preferences - certain seasons, by their very nature, have fewer rewatchable standalone episodes than others (at least for me) - nor is it a reflection of favorite characters. Indeed, it isn’t a reflection of anything other than what it is: favorite episodes, which I firmly believe can be judged on their own merits irrespective of which characters they feature or how they fit into a particular season. Really, a list of this kind has more in common with a ranking of Favorite Songs: the catchiest ones require a degree of simplicity paired with an inspired hook. So here are the ones I most enjoy singing along to, even if nobody else sings along.
(I didn’t make a single “We have to go back!” pun in the entire post. You’re welcome.)
Greatest Hits: Top 10 Episodes of LOST
“The Other 48 Days”
As good as the pilot was, it didn’t capture the dread of being stranded on a mysterious island the way this does. This version of the plane crash feels more like the Sudden Departure. It's one of the series’ scariest and gloomiest episodes, and I don’t say that lightly. I wish the show had started here instead.
“Something Nice Back Home”
Is this the darkest episode of the series? In terms of sheer mood, possibly. It’s definitely one of the most humorless. I don’t know how much of a direct influence Jacob’s Ladder had on the show, but if this is any indication, I’d say it was fairly substantial.
“?”
This one has a little bit of everything: dream prophecies, tragic deaths, Dharma stations, tests of faith — the whole series in 45 minutes. But what makes it special is Eko’s flashback featuring the enigmatic Richard Malkin and a resurrection caught on tape that is creepier than every Conjuring put together.
“Jughead”
Season 5’s time travel plot never really amounted to more than a gimmick, but alas, it brought the show back to the Atomic Age! If only the characters had gotten stuck here instead of Dharma times. Oh, and Desmond’s thread is a neat little sequel to "The Constant."
“Dave”
Whatever the reason, Hurley’s episodes always had the most variety, both in tone and subject matter. This one blurs the lines between funny, creepy, and sad.
“Across the Sea”
The episode I waited 6 seasons for, more so than even the finale. Island lore consistently overshadowed the series’ main plot, so “The End” was ultimately less important than the beginning — and the beginning, unsurprisingly, wasn’t the beginning at all. Needless to say, its Miltonesque weirdness didn’t disappoint.
“Further Instructions”
My favorite Locke flashback. Refreshing to see a Locke episode that isn’t about his paralysis or his father. That and I’ve always been fascinated by communes - cults as well as less explicitly corrupt ‘intentional communities’ like ecovillages.
“The Cost of Living”
The series’ first real brush with pure horror and a perfect example of season 3’s strengths: a distinctly weirder tone and looser structure than 1, 2, 5, and 6.
“The End”
Throughout season 6, Flocke’s war with the candidates felt like a convoluted B plot compared to the flash-sideways. That said, the narrative momentum in the home stretch is undeniably rousing, and the purgatory reunion is so cathartic that the episode would’ve ended up on this list regardless of the quality of everything else.
“Greatest Hits”
I wish more episodes had this structure: flashbacks encompassing a character’s entire life. The only other one that comes to mind is “Cabin Fever” (which, interestingly, is also penultimate). But what sets this apart from “Cabin Fever,” and practically every other LOST episode, is just how mundane the flashbacks are. Nothing about Charlie was extraordinary, and that makes his sacrifice all the more meaningful.
