Best Lost Episodes (so far)

This was really, really hard to do because there are so many episodes of this show that I love, and I had such a hard time limiting it to just 10. (I decided to only pick 2 of the season finales because almost all of them could go on here.) So after very careful deliberation here is what I came up with.

10. Expose (Season 3) – There are better episodes than this one, but I had to put it on the list for symbolic reasons. Nikki and Paolo were representative of everything that started going wrong with Lost at the start of Season 3. It seemed like the writers didn’t know where they were going with the story and started introducing random unimportant elements and characters to keep the plot moving along. Eventually they asked ABC to give them a final year for the show, things improved tremendously, and Nikki and Paolo met their demise. Talk about good use of dramatic irony. Only the audience knew they were being buried alive. I think the writers in a subtle way were telling us, don’t worry, we know they were a mistake, we’re burying them now, they won’t be coming back.


9. The 23rd Psalm (Season 2)-- Another episode that focused on a minor character, Mr. Eko, but the writing, especially how his backstory was woven through the episode was very well done. I really liked Mr. Eko, my favorite guy from the tail section (maybe tied with Bernard)…too bad he was a casualty of the smoke monster.


8. The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham (Season 5)— In this episode we see John’s quest to try to get the Oceanic Six back to the Island. He has a fascinating meeting with Charles Widmore in which Widmore claims to be on John’s side. We get this cryptic comment that “There is war coming.” As John moves through his quest, we see him rejected by each character—he has gone from a leader, and man who everyone listens to, even if they don’t completely trust—to the complete opposite, and it’s so disheartening. He’s that same man in a wheelchair from the first season. We also get a great minor character performance from Lance Reddick who plays Matthew Abaddon. But the moment that puts this episode on the top 10 is Ben killing Locke. I will never forget watching that and being like, really, is this really happening? This guy is absolutely insane.


7. LaFleur (Season 5)-- This might be on here just for Sawyer referring to Richard Alpert as “your buddy with the eyeliner.” Seriously though, it was one just genuinely happy and satisfying episode. I loved getting to see Sawyer take charge and finally let go of his own issues and care about taking care of everyone else. Juliet finally gets to deliver a baby, and I loved her and Sawyer’s scenes together. It proves you don’t have to draw out sexual tension to create a compelling relationship on a t.v. show. I believe in the poll ABC.com of best Lost relationships Sawyer and Juliet beat out everyone else. (Yes, I voted.)

6. The Man Behind the Curtain (Season 3)-- This episode might win as one of the creepiest episodes of Lost. It was our first glimpse into Ben’s backstory. We see how he got to the Island, and then how he killed the whole Dharma Initiative including his father. It was just the beginning of the madness. In the present time Ben leads John to the cabin, and we see our first glimpse of Jacob. (That freaked me out, and I couldn’t sleep that night.) Then we see Ben shoot Locke and leave him for dead. This episode both elevated Ben’s complete evilness, but also gave us the smallest hit of a motive in what he has done (just a little). It’s also the first time we realize that Richard Alpert doesn’t age.


5. There’s no Place like Home (Season 4 Finale)—we finally see how our Oceanic 6 make it off the Island. Another roller coaster of emotions. We go from shocking (and satisfying): Ben killing Keamy to heartbreaking: watching Sun scream for Jin when she thinks he blew up on the Freighter to happy: Des and Penny Reunite. It's one of those episodes that remind you that while the plot is starting the get very crazy, this show is really all about the characters.

4. Walkabout (Season 1)—Here’s where we first discover John’s backstory. We don’t up to this point know that he was in a wheelchair before the crash, and finding out in the final flashback that he is, hearing his scream, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” makes you see the few episodes that have come before differently. The rest of the season nobody knows but us about his past. At the end of the episode, they play the aftermath of the crash again, and you know that while everyone else is running around in chaos, he is trying to comprehend the new life he has been offered. One of the last shots is of him running to help Jack save someone. And it’s such a powerful moment. He finally gets his chance to be someone important. The episode ends with the survivors burning the wreckage, and Locke watching his wheelchair go up in flames.

3. Pilot (Season 1)-- The filming/writing was amazing in those first few moments of the show: seeing Jack's eye open, not knowing exactly what was going on, watching him run through the jungle and then the wide shot of the wreckage and chaos on the beach. We were feeling the same disorientation the characters were.  Slowly things calm down, we start to get to know some of the characters, and then the jungle starts making crazy sounds. You could tell from the first episode of this show that it was going to be something like you've never watched before.

2. The Constant (Season 4)–The most perfectly written flashback Lost episode. We see the beginning of Desmond’s relationship with Penny and get our first hint of the time travel issues that we were going to have to deal with in Season 5. The idea of a constant is an interesting plot device and to know that Desmond’s is Penny made you love both of them even more than we did already. That phone call when she picks up the phone and saves his life was such an beautiful moment. Don’t tell me you didn’t get teary eyed!

1. Through the Looking Glass (Season 3) – One of the most suspenseful, surprising, sad, amazing episodes of television ever. So many fantastic moments: Charlie sacrificing his life for Desmond and writing on his hand “Not Penny’s Boat,” Juliet, Sawyer and Hurley (Hurley’s great blue van moment) defeating some of the evil Others, Locke in his final attempt to stop everyone for leaving the island by throwing a knife into Naomi’s back, and finally, that moment at the end of the episode, when we see Jack confront Kate at the parking lot, and we realize this whole episode we have been seeing flashforwards and not flashbacks. What a brilliant moment of storytelling. And the best last line, “We have to go back, Kate. We have to go back!” Still gives me goosebumps!