"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯?" You've really got to ride the wave with Lost (because they're near the ocean). The show introduces itself as a very conventional piece of survival fiction with some grounded scifi/mystery for flavour- A couple dozen survivors of a freak aeroplane crash have to work together to live on a deserted island, but there seem to be other, unfriendly people living there- Also there's a smoke monster, a polar bear, and a paraplegic survivor has been miraculously healed. It's a strong hook that dances on the edge of impossible, and the show has a lot of fun by gradually upping the ante on these sci-fi (and eventually straight up supernatural) elements with a straight face. 「 Spoilers 」 𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 (𝘖𝘳, "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?") Lost's plot can pretty neatly be divided into two halves: The first half covers the islanders' attempts to get rescued while beefing with the Others, with most episodes centring on a single character, their backstory, and some growth that they undergo on the island. It's a very structured story, ending with Jack getting in contact with Widmore's boat & the reveal that some islanders escaped at the end of S3. The second half covers the exit & return to the island, focusing much more on setpieces & developing the mythology of the island. Both eras have their moments but the first half is significantly stronger than the second, which feels overlong even with a shorter episode count because of the rocky jump from semi-episodic narrative to an aggressively serialised one. Early Lost moves in a really satisfying way, with the island plot forming an intriguing spine around the meaty backstory stuff, but the later stuff really leans on the island plot, and that reliance is strained by really contrived writing and a pace that jumps between meandering & jittery. Also, that score is insane. Michael Giacchino is a huge part of what makes this show work as well as it does. There is a sweeping, orchestral intensity underscoring every big moment in this show, and it dials the emotional impact up to 11. "Life and Death" & Locke's themes are my favourites. The story does lean very heavily on the music, to the point where it can feel like it's trying to get a pavlovian response out of you, but for the most part the score is extremely effective. If anything it's suffering from success. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝘖𝘳, "𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴!!!") Lost is usually billed as a mystery show, and it does definitely have fun mysteries and some really sick twists. But the show's lifeblood is in juggling a really likeable cast. The archetypes might be tropey, but in general I was pretty happy to follow my faves into whatever gonzo thing happened next, and that's down to really effective, economical character writing. Very few of the characters in Lost are uncomplicatedly good people- Most of them have huge baggage & do a lot of bad things. But they're also rendered really empathetically by the story. I wound up caring so much about them, even when the story did them completely dirty (Sayid, Sun, Michael, what the fuck did they do to you 😔). Gonna gush about the characters (mostly) I like now 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 "𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬." It took me quite a while to warm up to Jack, but once they opened up his rivalry with Locke, he became a really erratic & engaging protagonist. Jack's desire to help others, and his refusal to accept the direction of others is a such a wonderful point of friction for his character. He's so emotional and unbalanced, and his mellowing out in the later half of the show, becoming a man of faith and accepting what his destiny is, is really beautiful. 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲 "𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘵." Locke might be the best deuteragonist in TV for me. Terry O' Quinn gives a superb performance, imbuing Locke with this impossible mix of disarming sageness, and childlike, purposeful wonder. His backstory is just so devastating, and it really made me want to share John's dogged belief that he was special, and there was a reason for his suffering. I love how bleak his ending is- Rejected by his friends, duped by larger forces, alone, and not understanding what's happening to him. "Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard?" 𝗦𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗱 𝗝𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗵 "𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘪. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘶𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦." Sayid fucking rocks. I think he's extremely underrated. I love how competent and goal-oriented he is. 80% of these islanders are ready to burst into tears or run off chasing bullshit and then one of the crew is just batman. Sayid is also a brilliantly empathetic character, holding so much wrath & self-hatred for the harm he's done in the past. Biggest yearner in the cast. He's almost the most consistently great character, until they presumably took his writer out back and shot them in s6. 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 "𝗦𝗮𝘄𝘆𝗲𝗿" 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗱 "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘸 '𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘚𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰." I don't 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 get the hype for Sawyer. Like he has funny one-liners, but he's one of the most rote characters in the cast. His cons could be satisfying, and some of the moments where he shows he has a heart are very sweet (especially when he reveals that he met Christian), but Sawyer very rarely surprised me. He's probably weighed down by his contractual obligation to be this shows Jacob Black, and by the fact that he's then shackled to the really boring Juliet. 𝖲𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗀𝗅𝖺𝖽 𝗁𝖾'𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁. 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 "𝘐𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥." Kate is the 𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍 consistent weak point of the show, in large part because Lost is bad at romance. The glacial will they/wont they of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer is really tiresome, especially because Jack & Sawyer have better chemistry with each other than with Kate. Kate is also really lacking the type of strong internal conflict that animates the other characters. Most of her backstory episodes are a chore. 𝗝𝗶𝗻-𝗦𝗼𝗼 𝗞𝘄𝗼𝗻 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼) "𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯." Lost is bad at romance, but Sun/Jin innocent!!! They're so delightful. The story of how they got together is really heartwarming, and seeing their relationship come back from the brink on the island is just amazing- Kind of the emotional centrepiece of the show's early stages. Apart from their relationship, Jin is the far stronger character. His backstory as a reluctant mafioso, struggle to navigate the language barrier on the island, and friendship with da boyz is really great stuff, whereas Sun just doesnt get those cute character moments like when Jin tells a scary story. Their story of trying to reunite gets a bit tedious, especially when it's all Sun talks about in S6, but their ending is really beautiful. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗲 "𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵." Desmond is so silly. I feel like I don't have a good reason for liking him as much as I do. He's a nice, chill guy who winds up in wacky situations. The man spawns in and does his sidequests like a champ. I feel liek Henry Ian Cusick's charisma is elevating Desmond a lot. 𝗠𝗿. 𝗘𝗸𝗼 "𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥." God it really is a tragedy that they couldn't get Akinnuoye-Agbaje back for the whole show. He's so magnetic, a wonderful point of contrast to the rest of the cast (Locke especially), and his backstories are consistently some of the show's best. There is a world where Eko is a key player for the later seasons of Lost, and it's a world where this show is significantly improved. 𝗕𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘀 "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦?" Ben is a wonderful 𝖺𝗇tagonist. So fun to watch him lie through his teeth. I love his introduction, trapped in the hatch. I love how often he gets beaten up. I love that at a certain point he can't even communicate normally with anyone because everything sounds like doublespeak coming from him. His relationship to Alex is quite boring, and his crush on Juliet feels like a fever dream, but his big dynamic with Locke, the favoured child of the island, is really fucking good. Ben's motives (like most characters') get a bit shakier in s6, but his endpoint with Hurley is very satisfying to me. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 (𝘖𝘳, "𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯?") The strength of this cast is really what makes Lost work on an emotional level, even when the story is a little dubious. The story's big theme of accepting your past, finding peace with the ones you love, and learning to let go and move on is only something that can work when you genuinely care about the characters and the bonds between them. Even as Lost couches a lot of its meaning in faith & cosmic dualism, there's a strong humanist bent to the philosophy of this show for me, and I find it really heartening. Togetherness is meaning in Lost. I wound up having a really good time with this show. It's very compelling, knows what it is, and 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗈𝗋𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝖿𝗈𝗋 cut𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 a path for the era of long-form network tv drama that followed. 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 🥉 1 🥈 4 🥇 2 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀 10. Flashes Before Your Eyes ~3x08~ 9. Ab Aeterno ~6x09~ 8. The Life & Death of Jeremy Bentham ~5x07~ 7. The 23𝗋𝖽 𝖯𝗌𝖺𝗅𝗆 ~2x10~ 6. 𝖣𝗈 𝖭𝗈 𝖧𝖺𝗋𝗆 ~1x20~ 5. ? ~2x21~ 4. The Man Behind the Curtain ~3x20~ 🥉 The Constant ~4x05~ 🥈 Deus Ex Machina ~1x19~ 🥇 Through the Looking Glass ~3x22-23~ 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝗋𝖾𝗀𝗋𝖾𝗍𝗍𝖺𝖻𝗅𝗒 𝖫𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝗂𝗌 𝗊𝗎𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝖻𝖺𝖽 𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗇) 10. 𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗅𝗂𝖾 𝖯𝖺𝖼𝖾 9. Richard 𝖠𝗅𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗍 8. 𝖧𝗎𝗀𝗈 "𝖧𝗎𝗋𝗅𝖾𝗒" 𝖱𝖾𝗒𝖾𝗌 7. 𝖩𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗌 "𝖲𝖺𝗐𝗒𝖾𝗋" 𝖥𝗈𝗋𝖽 6. Jin-𝖲𝗈𝗈 𝖪𝗐𝗈𝗇 5. 𝖬𝗋. 𝖤𝗄𝗈 4. Desmond 𝖧𝗎𝗆𝖾 🥉 Ben 𝖫𝗂𝗇𝗎𝗌 🥈 Jack 𝖲𝗁𝖾𝗉𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖽 🥇 𝖩𝗈𝗁𝗇 𝖫𝗈𝖼𝗄𝖾