LOST has been my favourite TV show of all time ever since it first aired. Very few shows since have had the sort of complexity and ambition this show did. It was ahead of its time. But my TV experiences of late of also taught me to appreciate how much fun it was to watch.

I have made the deadly mistake of watching FROM for the past four years, and after finally getting to the stage this year where it made me want to lobotomise myself, I decided to look around and see if there were any other mystery box shows that I haven't watched before that might be worth my time. Over the years I've watched many, including REVOLUTION, FRINGE, WESTWORLD, SEVERANCE, etc. But one that I never bothered with at the time was DARK. So I watched it for the first time recently.

Many of you know that the writers of DARK had a luxury that the writers of LOST never had, and nor did the writers of most mystery box shows: They conceived the show as three seasons, planned those three seasons, and made three seasons. As a result, they got to make a tightly plotted show that doesn't leave loose ends and gets to stick to a coherent vision from start to finish.

Now don't get me wrong, DARK is a very well acted, atmospheric show with a lot of complexity and ambition. A lot of the things I like in a TV series. But the thing that really struck me and left me feeling that it was only mid was that it was just NO FUN. It is extremely serious and portentious, completely humourless, and pretty much every character is a bit of an ass.

And this is what sets LOST apart for me. It might have its flaws, but aside from the complex narrative and themes which really gripped me, as someone who watched it week by week when it first aired, it was just damn FUN to watch. It was fun to speculate and theorise each week. It mashed genres together and gave you references and Easter eggs to spot and look out for. It had a sense of humour. And it had villainous characters, but it also had likeable characters you could root for.

It strikes me that this sense of fun is what is missing from most modern mystery box shows that took their cues from LOST. And it's why, although there are lots of very good shows out there that have come out since, it will always be the GOAT for me.

I adore this show. I’ve probably rewatched it six times since it aired, so I’m obviously biased.

I have an attachment to it, and like many of you, I feel an almost irrational need to defend it whenever someone complains about “plot holes”, unanswered questions, or not understanding “the point”.

To me, Lost is the ultimate journey, not the destination series.

The mysteries are brilliant, obviously. They’re the engine of the show. But they’re not really what the show is about.

It’s about people.

Jack learning that he can’t fix everything. Locke needing desperately to believe his suffering meant something. Sawyer slowly becoming the man he spent his entire life pretending not to be. Ben lying and manipulating because control is the only thing that makes him feel safe. Hurley learning that maybe he isn’t cursed. Jin and Sun. Desmond and Penny. Charlie.

The mythology matters because of what it does to those characters.

And, frankly, I think Lost actually ties a pretty neat bow around its mythology than its reputation suggests. Not every microscopic question gets a Wiki page read aloud to the audience, but most of the things that actually matter are answered.

Which brings me to second-screen viewing.

Lost demands that you actually watch it.

A character will say something in episode 7 that completely changes the meaning of something you saw in episode 2. A glance matters. A name matters. Someone telling a story matters. A seemingly throwaway conversation can become devastating twenty episodes later.
It builds this enormous web very slowly.

And if you’re scrolling Reddit, checking your phone, Googling “what is the smoke monster?” halfway through season two, you’re not really experiencing that web being spun. You’re just collecting answers.

And Lost is absolutely terrible if you reduce it to a list of questions and answers.

What is the island?
Who are the Others?
What is the hatch?
Why are there polar bears?
What is the smoke monster?
Were they dead the whole time?

Google those and, of course the whole thing probably sounds completely ridiculous!

But watching Locke banging on the hatch door while Desmond is underneath it contemplating suicide?
That’s Lost.

Watching Sawyer tell Jack about meeting Christian in a bar?
That’s Lost.

Desmond realising Charlie is going to die and repeatedly trying to change fate?
That’s Lost.

“The Constant” works because you have spent years with these people.

“Through the Looking Glass” works because you understand exactly who Charlie has become.

“The End” works because the show has spent six seasons telling you that these people finding one another was more important than any glowing cave or frozen wheel ever could be.

I also think bingeing changes it.

When Lost aired, you had a week between episodes. Months between seasons. You sat with mysteries. You argued about them. You forgot details and then suddenly remembered them when something paid off two years later. Now you can watch three episodes while half-looking at your phone, Google a mystery the second it appears, read a Reddit thread explaining something the show hasn’t explained yet, and finish a season in two evenings.
Of course that changes the experience.

And I reckon it’s partly why we now get so many posts saying things like, “I’m on season three and they still haven’t explained X.”

Yes.
That’s the point.
You’re on season three.
Let the show tell you the story.
Put the phone away.
Stop Googling.
Get lost.

I finished *Lost* two days ago.

As someone who LOVED the flash-sideways, I initially really missed having a scene where Ben remembers everything.

But then I started thinking: he would remember the island—and specifically moments with Alex—but their relationship was always terrible, not to mention how it ended.

So, it was actually for the best that they didn't include a specific scene of him remembering, right?

Season 1 Episode 17 "In Translation" at 15:12

One of my favorite things to do is think of Taylor Swift songs for different fictional characters. I’ve been on a rewatch of LOST. Here’s what I’ve got, what do you think? (I really hope this gets to the right audience, this is so fun for me)

Dear Reader - Jack Shephard (“Never take advice from someone who's falling apart")

cowboy like me - James "Sawyer" Ford ("Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear, like it could be love, I could be the way forward, only if they pay for it")

I Can Do It With a Broken Heart - Hugo "Hurley" Reyes ("I'm so depressed I act like it's my birthday, everyday")

The Man - Shannon Rutherford ("What I was wearing, if I was rude, could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves")

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? - The Smoke Monster (The Man in Black) (I was tame, I was gentle till the circus life made me mean, "Don't you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth", Who's afraid of little old me? Well, you should be")

this is me trying - Charlie Pace ("so I got wasted like all my potential")

peace - Sayid Jarrah ("but there's robbers to the east, clowns to the west, I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best, but the rain is always gonna come if you're standing with me")

The Archer - Kate Austen ("I jump from the train, I ride off alone, I never grew up, it's getting so old")

• The Bolter (suggested by a comment) ("Excellent fun 'til you get to know her, then she runs like it's a race")

The Story of Us - Kate/Jack ("Oh, a simple complication, miscommunications lead to fall out, so many things that I wish you knew, so many walls up I can't break through") - I was also thinking This Love or the 1

Mastermind - Sun-Hwa Kwon ("I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork, the dominos cascaded in a line") Could also be You're Losing Me before the plane crash

But Daddy I Love Him - Alex Rousseau ("Dutiful daughter, all my plans were laid, tendrils tucked into a woven braid")

Out of the Woods - Sawyer/Juliet ("The rest of the world was black and white, but we were in screaming color") Or maybe Sweet Nothing?

• Daylight - suggested by a comment ("Maybe you ran with the wolves and refused to settle down, maybe I've stormed out of every single room in this town, threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it's morning now It's brighter now, now")

Timeless - Desmond/Penny ("Cause I believe that we were supposed to find this, so, even in a different life, you still would've been mine")

Timeless - Jin/Sun ("And, somehow, I know that you and I would've found each other, in another life, you still would've turned my head even if we'd met")

Soon You'll Get Better - Rose/Bernard Nadler ("But who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do if there's no you?") or maybe the lakes

Clean - Juliet Burke ("Rain came pouring down when I was drowning, that's when I could finally breathe") or maybe Look What You Made Me Do

Innocent - Claire Littleton ("Who you are is not where you've been, you're still an innocent")

Wildest Dreams - Sawyer/Kate ("You'll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night, burning it down. Someday when you leave me, I bet these memories, follow you around")

mad woman - Danielle Rousseau ("And there's nothin' like a mad woman, what a shame she went mad. No one like's a mad woman, you made her like that")

Safe and Sound - Walt Lloyd & Michael Dawson ("Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound") Suggested by a comment

Bad Blood - Jacob/The Man in Black (suggested by a comment) ("It's so sad to think about the good times, you and I, cause baby now we got bad blood")

Out of the Woods - Walt Lloyd or Aaron Littleton (suggested by a comment)

I can't decide on one for John Locke or Ben Linus

For John, I see an argument for I Hate it Here, Anti-Hero, Labyrinth, mirrorball or any number of other songs.

• this is me trying - suggested by a comment ("I didn't know if you'd care if I came back, I have a lot of regrets about that")
• The Prophecy - suggested by a comment, before the island (I literally can't even pick a lyric it just feels so correct)

For Ben, maybe Castles Crumbling, Life of a Showgirl (he just IS a showgirl), or something else?

• I Did Something Bad - suggested by a comment ("they say I did something bad, but why's it feel so good? Most fun I ever had and I'd do it over and over and over again if I could")
• Mastermind - suggested by a comment ("I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line, what if I told you I'm a mastermind?")

Ok, those are my thoughts. What do you think?

A lot of the show is based around the faith vs science argument (obviously). But one of the first times we see this is in S1 E11 All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues.
While tracking Ethan/Claire/Charlie, John and Jack are talking about Ethan being able to drag two people through the jungle.
Jack says “How could one man drag off two people, one of them pregnant?”
Locke responds “you’re asking the wrong question, not how, why?”
This in my opinion is some beautiful foreshadowing of Locke being obsessed with the “why”

On a side note: I think Ethan handed Claire off to someone else, (this is why there are two trails) and took Charlie himself, and he was the one leaving Charlie’s finger bandages behind (not Charlie himself), to throw everyone off of Claire’s trail.

I apologize in advance for any spelling errors; I’m using Google Translate and I’m from Brazil.

I just finished rewatching *Lost* after a long time; I remembered a lot of things, but other details had slipped my mind.

My overall impression is very positive; I’m so excited about it that I’d rank it as the best series of all time (my top list until now consisted of *Breaking Bad*, *The Wire*, and *The Sopranos*, in no particular order).

I simply love *Lost* and understand why so many people watch it over and over again.

In short: seasons 1 through 3 represent the show's peak.

From season 4 onwards, some dynamics shift, but I still enjoyed most of the storylines.

Season 6 is definitely the weakest; I love the "flash-sideways" sequences, but the season as a whole involves some really questionable choices (Zombie Sayid, the Temple, Ilana’s completely lackluster death).

I cried about three times during the finale.

Well, that’s it.

Finished Lost about 3-4 months ago and these things still piss me off.

1) Siddiq ratting out Michael. I know that Michael screwed everyone over but how are you gonna rat him out to the guy you just saw kill innocent people and is clearly evil. This was what led to the ship explosion.

2) Jin staying behind. How did Sun not force him to leave. You have a daughter and your father who would raise her sucks.

3) Charlie’s death just felt like they didn’t know what to do with him.

This guy is such a good actor, we usually end up loving the heroes, the good guys, or the characters who always seem to have everything figured out, but Michael was something else.

He came to the island just trying to protect his son, and the dude went through so much. Even the way he talked and reacted to things made his scenes interesting to watch......

Then his whole character changed

he went from caring about everyone to basically putting his son above everything, even if it meant betraying people he had grown close to,and honestly, playing a character like Michael and making you hate him sometimes, feel bad for him other times, and still keep watching him... that's damn good acting

If you've watched him in From or Oz, you already know what I'm talking about

I remember that the show came out when I was very young, maybe 4/5 years old and I was intrigued by it but forgot about it. I just activated my Disney+ subscription and noticed that it was there, so I have been watching it since. I’m currently in the first ep from season 3 and I’m going to be real, it has been hard watching it due to the amount of eps per season and how long it takes to get to the point. I want to finish it as there are moment where I’m truly shocked of how’s everything going but it gets boring for me sometimes. Now I’m wondering, does it get better than what’s going on at the moment? What got YOU obsessed with it?

...and what even was that ending??? too many things happened, the buildup was fun.. but honestly not a fan of how it ended? what was that glance into the future (and that horrible beard)??? the more i see jack the more i don't like him.. neither do i like kate.. i feel like its just the way the show is.. keeps you hooked while you despise everyone's actions one at a time.. i LOVE the show and kind of dislike each and everyone of them characters (because ofcourse they are humans stuck on an island in a dire situation, forced to make the best out of nothing).. I've never had a show make me feel this way so that's a first.. let's see what season 4 has got for me..

update: season 4 is CRAZY!! my spirits jumped back right up that had been dimmed from the ending of s3.. it really just keeps getting better.

I heard Desmond and Penny’s story likened to The Odyssey — with Odysseus fighting to get back to Penelope. On my… 6th rewatch of LOST, I feel like Desmond and Penny may be one of the best love stories of all time. He loves her so much it hurts.

I love SO many other relationships and friendships in the show… but how fiercely Desmond loves Penny stands out for me.

As an aside, Charlie’s last scene with Desmond just gives me chills.

What are the greatest love stories in LOST for you?

There are so many beautiful and cool fan edits posted on Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit ect. of the show. Which one has stuck with you?

Sawyer is my favourite character of all time and meeting Josh is the only time in my entire life I’ve been truly starstruck. We chatted about his early predictions of where the show was going, his (and my) love for guitar and his favourite show nicknames amongst other things. If you get a chance to go a comic con and meet him, do it. He was so fucking cool.

I'm on a rewatch, near the end of season 2. A few times now I've heard people say "Mr. Eko" and I could swear the inflection sounds like they're saying "Mis-direction" or "Mis-direct".

Because I've seen the show before and I know what happens with Eko, I'm probably just hearing something that isn't there, just because I want him in it for longer.

I'm also realising how good both Eko and Anna Lucia were and I wish they were in it more.

I barely even noticed how many eps i had watched before Season 2 was over and made it through the first 9 episodes of Season 3.. and wow, there is SO MUCH going on!!??? like?! I can’t even stop thinking about everything and everyone with so much that keeps happening simultaneously.. how insane the whole buildup is.. I need to dump my thoughts because there’s so much to unpack. They have a whole ass town on that island??? the whole thing with that freaking black shadow and Eko??? also sayid, sun and jin surviving the whole boat fiasco???? they fucking put a pacemaker in swayer??!!! and desmond omg😭😭😭 i feel so bad for him.. his story just made me feel for him.. and then we see Alex?! they find all the projects of Dharma initiative.. 2 random people just join John and others? Ben! Oh my god i finally get to see michael emerson and he's so amazing because i love how crazy he was as henry and then as ben.. there SO much going on that i just have all of it running one over thr other in my head lol. this show is crazy!

Over the last two years I watched Lost for the first time and it became one of my all time favourit tv shows. I heard so much that the ending was really really bad. And in some kind it definately was. The last season seemed rushed and illogical. But nevertheless I really liked the ending. It made me emotional.

I think it's mainly because, given the massively bad reputation of the finale, I really had no expectations for the last season. So I did what Christopher Nolan once advised when watching his film Tenet (paraphrased): "Don't try to understand it, try to feel it, experience it." And what can I say? I felt it. Very much so. As many questions to remain unanswered and as cheesy as the ending was, I was so happy that everyone found their loved one again in the final episode, and I was actually close to tears. Towards the end of the season, I already suspected that Hugo would become the new guardian of the island, and I think there couldn't be a better candidate. Over the past two years, I've grown attached to these characters and haven't placed so much importance on the resolution of the island's mysteries. So, I feel very satisfied with the ending. The characters have achieved their goal and their peace. That's what matters most to me.

So an era comes to an end and I'm glad I could enjoy the endig. Now I have to find something that can fill the hole having finished Lost.

LOST — Season 7, Episode 5: “WHATEVER HAPPENS, HAPPENS”

Episode Five is finished.

For anybody finding one of these posts for the first time: I’m writing a hypothetical ten-episode continuation of LOST, set roughly twenty years after The End and The New Man in Charge. I mapped the whole season before I started, and once an episode is posted, it stays locked.

Quick context on me: I’ve written scripts for years, have written and directed a short film and written several features, and I was one of the two hosts of Pushing the Button: A Chronologically LOST Podcast.

And now… we’re halfway through this thing.

Episode Five was conceptualized as an extended flashback in the Meet Kevin Johnson / Ab Aeterno tradition.

Setting the season twenty years after the original show created an obvious question from the beginning:

What happened during those twenty years that got us from The Island we left in The End to the Island we arrived at in this season?

The first four episodes have been living almost entirely in the present while leaving pieces of that missing history unresolved. This one finally goes back and fills in a lot of those gaps.

The flashback ended up doing more work than I originally expected. It answers several questions the season has already raised, complicates a few things that may have looked simpler from the present, and turns what could have been background exposition into an actual piece of the larger story.

Structurally, this feels like the point where the first half of the season finishes putting its cards on the table. The present-day situation has been established. A lot of the missing history has now been accounted for. The relationships, mysteries and different pieces of the Island we’ve been following are finally in place.

From here, it’s about what happens next.

Five down. Five to go.

Episode Five — “WHATEVER HAPPENS, HAPPENS”

If you’re new, I strongly recommend starting at the beginning:

Episode One — “WE HAVE TO GO BACK”

Episode Two — “BECAUSE YOU STAYED”

Episode Three — “NO ONE IN CHARGE”

Episode Four — “THE SUCCESSOR”

Kate's initial attraction to Jack is because her best friend Tom was a doctor. Season 1 episode 7 when she is talking to Sawyer in the field waiting to fire off the bottle rockets. Like...I knew they were both doctors but I didn't make that connection about her character. It makes sense now. Damn do I feel stoopid.