Episode Rankings: Lost

Lost is a messy and flawed show that has sparked a ton of debate over what parts of it are even good, but it's also a brilliantly ambitious series that contains some of the greatest and most iconic characters, moments, and episodes in all of television. Personally, while I found the final season to be a bit weak, I mostly really enjoyed Lost throughout and even like the finale, so I think everyone should watch Lost at one point to come to their own conclusions. Besides, Season 5 alone makes this series worth watching. Here's my ranking of the episodes:

1. The Incident: Part 2 (S5.17) - This is the greatest season finale of all time, it left me absolutely slack-jawed when I first saw it.
2. The Incident: Part 1 (S5.16)
3. Through The Looking Glass: Part 2 (S3.23) - How can there be so many iconic moments and lines in a single episode of TV?
4. The Constant (S4.05)
5. Through The Looking Glass: Part 1 (S3.22) 
6. Exodus: Part 3 (S1.25)
7. Live Together, Die Alone: Part 2 (S2.24)
8. Exodus: Part 1 (S1.23)
9. The Other 48 Days (S2.07)
10. There's No Place Like Home: Part 2 (S4.13)
11. The Brig (S3.19)
12. The End: Part 2 (S6.18) - I maintain no one understands this ending, it's actually really damn solid
13. 316 (S5.06)
14. Pilot: Part 1 (S1.01) - Best opening scene ever
15. Jughead (S5.03)
16. Deus Ex Machina (S1.19)
17. Exodus: Part 2 (S1.24)
18. Man Of Science, Man Of Faith (S2.01)
19. Walkabout (S1.04)
20. LA X (S6.01)
21. The Variable (S5.14)
22. Live Together, Die Alone: Part 1 (S2.23)
23. There's No Place Like Home: Part 3 (S4.14) - This finale was padded out, it did not need to be three parts
24. The Shape Of Things To Come (S4.09) - Michael Emerson is the best actor in the whole show
25. Do No Harm (S1.20)
26. Namaste (S5.09)
27. The End: Part 1 (S6.17)
28. Lockdown (S2.17)
29. Greatest Hits (S3.21)
30. There's No Place Like Home: Part 1 (S4.12)
31. The Beginning Of The End (S4.01) - Lost: Civil War
32. The Man From Tallahassee (S3.13)
33. Raised By Another (S1.10)
34. Follow The Leader (S5.15)
35. The Man Behind The Curtain (S3.20)
36. Whatever Happened, Happened (S5.11)
37. Collision (S2.08)
38. LA X: Part 2 (S6.02)
39. Numbers (S1.18)
40. Pilot: Part 2 (S1.02)
41. Not In Portland (S3.07) - Season 3's finally good!
42. This Place Is Death (S5.05)
43. Catch-22 (S3.17)
44. Outlaws (S1.16)
45. Three Minutes (S2.22)
46. All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (S1.11)
47. Because You Left (S5.01)
48. Confirmed Dead (S4.02)
49. What They Died For (S6.16)
50. Enter 77 (S3.11)
51. Maternity Leave (S2.15)
52. LaFleur (S5.08)
53. Two For The Road (S2.20)
54. Happily Ever After (S6.11)
55. The Long Con (S2.13)
56. I Do (S3.06)
57. One Of Us (S3.16)
58. Tabula Rasa (S1.03)
59. The Greater Good (S1.21)
60. Cabin Fever (S4.11)
61. Homecoming (S1.15)
62. Orientation (S2.03)
63. A Tale Of Two Cities (S3.01)
64. Dr Linus (S6.07)
65. He's Our You (S5.10)
66. Solitary (S1.09)
67. The Economist (S4.03)
68. The Whole Truth (S2.16)
69. White Rabbit (S1.05)
70. What Kate Did (S2.09)
71. Tricia Tanaka Is Dead (S3.10)
72. Dead Is Dead (S5.12) - Huh, these two episodes together make a pretty funny sentence
73. Ji Yeon (S4.07)
74. Flashes Before Your Eyes (S3.08)
75. The Little Prince (S5.04)
76. DOC (S3.18)
77. ? (S2.21)
78. Everybody Loves Hugo (S6.12)
79. The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham (S5.07)
80. Abandoned (S2.06)
81. In Translation (S1.17)
82. Confidence Man (S1.08)
83. The Substitute (S6.04)
84. Par Avion (S3.12)
85. Sundown (S6.06)
86. Meet Kevin Johnson (S4.08)
87. The Lie (S5.02)
88. One Of Them (S2.14)
89. Left Behind (S3.15)
90. Adrift (S2.02) - "WAAAAAAAAAALT!!!"
91. House Of The Rising Sun (S1.06)
92. The Last Recruit (S6.13)
93. Every Man For Himself (S3.04)
94. Special (S1.14)
95. Eggtown (S4.04)
96. The Package (S6.10)
97. The 23rd Psalm (S2.10)
98. Whatever The Case May Be (S1.12)
99. The Glass Ballerina (S3.02)
100. SOS (S2.19)
101. Born To Run (S1.22)
102. What Kate Does (S6.03)
103. Something Nice Back Home (S4.10)
104. Some Like It Hoth (S5.13)
105. Everybody Hates Hugo (S2.04)
106. The Cost Of Living (S3.05)
107. The Moth (S1.07)
108. The Other Woman (S4.06)
109. Exposé (S3.14)
110. The Hunting Party (S2.11)
111. Recon (S6.08)
112. Further Instructions (S3.03)
113. And Found (S2.05) - This should've been the name of the finale.
114. Hearts And Minds (S1.13)
115. Lighthouse (S6.15)
116. Dave (S2.18)
117. The Candidate (S6.14) - I will never not be pissed off at this episode.
118. Ab Aeterno (S6.09) - Booooooooooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg...
119. Stranger In A Strange Land (S3.09)
120. Across The Sea (S6.15) - Even more booooooooooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg...
121. Fire And Water (S2.12)

Lost (Season 6)

Look, anything would've had a hard time following up Lost's amazing fifth season, but Season 6 is a pretty massive step down for me. It was a departure from the last two seasons in terms of tone and pacing, but when it wasn't downright frustrating, it was utterly boring. At least the finale was good, though.

I loved The Incident, it's my favorite season finale ever, but man, does it not get followed up on very well at all. Let's talk about that episode's two cliffhangers and how the potential they established were ultimately squandered in Season 6. First, there's the reveal that Locke is actually Jacob's nemesis, the Man In Black, who proceeds to then kill him. It's implied that the Man In Black is going to be this big new terrifying force to be reckoned with, and that the islanders are going to have to team up and take him down, but what actually happens is a bit less exciting. Granted, the actual final battle with the Man In Black in the last two episodes is really fun and probably the highlight of the season, but much of Season 6 is spent watching the Man In Black wander around the island preparing to enact his plan, which is simply just to escape the island, which would in turn destroy the world. He's still a cruel villain, for sure, since he needs to kill a lot of the cast to escape, but he's still nowhere near the tyrant that I was kind of hoping for. Even more, his appearance ends up shafting Charles Widmore, who is still probably an even more menacing villain due to only being motivated by greed.

And then there's the hydrogen bomb detonating in the Season 5 finale, which initially seems to have created a sideways timeline where the island never existed and the cast lived normal lives. That was such an awesome decision, I absolutely loved seeing the flash sideways sequences and how all of the characters would have turned out if the events of the show never happened. But, because there's always a but with this season, as the season progresses, I started to feel disconnected from these sequences, mostly because they never reveal what you're looking at until the series finale. Sure, the flash sideways sequences were cool, but if you didn't know if they were real, how could you get invested in what's going on? Eventually, you learn that the flash sideways was actually the afterlife, which is a solid reveal, though now it comes at the cost of the hydrogen bomb having not really done anything.

There's a lot more issues with Season 6, though, such as the fact that it adds a lot of mysticism and religious theming to the series, which frankly felt a bit jarring. On the "Man Of Science" to "Man Of Faith", Lost has been firmly on the side of science for the past few seasons, so suddenly introducing stuff like godlike figures, mystical temples, and the afterlife felt completely out of left field to me. Not to mention the exhausting loredumb episodes (Ab Aeterno and Across The Sea) that were filled to the brim with hollow religious symbolism, I couldn't help but miss the science-fiction elements that I loved so much about Season 5. Actually, let's get back to that temple for a second, because there's another thing I don't like about Season 6, which is what it puts the main cast through. Much of this season has the cast spend time meandering about in a hidden temple (that of course eventually gets destroyed), and it's so dull. You'd think that once the temple gets destroyed, the season would get better, and that's kind of true. Some of the best episodes in Season 6 do take place in its second half, but we also get the aforementioned loredump episodes as well as The Candidate, where Jin and Sun die in a hollow attempt at shock value that completely forgets that they're supposed to have a kid.

Highlights: 

LA X: It pains me that this season dropped off as much as it did because I really liked the premiere, especially the first half. Aside from introducing the Flash Sideways and misleading the audience into thinking the hydrogen bomb actually accomplished something, it spent much of its runtime dealing with Juliet's death, making for a much more personal episode compared to the rest of the season.

The End: I feel like my opinions on series finales can be a bit against the grain at times. I really like the gutsy and controversial finales (Angel, The Sopranos, Evangelion), so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I love the Lost finale. Even more, I think that much of the hatred for it stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually happens. Because the whole show did happen. The island isn't fake, and the characters were never dead the whole time. The ending explicitly states that the parallel timeline is the afterlife, and is supposed to be a happy ending where the characters finally reunite after all their hardships once they die in their own time. Once again, this finale does not render the events of the show null, and it doesn't make the action-packed and dramatic final battle with the Man In Black any less fun. Sure not every mystery is answered, but given how much of a drag this season's loredumps were, the decision to focus primarily on giving the characters a happy ending was perfect. 

Overall, Season 6 of Lost is not very good, a huge step down from the prior five seasons due to its weak villain, slow meandering pace, boring loredump episodes, one of the most frustrating death scenes I've ever watched, and a general wasting of the plot points introduced in last season's finale. This would be an easy 1/5 stars if I didn't love the finale as much as I did. 

2/5 Stars

My ranking of the Lost seasons is:

5 > 1 > 4 > 3 > 2 > 6

My ranking of the Lost finales is:

5 > 3 > 1 > 2 > 6 > 4

Favorite Episode: The Incident

Lost (Season 5)

Oh, I am excited to review this season. Season 5 of Lost isn't just the best season of the show, it's one of my personal favorite seasons of any show and one of the all-time greatest time travel stories, period. It's nonstop, high-octane, plot twisty fun and ends with the greatest season finale ever created, bar none. I can't even begin to express just how much I love this season.

Season 5 of Lost is pretty much split into two halves, the first half being Episodes 1-7 and the second half being Episodes 8-17. The first half of Season 5 is split between the island shenanigans and the non-island shenanigans. On the island, Ben's decision to move the island has started to cause the characters to randomly hop back and forth across time ala The Constant, which ends up putting them all into a whole slew of dangerous situations. I really like this storyline because not only does it give this season an incredibly brisk pace, but it lets us and the islanders learn more about the history of the island first-hand in episodes such as Jughead. Meanwhile, I also really like the storyline that takes place outside the island, as the Oceanic Six slowly realizes that they do in fact need to go back and try to figure out how to return to the island. This whole storyline was a hook set up all the way back in the Season 3 finale, and it definitely lived up to the hype.

But where Season 5 really starts to get good is in its second half, where the cast starts to settle in with the DHARMA Initiative in 1977. Everything I said about the island's lore in the first half is almost doubled here, as the DHARMA Initiative being responsible for much of the series' events means that we get so many answers throughout this part of the season. It's fun to see the cast have to adapt to an unfamiliar situation at an unfamiliar time, particular Miles whose father works at the Initiative. And then there's the moment where the characters starts to wonder, if they're in 1977, what if they could find a way to prevent themselves from landing on the island in the first place. This storyline could very much go in the realm of time travel paradoxes, but Faraday establishes pretty early on that "whatever happened, happened". The characters can't change fate, which makes for a surprisingly airtight season and leads to a lot of drama as much of the cast tries to prove Faraday wrong. It all leads to a stunning season finale that actually brings the whole series full circle, as we learn that the main cast caused the Incident that caused them to crash into the island in the first place. Oh yeah, and I didn't even bring up the subplot where Locke and Ben try to finally meet the mysterious Jacob for the first time. Seriously, this season is so damn good.

Highlights:

Jughead: As far as the time jumping adventures in the first half of the season go, Jughead was the most memorable of the bunch. The whole hydrogen bomb conflict with Faraday's team is incredibly tense and exciting, but it also sets the stage for the final stretch of the season. In addition, Desmond gets his first focal episode since The Constant, we meet a young Widmore, and the ending cliffhanger is one of the most painful in the whole series. All around a really great episode.

316: 316 is about the Oceanic Six trying to get back to the island, and it almost plays out like a heist in some aspects. The whole episode involves the Oceanic Six making their plan to recreate the crash and executing the plan, and it's all just a ton of fun.

Namaste: After such a long stretch of time, the Oceanic Six and much of the other islanders finally reunite at the DHARMA station, and it just makes for a really satisfying episode. The previous episode LaFleur really just went over how Sawyer's team settled into the station, but Namaste starts to kick the plot into second gear as Sun learns where Jin is, Jack spots Sayid and has to hide him from DHARMA, and young Ben Linus shows up.

The Variable: Befitting the 100th episode, The Variable is a pretty massive turning point in the season, involving Daniel arriving to warn the group about "The Incident" and instructing them to detonate the hydrogen bomb and destroy the island, only to die at his (young) mother's hands. It's a sad farewell to the character that introduces the final conflict of Season 5 and parallels the excellent The Constant in many ways.

The Incident: This is my favorite season finale of all time, it's just non-stop action, excitement, and twists, and I actually think it could have been a fantastic series finale as well. As mentioned earlier on, the cast trying to blow up the island only to cause the Incident is a great twist, and the Incident itself absolutely lives up to its catastrophic description, with no one (especially not Juliet) making it unscathed. Meanwhile, we meet Jacob and learn just how much he's impacted the cast outside the island, Locke is revealed to still be dead with his replacement being Jacob's rival, and Jacob himself is killed by Ben. And then there's the fact that the finale ends with Juliet detonating the nuclear bomb potentially destroying the entire premise of the show. While I have my gripes with how Season 6 follows up on these plot threads (a bit of a common theme here), The Incident itself is a phenomenal episode of television. It's tense, exciting, and brings the series full circle in so many ways. Even with its many cliffhangers, this finale is so inherently satisfying that I would be perfectly fine if the series ended with the bomb being detonated, leaving all of the viewers wondering if it would have actually worked.

As much as I like Lost, even I'll admit it's a pretty messy series. But Season 5? Season 5 of Lost is damn near perfect. It's perfectly paced, constantly exciting, incredibly creative, plot twisty as hell, and boasts one of my favorite depictions of time travel that's surprisingly lacking in paradoxes. 

5/5 Stars

Lost (Season 4)

Season 3 was the point where the crew behind Lost decided that they wanted to stop meandering and start working to a conclusion. And they definitely lived up to their promise, Season 4 is easily the tightest season so far, crammed to the brim with plot points. However, not all of those plot points end up working all the best.

There is a lot to Season 4 of Lost, and it's hard to really sum it up like I would a normal season. Season 4 starts with the arrival of a freighter called the Kihana, introducing a pretty solid mystery about the people on said freighter and whether or not they want to rescue the islanders, kill them, or have other goals entirely. The Kihana crew kinda just feels like a better version of the Tailies from Season 2, who I already really liked. There are a lot of new characters introduced this season because of the freighter, but they all get a lot of screentime and development, with some even surviving to appear in future seasons. The other big mystery in Season 4 takes place in the flashforwards, as we're now encouraged to watch them to try and figure out who ends up leaving the island. It's a welcome breath of fresh air after the rote flashbacks, even if the show ends up repeating information we already know as the two timelines get closer and closer together. Season 4 just feels propulsive in a way previous seasons of Lost didn't. It has its mysteries that it resolves by the end of the season, but it also really pushes the story forward and even shows certain members of the cast escaping the island. Add in some great subplots about hinting at time travel, the islanders being fractured, and all the drama Ben has to deal with and you have a season with a lot of amazing stuff going for it.

However, Season 4 also has a lot of plot points I'm really not the biggest fan of, and it ends up leading to a season that, while a definite improvement over the last two, still ends up feeling pretty uneven. For example, Michael returns having somehow made it onto the freighter, and he's still not great. He isn't as annoying as in Season 2, thankfully, but we still get an entire flashback episode about how he got onto the freighter and I just couldn't give a shit. And as mentioned above, I do think the flashforwards did end up getting a bit redundant, especially near the end. Most of the third part of the finale showed the Oceanic Six (the escaped islanders) arriving home and trying to adjust to their return but pretty much all of this stuff was either shown or are easily inferred using hints from the previous flashforwards. While Season 4 is generally a better-written season than the last two, I still think it has Lost's biggest flaw, which is over-explaining stuff that didn't need to be explained (remember Jack's tattoo). My last criticism with the season isn't really the writers' faults, but the season got shortened from 18 episodes to 14 due to the Writer's Strike and you can really tell. Lost is a super dense show with a lot of storylines and plot points at a time, and while 18 episodes may have been a great way to remove any fluff, removing even more episodes just made the season feel a bit overstuffed and messy.

Highlights:

The Beginning Of The End: It's really impressive that Lost managed to follow up the powerhouse finale that was Through The Looking Glass with such an equally fast-paced and exciting premiere. With the appearance of the freighter, the islanders spend much of the episode arguing over what to do only to end up essentially splitting up in half. It's a great sequence that feels more impactful knowing how the cast mostly stays fractured for the rest of the show.

The Constant: The Constant is generally considered to be one of the greatest episodes in TV history, so there isn't too much I can really say about it that hasn't already been said. There's the fact that it simultaneously works as a standalone episode as well as an important episode in terms of mythology with its time travel elements, there's the way it elevates the already great Desmond into being the best character of the show, and of course, there's that beautiful phone call scene. The Constant works perfectly as a time travel romance story, and is immensely satisfying and well-crafted.

The Shape Of Things To Come: Michael Emerson is an amazing actor. Like I obviously know that now, with Person Of Interest being one of my favorite shows ever, but Ben Linus was the first role I saw him in. The whole sequence where Keamy storms the Barracks is shocking and tense, but Alex's death in particular was so ridiculously intense thanks to just how well Emerson conveyed Ben's desperation. It's point where Ben really became one of my favorite characters in the show. 

There's No Place Like Home: Despite my gripes with the third part, I still like Season 4's ending. Even the weakest finale for a Lost season is still pretty damn great and cinematic. Between the Oceanic Six finally escaping the island, the freighter exploding, the island disappearing, the reveal of time travel, Sawyer staying behind, and that whole dead Locke cliffhanger, this finale is an absolute cavalcade of memorable moments, shocking twists, and crazy cliffhangers.

Overall, I think Season 4 is a vast improvement on the last two seasons in a lot of ways. I focuses around two compelling mysteries, introduces a bunch of great new characters, and tightens up the pacing a lot. However, it also feels a bit overstuffed and continues Lost's big flaw of over-explaining everything.

4/5 Stars

Lost (Season 3)

While I enjoyed Season 2, it's definitely not hard to feel like Lost was starting to drop in quality a bit. Season 3 is where the writers started to figure out how to bring the show back to its former glory, though not without making a bad first impression. 

Season 3 of Lost is pretty infamous for a few things, but primarily its very bad first half. After Season 2 ended with the main trio of the show getting captured by the Others, the first six episodes of Season 3 revolve around them in capture, and it's so boring. There is no sign of progress or plot progression throughout any of these first few episodes, nothing changes. Ben, a character I otherwise love, is at his most boring and generic. The same applies to the newly introduced Juliet, who also gets her more interesting material later on in the show. The season starts to look up once Jack, Kate, and Sawyer escape captivity, but there were still plenty of bad episodes (Stranger In A Strange Land) and the show just couldn't shake that rough first impression. As for the rest of the cast, they spend much of Season 3's first half floundering around on the island. Eko, the last of the tail section, is abruptly killed. And the show introduces Nikki and Paulo, two characters so obnoxious and despised that they also end up getting abruptly killed off not too far into the season.

Thankfully, Season 3 does start to get better over time, probably because the crew decided to set a date for the show to end, forcing them to start answering the many questions they've been setting up. The flashbacks started to feel purposeful again (no more dumb tattoos stuff), and the pacing was kicked up to eleven with the final half of the season being composed of plot twist after plot twist after plot twist. The Others started to feel like more active antagonists, the subplot about Locke's father was some of the most emotionally affecting material in the show so far, and of course, there's everything around the buildup to Charlie's death. It all culminates in one of the greatest and most iconic season finales in television history, which paid off everything from the past three seasons pretty much perfectly. But that all just begs the question of what we're supposed to make of Season 3 as a whole. This entire season was just the writers figuring out how to solve the several issues with the show, and while Lost came out the other side better than ever, what resulted doesn't really feel like a cohesive season of television. 

Still, once Season 3 got good, it got really good:

The Man From Tallahasee: I think for a lot of people this is the point where Season 3 really started to kick into high gear. It's probably the most fascinating and interesting Locke episode since Walkabout as we learn about how he became a paraplegic, and the big twist that reveals his father is on the island is just great.

The Brig: This is one of my favorite episodes of Lost just for how raw and intense it is. Much of The Brig takes place in the titular brig as Locke and Sawyer confront their father, tying the two's stories together and leading to some really heartwrenching moments. Sawyer killing Locke's father in particular is a moment I will always remember. 

Greatest Hits: I like how low-key this penultimate episode, pretty much entirely being about Charlie coming to terms with the fact that he's probably going to die. It lays the groundwork for the finale but does so in a very powerful way.

Through The Looking Glass: I don't think I need to say just how phenomenal this season finale is, Through The Looking Glass is packed, exciting, and damn near perfect. I could talk about the crazy "Not Penny's Boat" twist, or Charlie's sad death, or Locke's big face-heel turn, or the Others getting almost completely slaughtered, but there's really just one scene that deserves all the attention: That legendary and iconic flashforward reveal, the scene that launched Lost into becoming one of the biggest TV shows ever.

Overall, Season 3 of Lost is just weird. It starts with the show at its absolute worst, dragging out boring storylines, wasting characters, and unnecessary flashbacks. However, throughout the season, it feels like the writers slowly start to figure out what they need to improve on, leading to an absolutely fantastic second half. What results is a season that feels incredibly uneven and disjointed, but I think it's a necessary step towards two of the greatest seasons in the whole show.

First half: 2/5 Stars

Second half: 5/5 Stars

3.5/5 Stars

Lost (Season 2)

Season 2 of Lost is a bit of a mixed-bag compared to its predecessor. It's definitely more plot-focused and has a lot more going on, but not all of its storylines are necessarily all that great.

The main storyline of Lost's second season involves the Hatch, and it's probably the best thing about the season. The premiere alone reveals that the hatch is a research station for the "Dharma Initiative" and that there was a person named Desmond inside the whole time, both of which are elements of the show I love. The Dharma Initiative is one of the most important things in Lost, boasting fascinating lore and singularly being an answer to many of the series' biggest questions. And Desmond is easily one of my favorite characters of the show. He seems a bit loopy at first but he's definitely the most genuine member of the cast, and his storyline of wanting to leave the island to reunite with the love of his life Penny leads to some of the most emotionally affecting moments of the show. The most compelling mystery of this season also deals with the Hatch, being about a ticking time clock that needs to be maintained or else "something horrible that happened". There's a great sense of tension in wanting to learn what the clock does but not wanting to risk something awful happening to the characters, and there are several great bait-and-switches to keep viewers on their toes.

The rest of the season is a bit more mixed, however, with some good plotlines and some very weak ones. A few episodes into the season we learn that there were some other survivors from the tail end of the plane that no one knew about, revealing that Locke misheard that recording in Deus Ex Machina. I really like the tail section, particularly the leader Ana Lucia, though I kinda wish they got a bit more development and weren't all killed off so soon. The storyline I don't like, however, is Michael's search for his son Walt who got kidnapped in the Season 1 finale. Don't get me wrong, that twist was great, but my god is Michael so annoying this season. His constant screams for Walt, anger towards the other characters, and incredibly rash decisions make for one of the most insufferable TV characters I've ever seen. It wasn't all bad though, this storyline did let us learn more about the mysterious Others, particular their leader Ben Linus, who eventually becomes one of the show's best characters. As for the flashbacks, they're definitely not as good this time around. Now that we don't have the novelty of learning about the characters, it's starting to feel like the flashbacks are there just because it's what Lost is known for. At worst, we get Fire And Water, which is probably the worst episode of the whole show and serves no purpose other than restating that Charlie has drug problems, something we very much already know.

Even being a worse season than its predecessor, Season 2 of Lost still has its high points:

Man Of Science, Man Of Faith: Lost really does have some of the best opening scenes, that shot taking you through the hatch and subtly revealing Desmond's existence is such a sly and clever way to reveal what's inside. I also like the title of the episode, being based on the many engaging ideological arguments Jack and Locke have throughout the episode. Also, I really like that Michael isn't in this episode, that's always a win in my book.

The Other 48 Days: I wasn't quite sold by the tail section at first (probably because they started off interacting with Michael), but I grew to really care about them through the course of this fantastic flashback episode. I love how it goes through pretty much the entire show from the tail section's perspective, and it does a great job of fleshing out Ana Lucia as she struggles to be the leader.

Lockdown: This was a pretty big turning point in the season's progression, with Locke contemplating letting the clock run out only to back out. Still, we do end up learning about the several other Dharma stations just like this one as well as the fact that "Henry" is an imposter. We eventually learn Henry is actually Ben Linus, and I already explained how much I love this guy.

Live Together, Die Alone: While not as good or lengthy as Exodus, this finale was an absolute anxiety attack of an episode, especially Part 2. From the hatch completely falling apart, several presumed character deaths, the Others capturing much of the main cast, and an even better and bigger cliffhanger than that of the last season, this finale left me gasping for breath for much of its runtime.

Overall, Season 2 is a mixed-bag of good and bad plot points. On one hand, I love the stuff regarding the Hatch and Dharma Initiative, Ben and Desmond are great new characters, and I love the tail section survivors. On the other hand, the flashbacks are starting to get dull, Michael is ridiculously annoying, and the tail section was wasted. Season 2 of Lost tries to do a lot more, but as a result is much more uneven than its predecessor.

3/5 Stars

Lost (Season 1)

Lost is one of the biggest shows of all time, with such a massive reach in television pop culture. However, it's also one of the most divisive, as the sheer mention of the show is enough to spark furious debate. Did Lost start good and slowly get worse? Did it improve near the end? When did Lost drop in quality? Was the final episode satisfying? Is the show even good to begin with? Personally, I think Lost is a fantastic show from start to finish, but I do agree that the first season is one of its finest.

Lost starts with a plane crashing onto a remote island, leaving 48 survivors. While the survivors have to try to live on the island and find a way to escape, they also have to figure the many mysteries this island has, from a terrifying smoke monster, to polar bears scattered all over the place, to a mysterious hatch that can't be opened. These mysteries are what really captured audiences when the show was airing, everyone was clamoring to learn more about the island. Personally, that was never what I loved about the series, but this first season generally does a really fantastic job of slowly layering on questions and mysteries and managing to keep that sense of suspense going throughout the course of the season, culminating in a stellar finale that answers a whole bunch of questions. As far as sheer plot progression goes, however, this season of Lost is definitely a lot slower-paced than the rest of the series. There aren't nearly as many stunning twists or moments as there are in the rest of the show, but that's because Season 1 has its own priorities.

I feel like a common theme in my reviews of Lost is the fact that the series is more about the characters than it is about the actual mysteries, which is a big part of why I think the finale is so good, though I'll get there. Season 1 spends a lot of time going over the characters' backstories through the usage of flashbacks. I've never been a fan of when shows liberally use flashbacks and the same applies to Lost, but I maintain that Season 1 has the best flashbacks in the series as they effectively teach the viewer about the characters and who they were before they crash-landed on the island. I think this was a fantastic move, even if it means this season doesn't progress much of the show's overall plot. With such a massive cast, Season 1 tries its damn hardest that you care about characters like Sawyer, Locke, Jin and Sun, Hurley, and Sayid. And with the bulk of this season's episodes focus entirely on fleshing out a single character, we get some of their defining moments in this very season. I will say, however, that the best flashbacks in the season end up being the ones in episodes like Walkabout and Numbers that manage to tie character development together with the mysteries of the island, and I'll admit the season could use a little more of those.

While the highs aren't as high as other seasons, Season 1 of Lost does have several especially fantastic episodes:

Pilot: I think one thing people can agree on with this show is that it has one of the greatest pilot episodes of all time, even more I think most can it agree it has the best opening scene of any TV show to date. The start of Lost's pilot is ten minutes straight of non-stop terror and action, efficiently establishing all of the characters as well as twenty different island mysteries while still being fast-paced and action-packed. It's J J Abrams' best work and a sequence so good the rest of the episode can't quite reach that high.

Walkabout: It's hard to believe the show got things so right so early on but Walkabout has the best flashbacks in the series and nothing was able to top it for the rest of its runtime. The story of Locke being paralyzed was already pretty compelling, but when you couple that with the big twist that he can walk again on the island as well as that heartbreaking ending where Locke learns he can't go on the Walkabout and you get a truly phenomenal episode.

Raised By Another: After a first half almost entirely comprised of character-centric episodes, Raised By Another is the point where the plot starts to kick up a notch. The majority of this episode was focused entirely on Claire, but the big twist that Ethan wasn't on the plane culminating in a big cliffhanger did a great job of ramping the tension up a notch. 

Deus Ex Machina: This was another big plot-centric episode for Lost, with an especially chaotic ending. First, there's the reveal that there weren't any other survivors on the flight. Then, there's Boone getting seriously injured. But best of all was that very memorable shot of light coming out of the hatch. What I especially loved about Deus Ex Machina however is how it's aged coming off of a pretty big reveal in Season 2, which left me wondering if the writers planned that part out from the start.

Do No Harm: Coming directly after the last episode, Do No Harm is easily the saddest Lost episode since Walkabout. I never really cared about Boone but his death was incredibly tragic, especially being juxtaposed against the Claire's long-awaited birth.

Exodus: Lost is well-known for having massive, movie-length and generally fantastic season finales as Exodus is no exception. After this whole season's build-up, this three-part finale is filled with payoffs, cliffhangers, and stunning twists. I love the first part which is filled with character work as the cast prepares to launch the raft, but of course the best stretch of the episode is Part 3, which has the big twist that the Others wanted Walt as well as the opening of the hatch.

Overall, Lost's first season doesn't progress the plot much and it can't quite reach the same heights as other seasons, but it does a fantastic job of setting the stage for the series to come by focusing on fleshing out the characters, while efficiently establishing a ton of intriguing mysteries to keep viewers hooked. Lost will have a lot of highs and lows from here on out, but this is hands down the most assured and consistently solid season of the bunch.

4/5 Stars