Readers of /Film, we must return! We now return to the mysterious island home to research facilities, smoke monsters, “Hurley!”-crying birds, weird whispers, and paralysing electromagnetic fields. Even though “Lost” had its television debut almost two decades ago, it had a lasting influence, influencing a wide range of mystery series, from ABC’s “Flashforward” to Epix’s “From.” The ABC programme whetted the public’s thirst for mystery-driven, serialised narrative. Additionally, “Lost” helped several people involved, like “Watchmen” showrunner Damon Lindelof, establish their careers.
It’s amazing to see where “Lost” started and how its twists changed characters’ lives permanently looking back on the show. While the show’s characters were its throbbing heart, it could occasionally meander, irritating viewers with more questions than solutions. Let’s travel down memory lane and catch up with some old pals. Turn on Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” join us as we board Ajira Airways Flight 316, and return to one of the most well-known mystery-box-styled productions ever. With the benefit of hindsight, we rate all six seasons in this article.
6. Season 4
The first several seasons of “Lost” were broadcast during a time when a network television drama would typically include 22 (or more) episodes every season. The seasons of the show were cut in half midway through its existence. The fourth season is the first to have less episodes. Season 4’s timeline is narrower rather than being more condensed. The on-Island storyline follows the gang as they attempt to ultimately leave the island over the course of several days. The issue with this configuration, though, is that we already know they work. We witnessed several characters going back to civilisation in the season 3 finale. Sadly, this results in season 4 seeming like it spends a lot of time spinning its wheels while revealing who escapes and how.
Flash-forwards take place off-Island and show the Oceanic Six struggling to go back to the Island. Naturally, that means the season’s plot feels circular and useless as a whole. Tensions in Season 4 are never as acute or obvious as they were in earlier seasons. Should we support their escape by cheering them on? Or are we awaiting word on their return’s necessity? Is Jack (Matthew Fox) seriously in error? Should we be fearful of their return?
It’s important to remember that this season of “Lost” has (perhaps) the best episode, “The Constant.” The phone talk between Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) and Penny (Sonya Walger) on Christmas Eve 2004 is certain to make you cry: Almost enough has happened in this episode for us to move the entire season up a point in our ranking.
5. Season 5
Season 3’s freighter-centered plotline is abandoned in season 5 of “Lost.” Season 5 of “Lost” has time travel as a result of the frozen donkey wheel “moving” the Island. Season 5 is affected in both favourable and unfavourable ways by this decision. It gives Sawyer Ford (Josh Holloway) and Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) more room to develop their romance into one of the show’s most cherished pairings in the 1977 timeline. The programme can also delve deeper into the history of the Dharma Initiative by detailing how the research stations contributed to the study of the Island’s mystical qualities. These discoveries are satisfying all around. Ben’s father, Roger Linus (Jon Gries), whose body Hurley (Jorge Garcia) discovered in a vehicle in season 3, is ultimately given further information.
Season 5 is more confusing than Season 4 due to time travel, though. Fans of “Lost” anticipate solving riddles at this stage in the show’s run. However, “Lost” becomes excessively complicated due to the season’s switch between the 1970s, the mid-2000s, and flash-forwards that depict the Oceanic Six returning to the Island, not to mention its use of flashbacks and flash-forwards to determine who killed Locke (Terry O’Quinn). The exquisite use of flashbacks in the early seasons of “Lost” is a smart strategy for expanding our comprehension of the characters. However, in Season 5, deciphering the show’s plot feels like homework.
4. Season 3
Let’s clear this up right away: Some of “Lost’s” weakest episodes are in Season 3. This season features the episode “Par Avion,” in which Claire (Emilie de Ravin) believes that attaching letters to the legs of seagulls will bring about everyone’s rescue. Nobody alerts her to the possibility that the birds will eventually land on water, damaging the paper. A disappointing episode 9 promo from season 3 promised audiences they would finally learn the solutions to “three of ‘Lost’s’ major mysteries.” Fans only saw flashbacks that explained Jack’s tattoos in episode 9, though. Additionally, this is the season of “Expos,” an episode that centres on (and kills off) the divisive new characters Paulo and Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) (Rodrigo Santoro). (Oh my God, they were awful!)
But as the cast of “Lost” season 3 grows, so does our affection for them. Juliet, a beloved and intensely sympathetic member of the enigmatic Others, is also introduced in Season 3. Without her, “Lost” wouldn’t be the same. In season 3, we also get two superb Desmond-centered episodes, including “Flashes Before Your Eyes.” One of the best friendships on the programme emerges as the season goes on between Desmond and Charlie (Dominic Monaghan).
Without mentioning the season 3 finale, “Through the Looking Glass,” one of the best in a show full of excellent ones, we would be negligent. Who can forget “Not Penny’s Boat” or the excitement of hearing Jack’s agonising, show-defining yell, “We have to go back!” for the first time?
3. Season 6
Even though a few of the show’s problems are left unanswered and the “strange light in a cave” reveal is unsatisfying, “Lost” season 6 takes the story to an emotionally satisfactory conclusion after a number of structurally confused seasons. The season’s “flash-sideways” technique, which places the protagonists in an other reality where they never boarded Oceanic Flight 815, works well in this instance. We observe the off-Island Losties connect with one another for the majority of the season as though it were fate. In this regard, it is reminiscent of the allure of the crisscrossing flashbacks from earlier seasons: This bold decision merits praise for keeping the show’s structure interesting.
The “Lost” characters matter more than the show’s “mysteries,” as the series finale’s revelation that there is an afterlife demonstrates. People entered each other’s lives and radically changed them. It was a terrifying voyage, and they needed one another. The conclusion expertly reworks the beginning of the show. Jack returns to the forest and lies down where he was in the pilot as he sees his friends depart the island, hopefully for the last time. Vincent’s dog rolls up by his side this time. Jack, after all, doesn’t perish alone, contrary to what he frequently feared during the course of the episode.
2. Season 1
One of the most captivating debut seasons in television history was “Lostfirst “‘s season. The most costly premiere episode(s) in television history at the time was “Pilot,” a two-part, killer episode. Its scenes depicting the aftermath of the plane disaster are actually terrifying. Every dollar is on screen. Additionally, the vast ensemble cast adds to the appeal of the film. The most famous actor on the show at the time was Dominic Monaghan, who had just played Merry in the critically acclaimed “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy. In addition to the appearance of well-known actors like Matthew Fox and Terry O’Quinn, “Lost” made up-and-comers Ian Somerhalder and Evangeline Lilly into breakout stars. The first few episodes of “Lost” introduce us to the main characters and give us a general idea of their circumstances. The show swiftly establishes an engaging plot in its flashbacks to life before the island.
The mysteries are the next. In season 1, a lot of what made “Lost” so popular is on show, including a creature, the discovery that many characters were connected prior, and a string of numbers that keep appearing. The enigmatic hatch buried in the bush, though, was the most alluring mystery of them all and the one that would go on to define the show. Setting the stage and preparing the audience for the adventure to come takes up a lot of Season 1.
1. Season 2
The second season of “Lost” continues to feature more of the characters we’ve grown to know and love while also deepening the show’s enigmatic features and adding now-classic history. Desmond, a character who will have such enormous impact on the show that it’s surreal to think he wasn’t always there, is ultimately shown to be inside the hatch from season one in the opening minutes of this season of “Lost.” Additionally, we get to meet the smoke monster in this second season. Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) is introduced, and the Dharma Initiative’s past starts to take shape. It’s a lesson in how to continue a television series after a lauded debut season.
Consider the arrival of the survivors from the tail portion. Their survival provides the answer to a season 1 mystery regarding the identity of the person Boone (Ian Somerhalder) overheard speaking on the walkie-talkie. With the addition of new characters like Michelle Rodriguez’s Ana Lucia in Season 2, the cast is refreshed. Of course, the introduction of new individuals strains the group’s already strained bonds, even leading to Shannon’s demise (Maggie Grace). What makes “Lost” so great is how these exciting new relationships twist the enigma to reveal who it will touch. Season 2 will keep us interested if Season 1 didn’t.
