"Pilot, Part 1 and Part 2" and
"Walkabout"
They go hand-in-hand. The pilot episodes introduced us to The Island, to Jack and to the Smoke Monster (though many thought it was just a polar bear at that point). We open up on injuries and Doctor Jack Shephard saving people (but counting to 5 first). In "Walkabout" we have The Island in a whole new way: the mystical side. We have John Locke and a powerful flashback juxtaposed to his Island life (one of the best uses of this to date). John Locke's sudden ability to walk upped the stakes on this show: we weren't in Kansas (or Gilligan's Island) anymore. Before we ever had the Man of Science vs. Man of Faith argument, we had these two episodes pitting both sides of LOST against each other. The soundbite of the entire first season was spoken in the Pilot when Charlie asks "guys...where are we?" It's a question we've been trying to answer since that point. Jay says about the pilot: "totally over the top by pilot standards. Set the stage for everything. The writers even worked in some stuff that is still relevant today (Locke playing backgammon with Walt, for example)."
"Man of Science, Man of Faith" and "Orientation"
We all wanted to know what was down the hatch at the end of Season 1 (and the finale "Exodus", gets a special mention as a best episode), and here we found out a lot more about it. We got introduced to one of our greatest battles on LOST between Locke and Jack, we got to meet Desmond and the Dharma Initiative, and we learned about the button (and those cursed numbers!). We are also introduced to Pierre Chang and the relationship of Locke and Helen. If Charlie's line summed up Season 1, Locke's line of "we're going to need to watch that again" sums up Season 2. (Really, anyone who has LOST needs to see it twice). We also have Jin, Sawyer and Michael taken prisoner which opens us up for our meeting with The Tailies. Looking back on it, Season 2 was so strong that this list will not include "Abandoned" (of which Stacey says "Abandoned was great because Shannon is FINALLY out of the picture. I couldn't stomach her and the way Sayid loved her. His heart belongs to Nadia and no one else."), "The Other 48 Days" (the story of the Tailies), "One of Them" (the episode where we meet Henry Gale AKA Benjamin Linus and Sayid's torturing ways), "Lockdown" (Benry's ultimate mindfuck of Locke), "Two for the Road" (where Michael shoots Libby and Ana Lucia), or "Live Together, Die Alone" (where we learn more about Desmond and have him turn the failsafe--letting us know that they do, in fact, exist when a group in Siberia picks their signal up--but not before we see the 4-toed statue). It was probably one of the best seasons to date.
"A Tale of Two Cities" and "I Do" (the Island version)
"A Tale of Two Cities" opens up with Juliet, New Otherton (which was not as shabby as previously thought), and the plane breaking apart in the sky (an amazing visual). We have "The Others" and some real problems with Jack and his daddy issues, his inability to let go, and how Jack was the one who knocked his father back into alcoholism (because Jack thought Christian was shacking up with Sarah). But most of all we have the conflict that shaped the whole season: The Castaways vs. The Others. "I Do" had the flashback of Kate and her marriage to the police officer Kevin (which was just plain stupid), but the The Island story of Jack seeing Kate and Sawyer having sex, sabotaging his surgery on Ben, and saving Sawyer's life just in time looked like the first step on Jack's redemptive path. It was an extremely tense moment and helped for further strain the Castaway-Other relationship. Alaine says about "I Do": "This episode is one of the first times the Survivors show an "upper hand" (Jack's skills) to the Others, and I think they become more united as a group"
"The Man Behind the Curtain" and "Ab Aeterno"
I group these two together because they were so unlike anything we saw before or anything we've seen since. Two of the biggest LOST back stories were always: "who is Ben?" and "who is Richard?". In these two episodes we learned so much about each character. "Ab Aeterno" is a Top 5 episode in most people's list--and rightfully so--but "The Man Behind the Curtain" was just as rich in Island history. We learned a ton about the Dharma Initiative, Ben's relationship with his dad, Ben's introduction to The Others (via Richard), Jacob, and so much more. In "Ab Aeterno" we got a beautiful love story that turned into one of the best back stories in all of LOST. The scene in the cabin in "The Man Behind the Curtain" was one of the more unexpected and "whoa" moments in LOST (Locke and Ben at their best). The whole episode of "Ab Aeterno" was exactly that way as well--one big "whoa"...and maybe the most "epic" episode we've ever had. Jay says "Ab Aeterno....so great to learn Richard's backstory (finally)...plus the easter egg to end all easter eggs with Jacob dunking Richard underwater a la Big Lebowski." Alaine is a "Man Behind the Curtain" fan: "I also lovvved the first time we see Jacob's cabin! How spooky was that?...first time we realize that Ben doesn't have all the power he claims to...".
"Through The Looking Glass"
It gets its own spot. I don't think any show changed the stakes as much as this one did when Jack's drug-laden mental breakdown flashback story is revealed at the end to be a flash forward (!!!) "We have to go back" became the rallying cry of the entire summer. We got to see Jack (leading a caravan of Castaways, a tied up Ben, and Naomi) beat the shit out of Ben which was cathartic for both Jack and the whole viewing audience. This two part episode also featured the redemption of both Hurley and Charlie. Hurley's redemption came when he took the Dharma VW van and saved Jin, Bernard, Sawyer, Juliet and Sayid. It was the defeat of The Others and the short-lived triumph of the Castaways. Charlie's redemption was much more amazing (and even included some humor in this emotionally loaded episode). Charlie's Beach Boys tune helped to call out for help and brought Charlie to the fate that Desmond saw back in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" (another honorable mention on this list). It also produced one of the more amazing scenes in LOST when a drowning Charlie wrote "Not Penny's Boat" on his hand and provided us a visual that still gives people goosebumps to this day (especially when it showed up again this past season). It's one of the best season finales I've ever seen of any television show. It changed the rules more than any other episode of LOST. Melissa was a "not Penny's boat" fan and loved how "a huge amount of information given early on in the plot!" This was LOST's true movie moment and it certainly shined. Honorable Season 3 mentions go out to "The Brig" (where Locke has Sawyer kill his father) and "The Man From Tallahasse" (where we finally found out how Locke was paralyzed and we see Locke destroy the sub).
"The Constant" and "Happily Ever After"
I'll say this: "The Constant" was much, much, much better than "Happily Ever After" but both brought us closer to my favorite couple: Desmond and Penny. So they end up here together. But while "The Constant" is regarded as one of the best episodes by almost everyone I asked, I wonder if, in retrospect, "Happily Ever After" won't end up there as well. Both showed us what LOST, I believe, is truly about deep down: love and everyone's search for "their constant". It was an extremly creative episode, but, more imporantly, it was perhaps the most emotional episode of all and the pull at heart strings is what does it for most people with "The Constant". "Happily Ever After" was our deep dive this season into the walls breaking down between the Sideways World and the Island World and between "Not Penny's Boat" and Desmond and Penny reuniting, it was an extremely touching episode. "The Constant" was our first introduction to time travel, and while that was one of my least favorite parts of the show, I loved it in this episode. LOST Executive Producer Carlton Cuse named "The Constant" his favorite episode of the series and I'm not going to argue with the man. My one issue with the episode? It put us onto the "Sci fi" route that has too often left me scratching my head and away from the character development that made this episode so effective. Here's what my friends said: Jay: "It opened the door to Lost's time travel theme, introduced the concept of parallel dimensions, and featured the best romance in the show's history. Fantastic stuff." Melissa said the episode "took LOST in a whole different direction then originally expected." And Sarah says of "Happily Ever After" and the episode that followed (another honorable mention) "Everybody Loves Hugo" "not only are Desmond and Hurley 2 of my favorite characters, but I feel these two epsiodes really marked the beginning of the end - connecting the two worlds and providing the set up for the Widmore/Flocke/Candidates Final Showdown." Although "The Constant" was the only episode to make it from Season 4 (there were only 12 unique episodes), "Ji Yeon" (where we get a flash back and a flash forward in the same episode with the Kwons), "The Shape of Things to Come" (where Alex gets killed and Ben unleashes Smokey...and Sayid in the flash forward) and "There's No Place Like Home" (The end of the freighter, Sawyer's helicopter jump, Ben moving The Island, and Christian telling Michael he can go) get honorable mention.
"316", "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", and "LaFleur"
Three episodes that brought us that much closer with our three main male characters. "316" shows all the characters getting on board the Ajira 316 flight and features one of the greatest lines in all of LOST from Frank Lapidus: "we're not going to Guam, are we?" This was Jack's transformation from a non-believer (and the conversation with Ben in Eloise Hawking's church about "Doubting Thomas" and with Eloise about "that is why it's called a leap of faith") to a man who follows orders and puts Christian's shoes on Locke to the man who finally believes when he sees Locke's note to him and ends up back on The Island. "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" showed Locke's journey to try to convince the Castaways to go with him back to The Island, his defeat (a common theme in his off-Island life) in not convincing any of them, and the amazing scene inside the hotel room where he's about to kill himself, gets stopped by Ben, and then gets strangled and hung by Ben. It set LOST's endgame up perfectly and revealed to us all that Ben was still that Ben we hated. We also see a John Locke resurrected on The Island making us all wonder if "dead" really means "dead". "LaFleur" showed Sawyer in charge of The Others and how he and Juliet lived for 3 years. It showed Sawyer's redemption and was extremely rewarding. Sawyer's turn as a leader was refreshing for a character that was shown as nothing but selfish for so many seasons. In these three episodes, we set up our endgame in a systematic way that I still find awesome.
"The Incident, Parts 1 & 2"
While "Through The Looking Glass" was a great season finale, "The Incident" may have been better. May. After "LaFleuer", the episodes started to roll together in a way that led up to this ending which was so gigantic in so many ways. We meet Jacob and The Man In Black. We had the 1977 crew heading to Jacob and Locke's plan to have Ben kill him. We have Jack's decision to detonate a nuke (in order to reset history) and Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate's attempt to stop him (but first hijacking the sub and stopping at Bernard and Rose's camp). Eventually, we have all them working together to detonate a bomb that never goes off. When Juliet falls down into The Hatch, we have one of our most emotional scenes as she struggles to set off the bomb (I'm still convinced she figured out she was preggers this episode, too). But in current time we have the real struggle as Ben kills Jacob and we have our biggest reveal of the season: Locke is actually FLocke. The fade to white at the end of the episode was one of the biggest teases ever and left me so hungry for more than in between seasons 5 and 6 I not only watched Season 5 again, but decided to watch every single episode of LOST again. It was an awesome ending and set up this entire, mind blowing season. Honorable mention to almost any other episode of Season 5 besides "The Little Prince" which featured some of the most mind-numbing courtroom scenes I've ever seen on television.
So what do you think? Which were your favorites? Let us know in the comments below and get ready for another episode tonight!
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