“LOST” in Review

For the final episode of “The Transmission,” we want to take a special, wistful look back on the last six years of “LOST.” So much has happened since the moment Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on that mysterious island on September 22, 2004… both on the show, and in the “LOST” fan community. As far as “LOST” is concerned, we’d love to to get your pick for your favorite episode of all time. You could also tell us about your favorite character, or your favorite story twist. There are probably too many great moments to count. But we’re also curious to learn what “LOST” has meant to you. Simply top-notch television? A much needed escape? An excuse to connect with friends, or make new ones?

Tell us your “LOST” story. You can comment below, e-mail us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or call the LOSTLine at (815) 310-0808. We hope to release our podcast on June 27. But we may take longer than expected to collect ourselves!

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385 Responses to “LOST” in Review

  1. greenberry says:

    I loved how during those ew clips, Michael Emerson stated that he sometimes felt like he was in the middle of a comedy, and referred to his classic funny, eerie line as Henry Gale “do you guys have any milk with that?” (parphrasing)

  2. greenberry says:

    The complexities of Ben were something to behold, how he could be manipulative yet well-meaning, ridiculously insecure yet act with bravado, and cheeky yet tender-hearted.

    I equally like the juxtiposition of having an angry, cynical, street-wise con-man (Sawyer) being an avid sensitive reader of literature, or a strong-willed, lying, killer (Kate) caring about retrieving a toy airplane that represents her childhood love.

  3. Embie says:

    @ Carol, @ greenberry – it seems we’re not ready to let go, to move on – I love the new thread of favorite lines – but don’t Ryan and Jen see that they need another podcast for that? Or we need it!!!

    Also, re Kate – we could say lots of things about her character, in her defense – and, Ryan and Jen, dontchq think a podcast for each major character would be great? Jen, I recall you are not a fan of Kate, but couldn’t you see a podcast for Locke, Ben, Jack?

  4. Embie says:

    That was supposed to be ” dontcha” as we say here in Brooklyn, but once again the iPad thinks it knows better than what I type.

  5. Carol from Boston says:

    Embie- did you update your ipad yet? You can do folders now and also access two apps at once. I updated my itouch.

    Did you like Sawyers remark to Kate in the finale about her following him?

  6. Embie says:

    Did not update. Good tip, thanks!

    What, follow him? Hilarious. Wonderful how the same phrase or flirt comes back!

    I’m thinking about Kate asking Jack what color thread he’d like, for his sutures in the pilot. Basic black. And in the finale he’s taking the suture thread off his shirt (infection control out the window) with apologies that it’s the best he can do.

  7. Carol from Boston says:

    @Embie- good thing Kate got off the island where there are antibiotics. Then again, the island does heal quickly. 🙂

    Sawyer was taking off to the well and said to Kate “I am not going to bother telling you not to follow me since you’ll just do it anyway”.

  8. greenberry says:

    Sawyer and Kate (or the actors) always had the best chemistry, like they always ‘got’ each other… even if they were not ‘supposed’ to be together

    What was with that horrible kiss that she and Jack shared early on, and he interrupted ~ not the most romantic scene ~ but it was obvious he loved her through his brokeness

    Yeah, letting go…. I can let go of LOST and simply rewatch and enjoy ~ It’s this board I’m struggling with losing ~ I love the analysis and discussions

  9. LReene says:

    @greenberry – I’m with you. I’ve been absolutly FIGHTING making another post here with my entire series wrap up, probably because I know that when I do, that is what it will be….. a wrap up. And I’m not ready for that :-).

    I probably will though. Maybe tomorrow. Kind of “late to the party” I know, but I have no fear but that at least you, Carol From Boston, Embie, and probably Coolpeace will still be around to read it. hehehehe

  10. Pingback: Letting Go

  11. greenberry says:

    @ LReene ~ You know it!

    @ Letting Go ~ the more days to look forward to it!

  12. Coolpeace says:

    @ LReene : Yup … still around and of course I would read it!!

  13. navajo777 says:

    I just wanted to say, that I did not always agree with how the story of “lost was presented, and it didn’t end the way I thought it would. That being said, Lost was one hell of a ride. Action ,mystery and sometimes just plain crazy, there has not been and probably never will be another show that will suck me in and consume so much of my life like Lost has. Thank you “LOST” and thank you Ryan and Jen for the years of entertainment you have provided. ** One last note, I am a huge M*A*S*H fan and I have to say the LOST finale blew away the M*A*S*H finale.

    “See you in another life , LOST brothers and sisters!!!”

  14. Embie says:

    @ Letting Go – so wonderful, more anticipation!

    @ LReene – as Sawyer would say, “You got that right.” he he

  15. Embie says:

    Backpacks –

    Please someone explain how it is that Sawyer has a black backpack after being chest-carried by Hurley out of the sub. Is this another magical property of the island? Or are we to think it washed up, or was on the beach all the time?

  16. Embie says:

    @ Carol – re: Kate’s shoulder wound. That is one amazing girl. Or is it the island’s healing powers? She’s well enough to shoulder that rifle and shoot at Locke. Or maybe Jack is just a REALLY good doctor.

  17. meredith says:

    I miss Lost so much! i kno the ending was controversial, but I am so incredibly sad that our journey is over 🙁

  18. Russell in Raleigh says:

    One thing that bothers me about Lost’s resolution is why Ben and Sayid were deemed worthy of redemption but Michael and Mr. Ecko weren’t. I guess we don’t know for sure about Mr. Ecko so I’ll focus on Michael.

    He seemed to me to be a good hearted guy whose wife left him because he did not make enough money and she took his son with her. He writes to his son everyday but his wife does not give the letters to Walt so when she dies and Michael has a chance to have a relationship with Walt, his son assumed that his Dad didn’t care about him and thus resents him.

    Michael is doing his best in an impossible situation. Get’s pummeled by Jin for innocently picking up a watch. Starts making headway with his son and embarks on a heroic escape/rescue attempt, only to have his son kidnapped in a Hitchcokian twist by a bizarre tribe of seemingly ominpotent savages.

    So, in the Lord of the Flies World he’s living in, he does what he has to do to save his son and get him back to safety, In the process he accidentally kills Libby.

    He’s so guilt ridden that he later goes back to this bizarro world and intentionally sacrifices himself to save a bunch of people that he knew for approximately one month.

    So that guy doesn’t deserve redemption but the likeable torturer/assassin/would-be-child murderer does? How was Sayid’s final sacrifice any less noble than Michael’s? It was virtually the same sacrifice.

  19. Embie says:

    @ Russell – I’ve puzzled over this also. But I wondered when Michael explained the whispers if what Michael says is what HE believes, and perhaps not what is universal. As in the Sideways world, the whisperers of the island need to free themselves. Michael is so consumed by guilt over what he did on the island that the island is where he is serving his time. Babette Deutsch wrote a poem about damnation which you can read at http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&docId=6133290. The idea is that we choose our own hell, and come and go from it. Is Michael creating his own miserable captivity out of the guilt that he sees every time he looks into the mirror of his past? Does he need his own Desmond (maybe that would be Walt, or Ana Lucia) to wake him up?

    I’m curious to hear other response to your excellent question.

  20. lucydog says:

    I love the fact that Miles ended up leaving the island with all those diamonds he dug out from Niki and Paolo. I wonder if he shared some of them with Sawyer, Kate, Lapidus, Claire and Richard. I like to think he gave them a bit of a cut.

    It doesn’t bother me that Michael stayed on the island and Sayid got to go into the afterlife—Sayid was my favorite character and I think maybe the difference is that the people that Sayid killed during his “Lost journey” were much more evil and that Michael killed fellow “tribemates” for his own end, regardless of his motives for wanting to save Walt. Maybe the reason is is as simple as what Michael did was against the Jacob rules—that “Losties” couldn’t kill each other, they sort of needed a middle man.

    Speaking of Sayid I am the only person on the planet who liked him with Shannon more than Nadia and really enjoyed their sideways reunion. I liked him with Nadia but I also think that he did also love Shannon, and told Ben as much when Ben was pretending to be Henry Gale, and I also think that once on the island, Sayid could shed the torture past a bit and Shannon got to know him for who he was. Or at the least, didn’t have a problem with it, like Nadia did.

    Speaking of Shannon, I wonder if Boone, along with Rose and Bernard, was enlightened from the get-go, and his whole confab with Locke on the sideways plane was just set up.

  21. Carol from Boston says:

    @embie – There was a scene cut out where Jack finds the backpack in the wreckage of the sub on the beach.

    @lucydog – good theory, after all Michael was told he “could go now” by Christian and maybe he couldn’t move on because he won’t forgive himself.

  22. Islandsidhe says:

    I can’t describe with any eloquence how much “Lost” means to me. I have to use the present tense when describing it, because it still means so much to me, and always will. It is inspiring, thought-provoking, thrilling, and just a lot of fun. I have never enjoyed or gotten so invested in a television show before, and I truly don’t think any show will ever mean as much to me or compare to “Lost” in any manner.

    I watched the pilot when it first aired, and never missed an episode after that. I loved the mysteries of the show, but I also loved the characters. For the most part they were more likable, better written, and more complex that the characters in most t.v. shows, and I really came to care about them. I have two favorites who are pretty much tied for my affections. The first is John Locke. I knew I was intrigued by him when we saw him give Kate that creepy fantastic orange-peel smile in the pilot. He became my favorite character when we discovered his backstory in “Walkabout”. I admired Locke because he was a man of faith, because – despite everything that had happened to him in life – he was still willing to believe in something mysterious and bigger than himself, even if it made him a fool in some people’s eyes. My other favorite is Ben Linus. I could never hate Ben, no matter what he did. I always believed that, in some twisted way, he was a good guy at heart. He became a favorite of mine when he was locked up in the hatch and gave one of his deliciously evil smiles as he listened to Locke and Jack outside arguing. I knew then that he wasn’t just a villain, but an evil genius, and whatever he did was going to be fascinating to watch.

    I can’t possibly pick a favorite episode. I might be able to narrow a list down to my top twenty favorites, but picking one would be impossible. Season 3 is probably my favorite, just because so many of my favorite episodes fall within that season – “The Man Behind the Curtain”, “Not in Portland”, “The Brig”, “Tricia Tanaka is Dead”, “Flashes Before Your Eyes”, and “Through the Looking Glass” with its amazing reveal at the end. I also really enjoyed Season 2 with all the button-pushing and the introduction of Desmond, and Season 5 with its time travel and return to the Dharma Initiative. Every single season has had its wonderful episodes and moments.

    The legacy of “Lost” will be with me always. I will never be able to see or use any of the numbers, eat ranch dressing on my salad, hear “Shambala”, see a VW bus, or hear words like “fail safe”, “dharma”, “incident”, “candidate” or “namaste” without thinking about it. And without missing it. I’ll never be willing to let go.

    A HUGE thank you to Ryan and Jen – and to You All Everybody – for being a thoughtful, funny, and fun part of this amazing journey. I feel like I will always be part of a virtual “family” of “Lost” brothers and sisters, and that is perhaps this show’s greatest legacy of all.

    Stay Lost forever!

  23. Coolpeace says:

    @ Islandsidhe : I think your comment was very eloquent. Nicely said.

  24. Coolpeace says:

    @ Russell in Raleigh :

    To my mind, Michael is not in the church moreso because he betrayed the Losties by brokering a deal with The Others for himself and Walt and for killing Anna Lucia and Libby. Now we might understand his reasons for doing so – getting Walt out – but it does not necessarily include a ticket with that group of Losties in that moment. He may have eventually moved on from the Island ‘whisper world’ to his own afterlife scenario which may have included other individuals but not that group of people.

    @ lucydog : I can stand with you regarding Shannon and Sayid. Athough I never really liked Shannon.

    I do think that Nadia was Sayid’s great love but like many tragic romances sometimes it is not meant to be. In Sayid’s case, although he loved Nadia and she him, being with her would always remind him of his torturer self, she is indelibly tied to his past bad acts. Shannon, on the other hand, was his tabula rasa. She only knew him as a good and gentle man… although where was the little incident with Swayer, which I don’t remember if she witnessed it.

  25. Embie says:

    Kate is the avatar of my imagination. She gathered food, could climb trees, and get down from trees when she landed there after a time-travel flash. She was brave, didn’t flinch at the sight of blood, was fearless though often wary, loyal and hopeful even as she met disappointment in that loyalty, faithful in carrying out missions, always helpful, rarely selfish. She was a friend rather than a rival to other women (possible exception, Juliet), assisted in childbirth, never as far as we know bore a child herself and still felt joy in the motherhood of other women. She became Aaron’s adoptive mother. She honored her promise to Sawyer, to visit Clementine and Cassidy and bring them money.  Her anger at Unlocke for killing Sun and Jin, and for orphaning Ji Yeon (as spoken to Jack when her was sewing up her shoulder) embodied the passionate vengeance of a mother whose own child has been wronged.
    When she leapt from the cliff into the ocean (“I’ll meet you at the boat,” is that what she said?) my heart was in my throat with fear, and yet she did it! How can anyone not love Kate?   

  26. greenberry says:

    I love her too!

  27. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    Locke to Jack: “Why do you find it so hard to believe?”

    Jack replies: “Why do you find it so Easy?”

    Sums it all up pretty nicely.

  28. Mattfromnd says:

    Someone suggested this on jayandjack, I figure it’s worth repeating.

    We know smokey couldn’t kill the candidates. So what if the scanning we saw it do was checking to see if Jacob had ever visited that person? If smokey saw jacob in the scans, he knew that person was a candidate and let then live.

  29. Amaia says:

    @greenberry- Thank you, is really what I think about choices. And I’m glad you mention karma. I’m not a believer and I don’t think our lives have already a destiny written. But I believe in karma and I also believe “Lost” is like life, a group of people having to live extreme situations and what they do to save obstacles and to survive basically. The pity is that not everybody sees the importance of that.

    And yeah, MIchael Emerson Emerson did mention the comedy thing on Jimmy Kimmel too when he said he had to have breakfast with Juliet or the other meal scenes.

    @Embie- Great thoughts about parents issues, you described them very well. And agree about Juliet’s aloofness, we saw in “The Incident” her parts divorced and that’s why she did what she did, go back to help Jack because she didn’t want to suffer again with Sawyer. God, what a sad woman, but her sadness made her amazing and complex.

  30. Amaia says:

    @Carol from Boston- When Alex was killed I thought Ben showed indifference because he thought in that way he could save her, but he was wrong and had to live with that forever. I felt pity for Ben, he was evil, but had strong feelings for his daughter.

    @Russell- I think although being a good guy, Michael was selfish. His only mater was Walt and that’s why they left the Island. I think they couldn’t find redemption because of that, although in the end he went back to the Island to help.

    And about Eko, it was because of the actor’s negative to live in Hawaii. It was the first episodes of season 3 when he was killed by Smokey so I’m sure the writters hadn’t thought about redeem the characters.

  31. greenberry says:

    I’ve just tip-toed into my rewatch with the first three episiodes (Premiere 1 & 2; Tabula Rasa)

    Sawyer: “I’m a complicated guy, sweetheart!” Oooooh those dimples ~ man that guy’s gorgeous! (…but such a [sad lost] jerk)

    Jack: “It doesn’t matter who we were, Kate… we all died the other day” Rebirth coming! Jack is well meaning to the nth!

    Hurley: “I REALLY can’t be around blood!” Who couldn’t love everyman timid Hurley ~ so curious and nervous around fugitive Kate

    That early Shannon/ Boone dynamic… it did grate!

    Sun is amazing ~ played so well ~ that rebellious streak showing early on, with her quietly and defiantly re-unbuttoning that top button

    LOCKE sure stood out as the one to watch in those early episodes…. the creepy orange peel smile and his translucent other-worldly eyes ~ he tells Walt the secret that the island “healed him”

    and SMOKEY is loud and ferocious from the start

    Am taking WAY MORE notice of the beautiful musical score, since you all have emphasized it…

    Gosh, I LOVE LOST!!!

  32. Carol from Boston says:

    @amaia- that is what I meant. He was trying to spare her life by pretending it didn’t matter, but instead it backfired and she died not knowing if he meant it or not. (or at least he thought that)

    @greenberry- Shannon was annoying till Boone died and then she had to grow up and take control. I remember at the time she died, they said a strong female character was going to die and I was so nervous it was Kate. I am glad that Kate made it to the end. I always felt Jack would die in the last episode to save everyone else. He is the ultimate fixer.

    I am a huge Terry O’Quinn fan but Locke always made me sad, especially his episodes.

    Hey, now we know why Jack wasn’t able to shoot Locke at the end of season 3, candidates can’t kill each other. Do you remember how Jack tried to shoot Locke after Locke stabbed Naiomi? The gun didn’t go off.

  33. Eileen from New Jersey says:

    The gamechanger for me was the first episode of Season 2. Hearing “Make Your Own Kind of Music” watching a blender , a washing machine, and a shower and realizing it was all underground on the island blew my mind! I knew this was show would be an experience like no other.

  34. greenberry says:

    @ Amaia and Russell and YaE ~ re: karma or reaping what we sow or receiving back the energy that we put out there, etc. etc. and Michael and Sayid….. Sayid punished himself so hard (especially ~again~ after torturing Sawyer; was it his idea to torture Ben or was he pushed into that?), and ultimately when he saw that he could not ‘change his stripes’… It took Hurley to make him finally understand that he had a good heart and always did, because he had behaved selflessly when torturing or murdering ~ So he was finally able to receive Hurley’s message that he was a good guy ~~~~ However, as someone noted above, Michael betrayed the Losties for his own gain, and then he had to go home and face that truth in his son’s eyes (as Sayid did in Nadia’s eyes, but she had forgiven him); Michael’s son was not mature enough to understand Michael’s sacrifice or maybe there really was NO justification (disagreements posted about this above); no one had forgiven Michael or told him he was a good guy (poor Michael he was so alone in his agony; no Nadia or Shannon or Hurley to make him feel okay about himself)

    Now, I have not done a re-watch of Michael explaining the whispers ~ did Hurley forgive Michael? That would be tough when Michael had killed ‘his’ Libby! So Michael could not move on from the island or with the Losties, at least not at that point in time

  35. Embie says:

    @ greenberry @ Amaia @ Russell – please correct me if I am wrong re Michael shooting Libby, but what I remember is that it was a mistake. She came into the hatch and he was startled and shot her. I thought he felt immediate remorse. This is what makes me think that it’s Michael’s own guilt that has trapped him on the island, whispering.

    @ greenberry – Sawyer is a cutie, no doubt about It – pure sex appeal, and witty and fun in a wicked way – it’ll be interesting to see where Josh Holloway turns up next!

  36. Embie says:

    @ Eileen – I completely agree and had forgotten how amazing and delightful it was for the losties to stumble upon all those 70’s amenities.

    @ Islandsidhe – loved what you wrote!

  37. Embie says:

    @ Carol – thanks for the clarification about the backpack – it was feeling like the brooms in the sorcerers apprentice!

    Did you also mention a while back that Shannon’s dad was killed in the same accident that injured Jack’s wife Sarah? I had no idea!!!!!!

    Wow! So we’re not supposed to mistake coincidence for fate? Really? This is a little too deus ex machina for me but maybe the writers were trying to let us know that these people were deeply connected through past events as well as present circumstances. Did Jacob ever visit Shannon? That would be logical.

  38. Carol from boston says:

    Embie you should listen to GJB’s last podcast to get more info on what was cut out of the finale.

  39. greenberry says:

    @ Embie ~ I think Michael’s only requirement was to release Ben, or maybe to also kill Ana Lucia to avenge for her killing of their OTHER (Harper’s hubby and Juliet’s love interest at the time) ~ I believe his killing Libby was because of her walking in and her being a witness to what he had done (which is more than simply being startled); but not sure

    More re-watch necessary!!!

    It was also coincedence (or fate?) that Jack and Claire ended up on the same Oceanic flight

  40. aaron r says:

    hi YAE. been away for a bit, but just wanted to comment on episode 20 Do No Harm. just watched it on netflix. i keep forgetting great stuff, the things that made us love this program. Locke’s dream of the small plane crashing. Boone and him finding the plane. Sayid’s little love nest for him and Shannon. the crashed plane crashing a second time with Boone inside. Locke forcing himself to walk, carrying Boone out of the crash. Christian, at Jack’s wedding,noting that Jack has a problem ‘letting go’. what a stand-up guy Jin became, after handcuffs,beatings and Sun’s ‘dishonesty’. the birth of Aaron. Boone, dying, telling Jack to ‘let go’. the passing of Boone.
    without question, the best … well, what does one call Lost? it’s much more than the writing, the acting, the locations, the casting. what to call this unexpectedly epic thing?

  41. greenberry says:

    @ aaron r ~ so interesting re: all the references to “letting go” ~~ obviously Jack’s storyline arc was highly foreplanned

    TRANSCENDANT or TRANSPLENDANT (is that even a word?!) ~~ I think I heard it in (a hilarious scene in) “Annie Hall”

  42. Eileen from New Jersey says:

    @Embie – it wasn’t so much for the amenities (and in fact, I didn’t particularly care for the fact that suddenly the Losties could have showers and candy bars), it was the reveal of the existence of the underground space, the fact that it was there at all–when we thought the island was only what we had seen on the surface–and to find out that there were underground hatches, and mysterious agendas, such as the button, the 108 minutes, the Dharma initiative – it opened up the entire series for everything that would come next. And the elements of surprise–to think it was a flashback, and it was in the present, on the island–groundbreaking.

  43. Embie says:

    @ Eileen – I see your point, and the mystery did ramp up there – but I tend to put myself inside of the characters and the shower was just so refreshing!

  44. greenberry says:

    …and a BOOK CLUB and Jack playing catch ~~ all wtf moments

  45. Carol from Boston says:

    Yeah, the season 3 reveal of Othersville was crazy, so civilized so different from our Losties. That was pretty cool.

  46. Mimi says:

    Cool. I thought I was too late!

    My favorite season was Season 4. Like everybody, I loved “The Constant.” Aside from really propelling the entire series a quantum leap forward (pun intended) it really clued us in to where the series was carrying us. Love is the thing… the only thing.

    My favorite plot twist came in “This Place is Death,” when Charlotte told Daniel that the crazy man who told her never to come back to the island was him.

    Of the original characters, I’d have to say my favorite was Sawyer. I enjoyed watching his character’s evolution, although I knew from the beginning that he was way deeper than the hard exterior he showed. No one reads that many books and remains a two dimensional guy. It’s absolutely impossible.

    Of the characters that came later, my favorites were Miles and Lapidus, because these guys only needed 10 seconds and 2 lines to steal the episode’s biggest laughs.

    Gosh, Just thinking back is making me jones for Lost. Can’t wait for the entire series to come out on DVD.

  47. Amaia says:

    @Carol from Boston- I think Alex thought Ben sold her, that’s why it was great to see how in the sideways he did the oposite thing, help her.

    @greenberry- Good point. I think Hurley forgave Michael besides he was very sorry ebcasue he killed Libby.

    @Embie- You’re right about Michael, that was exactly what happened. He shot Ana Lucia and the when Libby said his name he shot without knowing what he was doing. But I guess the Island wanted him to stay there forever as a whisper.

    @Carol and greenberry- Go season 3!!!

  48. Carol from Boston says:

    @amaia- I hated the beginning of season 3 but once they got out of the cages it really picked up. Remember Kate and Juliet chained up and on the run, I think they did that for the male viewers.

  49. Hammer says:

    hello…i’m jim and i’m a lostaholic…
    the roller coaster of how things have gone…killing me..the buildup to the last episode and what we would learn and wouldn’t learn..watching the last episode…the last..5-10 minutes of it..then digesting everything..i’ve watched the ending part at the church many times..i still can’t let go. To go from the heart break and mystery on island…to Jack walking through the doors in the church and seeing the smiles on everyone face..a sense of relief. Are there questions left..yes…I’ve kept thinking about the ending…was it enough…and I keep asking myself…would i want it any other way…not sure i would. I was worried about being disappointed..but even with the unanswered questions…i’m happy..but can’t accept there are no new episodes of Lost coming…what to do..

    Jim

  50. greenberry says:

    @ Carol ~ LOL re: the females chained together… thanx for that laugh!

    @ Hammer ~ I’ve started my rewatch, and it helps a little and a lot (it is so fun rewatching knowing what we know now) ~ I just wish I had someone to share it with at home (sadly my hubby dislikes the show) ~ so I am fearful about losing this board!!! Hope we will stay in touch through the Facebook DISCUSSIONS page… it is so fun to compare notes and re-analyze scenes or particular mysteries (usually beyond my grasp) or philosophy or psycholgy (my fave)

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