The Best Lost Episode From Every Season

For six seasons, Lost was one of the most complex and popular sci-fi shows on television, and it presented some of TV’s best episodes. The series followed the survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, which crash-landed on an uninhabited tropical island. However, those survivors soon learned that the island held some terrible secrets. They might not be alone there, and a fate beyond anything comprehensible awaited most of them. This opened up the chance for the series to explore a lot of complicated sci-fi topics, while also attempting to remain grounded for mainstream television fans to enjoy. It worked, as every season averaged over 10 million viewers per episode.

This also allowed Lost to deliver some of the best individual television episodes on television, and here are the best from each season.

6) Season 1 – “Pilot”

The first season of Lost held nothing back and ensured that fans who tuned in wouldn’t change the channel, and most remained hooked for the entire series run. That episode, simply titled “Pilot,” opened after the plane crash, with Jack Shephard waking up disoriented in a jumble with a dog, and then he walked out and saw the fires and explosions from the crashed plane, and leapt into action.

This was the most expensive television premiere ever shot, at over $10 million, and it was well worth it. The pilot episode introduced all the main heroes, showed some of the island’s mysteries, and ensured that fans would stick around and wait to see what happened next. There might not be a better pilot episode in television history, and it launched the series into the stratosphere.

5) Season 2 – “Man of Science, Man of Faith”

Just like the pilot episode, the second season of Lost started off with a bang, and the best episode of the season was its premiere. The Season 2 premiere, “Man of Science, Man of Faith,” opened up the island’s mysteries even further. The opening showed a man in a hatch, living on the island, and preparing in case someone infiltrated his bunker.

This is also an episode where fate plays into the story, including Jack meeting the man in the bunker, a man he knew in the real world named Desmond. Fans were all in by this episode, and over 23 million people watched the premiere, the most-watched episode in the show’s history. While many fans felt frustrated that the show didn’t reveal the fate of the previous season’s cliffhanger right away, it did what it needed to do and opened up the biggest mystery on the show in style.

4) Season 3 – “Greatest Hits”

The third season’s best episode focused on one of the show’s most underrated and beloved characters. “Greatest Hits” was the 21st episode of the season and featured Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan). The title refers to Charlie counting down the five most important moments of his life, which are shown in his flashbacks. Meanwhile, he is trying to get to a ship where he feels he can help his fellow survivors find their escape.

Of course, this is the episode right before Charlie makes the ultimate sacrifice and dies to save Desmond in one of the show’s most depressing moments. That makes this a perfect swan song for Charlie. The character dying one episode later makes this an even more powerful moment when looking back on the series. It is not a shock that Charlie’s death in the next episode would hurt viewership when the fourth season premiered.

3) Season 4 – “The Constant”

The best Lost episode in Season 4 was the fifth episode, “The Constant.” This episode leans into the sci-fi aspects of Lost better than almost any other in the series. Desmond remains the focus here, as he ends up traveling through time and eventually meets someone else, George (Fisher Stevens), who is also “unstuck in time” and helps Desmond figure out what he needs to do on the island.

“The Constant” is impressive thanks to the writing, which ensures the time travel never creates a paradox that could have ruined the entire storytelling technique. This specific episode remains one of the best episodes of Lost in the show’s entire run, and one of the best television episodes in history, particularly in the sci-fi genre. It received nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Hugo Award, and a Directors Guild of America Award.

2) Season 5 – “LaFleur”

“LaFleur” was the eighth episode of Lost Season 5, and it happens while the characters are going through several “time flashes.” However, in this specific episode, Locke causes several survivors (Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Jin-Soo, and Daniel) to get stuck in the past, specifically in 1974 when the Dharma Initiative was at the peak of its presence on the island. “LaFleur” is the fake name Sawyer uses when he meets the Dharma Initiative leader at that period in time.

“LaFleur” also does something fans were waiting to see, and that was Sawyer and Juliet finally in a relationship together (they lived in this era for three years). What this episode does so well is that it creates a new narrative for the series from that point on and ends with Sawyer and company finally reuniting with Kate, Jack, and Hurley in the jungle after they return to the island. Things just started rolling from this point on.

1) Season 6 – “The End”

The Lost series finale was polarizing, to put it mildly. Some fans absolutely hated the episode, feeling that it was a colossal letdown. However, this was the moment many fans predicted from the start of the first season. That said, “The End” was a touching and brilliant ending, and fans who appreciated this closing moment found a rewarding conclusion for these characters.

Of course, the series ended with the survivors in the afterlife, waiting to move on to their next destination. There were so many incredible moments, including Jack lying down in the jungle with Vincent next to him, mirroring the first shot from the premiere, but this time dying in peace rather than leaping up to find the destruction. Anyone who grew to care for these characters over the six seasons had time to say goodbye to them one last time. It was a bittersweet ending and the best Lost episode of the final season.

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