In some ways, this new era of great television couldn’t happen without several shows that came before like The Sopranos, Mad Men, and Lost. The serialized storytelling of all three shows had people coming back for more, all the way until their finales. Lost was the big network show of these three. ABC took a gamble on a Twilight Zone-Survivor pastiche. Creator JJ Abrams and show runners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof didn’t just deliver a compelling cliffhanger every week, most occasions the show delivered a compelling cliffhanger every commercial break!
Between all of the Hatch and numbers mysteries of the Island, we would learn a lot about some of our favorite castaways and having some hearts broken several times along the way, mostly when they did too.
Michael’s Betrayal
With his son abducted by The Others, Michael was willing to do all he could to get Walt back. The Others offer him the opportunity- free their leader and bring Jack, Hurley, Kate, and Sawyer to them. Not only did he comply, he wound up murdering Ana Lucia and Libby in the process. In one fell swoop Michael took out a hefty chunk of leaders within the Survivors camp.
The Sox Win The Series
As a saying between father and son, “That’s why the Sox will never win the Series,” became a hallmark of the show. Christian has said it to Sawyer at a bar. Jack said it to Sawyer on the Island, which led to James telling Jack about their meeting.
But as Ben is trying to convince Jack to help him, he explains that the Sox actually won the World Series. He laughs and doesn’t believe it until Ben shows him the footage. All Jack can do is look on dumbstruck.
Juliet’s Sacrifice
Juliet and Sawyer both had pain on their faces the instant we met them. Whatever brought them to the Island eventually united them too and they finally found happiness together, back in the seventies working for the Dharma Initiative. Then the Castaways got it in their head that blowing up the Island would be a good idea. Juliet got caught in the electromagnetic wave. Sawyer tried to save her and held on as long as he could before letting go as she plunged to the center of the Island and with the last of her strength detonated the bomb.
The Opening Scene
The opening scene of the entire series is harrowing to watch. Jack wakes up after being flung into the woods. Then he runs back towards the beach and sees carnage for miles. Like any good doctor, he runs from person to person trying to save and assist wherever he can; all while he’s bleeding from his own wounds. Before any mysteries were even introduced, Lost’s opening few minutes was just about a man trying to make sense of what just happened while doing all he can to help everyone else remain calm until they can get word to the mainland.
The Exodus
The first season of Lost is comprised of 22 of the finest hours of television you’ll ever see. During the final episode, Locke and Jack head to the Hatch while Sawyer, Jin, Michael, and Walt try to head off the Island on the raft they constructed. For the briefest of moments, you thought that they were going to successfully escape the Island. Then the man they meet utters the most terrifying thing Michael and company could hear at that moment, “we’re gonna need to take the boy.” Sawyer gets shot, Jin dives after him, and the Others get the want and blow up their raft in the process.
Sun And Jin’s End
After so many years constantly being torn apart and find each other again, Jin and Sun once again were together as the group were trying to escape the Island while leaving the Man In Black stranded. While on the submarine, they find C4 and Sawyer inadvertently detonated the bomb. Sayid sacrifices himself getting the bomb to the other side of the ship. But the ensuing explosion traps Sun under the wreckage. Try as they might Jin and Sun can’t get her free and Jin refuses to leave his wife again. They drown in each other’s hands.
Jin’s Left Behind
The Oceanic Six and several other Survivors head to the Kahana with hopes of getting off the Island. But the freighter’s rigged to blow, and the chopper set to leave the has a fuel leak. Jin and Michael reunite to try and dismantle the bomb on the boat.
As the chopper heads back to refuel and fix the leak, Jin gets left behind as the chopper takes off again. The freighter explodes, and the blood curdling scream that Sun lets out as she seemingly watched her husband and a lot of others get blown sky high is the very definition of heartbreaking.
We Have To Go Back
As the Survivors and the Others wage war on the Island, Jack is suicidal and hooked on pills in his “Flashback.” After successfully radioing for help on the Island, we’re shown one last “Flashback,” only it’s been revealed that the entire time we’ve been watching a depressed and suicidal Jack trying to get back to the Island. He meets with Kate to make one last ditch effort to convince her that “We have to go back!”
Alex Gets Killed
As Widmore’s mercenaries were closing in on Ben, they took Alex, Karl, and Rousseau hostage. They shot Karl and Rousseau and would have shot Alex had she not explained she’s Ben’s daughter. As Keamy held a gun to her head to get Ben to surrender.
Not only does he try to manipulate his way out of the situation, he does his best to bluff and tell Keamy that Alex means nothing to her and he merely kidnapped her as a baby. The mercy shoots her and Ben has no choice but to watch on in silent horror.
Not Penny’s Boat
Charlie knew it was destiny to die. With that in mind he volunteered to head to the Looking Glass with Desmond to try to destroy the signal interference, blocking radio transmissions to the Island. As the paid do battle with several members of Ben’s crew, Charlie finds a way to dismantle the jammer and is contacted by Desmond’s love, Penelope. But when she tells Charlie she doesn’t know any Naomi, he makes a desperate sacrifice, allowing Desmond to escape, and escape with Charlie’s dying message that he wrote on his hand - “Not Penny’s Boat.”
