The Syndicate

Because I'm a list-loving nerdball accountant, here's an article I found this weekend- they tried to rank every epsiode of lost from worst to best. I disagree with quite a bit on the list (though I agree with their #1 episode) but it might be fun to see where you guys think each episode ranks.

Has the re-watch started yet?

It has for me, I watched the pilot this weekend. One of the things I had forgotten was that I instantly loved Hurley (which never wavered) but ohh I love him.

I had also forgotten how pretty all of these people were. Good grief. I was instantly transported back to my first viewing and the goosebumps that happened on several occasions happened again. Jack running onto the beach and seeing the wreck with Shannon screaming, Kate counting to 5 while shaking with fear, and "Guys, where are we?".

Boone being sent to get the pens then coming back with a selection. The smoke monster who we do not see, but is still so creepy. So far I have to say this show is holding up to a rewatch pretty well.

This time I got goosebumps with Locke "one is light, one is dark" because I knew what was coming, so that was neat.

I'm not a Kate fan, so that count to five thing never really made a huge impression on me. I'm out with Alex but when we get home I'll five ny thoughts on the pilot episodes.

KNowing what happens later, it is amazing how much set up there seems to be early on.Especially with Locke.

Best pilot ever, except maybe Twin Peaks.

FUN FACT THAT YOU ALL PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW:
At the time, this was the most expensive TV Pilot ever made, and the Exec who greenlit it was subsequently fired. In honor of him being the sacrifice the island demanded, he's the guy who says "Previously on LOST" at the beginning of roughly every episode.

I actually did not know that, and it makes that entrance ten times more epic.

I love the initial scenes after the crash. Just seeing all the main characters and background characters and realizing that at this point viewers did not really know who would be important and who wouldn't. And knowing how later they will revisit it. It's pretty cool.

Also, I always hate going back to when Jin was a douche.

I'll always love this show. I love it in a way I've never loved a show, it is anchored to my damn heart. And sure, there are odds and ends that don't fit, and the polar bear is silly, etc. but the thrust of it is just so grand, nothing's ever been so emotional on the TV in this way. And the music... ugh, I almost tear up just playing it in my head.

timmer wrote:I'll always love this show. I love it in a way I've never loved a show, it is anchored to my damn heart. And sure, there are odds and ends that don't fit, and the polar bear is silly, etc. but the thrust of it is just so grand, nothing's ever been so emotional on the TV in this way. And the music... ugh, I almost tear up just playing it in my head.

Brilliantly said, timmer. The show is a part of me in a way that can only make sense to others who truly know. It's great we still have this community with one limb still firmly rooted in our shared Lost background.

Yeah, agreed. It is nice to be able to talk about something that was such an important part of my life with people who not only think I'm not crazy for it, but who totally get it.

Befor LOST, I was always one of those people who just did not watch TV; PBS, news & HBO series like The Sopranos were about it. LOST sucked me in, though, and it still has not let go. I am glad I waited to rewatch, though. It is sucking me right back in again, and hopefully I can be less bitter about the last season this time around. We'll see.

insertnamehere wrote:Best pilot ever, except maybe Twin Peaks.

FUN FACT THAT YOU ALL PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW:
At the time, this was the most expensive TV Pilot ever made, and the Exec who greenlit it was subsequently fired. In honor of him being the sacrifice the island demanded, he's the guy who says "Previously on LOST" at the beginning of roughly every episode.

I've read a lot of lists like "Things you never knew about LOST!" And it's always stuff I knew. This one I did not! Cool!

insertnamehere wrote:Best pilot ever, except maybe Twin Peaks.

FUN FACT THAT YOU ALL PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW:
At the time, this was the most expensive TV Pilot ever made, and the Exec who greenlit it was subsequently fired. In honor of him being the sacrifice the island demanded, he's the guy who says "Previously on LOST" at the beginning of roughly every episode.

Whhhaaaa? That is AWESOME. Damn, I bet he wrote an email after the first season titled "Neener Neener Muthafuckers"



I, too, hate DoucheJin but I am holding on because we get to see his AWESOME arc soon enough.... though not really soon enough.

Yes, SVS, me too minus the last season (not my fave but I am a very easy viewer, it takes a lot for me to get het up about it).

I love Jin. It's unfortunate this is how he starts, but he will develop. So you're right, I need to just hang in there. It's hard to see the characters you love in the worst light. Kind of like Sayid as a follow of the smoke monster, that was rough. I hated it. Evil Sayid made my heart sad, thank goodness for his redemption.

So episode 3 this Sunday?

I always liked Jin better than Sun, even when he was evil Jin. Sun was a smarmy hypocrite.

I completely agree. I never thought of Jin as evil though.

Is there a rematch happening? Is Lost on netflix? If so, I'm in!

Sure is. We watched the two pilot episodes last week and were kind of discussing them this week, we'll watch the third episode by Sunday and start tossing our thoughts around on it then too. Join us!

Also, I loved the little bit where Rose recognizes the sound of the smoke monster. I had forgot about that little bit. Funny the things that hit you again when you rewatch.

S~V~S wrote:I always liked Jin better than Sun, even when he was evil Jin. Sun was a smarmy hypocrite.

Sun is great, what're you talking about? I thought she was a conflicted character with depth and layers, while Jin often fell into either evil dickhead or wacky Korean sidekick. Don't get me wrong, I think Jin is awesome, but Sun was a better character.

Also, "smarmy hypocrite" can describe so many characters on this show. And the entirety of the Others.

LOL, your last line there is SO TRUE! INH, your witty insightfulness was sorely lacking at this site while you were absent. I am very glad to have you back here again. I missed you.

Spacedaisy wrote:LOL, your last line there is SO TRUE! INH, your witty insightfulness was sorely lacking at this site while you were absent. I am very glad to have you back here again. I missed you.

Aww, thanks!

I also just found this and needed to desperately share it with someone:

I always thought Sun was a hypocrite, once you started seeing her back story. Jin became what he did for her. When she planned to run away, she should have taken him with her. They BOTH needed to escape her father. Jin did not become her Dads goon becasue he liked it, he did it for her. So she could have the life she had. In their culture he behaved traditionally, and if you look at Sun & Jin from that perspective, he becomes more sympathetic, and she less in my eyes.

She is my least favorite main character.

Who are you alls least favorite Losties?

Least fave? Jack, lol.

Even though they tried to soften her up with her death-episode flashback, I never found myself missing Shannon after she was gone. I understand the purpose of Ana Lucia but I never liked her character either. I maybe approached empathy with her but she wasn't a character who was made to last.

I also thought that Claire and Charlie got lame. Charlie got a bit stale in Season 2 and only really got interesting in Season 3 because of Desmond's flashes. Claire was cool through Season 2. Season 3 she was just background blah. Par Avion was a lame episode in my book, at least the Claire-focused parts. I still found myself feeling meh towards her in Season 6.

I loved Jin and Sun's arc through the series. My wife and I were livid when they died. They overcame their personal failings as husband and wife and finally got their chance to live for each other but then died with each other. It sucked how they kept getting pulled apart (Season 1 & 2- the raft; Season 4, 5 & 6- the bomb/timewarp Island). I've always said that the showrunners never knew what to do with them, big picture wise. They made up but then they were kept apart. When they got back together, they weren't allowed to live happily ever after because the Island was supposed to be the most important place for everyone in the afterlife. As a father, I am sad that Jin never got to be a father to his daughter. With both of them dying, their poor little girl is probably being raised by Sun's horrible mother and father.

Someone mentioned the music from Lost earlier. I love the incidental music. Powerful stuff. Movie quality stuff. I own every season soundtrack and the two-disc set for the last couple episodes.

Watching Tabula Rasa now. Some thoughts:

Jack and his incessant need to play savior annoys me every time. Sorry for you Jack fans. But I loved how insightful Sawyer was in the fuselage. Is it a good idea to use up medicine on a dead man. It would be a tough decision to make in that situation.

Surely John Locke could understand why it might seem creepy when an old guy tells a little boy a "secret" that he shouldn't tell his dad. I never cared much for Michael, but I can't blame him for hating Locke, lol. I would have thought the guy was a weird old pedo if I heard that from my kid too.

Awkward Sun/Michael moment. I don't know about you all but my first reaction when being interrupted in a state of undress is not to just stand there explosed. I'd be leaping to cover up real fast. Trust me, I've had my moment. In a dressing room at a outdoor and sporting goods store buying a new swimsuit. Really damn awkward, lol. I felt like this storyline was a bit forced, I was glad when they got away from it.

I always was rooting for Kate and Sawyer. Jack was the guy Kate wanted to be right for, Sawyer was the guy she really was right for. Until Juliet came along, then I was like just say no to Kate!!! I don't like Kate. But I love Sawyer. I love all manner of sarcasm and snark.

Why didn't Ray just pull over. Why drive next to the marshall? That was just dramatic writing right there. LOL, it was great when his arm came off though! I did feel for Kate during the crash though, what's worse than being in a horrific plane crash? Being handcuffed to the chair in front of you through it all, of course! Talk about being helpless and terrified!

The sunrise and sunset scenes are so gorgeous. Makes me want to be in Hawaii.

This game of I want to know what Kate did, I don't care what Kate did. And I want to tell Jack what I did, it's none of Jack's damn business what I did, gets old too.

I must apologize now to the Kate and Jack fans, you will hear a lot of complaining about them from me.

I love that musical ending. The way Jin looks at Sun makes up for his douche-bagery in the last episode. :insertluffsmiliehere:

So yeah Kate and Jack are clearly my least favorite. Never cared for Ana Lucia either.

I agree with the assessment of Sun and Jin. I have always much preferred Jin out of the two of them. Sun was pretty dark. Jin's major malfunction was his pride that kept him communicating honestly with his wife. There was a lot of yelling at the TV during Jin back story episodes.

I never minded Kate as much as other people. Her flashback episodes were usually the weakest, though, so I don't think that helped. Jack was definitely my least liked for most of the show, although season 5 and 6 Jack I didn't mind so much. He mellowed out.

I loved Henry Gale in season 2 but I didn't much like Ben's character in season 3 (or is it that I didn't like Locke's arc in season 3, and it was Ben's fault? Hard to say - the whole others thing just didn't work so well for me). Then he felt he regained his mojo in season 4.

I also didn't love Ana. Ilana and Charlotte could have been good if we'd had a proper flashback of them - in the end they both just felt wasted for the most part, although I never disliked either.

And here I will be at my most controversial... I wasn't much of a Juliet fan. I really liked her early season 3... possibly all of season 3, maybe. But, I never bought her romances with Jack OR Sawyer. Especially with Sawyer. I feel like the story would have benefitted from her getting off the island in season 4 and coming back somehow to help the end game but without her Sawyer relationship. I know I'm in a pretty sizable minority with that.

Otherwise, I liked all the major characters.

I'd have listed Ana Lucia but I like to pretend that the tail section never existed. Easily the worst part of the show.

timmer wrote:I'd have listed Ana Lucia but I like to pretend that the tail section never existed. Easily the worst part of the show.

But I really liked Mr Eko (until the actor ballsed it up) and Bernard.

Don't like Sun, Don't like Jack, Don't like Kate.

Like Boone better than Shannon, like Claire better than Charlie. Until she had the squirrel baby. That was weak. Loved Sayid, hated how they made him forget the intense torture related love of his life for...Shannon in Purgatory? :duds:

I utterly loathed Michael, and nothing ever happened to change that for me. I thought Ana Lucia was more interesting than Libby as a person, and hated that they never really finished Libbys backstory up.

S~V~S wrote:I always thought Sun was a hypocrite, once you started seeing her back story. Jin became what he did for her. When she planned to run away, she should have taken him with her. They BOTH needed to escape her father. Jin did not become her Dads goon becasue he liked it, he did it for her. So she could have the life she had. In their culture he behaved traditionally, and if you look at Sun & Jin from that perspective, he becomes more sympathetic, and she less in my eyes.

She is my least favorite main character.

I disagree.

(what, that's not enough? alrighty then)

Sun is one of Lost's best examples of someone who was freed by the island. Sun grew up the daughter of a brutally violent business magnate, who seemed more like a mobster than a tycoon, in the middle of Korea, whose cultural traditions are very limiting to women who want to break free of gender roles. She was attracted to Jin because he was a genuinely good human being who hadn't grown up in the sea of amorality that she had. He also represented independence from what society expected of her, what with him being a humble fisherman's son and all.

Of course, this all comes to an end when Sun learns he'll be working for her father, who then proceeds to corrupt him much in the same way he corrupted her. When she looked at Jin, she didn't see the man that she wanted to marry, she saw her father. Also, Jin came home covered in blood, which is always a deal-breaker. Yes, he was trying to provide for her, but he went into dark Tony Soprano/Walter White territory to do it.

This plus the whole fertility kerfuffle basically ended all passion in the relationship, and Sun decided to get away from her father and his corrupting influence by running to America.

But, in the iconic scene we see from five or six different angles, at the plane ticket desk while Jack is desperately pleading about his father, Sun is reminded of Jin's core humanity when he whips out a flower, a reference to their courtship. She realizes that the man she loved still existed and chose not to run. Then, when flight 815 crashed, she ended up being able to escape her father after all.

I know I've basically recapped "House of the Rising Sun," (one of the worst episode titles) but I just read everything in their relationship in a completely different way than you did.

I think the worst thing either of them did was Jin committing suicide and abandoning Ji Yeon.

Now, my least favorite main characters, withstanding "fake" ones like Nikki, Paulo, or Illana, would have to be either Kate "Toy Plane" Austen, and Claire "Squirrel Baby" Littleton. Leaning towards Claire.

Claire's stock went down for me almost entirely due to the weird possessive codependent relationship she and Charlie had for a big chunk of the show. They were honestly my least favorite romantic pairing the show ever did, and were the center of my least favorite episode of Lost ever: "Fire + Water"

timmer wrote:I'd have listed Ana Lucia but I like to pretend that the tail section never existed. Easily the worst part of the show.

MR EKO FOREVER AND FOREVER

Hurley

*runs*

Really? Oh well, to each his own. I don't *love* Hurley like some do, but he was pretty cool

@INH. well, if we all liked all the same people/things, it would be a pretty boring world

The REALLY important question, obvs, is... who was your fave from a "hottie" perspective?

For me, Juliet and Shannon Guy-wise, I'd have to go Desmond or Jin.

Juliet and Penny

Claire. It was always Claire.

Honorable mention to the version of Eloise Hawking that was in Jughead.

timmer wrote:The REALLY important question, obvs, is... who was your fave from a "hottie" perspective?

For me, Juliet and Shannon Guy-wise, I'd have to go Desmond or Jin.

Daniel Faraday.

What can I say, I have a thing for scrawny nerds...

Spacedaisy wrote:

timmer wrote:The REALLY important question, obvs, is... who was your fave from a "hottie" perspective?

For me, Juliet and Shannon Guy-wise, I'd have to go Desmond or Jin.

Daniel Faraday.

What can I say, I have a thing for scrawny nerds...

I always liked Daniel too! But he is second behind Des to me. These are my number 1 and 2 favorite characters all around, and not just in attractiveness.
(keys actually has a shirt with Desmond and Daniel on it. It's how I knew we were meant to be. )

I have a harder time picking an attractive female character, because they are all so unattractive personality wise.

Golden wrote:And here I will be at my most controversial... I wasn't much of a Juliet fan. I really liked her early season 3... possibly all of season 3, maybe. But, I never bought her romances with Jack OR Sawyer. Especially with Sawyer. I feel like the story would have benefitted from her getting off the island in season 4 and coming back somehow to help the end game but without her Sawyer relationship. I know I'm in a pretty sizable minority with that.

Otherwise, I liked all the major characters.

I think this is why we became friends on STV all those years ago. I really can't stand Juliet.

My wife LOATHED juliet. There was something about that sideways little smile she would do that she just hated, lol. Whereas I'd be next to her all .

She also hated Kate, and I didn't argue too much with her on that one.

I didn't like any of them. They all looked like they needed a bath.

I had a go at rewatching LOST a few months back and got back up to season 3. I finished it the first time years ago.

I can't really remember what I did and didn't like about all the characters, which may be because I forget half the storyline or because character growth takes a backseat to other things, I couldn't tell you.

But I did love Sun, and Sawyer at parts. One of my favourites early on was Danielle.

I also loved Rose. Such a chill woman.

These are my new 2 favorite things:

This is the version of Lost I feel we deserve, but don't need:

FYI the BEST lost character is Desmond and the WORST lost character is Jack

also, nikki and paulo's episode is a top 20 episode.

ALSO season ranking:

3 part 2 >1>4>5>2>3 part 1>6 i think. i may swap 1 and 3 pt 2 but to be REAL i haven't watched since the finale lmao
also i had to separate 3 into that weird section before the show took like a break or something?? idk but the first 6 episodes or so were lame but the end of season 3 is the show's peak i think.

There's a new comedy on TBS called WRECKED....watch it! HILARIOUS parody of Lost!!!

tin man wrote:FYI the BEST lost character is Desmond

I've been doing a little bit of a LOST rewatch. I recently started putting it on in the background while using my rowing machine. It's nice because I know it well so I don't have to pay too much attention, and ~40 minutes is the perfect amount of rowing time.

I've only gotten up to White Rabbit. What I've learned so far is that Kate episodes aren't any more enjoyable with added exercise. And the Smoke Monster sound gets me pumped. Whenever it starts I go much faster.

fingersplints wrote:

tin man wrote:FYI the BEST lost character is Desmond

I've been doing a little bit of a LOST rewatch. I recently started putting it on in the background while using my rowing machine. It's nice because I know it well so I don't have to pay too much attention, and ~40 minutes is the perfect amount of rowing time.

I've only gotten up to White Rabbit. What I've learned so far is that Kate episodes aren't any more enjoyable with added exercise. And the Smoke Monster sound gets me pumped. Whenever it starts I go much faster.

Rowing faster won't help...it's stationary...it'll STILL catch you!

Happy LOST Day! Hard to believe it's been 12 years since the series premier.

Yeah, wow.

Today I discovered that Lost has the same birthday as one of my other very favourite shows, The West Wing! So I can celebrate both of them at once

Oh nice!!