The 21 Best Lost Episodes, Ranked

After the emotional revelations about Locke's condition in "Walkabout," the first season continued developing the tragic origin story of one of the show's most complicated characters with "Deus Ex Machina." Before he's confined to a wheelchair, Locke has a brief encounter with his birth mother, Emily (Swoosie Kurtz), who tells her son that he has no father. As a result, a curious Locke hires a private investigator, which leads him to the discovery that his father, Anthony, owns an elaborate mansion.

Initially, Anthony appears to deeply care for his son's well-being, and they form a strong emotional bond. However, Anthony's intentions are much more sinister than they appear: He needs one of Locke's kidneys for an upcoming surgery. Locke can't see through his father's deceit, and lovingly offers to donate his organ for the transplant.

After the surgery is completed, Locke wakes up and realizes that his father has completely abandoned him. Locke has to confront the fact that his father only pretended to care about him in order to receive the transplant; Locke, at his most vulnerable, breaks down in tears. It is one of the show's most heart-wrenching moments, and explains why Locke is so hesitant to take other characters at their word.

The last season of "Lost" is easily the most mythologically rich of the series, but viewers were divided over the show's deeper exploration of the metaphorical battle between good and evil that dominated the final stretch of episodes. Was this really what the show was leading to? However, despite the disappointment expressed by some fans, "Lost" never forgot the reason why it was so successful in the first place: empathy for its characters.

The backstory of Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), one of the mysterious leaders of the Others, is told in an emotional love story that rivals Desmond and Penny's in "The Constant." Once known as Ricardo, Richard was first brought to the island as a slave on a ship called the Black Rock in 1867. Richard had been imprisoned for inadvertently killing a doctor when he was trying to save his wife, Isabella (Mirelly Taylor), who succumbs to illness and dies. When the Black Rock crashes on the island, Richard is freed from the wreckage by the Man in Black. "Ab Aeterno" gives fans what they wanted most — some answers — but does so in the most "Lost" of ways: by focusing on the characters' humanity, not the island's bigger mysteries.

"The Brig" features one the most satisfying character deaths on "Lost." Locke's father, Anthony Cooper (played by a scenery-chewing Kevin Tighe in a wonderfully deranged performance), is one of the most unlikable characters in the series — most of the villains on "Lost" are at least somewhat empathetic, but Cooper is pure evil. In addition to abusing and insulting his son, Cooper was also responsible for the death of Sawyer's parents.

Cooper mysteriously appears on the island after being brought there by the Others. He assumes that he is in some sort of afterlife, and that he is simply seeing memories of his son. Sawyer and Locke are two of the most emotionally closed-off characters on the series, but they are able to open up to each other about their mutual hatred for Cooper. After Cooper tries to pin Sawyer's tragic upbringing on his father, Sawyer murders him. Seeing such a detestable character perish is reason enough for "The Brig" to be included on any list of the best "Lost" episodes.

"Walkabout" is one of the most important episodes of "Lost," and features one of the most powerful flashbacks in the entire series. The first season of "Lost" remains its best because of its brilliant structure, with each individual episode dedicated to one of the characters' lives before the plane crash. Locke's first spotlight reveals that, prior to the accident, he was paralyzed from the waist down, and that the island somehow healed him.

Not every twist in "Lost" was about the island itself. The revelation about Locke's medical condition was a powerful emotional moment, and shed quite a bit of light on his motivations and where his character arc would go in the future. Locke is naturally keen to take advantage of his newfound strength, and to prove himself as both a hero and leader. Even when Locke makes questionable decisions later on in the series, "Lost" fans remember the challenging position that he was in originally, giving him a certain degree of inevitable sympathy.

"Orientation" is packed with cool revelations about the DHARMA Initiative that help flesh out the "Lost" mythology, particularly the creepy orientation video that Desmond shows to Jack and Locke. A video from 1980 that's narrated by Dr. Marvin Candle (François Chau) explains that the hatch is one of six research facilities built to protect the island from what Desmond calls "the end of the world." Desmond is convinced that if he does not enter a specific computer code into a terminal every 108 minutes, there will be a devastating "incident."

"Lost" does a great job at forcing the viewers to pick sides during heated confrontations. Jack believes that the video is part of a sustained behavioral experiment, but Desmond finds no reason to doubt that the recording is sincere. Locke errs on the side of caution, and agrees with Desmond. This prompted an interesting debate among "Lost" fans: Would you be willing to risk your safety to prove that you were right?

Season 3 of "Lost" opened with an interesting twist on events that viewers were already familiar with as the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 is shown from the perspective of the Others. After seeing the plane begin to deteriorate mid-flight, Ben orders Goodwin Stanhope (Brett Cullen) and Ethan Rom (William Mapother) to go undercover as members of the survivors.

Jack is at his most vulnerable in "A Tale of Two Cities." In flashbacks, Jack begins to suspect that his father has been sleeping with his wife, Sarah (Julie Bowen). Jack follows Christian to an AA meeting and attacks him. In the present timeline, Jack reflects on his failed marriage, while Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) reveals documents that recount Jack's entire life; when Juliet asks Jack if he has any questions about Sarah, he simply asks if she is happy.

Ben Linus was shrouded in mystery up until "The Man Behind the Curtain" aired. Although Ben had hinted at his life outside of the Island, it was never clear what was true and what was part of his manipulations. However, "The Man Behind The Curtain" definitively revealed some important details about Ben's origins, making the shrewd leader a much more sympathetic character than he had been previously.

A flashback to 1971 reveals that a younger Ben (Sterling Beaumon) and his father first came to the island when they were employed by the DHARMA Initiative. It's a stressful time for Ben; his father still blames him for the death of Ben's mother, who died seven years earlier in childbirth. Haunted by memories of his mother, Ben attempts to join the group of "Hostiles" led by Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell).

Richard tells Ben that he must wait until he is older to join the group. Years later, Ben murders his father. Of all of Ben's crimes throughout the series, this one feels the most personal, and it goes a long way towards making Ben feel just as flawed and human as the rest of the "Lost" crew.

After its game-changing first season, "Lost" began to falter in season 2. Quite simply, the bunker was not as interesting as the mystery of the island itself. However, the second season got off to a promising start with its first episode, "Man of Science, Man of Faith." The debut of Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond Hume introduced one of the best characters in the entire series; in a poll conducted by The Washington Post, Desmond was ranked by "Lost" fans as their favorite character.

Desmond's backstory is brilliantly intertwined with the episode's flashbacks. In the opening scene, Desmond wakes up in a mysterious underground compound. It is clear that something is off; he's surrounded by technology that is several decades old. Desmond's daily routine is interrupted by the arrival of Jack and Locke, picking up from their discovery of the hatch at the end of the first season.

The flashbacks also give insight on the relationship between Jack and his father, Dr. Christian Shepard (John Terry). Seeing Jack once again reduced to his most vulnerable was very important. Jack is a natural leader and a skilled surgeon, and risked being too competent to be a truly relatable character. Jack's troubled history with his father fixed that. After an argument with his father, Jack relaxes by going out for a run; notably, on the track he has a heartfelt conversation with Desmond, years before they see each other again.

"Lost" truly became a hard science fiction series in its fifth season. The continuing story of the DHARMA Initiative allowed the show to lean into headier sci-fi concepts, and while this occasionally made "Lost" challenging to follow, the shortened length of the season ended up working in the show's favor. There was less time for bloated or filler episodes, and the storylines that were introduced felt purposeful. Even better, the two-part season five finale, "The Incident," finally revealed the identity of one of the most enigmatic characters in the "Lost" universe.

The backstory of Jacob (Mark Pellegrino), the Others' mysterious leader, is finally explained in the episode's opening flashbacks. Up until this point, the mythology surrounding Jacob had been shrouded in mystery, but in "The Incident" we learn that Jacob is the ageless protector of the island, and he's destined to battle his evil brother, the Man in Black. He has influenced events throughout the course of the series; "The Incident" also teased the larger role that Jacob would play in the final season.

Jacob is discovered within the remnants of the Taweret statue by John Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), and Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim). This is where "Lost" pulls off one of its greatest twists: It's revealed that the "Man in Black" has killed Locke and possessed his body. Locke uses his influence to convince Ben to attack Jacob, playing on Ben's vulnerabilities to get an advantage; Ben has never understood why he's unable to communicate with Jacob, and the resulting resentment makes him a willing accomplice in the Man in Black's shocking scheme.

If you only watched "Lost" for the plot, then it's more than likely that it ultimately disappointed you. However, the reason that "Lost" became such a phenomenon was not because of the questions it asked, but because of its great characters. The viewers learned more about each of the survivors through flashbacks, and grew invested in their adventures together. That's what made the season 3 finale, "Through the Looking Glass," so tragic: It forced the audience to bid farewell to one of the show's most beloved characters.

Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) has one of the most interesting character arcs on the series. Prior to the plane crash, he was a troubled musician in the rock band Drive Shaft. Charlie struggled with his sobriety, but on the island, he learned to be responsible. Charlie's protection of Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) was heartwarming, and he becomes a paternal figure to Claire's son, Aaron. 

This all pays off in "Through the Looking Glass," in which Charlie is captured by the Others when infiltrating the DHARMA Initiative's underwater research facility. In season 3, Desmond started receiving visions that foreshadowed Charlie's demise, making the musician contemplate his mortality. At the end of "Through the Looking Glass," Charlie sacrifices himself to save Desmond in an act of selflessness. However, before he dies, Charlie tells Desmond that they have been deceived, and that Desmond's girlfriend, Penny, did not send a boat to rescue them. He writes "Not Penny's Boat" on his hand before he drowns. It's arguably the most memorable single image from the series, and one that elicited with no small amount of tears from the audience.

Time travel is an incredibly challenging narrative device to execute properly. Jumps in the timeline can easily become confusing, especially in a weekly television series that is already dealing with multiple ongoing storylines. However, one of the most unique things about "Lost" is how it used individual episodes to spotlight different characters. Not only did the season four episode "The Constant" gave the viewer more insight into the backstory of Desmond Hume, but that narrow focus helps keep its time travel plot manageable, leading to the show's very best episode.

In "The Constant," Desmond and Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) are flown by Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) to a freighter outside of the island. During the flight, Desmond starts flashing back to 1996 and his time in the British Army. When Desmond's consciousness switches back to 2004, he is confused, and doesn't remember his life since 1996. Desmond's mind continues traveling back and forth between the two parallel timelines, eventually coalescing around his experiences working on a time machine at Oxford.

However, the emotional power of "The Constant" comes from seeing Desmond's relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Penny Widmore (Sonya Walger). Desmond knows that he and Penny are destined to be separated, but realizes that he can use her help in the present. Desmond's last phone call to Penny at the end of the episode is the emotional high point of the entire series.