The ten worst 'Lost' episodes ever
So you love Lost, huh? Hey, funny, me too! What a crazy small world we live in. Fancy meeting you here. But let's be honest: we all know the show isn't perfect. Nothing is, except maybe the taste of leftover pizza the morning after a bourbon-infused night during which you may or may not have told strangers at the bar, "We have to go back...to my place for some topless Twister!" But except for that leftover slice of pizza, little in this world is perfect.
With that in mind, I've compiled the Ten Worst Episodes in Lost history. Before getting into this list, keep in mind such things are relative: I'd still watch these episodes over approximately 93.6% of anything else on television today. But were I to come across these episodes on television in the presence of someone that's never seen the show, I'd probably move on lest they get the wrong impression of the show's overall levels of awesome. So take everything below with a silo of salt.
And yes, these lists are arbitrary and personal and meant to cause fist fights. But fist fights of fun, y'all! Fist fights of fun. Remember that if you come across one of your favorite episodes below, lest you try to come settle the score personally. Luckily, most of you don't live in New England, so I only have to fear a few of you local Bai Ling fans finding out where I live and coming to seek vengeance for the affront below.
On with the list!
10) Exposé
Almost clever, but mostly an overly meta episode that took the momentum of Season 3's latter half and stopped it dead in its tracks. Whereas some saw an interesting way to see epochal moments from a new perspective, I saw two self-absorbed individuals too busy navel gazing to help disaster after disaster from befalling their fellow survivors.
9) Born to Run
This is where we learn the origin of the toy plane. Remember that? Didn't think so. The show wisely forgot all about this plot after spending what felt like eleven flashbacks setting it up.
8) ...and Found
Sun spends an hour looking for her wedding ring. I love me some Sun/Jin, but this is the weakest of all episodes focusing on this pair. Also? This episode features Michael at his WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT-iest. Not good times.
7) Homecoming
Possibly the single worst flashback ever (Driveshaft works at The Office!) with the first of many maddening "shoot first, unable to ask questions later" plotlines with Ethan's death. In addition, Claire's amnesia reeked of a clichéd plotline, one the show had largely avoided up until that point.
6) Collision
Three words: Ana Lucia flashback. Shudder. On the Island wasn't much better, as she moped about for the better part of an hour. While this episode does feature a touching Rose/Bernard reunion at the end, it's a long, tough slough through to get there.
Did you know Sawyer was a con man? Did you know that Ben likes to psychologically manipulate people? Apparently the show thought you didn't. This episode is a classic example of show trying to make you overlook the shortcomings of a particular episode by dropping a huge twist at the end. First time around? I liked this ep. Second time through? Could hardly keep my eyes open.
4) Adrift
The name sorta says it all, right? One of the many Season 2 flashbacks in which we learned nothing new coupled with a literally inert plot equaled a great cure for insomnia. And if anyone in the world can explain to me why Susan was convinced Michael would win that custody battle, enlighten me. That's about as baffling a legal plot as the one in...
3) Eggtown
...which is Season 4's six-sided die of suck. Why Kate wanted to leave the Island still continues to confuse, but not as much as the craziest courtroom logic that doesn't prominently involve Markie Post ever seen on television. Throw in some schitzo snuggles with Sawyer, and you have an episode I'll never watch again.
2) Fire+Water
The most tonally bizarre Lost episode ever. I literally felt as if I were watching another show through the majority of it. Charlie's hallucinations/visions do not match ANYTHING before or since, and feel the product of an idea that sounded OK in the writer's room (Charlie's visions being explicitly derived from his religious upbringing) only to fall flat in execution. And let's not mention the Butties, OK?
The worst episode ever. The only episode to ever make me question my Lost fandom. The episode that made "Bai Ling" an acceptable substitute for more adult language. (As in, "What the Bai Ling was THAT?") It's maybe easy for those of you still around to forget, but right around this time was the height of people questioning if the show had a plan, a focus, an end in sight. And this episode came and showed many people the door, I believe. It's almost impossible to watch an entire episode based around a mystery no one cared about (the origin of one of Jack's tattoos) while engaging in some of the most egregious examples of "answering provocative questions with half-muddled, coy, smug half-answers" ever. I kind of hope Darlton aired this episode so they could force ABC's hand in setting an end date for the show. That's the only justification for this waste of an hour.
Whew, OK, before I burst a blood vessel thinking about that Bai Ling episode, I'm going to put the ball in your court. What are your least favorite episodes ever, and why? Coming tomorrow, I'll be posting my Ten Best episodes ever, to wash down the bitter taste this list has left behind.
And this Wednesday? Well, we're trying a little experiment: the first live chat ever on this site! You don't need any fancy software, passwords, or tech savvy. Just make sure you're on this blog on January 21st, starting around 8 pm, Eastern Standard Time, for Zap2It's first live discussion! I'll be moderating the event throughout the three-hour premiere night, from the start of the retrospective through...well, I can't quite say yet what it's through. I'm all banned and such. But trust me, it's a great cliffhanger. I'll be leading discussion, posting polls, and theorizing along with the rest of you. So make sure you tune in here as well as ABC come this Wednesday! Should be a good time for all.
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed. He asks you to check out the We Have to Go Back Gallery and make sure you're fully caught up before Season 5 starts! And remember: live chat with him here on January 21st, starting at 8 pm EST!
Based on the fact that I keep shouting randomly "I still can't believe that 'The Moth' didn't make this list!" I want to throw out another debate question: Who has the most uniformly bad flashback episodes? My money is on Kate or Charlie, but leaning towards Kate since Charlie at least had "Greatest Hits."
I would move Born to Run way further up the list (possibly 2). I mean, Kate stages a bank robbery, tramatizes all the customers in there, and procedes to shoot several dudes for a toy plane? (0nly time I've ever screamed WTF at the TV).
And while Expose was not a good episode, I consider it a necessary evil. Nikki and Paulo were a mistake that needed to be dealt with for the show to move on.
I have no least favorite episodes, as I tend to conceive of the show as a whole entity...rather like a multi-course meal that unfortunately had an appetizer course of escargots and an early dessert of chilled monkey brains. Also, since not all the meal has been served yet, it seems a little silly to trumpet less-than-stellar episodes when there may be many more to come. Who knows, to piggyback onto Ryan's description, the final episode may be a 20-sided die of suck.
What I dislike from the series is the notion that the audience is A) totally invested in the show, following religiously every plot twist and detail; and B) they are willing to forgive the writers their occasional dips into the punchbowl of stupid. The creators made a major mistake in not setting a timeline and endgame before the show even aired. Hence the errors such as the loss of the model airplane as a plot device, Nasty and Powerless (aka Nikki and Paulo), and the overuse of needless flashbacks to emphasize points already made. Lost really should have been made with fans in mind from the start, and not dumbed down from time to time to make the show more palatable for the casual viewer or retarded network executives with the imagination of duct tape. Battlestar Galactica (the new version) did this, understanding that not all viewers would get (or want to get) the show's twists and turns. To make Lost for everyone was idiotic, and it shows.
So, while I find the list a little unnecessary, it makes sense that certain episodes would rub people the wrong way. Kind of like albums by the Beatles that contain one or two truly great songs and the rest nothing but mutterings by insane illiterates with fountain pens. Or Yoko Ono. Which is redundant.
"I would move Born to Run way further up the list (possibly 2). I mean, Kate stages a bank robbery, tramatizes all the customers in there, and procedes to shoot several dudes for a toy plane? (0nly time I've ever screamed WTF at the TV)."
The episode Jeff M. is describing here is "Whatever The Case May Be." We find out the plane was part of Tom and Kate's time capsule in "Born to Run." So yes, Ryan ... I think YOU'RE the one that's confused. Are you sure you mean "Born To Run"? In fact, you ended your recent recap of that episode with "There, I said it: I kind of enjoyed a Kate episode."
"Kind of enjoyed a Kate episode" is like "kind of liking beets" in my book. It's all relative. So I'm not confused, just more critical when looking at the body of Lost episodes as a whole as opposed to recapping them on daily basis.
But I think your larger point (at least, the one I think you're making) is valid: this lists are both subjective and of a certain moment in time. Ask me again in 2 months for my list, and it very well might be different.
I can watch the entirety of each episode you listed, save one.
The Bai Ling Episode
This is the second show that Bai Ling has hurt by appearing on it. The Other (heh heh) was Angel by the way.
When I last rewatched the show, SIASL was the only one where I fastforwarded through the flashback.
As for my worst episode? Easy. "Through The Looking Gl***". Why? Because the Bluray (and I'm guessing the DVD too) has it in two parts!
Hey Chris what do you mean by the Beatles only have one or two truly great songs on an album....every song is great on their albums. But I digress from our Lost topic....absoulutely the two worst were the one's Ryan mentioned although to me Fire & Water is the altime worst. Poor Charlie halucinates in the episode, steals the baby and gets beat up and hated by everyone for his actions....just an awful episode in the history of Lost. Once we get by the two worst episodes that most of us agree on I do feel there is a wide dropoff or in reality a huge difference in numbers 3 - 10...meaning the awful episodes are much harder to distinguish and to separate from the pack.
Yeah, Jacoby, I get your point. There's only a couple real stinkers in all the episodes, while the rest on Ryan's list are just meh. "Collision" is one of my favorite ones of season 2, and I don't consider it a bad episode at all (even if it is an Ana-Lucia-centered one). The reunions at the end, as well as the "meeting of the twisted minds" of AL and Sayid in the clearing, are some of the best scenes of the series, especially when Sayid says, "What would be the point of killing you, if we're both already dead?" That was telling for the episode, but it just might be something having to do with the series as a whole, too.
Anyway, like Ryan said, the list is subjective, so I only agree with about half of them. The 10 Best list will probably be just as argued over. :)
I hope so! Though I'd replace "arguing" with "p***ionate discussion." Heh.
Top Ten will appear mid-day or so tomorrow.
I agree with most of these, if not necessarily the order. #1 and 2 are spot on, though! As for who has the worst flashbacks, yeah, it's definately between Kate and Charlie. I'd say I dislike both backstories equally. I'm more diappointed by Kate's, since the whole thing has wound up seeming kind of irrelevent.
SIASL for the win!