The 'Lost' episodes you HAVE to watch before Season 6 starts

Yay! I was wishing for this exact kind of list today. Thanks!

great list, I think! I might follow this suggestion actually. I was considering a S1 re-watch (again...) but this sounds like a better idea.

This is kind of helpful, Ryan.

Damon, Carlton and the cast seemed to be mentioning Season 1 a lot at the TCA and in interviews, so I just started watching it again.

You've listed some of my favorite episodes, so I may just default to this list instead of all of Season 1.

A list so divine it could have been penned by Jacob himself!

I agree Ryan, the 23rd Psalm is certainly the best use of flashbacks.

What do you have against the Hydra Island storyline? I actually thought it was a strong point of the show that just highlighted how relative everybody's actions were on the Island. Given the questionable judgment we have seen from multiple characters, don't you think the constant conflict seen in season 3 is supposed to show us that this was just "progress". During season 3 it seemed impossible to see who were "the good guys", as Ben claimed the "Others" were. Now it seems they were all either good-guys or just needed to work together. Seems to me like excellent long-form narrative (as you would say).

I'd also include the webisodes, Bee, Vincent...

Just read the transcript of Tuesday's chat, and I'm intrigued by the (entirely speculative) possibility that Darlton socked away some Walt footage to spring on us this season! That would be so great.

Think of what a great job they did in the (otherwise unpleastant) Paulo/Nikki centric episode with integrating new footage (including some with Shannon and Boone) with old, using clever editing, blue-screen, etc. One can't help wonder if those techniques such as those might be used to help make new Walt scenes, even if the actor is no longer available.

P.S. Love the idea of Michael appearing as "As an angry restaurant customer asking for SAAAALT!"!!!

P.P.S. I also miss Anna Lucia -- in fact, one of my all time favorite quote/moments is when she, realizing that it may in fact be just for Sayid to kill her (since in the past she had murdered the person who attacked her, and had accidentally -- perhaps recklessly -- killed Shannon), she drops her defenses, expecting to be killed... and instead Sayid, after a pause, says "What would be the point... when we're both already dead."

P.P.P.S. I also miss Veronica Mars!

COOL! My wife and I have been doing EXACTLY this for about the last weeks and a half. And even cooler is that we hit almost every single episode Ryan mentioned in this list (minus SIASL) because it's what we thought were the most important to review.

We just finished the Season 4 finale last night and are planning to watch Season 5 in its entirety before the premiere.

And I gotta say, while not everyone loves the S4 finale, the amazing web of storylines they wrapped up and started in those three episodes has had some very cool repercussions.

For example: when Ben and Jack are in the funeral parlour and Jack says that he can't get Kate to come back to the Island because she won't even talk to him, Ben says "perhaps I can help you with that". It seemed fairly meaningless at the time and certainly wasn't forefront in my mind in S5, but then we find out that Ben is the one trying to take Aaron and it all falls into place. Don't know why it didn't occur to me at the time. Or there's Jack telling Desmond he'll "see him in another life" (which the last time they ever see each other). With the possibility of alternative timelines in S6, it is indeed possible they may literally see each other in another life!

One thing I loved about rewatching these episodes was the fact that so much more of the story and the characters' motivations seems to fit together cohesively and how the storytelling as a whole seems a lot more consistent. I came out of S4 and S5 struggling with the breakneck pacing and the sheer scope of the story telling and yearned for the simpler days of even S3. But upon rewatching the series, all of those fears were gone. I didn't even notice the difference between S3 and S4 anymore and I enjoyed S4 a lot more than I originally did now that I know where they were going with the story. And season 3 blew my freakin' socks off this time around!

So, to any of those fence-sitters who are unsure of whether or not they should - or have the time to - rewatch the series before S6 premieres: follow Ryan's list and you won't go wrong. You'll be able to do it in a leisurely pace in just a couple of weeks and by the time you finish the season 5 finale, there's no more wait for season 6 because it'll be premiering just after you're done!

Oops, I was wrong about Des and Jack being the last time they see each other. But, you get the point.

Regarding "how Sawyer/Juliet ended the season"

Last Saturday, ABC (NY) repeated the season 4 episode "Something Nice Back Home" which showed a similar situation between Jack, Juliet, and Kate. That episode had the exact same pained expression on Juliet's face.

JeffC is absolutely right. Many times in Lost, we see things that don't make sense or makes some of the characters seem inconsistent. But then you re-watch older episodes and you see that they were consistent.

E.g., in the episode last season that showed Said was a born killer, I initially thought that wasn't consistent with Said's character until I re-watched one of the repeats on ABC (unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the episode).