The Top 25 'Lost' Moments

Just thought of one more: What about Locke falling out of the coffin and the audience realizing notLocke is something else.

For me, Michael's shooting spree would have to be higher on the list - possibly #2 behind We Have To Go Back. But I guess that's a good thing about Lost, that there are sooo many moments to choose from. Also, Sun's epic scream after the freighter went boom and the moment in The Candidate on the beach with everyone crying after the sub went boom I think would make my top 10 or 5. That Sun scream is definitely one of the most emotional moments of the series, even seeing the replay during the pre-finale show had me thinking the room was getting a bit dusty. Man, if I keep talking it might make my top 5 quotes list.

RYAN: "I left it off because there are at least 10 episodes I would watch before popping in "Glass," which is the most IMPORTANT episode in the show's history but isn't one of the ten best. Once you know the twist, it merely turns into an extremely awesome episode."

I agree completely with you on this, Ryan. I also agree with all of the above comments by NotYetMeasured and A-Rob. (Yes, even including about how the room was getting dusty during the pre-finale encore of the Sun scream.)

JEFFC: "Oh, and Op/Con? I think maybe you should start your own blog soon. Your posts are rivaling Ryan's entries in word count!"

Hi JeffC. Honest, every day I think I've finally "let go" of arguing about the finale... but then when I read (or in the case of the podcast, hear) strong advocation of the other side I get revved up again and feel I have to comment in order to calm down. (And of course the podcast being 45 minutes long -- the equivalent of a humongous word count -- really gave my irish an opportunity to get up, necessitating a wordy response for me to calm down again.) Hey, I guess it really IS all about finding peace!

Anyway, I hope soon I can "let go" of arguing about the finale. But I'll never let go of my love for 95% of LOST, or my interesting in re-watching most of the episodes.

LOTIONINTHEBASKET: "Wow! I found that listening to four people talk themselves into liking, what was at the very least, a disappointing series finale, very amusing."

Now why can't I be that concise?!

SCHMOKER: "...the island's power is to make sure that a nuclear blast never goes off in the first place (a la Jack & Richard and the dynamite)."

You raise some good points, Schmoker. You've almost converted me to a "White Light shipper"!

FIFTYPENCE: "For me, Lost's dual storytelling motif was a huge part of the fun of the show and for that to be turned into a mystery itself was enjoyable. I'm also glad that the show seemed to stick to two of it's fundamental 'rules' of whatever happened, happened and dead is dead - which would not have been the case if it was a real epilogue."

It may surprise you, but I also am very glad that they (in a sense at least) stuck to those two most basic rules. In fact, I believe many of my posts in the past (especially around the time of "The Variable" and "The Incident") expressed my concern that they didn't seem to be sticking to those rules (based on what Faraday and Jack were saying). Although, unlike you, I don't like how they had their cake and ate it to by coming up with the purgaverse. Nor do I like how they mislead us for virtually all of season six into thinking that they WERE violating their rules via the bomb.

I agree with most of the rest of your post, including "Season three stands up exceptionally well on viewing as a number of episodes together" and "personally I really was into the characters but the thing that exercised my brain was the mythology (what did the numbers mean, why did some Losties go to 1977) rather than 'how will kate an sawyer get out of those bear cages'. And the show just didn't deliver on some fairly large answers."

And, as I've previously indicated, I hope Ryan will leave one "afterlife" thread active so we can discuss our "conclusions to outstanding questions from evidence provided in the show", as well as new revelations we have when re-watching an old episode. (We can promise to keep our comments positive... I have no interest in continuing to trash the purgaverse ending forever -- frankly I just want to forget about it and focus on the five and a half seasons of primary story.)

MARTIN: "I enjoyed the season finale of Flash Forward so much more then the series finale of Lost... They tied up all the story lines... and made me happy that I had invested my precious time in a continuing story."

I stopped watching about half way through (after I semi-accidently missed an episode or two and decided it wasn't worth trying to get caught up online or whatever), but I might watch the whole thing on DVD someday. I think that will be a least a decent experience. (No LOST or even Veronica Mars, but how often do great shows come along?)

MARTIN: "My wife wanted to watch the finale again so we did. The second time around was exactly what I thought it would be - painful... Someone said they would watch again just because of the intense drama created. Kind of like watching a football game over again that only has three quarters and nobody wins. There are so many stories out there that DO end and I already feel cheated - why invest another minute to watching it again?"

As much as I'm trying to "let go" of the finale, I still couldn't resist quoting these fine words... as well as the following, which actually brought me to tears (kudos Martin):

"For those who don't understand why we (those who hated the sideways ending) post - its because we loved LOST as much as those who loved the ending. We invested the same time and thought into it. We need to say goodbye to. Our goodby is not as fond - but still it needs to be said."

Damn I love LOST.

Great list Ryan - and well done for not being tempted to put the two Charlie scenes together (though it must have been hard not to and try to sneak another 'awakening' scene in there).

Some of my faves also include:

the dock scene in Season 6 with Sawyer and Kate (even if it was Sawyers last pivotal moment on the show)

'We're going to have to take the boy' - despite not having a true Walt pay-off the impact of this scene still gets me every time, when we realise the Others never intended to come for Aaron (not yet anyway).

The scene at Jin's grave with Hurley and Sun following the twist that you were watching a flashback and flashforward for Jin and Sun respectively.

The numbers and names in the cave - again, the numbers were never adequately explained, but we get enough here to satisfy how they were linked with our characters (even if we never really saw '51' cropping up Kate fans!)

Great list Ryan.

I gotta say what I'm most disappointed in is the bloody prev/next links on the blog comments. 9/10 times I hit next, it just shows a loading icon and never shows the comments. As a result, I've missed out on what I'm sure is a lot of good conversation. A frustrating way to finish off my time here at the blog.

I agree with most of the list, but it is a little heavy on season 6, and I am not a hater of this season at all. Having said that, I would take off the Christian opening the door scene and substitute the Jack death scene, with Vincent & the eye closing. Also, how could you leave off Sawyer/Kate on the dock & Sawyer/Juliet falling down the well? I guess have others has said there is just an embarrasment of riches.

Thanks for the list, although I'd argue that the smoke monster destroying the temple didn't really lead to anything more substantial than "The Drawing of Threes." No one we cared about died and it didn't really reveal anything that we didn't know already (Smokey=bad). At least the DOT was all mystical and based in Buddist practices.
Also, I think the scene with Jack dying and Vincent lying down next to him was more emotional and better done than the "move on" scene (just the inconsistencies/problems of who was present in the church and who wasn't immediately bumps it off my list).

Excellent list, Ryan. I was especially glad to see so many character moments, such as numbers 22 & 23. I have no idea what my top 25 would be, but those two would probably be on it for certain, as would many others you mention.

Think I'm going to do a blog post about mysteries that didn't seem to be answered, but that I think might just have been answered if we go back and connect some dots (a la my theories about Jughead and the fertility issue). I was hoping that eventually we'd get some of your theories about what got answered in ways so subtle as to be easily missed.

Excellent list Ryan!!! Definitely Top 25 Moments ... I am so gonna miss this show and your weekly blog!!!

Have you decided what you are going to do after you say your parting words on this blog??? Maybe blog another series???