Lost - General Discussion

[amensisterfriend]

I didn't realize how hard these would be to answer :) 

 

1) Who were your 5-7 favorite characters?

 

(In no particular order): Ben and...hmmm. Maybe Libby?! Miles? Faraday when he wasn't being overly twitchy? I mean, I care about a lot of these characters, but they all have such highs and lows for me that it's hard to come up with ones I consistently and completely liked. 

 

I do know that in the newly invented category of Characters Most Fans Hate Who You Can't Help But Like Anyway, I'll be at my own little table for one in listing Jack and Kate :) 

I also like Juliet FAR more than I used to. 

 

2) Who were your 5-7 LEAST favorite characters?

 

Charlie, Claire...but this one is really tough to answer for similar reasons. At times they all drove me kind of crazy, despite/because how invested I was in most of their stories.  

 

3) How would you rank the seasons from favorite to least favorite?

 

S5, S6, S4, S3, S2 and S1...possibly. Maybe. It changes with ridiculous frequency :) 

 

4) What were your 10(ish!) favorite episodes?

 

What sadist came up with these questions?! Oh, right.,..it was me :) The Pilot and finale both get spots on this list, as do The Man Behind the Curtain, Le Fleur, and roughly 100 or so others. 

 

5) What were your favorite actual/would-be romantic relationships?

 

Jack/Kate (if it's any consolation, I hate myself for loving them---really, I do!), Juliet/Sawyer, Libby/Hurley, Daniel/Charlotte. And, oh, I kind of liked Juliet with Goodwin! I have odd taste :) 

 

6) What were your LEAST favorite romantic relationships?

 

Charlie/Claire, Kate/Sawyer...probably a bunch that I've managed to repress by now :) 

 

I could have at least semi-liked Jack/Juliet, and the "crack ships" of Kate/Sayid, Sawyer/Shannon, Kate/Hurley...just thinking outside the box here!

 

I'm oddly 'meh' on Desmond/Penny.   

 

7) What were your favorite friendships/frenemyships/non-romantic relationships?

 

Please note that at least half of these are more about their rich potential than what we got in reality:  Jack/Locke, Locke/Ben, Sawyer/Jack, Kate/Juliet, Miles/Sawyer, Kate/Shannon, Jack/Boone, Sayid/Boone, Sawyer/Sayid   

Edited May 6, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[joelene]

1) Who were your 5-7 favorite characters?

Locke, Charlotte, Ben, Juliet, Alpert, Rousseau, Mr. Eko, Shannon. Because I pretty much always loved or strongly liked them all through their respective run.

2) Who were your 5-7 LEAST favorite characters?

There aren't many characters that I pretty much never liked, except Charlie. Charlie is easily the worst. Then Michael. Then probably Jack and Kate, but they both became much better in the last few seasons. But they never stopped being insufferable whilst together. I really think Desmond became very annoying. Hurley too a lot of the time. And Sawyer was just an a-hole in the first three seasons.

The rest of the main characters had ups and downs but I mostly liked them.

3) How would you rank the seasons from favorite to least favorite?

5, 4 (those two are pretty equal for me), 3, 1, 2 (1 and 2 two also pretty equal) 6.

4) What were your 10(ish!) favorite episodes?

Pilot, Raised By Another, Lockdown, The Man From Tallahassee, Exposé, The Brig, The Man Behind The Curtain, Through The Looking Glass, Confirmed Dead, The Shape of Things To Come, Cabin Fever, There's No Place Like Home (I can't choose just one of them...) Now, this is tricky, because I think Because You Left-The Lie-Jughead-The Little Prince-This Place Is Death are all FABULOUS. Probably my favorite stretch of episodes. And I ain't gonna choose just one of them. Okay if I had to then it would be TPID. But I won't. Dead Is Dead, The Incident.

So that was a lot more than 10 episodes.

5) What were your favorite actual/would-be romantic relationships?

Zzz. Charlotte/Daniel, Juliet/Sawyer, Rose/Bernard

6) What were your LEAST favorite romantic relationships?

Kate/Jack, Kate/Sawyer, Claire/Charlie

7) What were your favorite friendships/frenemyships/non-romantic relationships?

Locke/Ben, Ben/Alpert, Locke/Jack (Jack was mostly irritating in this duo I thought but it was also kind of amusing just how goddamn angry he got while Locke was mostly zen, at least in the early seasons. Locke with anyone, really.

Boone/Shannon, who were kind of romantic, friends and frenemies all at the same time.

Any of the female friendships, really, which doesn't give me a lot to choose from. Kate/Sun. Aaaaand, that's it, isn't it? I did like Kate/Cassidy. I thought Locke/Claire had good potential, but it never built very much. Claire/Sawyer too.

I haven't mentioned Sayid a lot. He was just kind of a solid, good character you could almost always count on, but never really made it to favourite status.

Edited May 6, 2015 by joelene

[amensisterfriend]

There aren't many characters that I pretty much never liked, except Charlie. Charlie is easily the worst

 

Ha! It cracks me up that while Lost fans' opinions understandably vary on virtually everyone and everything, the majority still seem to come together on this one crucial point :) 

 

 

 

And Sawyer was just an a-hole in the first three seasons.

 

Heh---I thought I was alone in that one! I really didn't like or root for him on any level until S5. (And I also freaking adore Sideways Sawyer of S6!) 

 

 

 

Charlotte

 

I liked her too, and she had a really interesting profession and background. If only they had done more with her...then again, I find myself wistfully thinking that about many of the show's female characters. 

 

I'm loving the S5 love! 

 

 

 

Now, this is tricky, because I think Because You Left-The Lie-Jughead-The Little Prince-This Place Is Death are all FABULOUS. Probably my favorite stretch of episodes. And I ain't gonna choose just one of them. Okay if I had to then it would be TPID. But I won't. Dead Is Dead, The Incident.

 

Yes, you HAVE to. ;) Oh, and I love these choices, by the way! I'm feeling an S5 rewatch coming on...

 

 

 

Ben/Alpert

 

Oooh, is it too late for me to steal this one for my own list?!

 

 

 

I haven't mentioned Sayid a lot. He was just kind of a solid, good character you could almost always count on, but never really made it to favourite status.

 

I feel the exact same way. 

 

 

 

Shannon

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked her. Or, more accurately, appreciated her presence on the show. On a show where way too many of the female characters were blandly similar, Shannon had a distinctive presence---annoying as it may often have been!---and really salient flaws. 

Edited May 6, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[joelene]

Heh---I thought I was alone in that one! I really didn't like or root for him on any level until S5. (And I also freaking adore Sideways Sawyer of S6!)

You're not alone! If he wasn't such a hottie I doubt his behaviour would be so liked and accepted by the general fandom.

I liked her too, and she had a really interesting profession and background. If only they had done more with her...then again, I find myself wistfully thinking that about many of the show's female characters.

Charlotte had moxie. I wish they would have done more with her too, but while she was there she just had a very strong presence, I thought. And then there was that time when she hit Kate over the head with a big stick and just went, "What?" to Daniel. Amazing.

Oh, and I love these choices, by the way! I'm feeling an S5 rewatch coming on...

I could honestly list quite a few more episodes from season 4 and 5, but it seemed excessive :)

Oooh, is it too late for me to steal this one for my own list?!

Heh, steal away!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked her. Or, more accurately, appreciated her presence on the show. On a show where way too many of the female characters were blandly similar, Shannon had a distinctive presence---annoying as it may often have been!---and really salient flaws.

This. I might not have loved Shannon, exactly, but she was interesting and distinctive for sure, and I loved her interactions with the other losties. It was just bullshit killing her off. I would have loved seeing her evolve on the island. Can you imagine her being present during the time travel and hanging out with Dharma in the 70's? That I would have liked to see.

[amensisterfriend]

You're not alone! If he wasn't such a hottie I doubt his behaviour would be so liked and accepted by the general fandom.

 

This is  such a good point. I can only imagine the reaction that pointlessly vicious, vaguely bigoted, borderline sociopathic S1-S3 Sawyer would have elicited if he had happened to be an unattractive female with fewer quippy one-liners :) (To be clear, I'm not judging anyone who adored S1-S3 Sawyer---I've liked far worse!)

 

This. I might not have loved Shannon, exactly, but she was interesting and distinctive for sure, and I loved her interactions with the other losties. It was just bullshit killing her off. I would have loved seeing her evolve on the island. Can you imagine her being present during the time travel and hanging out with Dharma in the 70's? That I would have liked to see.

 

Yes, yes and yes. Like Sawyer, I feel like she could have shown real growth over the course of the series without losing her quintessential her-ness. (Frankly, I would have been fine with Sawyer starting his growth a lot earlier on, but that's another story!) Like most Cordelia-esque (/random Buffy reference) characters, I probably would have avoided Shannon like the plague in real life, but for fictional purposes she was one of the very few female characters who had a well-defined personality and added some much-needed humor to the proceedings. And she did have just enough flashes of goodness to make her a slightly more likable and layered character for me. 

 

Maybe I should be weirdly grateful that favorite female characters of mine like Libby, Shannon and Charlotte got killed off relatively soon after first appearing---the writers might have found ways to shatter my affection for them if they had lived much longer! 

 

Speaking of which, that might be another fun best/worse: 

 

Which character deaths saddened/frustrated/angered/just generally affected you the most and least?! 

[Love]

1) Who were your 5-7 favorite characters?

 

Sawyer, Boone, Shannon, Sayid, Juliet, Miles

 

2) Who were your 5-7 LEAST favorite characters?

 

Charlie, Jack, Sun, Desmond, Michael, Libby

 

3) How would you rank the seasons from favorite to least favorite?

 

I'm an odd one.....3>1>5>6>4>2

 

4) What were your 10(ish!) favorite episodes?

 

I'm not going to answer this only because I was never one to remember the names of the episodes.  I loved too many of them to choose. 

 

5) What were your favorite actual/would-be romantic relationships?

 

Loved Sawyer/Juliet, Boone/Shannon, Sayid/Nadia

 

6) What were your LEAST favorite romantic relationships?

 

Here comes the Queen of Unpop opinions on LOST love......Kate/Jack, Kate/Sawyer, Charlie/Claire, Sun/Jin, Desmond/Penny, Hurley/Libby

 

7) What were your favorite friendships/frenemyships/non-romantic relationships?

 

Sawyer/Miles in the later seasons was my fave bromance by far. 

[amensisterfriend]

Boone, Shannon

 

Yay---more love for my favorite creepy duo :) One of those Buzzfeed quizzes once informed me that Boone was my soulmate. I didn't know whether to be pleased or horrified.

 

 

 

Desmond/Penny,

 

I've always been meh on them as well, so we can sit together at the unpopular table...just be forewarned that I kind of love Libby :) 

 

 

 

Sawyer/Miles in the later seasons was my fave bromance by far.

 

Sing it, sister! My dream spin-off features Sawyer and Miles as slightly off-the-reservation detectives. 

Edited May 7, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[Kalliste]

You're not alone! If he wasn't such a hottie I doubt his behaviour would be so liked and accepted by the general fandom.

 

Yeah.. that smile. No wonder he was a con man he could make me weak at the knees :P

 

I even liked Sawyer as a jerk.. granted one of my favourite (if not my favourite) character from the Daredevil series is Fisk so.. I just like the bad ones.

 

Where Charlotte is concerned I didn't feel like they put enough into her to make a connection. When she died I didn't think "oh no! Not Charlotte.. argh, I'll miss her!" like I did with Libby, although Libby was in it, screentime wise, for less time. I just felt meh about it.

[joelene]

I think where both Libby and Charlotte is concerned, you either got an instant connection or you didn't, since they weren't around for very long. I didn't get that with Libby and felt like they never really tried to do anything with her much at all. I did think her death was painful to watch and I was sad about that, but mostly about the missed opportunity that was her character. I didn't miss her when she was gone. I did miss Charlotte. I think she was more developed from the get go than Libby too.

[amensisterfriend]

Very true. I'm sure that I connected with Libby in part because I'm very close to someone who, like Libby, is a psychologist who's had her own serious mental health issues. And I happen to really like the actress---always a crucial factor in determining my feelings about a Lost female character since the actual writing tends to be lacking. I'm convinced that my weird fondness for Evangeline Lily is among the main (and ONLY) reasons I like Kate more than, say, 99% of fans do :) 

 

What would you say were generally the 'best' and 'worst' seasons for some of our characters?! A few that spring to mind: 

 

Jack:

 

Best Seasons: 1 and 6 

 

Yeah, I know, I'm among the only Lost fans who likes Jack on any level, irrespective of season ;) But for large stretches of S1, he's a lot more smiley and pleasant and even subtly funny than the remainder of the series, where he's often shown as so tiresomely humorless.

 

And S6 is his other 'best' season IMO---his journey to finally, FINALLY learning what true heroism and leadership are and letting go of what he can't and shouldn't control really worked for me, and I loved him to death (no pun intended!!!) throughout the finale...though, again, I know I'm in a minority of one here!

 

Worst Season: 4

 

He finally gets what he allegedly wants...and proceeds to have a total, maddening-to-watch meltdown as he retreats to booze and pills and jealousy and horrendous looking beards. I get it, and we can argue that he HAD to hit that sort of 'bottom,' but it's still frustrating for me to see.   

 

Sawyer: 

 

Best Seasons:

 

5 and 6 

 

There's really no contest here for me. As noted above, I have very little tolerance and affection for the Sawyer of the first half of the series, but I love how S5 Sawyer evolves into a better human being and even a leader without magically growing right out of the traits and flaws that made him distinctive in the first place.

 

As for S6, Detective Sawyer with Miles as his partner? That reunion with Juliet by the vending machine? Yes, please!!! 

 

Worst Seasons:

 

1-3 are all more or less tied for me, though I think S1 might be the one during which he irked me most  

 

Kate:

 

Best Season:

 

Hmmm...I guess maybe S1? She wasn't so wholly defined by either the love triangle from hell or OMG-she's-a-MOM-now/Aaron stuff. 

 

Worst season:

 

Season 3. The triangle was, IMO, at its worst and most show-marring then, and therefore so was she

 

 

Ben 

 

Best Season:

 Season 4. No, wait, Season 3. And, come to think of it, I did enjoy "Henry Gale"...no, S4. Maybe. For now :)

 

Worst Season:

 

None, of course, but maybe S5...?  

Edited May 7, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[joelene]

And I happen to really like the actress---always a crucial factor in determining my feelings about a Lost female character since the actual writing tends to be lacking. I'm convinced that my weird fondness for Evangeline Lily is among the main (and ONLY) reasons I like Kate more than, say, 99% of fans do :)

Also true. Which might be why I seem to like Claire more than most. I just find Emilie de Ravin so likeable. When the show originally aired I was always happy when she was in a scene because I was always hoping she would get something interesting to do. And when she almost never did I always thought, "Hopefully next time!!?!" Even more so during her crazy period. What I would have given for a proper Claire flashback in season 6 that gave us insight into what she went through while she was MIA. Alas. I will say that her three flashback episodes were really strong and I'm very happy about that.

What would you say were generally the 'best' and 'worst' seasons for some of our characters?! A few that spring to mind:

Good question. I wholly agree with you about Sawyer and mostly Jack. I'd say both season 5 and 6 for him. In season 5 pretty much everyone is likeable which is why the season is so great. Jack's worst is 2 and 3.

Kate's best is also the latter seasons and most of season 1. That damn love triangle, I swear. It ruined everyone involved.

Ben was always pretty great. It's hard to give him a worst season. With Sayid I'd say season 6 was his worst, because, weird zombie not!zombie? It never made any sense. Other than that he was probably best in the first three seasons but I can't remember individual moments well enough to name one of them. Season 2, maybe? I need to rewatch that season, it's been forever.

Claire was all over the place, scattered with good to great moments mixed with bad or just plain boring. Claire had good episodes, not good seasons. Althought maybe her worst is season 3 because oh my god did she ever get to leave that beach?! At least in season 2 she got a trip to a Dharma station.

Hurley. Hmm. He kind of just stayed the same all the way through, so it's difficult to say.

Sun. Easily season 5. Other than that she was also a character filled with either good moments/episodes or simply repetitiveness in storylines. I liked her, but the writing was frustrating. Same with Jin.

Locke. Oh, poor Locke. Never a dull moment. Though I'd say his worst was season 2 and his best season 1 and 3.

Juliet had three seasons where I thought she was solid throughout. Probably most interesting in season 3 and 5, but I hesitate to say 4 was her "worst".

Anyone left that had more than 2 seasons? Miles and Frank. Frank was always good. Miles became better and better in my eyes, so I'll say his worst is 4 and leave it at that.

Edited May 7, 2015 by joelene

[Kalliste]

"You got it Blondie"

 

I'm not crying, it's just raining on my face.

 

I like Sawyer good and bad so I'm good with him through all the seasons, I like what he becomes though.

 

Juliet the same, I liked learning about her and enjoyed watching her regardless of season.

 

Kate I don't know if there were good seasons but I do like the episode Tabula Rasa (I have a habit of liking episodes in shows called Tabula Rasa).

 

Ben I pretty much loved always.. not so much season 6 Ben but the rest yes, especially as scared Henry Gale.

 

I also liked Sayid when he went after the truth regarding Henry. I liked Sayid mostly throughout though.

 

Michael was pretty meh. I didn't like his backstory and the best thing about him was Walt.

[amensisterfriend]

Michael was pretty meh.

 

I actually really liked Michael's return in S4. (I think that's pretty unpopular, but you guys are used to me having oddball opinions by now!) Beyond that, though, yeah, he's one of the many characters who tempts me to wear out my fast forward button :) 

[amensisterfriend]

---I was just rewatching a couple of beloved S4 episodes and remembered a couple of more UOs:

 

1) I actually really, really like The Other Woman, often mentioned as one of the few S4 episodes that people don't think much of. And I have a weird fondness for Goodwin. 

 

2) I just don't love Hurley as much as most do. He's likable and often welcome comic relief, but his 'duuude, yo, let's all chilll' thing gets old for me in large doses. 

 

3) Lord help me, but I love Faraday. He's twicthy and odd, but I love those weird genius types, and this show needed more nerds/geeks :) 

 

4) I've grown to like Desmond and his function on the show (I used to hold the UO of being very meh on him, but am really enjoying him this time around!), but his habit of calling everyone "brother" sets my teeth on edge. 

 

4) It's no wonder I hold the UO of thinking S1 is one of my two least favorite seasons---nearly all of my favorite characters show up later on! 

[Kalliste]

 

3) Lord help me, but I love Faraday. He's twicthy and odd, but I love those weird genius types, and this show needed more nerds/geeks :) 

 

I don't really like island Faraday but like his off island story.. even if he is a pretentious douche at times.

[scartact]

I've been rewatching Lost in earnest and do a full series run of the show. I just thought it would be interesting because I was actually thirteen when I first started watching the show, and it wrapped up by the time I turned eighteen; but now that I'm a bit older and maybe a tad wiser, I might have a better insight to the show itself. I just got to the midpoint of season 1, and there were a bunch of stuff I forgot about, like I didn't realize how early Rousseau is introduced to the show! And I forgot about the psychic telling Claire that absolutely no matter what, she had to raise her son.

 

I'm very rusty on my recollection of the show in its entirety, so I'm curious to see how exactly Claire and Aaron's arc unfold again, especially in the final season (I've only watched pieces of Season 6 here and there). I'm also surprised by how much I really loved Sayid's first flashback episode. I actuallly wasn't much of a Sayid fan, but this time around I just really appreciate Naveen Andrews performance more. It's also funny to me that the initial triangle was supposed to be Jack/Kate/Sayid. Kate and Sayid had a very enjoyable rapport and I really did enjoy their friendship, so I'm glad that ultimately they didn't go that route.

 

That being said, it is still always worth highlighting just how awesome Walkabout still is. The way all aspects of production come together, from the writing to Terry O'Quinn's performance and the music, is just breathtaking. I still get chills when I see the reveal of Locke in his wheelchair shouting after the Walkabout guide. In some ways, I feel like Walkabout really highlighted the characters-first approach that the show ultimately remained most faithful to in The End. The reveal could have really struck on the chord of mystery; but instead it was this incredibly emotional, character-defining moment that pointedly contrasted with the person Locke was and the person he believed he was meant to be. O'Quinn's performance is so fluid in connecting the Flashback Locke to Island Locke in a way that you see newcomers like Evangeline Lilly not quite being able to do in her [early?] flashback episodes.

 

As much as I'm enjoying rewatching season one, i'm pretty excited to get more toward the latter half of the show, which is where my knowledge of Lost becomes a little less informed in terms of action and plot.

[joelene]

1) I actually really, really like The Other Woman, often mentioned as one of the few S4 episodes that people don't think much of. And I have a weird fondness for Goodwin.

2) I just don't love Hurley as much as most do. He's likable and often welcome comic relief, but his 'duuude, yo, let's all chilll' thing gets old for me in large doses.

4) I've grown to like Desmond and his function on the show (I used to hold the UO of being very meh on him, but am really enjoying him this time around!), but his habit of calling everyone "brother" sets my teeth on edge.

Agreed. I like the on island action with The Tempest too, even if it was never mentioned before or after, probably because of the characters involved.

Hurley's "yo dude" and Desmond's "brotha!" are nails on a chalkboard for me.

[Dilandau]

1) Who were your 5-7 favorite characters?

Ben, Shannon, Boone, Jin, Miles
2) Who were your 5-7 LEAST favorite characters?

CHARLIE, Claire, Ana Lucia, Sawyer until s5,  Kate (I don't hate her but I never got what was so great about her, and her flashbacks were dull)
3) How would you rank the seasons from favorite to least favorite?

5, 1, 4, 3, 2. I'm not sure where 6 falls on here because I haven't gotten to 6 in my rewatch yet and I don't feel like I remember it well enough to make a judgement on it. 
4) What were your 10(ish!) favorite episodes?

Any episode with little Ben were my favorites. So his flashback episode, then the one where he got shot and the two episodes after that. I liked Hearts and Minds a lot because it was one of the few flashback episodes for Boone and Shannon we got. The Constant was really good too. I can't really think of any others off the top of my head.
5) What were your favorite actual/would-be romantic relationships?

You know, it's funny but I didn't really love any romantic couples on this show. When I was younger and this show was airing I liked Boone/Shannon a lot, but when I rewatched I ended up not liking it as much. I found it creepy when Boone was staring at her and Sayid on the beach and when he kept trying to get Sayid to go away. I get that he was jealous, but yikes. I didn't really have any strong feelings towards these couples, but I also like Desmond/Penny, Jin/Sun, Juliet/Sawyer.
6) What were your LEAST favorite romantic relationships?

Charlie/Claire, I've stated my feelings about this couple before so I won't get into it too much, but to me it felt like Charlie latched on to Claire and refused to be pried away no matter how much she told him to go away and leave her alone. Eventually it was like the writers just gave up and had her return his feelings for no real reason. I didn't like Sayid/Shannon much when I was younger, but now I'm ok with it. 
7) What were your favorite friendships/frenemyships/non-romantic relationships?

Kate/Cassidy (well until Cassidy started saying "you took Aaron to heal your broken heart!" Really?? That was awful and cringeworthy. But other than that they were pretty solid.) Ben/Locke (well, they weren't even frenemies but I loved how they played off of each other), Ben/Richard, Ben/Hurley, Sawyer/Jin, Sawyer/Miles. Ugh I wish there were more female duos to pick from.

[joelene]

Kate/Cassidy (well until Cassidy started saying "you took Aaron to heal your broken heart!" Really?? That was awful and cringeworthy.

Always thought that was dumb too. Um, no, she took him because his mother up and left and what the hell else was she supposed to do? So in my mind that was more about Cassidy herself projecting her feelings about Sawyer and his magical powers over women, wether the writers intended it that way or not.

[Kalliste]

I thought of an additional question, if anyone wants to answer:

 

What is your favourite Lost Soundtrack song: For me it is definitely Hollywood and Vines, or as I like to call it, Hero!Sayid's theme.

[scartact]

6) What were your LEAST favorite romantic relationships?

Charlie/Claire, I've stated my feelings about this couple before so I won't get into it too much, but to me it felt like Charlie latched on to Claire and refused to be pried away no matter how much she told him to go away and leave her alone. Eventually it was like the writers just gave up and had her return his feelings for no real reason.

 

I'm in the middle of season 2 in my Lost rewatch and holy shit do I not like Charlie. He just drives me absolutely crazy, and there's something about DM that just doesn't work for me in this role. I can't buy into the idea that he was a musician, let alone a good one at that. And him telling Claire how to take care of her baby and acting like Aaron's father and auuughhhh. I remember having fond feelings of these two when I was younger, but now I'm just like, "Claire, get him the fuck away from you and your baby." It doesn't help that I just finished Fire + Water and when Charlie is yelling at his brother, "What about me, what about my family?" I just want to throw my tv set into a wall. I almost wanna say that episode is even worse than stupid Stranger in a Strange Land, but I haven't gotten there yet for the Bai Ling Tattoo Experience.

 

Speaking of worst, slogging through season 2 is literally the worst. I'm excited for season 3, but season 2 is just really hard for me to watch. I think a lot of that has to do with just the overall lack of payoff for the tail section and inability to properly integrate them to the main cast. Ana Lucia doesn't work as a sympathetic character and Collision did her character arc no favors. I could barely understand what exactly they wanted to get across from her flashbacks, other than she's trigger-happy as fuck. Libby doesn't do anything and then gets unceremoniously killed, and our only real emotional attachment to her is that Hurley cared for her. And I know there were BTS reasons for Mr. Eko being written off in season 3, but it's such a huge shame that he wound up getting killed off too because it really makes you wonder how his storyline would have integrated with the overall plot of the show. Then there's Bernard, and his character feels a tad extraneous (then again, I haven't gotten to his and Rose's flasbhack episode yet). Knowing how it turns out for all these characters in the long run, it's hard to want to invest in them and their stories. Though I really liked The Other 48 Days, it kind of sucks that the delivery just never followed through in the long run.

[amensisterfriend]

*whispers* I really like the nearly universally disliked Across the Sea. 

[Camera One]

1) Who were your 5-7 favorite characters?

Too many to list.  If I had to choose, I'd go with Jack, Faraday, Sun, Michael, Sayid, Claire.  

 

2) Who were your 5-7 LEAST favorite characters?

I liked almost all the characters, this is tough.  MIB-Locke, Widmore, Keamy were sometimes irritating.

 

3) How would you rank the seasons from favorite to least favorite?

 

Favorite: Season 1, Season 4 and the first half of Season 5

Then: Season 2, Season 3 tied

Then: Second half of Season 5

Least favorite: Season 6

 

4) What were your 10(ish!) favorite episodes?

Too many to list, but if I had to pick just 3

 

The Constant

Exodus 

There's No Place Like Home (Part 1)

 

5) What were your favorite actual/would-be romantic relationships?

Desmond/Penny, Sun/Jin, Sayid/Nadia, Claire/Charlie and Jack/Kate, Sawyer/Juliet, Rose/Bernard.  I was pretty happy with the pairings they ended the show with.

 

6) What were your LEAST favorite romantic relationships?

Sayid/Shannon

 

7) What were your favorite friendships/frenemyships/non-romantic relationships?

Again, too many to list.  Jack with almost everyone, Ben/Locke, Hurley with almost everyone, Kate/Sun.  This show had awesome friendships between unlikely characters, and they did a great job of building these in the first season and developing them over the next couple of seasons.  Sadly, I feel many of these were neglected in the final two seasons in favor of plot plot plot.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Camera One

[truelovekiss]

Favorites

1) Sawyer. Always. I was like 13 when the show started and I had a massive crush on him! I've watched Josh Holloway's other show (kind of a Chuck rip off, where he gets a government computer in his brain) and it just wasn't the same.

2) Juliet. Strong, confident woman who made shit happen. She also gave a lot of insight about the lives of the others.

3) Sayid. He always knew everything.

4) Jin, the world's greatest husband.

5) Hurley, because adorkable.

6) Desmond, because he was all around solid. His love for Penny was the best.

7) Daniel Faraday because science!

Honorable mention for Claire, just because I liked her. I wished she had a bigger role, that wasn't based on her baby, relationship with Charlie or being crazy.

Least Favorites

1) Jack because shut up, Jackass.

2) Kate. Kate had potential to be a great character, but they focused too much on her need for multiple island boyfriends.

3) Shannon. Obvious reasons. However, I didn't want her killed off. I would have loved to see her grow on the island, especially without Boone there to take care of her.

4) Locke. I wouldn't have had as much of a problem with him if he had been at least a little consistent. I get that characters grow and change, but he was literally all over the place. And whatever his mood was that day, he would have a bitch fit if anyone disagreed with it. (eg "I stopped pushing the button, and he started! I must force him to stop pushing the button!" ::hatch explodes:: "...I was wrong.")

5) Charlie. He used to be my favorite (don't judge, but I cried real tears when he died) because I also had a big crush on him, since LOTR, but looking back, he was a bit of a disaster and didn't contribute much.

6) Boone. Man candy, but not exceptionally bright.

7) Ana Lucia. I like Michelle Rodriguez, but this character just didn't work for me.

Season Ranking

1, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5

Episodes

1) I think it was season 3 finale. The one where Sayid broke that other's neck with his feet.

2) Par Avion, where Claire has a plan to get off the island. She actually got to do something productive that wasn't baby or Charlie related, so good for her.

3) Hearts and Minds. I know, it was weird but it really gave a lot of insight into their relationship. I didn't especially like either of them, but it gave a lot of insight into why they were the way they were.

4) The constant was cool. I'm a total math and science geek, so I loved the space/time thing.

5) The one where we saw the "dear mr. Sawyer" letter, and found out that he had been carrying it for 20+ years.

6) the other 48 days

7) when Ben killed off the whole Dharma initiative, including his dad (Roger Workman!) and we got to see how he came to be on the island

8) Guyliner's backstory episode

9) The one where Alex died.

10) the LaFleur episode

Best relationships

Rose/Bernard, Jin/Sun, Sayid/Nadia, Desmond/Penny (x1000), Daniel/Charlotte, Sawyer/Juliet (I appreciate it now more than I did at the time)

I would have liked to see

Shannon/Charlie-both came to the island vapid, self centered and struggling with their families. I think they could have helped each other grow.

Sawyer/Claire-sorry, this one is ridiculous but I always thought it was precious when he was around Aaron. Definitely not endgame, but I would have liked it if they had more of a friendship.

Worst relationships

Sayid/Shannon, Jack/Kate (I hate the "because he was the hero, he had to wind up with someone" cliche. Jack can be alone), Kate/Sawyer, Charlie/Claire (girlfriend can do better)...can I say Sayid/Shannon again?

BFFs

Hurley and Charlie was fun, but Hurley and Sawyer was greatness. Playing pingpong and horseshoes, and then being roommates in New Otherton.

Jin and Sawyer too. I loved Sawyer teaching him English.

I would have loved to see more women BFFs. Every now and then Sun and Claire would talk about babies, or Kate would hang out with them if she wasn't too busy going on adventures.

Desmond and Charlie was a good friendship. I especially loved how Desmond named his son Charlie, even though his jerk of a father in law was also Charles.

[truelovekiss]

Sorry if this has been answered, but I have a question about Sayid and Nadia. Sayid turned in his college buddy for the suicide bombing thing, in exchange for information on Nadia. The government agents told him she was in LA. Perfect. He buries the friend, gets on 815 to go get her.

Then, he develops this relationship with Shannon, and is telling people he thinks Nadia is dead. Did I miss something in there? I just rewatched 1-3, and about half of 4. Sorry in advance if I totally failed, and missed a major plot point, but this has kind of thrown me for awhile.

[amensisterfriend]

I would have loved to see more women BFFs.

 

Amen! 

 

Season Ranking

1, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5

 

I'd love to know more about why S4 and S5 rank last for you :) 

[truelovekiss]

Amen!

I'd love to know more about why S4 and S5 rank last for you :)

I might be being unfair, since I haven't seen 5-6 since they aired. I also meant to change that before posting but oh well :) Anyway, I really just loved the whole show, but the earliest seasons where just much more clear to me. It was more about the characters and their relationships and development, and no matter what separated them, they had common goals and enemies. Then it started getting a little bit more all over the place. I was also a teenager for the duration if the show, and my tastes have changed a lot since then. I am in the process of rewatching, so I will let you know if anything changes! :)

[truelovekiss]

Best

*Pretty much everything Jin ever did from late season 1 on was the best. Seriously, the man could have given husband classes.

*The time Hurley "conned" Sawyer into being nice. Sawyer was pissed, but when Hurley explained that people looked to him as a leader, I think it was a big eye opener for Sawyer that he could be so much more than what he was.

*Mr. Eko's Jesus stick

*The time Sayid strangled an Other with his feet.

*Hurley with the Dharma bus, after being told (repeatedly) that he was too fat to help. "I saved them! I saved them all!" Damn right you did, Hugo.

*The Oceanic 6 coming to Hurley's island themed birthday party. "Yeah...Mom and Dad...they don't really...get it."

*Jacob and...the baby in black? In my mind, I just named him Esau.

Worst

*"WAAAAAALT" and "my BOY!"

*"my baaaaaby!!!"

*"WE HAVE TO GO BACK, KATE!" (To be fair though, the stupidness of this line has provided a lot of laughs for my family. This is said often, in my household. Especially when talking about how long it has been since we've been on vacation)

*Locke's multiple personalities. Season one, he's spiritual, island Locke. He can walk. He gets his hatch. Boone dies. He's guilty for all of two seconds, but shrugs it off because the island wanted Boone to die. He gets his button. Not only is he obsessed with pushing the button, but EVERYONE must be all about that button. Then, he decides no more button. Mr. Eko wants to push the button. NO, MR. EKO. If Locke says no button, then NO ONE PUSHES THE BUTTON. And then rinse and repeat until Locke dies, or something.

[truelovekiss]

Well, there's the obvious dinosaur plot in the pilot that never went anywhere.

Walt's specialness. He was lucky at backgammon, and once a bird he was studying flew into his window and died. Anything else? Then the others took him, made him take tests but decided he was more than they bargained for? I guess they weren't looking for a bird whispering, backgammon grandmaster.

The amazing rate that Jin learned English. And the fact that Sun had no accent by like Season 4 (when they had been on the island for about 3-4 months).

[joelene]

Don't think you missed anything. Probably a retcon.

[Kalliste]

Maybe he went because he was hoping she would be alive but figured she was probably be dead?

 

I have to admit, I can't remember the context of him telling people she was dead. It's been a while since my last rewatch.

[Kalliste]

Best

*Pretty much everything Jin ever did from late season 1 on was the best. Seriously, the man could have given husband classes.

Really? I think he learnt to be a good husband (once Sun's Dad wasn't an influence) but for much of their relationship he wasn't. If the plane had never crashed he probably would have ended up dead or she would have left him. 

 

I don't think Lost has many good husbands (or wives for that matter) but then most the characters weren't overly good people. If anything the best husband would have been Kevin Callis (Nathan Fillion) had Kate stuck around long enough to marry him. Maybe even Richard in his one episode, 19th century husband kind of way.

[joelene]

Hmm, I misunderstood, I thought he said she was dead early in season 1 (before they figured out more about their relationship) not later when he was dating Shannon. No idea why he says it then.

[truelovekiss]

What always confused me was that his reason for being on the plane was that he was going to LA to be with Nadia. There was no indication (that I can recall) before he got on 815 that he thought she was dead. He went to LA because the Australian government people told her she was there. But then when he was with Danielle Rousseau, he said she was dead (I think) and began his thing with Shannon. I just don't know where there was ever any indication that she was dead.

[ByTor]

Wow I thought I was alone in the not liking Mr Eko. I really didn't care for his character and cared less when he died actually I remember thinking "about time".

I couldn't stand Eko.  I suppose his backstory was supposed to elicit sympathy, but honestly it made me dislike him even more.  I was cheering on Smoky to rid me of him!

 

Also...while Rose had her moments of being nice (I liked her in scenes with Hurley), I thought she was a massive nagging pain in the ass, and I felt that Bernard deserved better.

Edited May 27, 2015 by ByTor

[scartact]

Sometimes Locke was a difficult character to honestly like, but I just love the moment when he and Jack are arguing over the damn button in the hatch and Locke asks Jack why he finds it so hard to believe, but then Jack asks why he finds it so easy, and Locke tells him that that it's never been easy. It's such a great character moment and it really showed how much mounting frustration Locke had and continues to have throughout his entire life and to his death. His entire arc is continually balanced between these moments of frustration and anger and disappointment and these other incredible moments of faith and affirmation and mystique.

 

Worst

...
*"WE HAVE TO GO BACK, KATE!" (To be fair though, the stupidness of this line has provided a lot of laughs for my family. This is said often, in my household. Especially when talking about how long it has been since we've been on vacation)

 

While the line is pretty goofy to think about these days, I'm surprised this is a worst just because of the reveal of the flashforward that comes with it, completely reinventing Lost's story flashback structure and digging more into how Lost played with temporality for the remainder of the series. For me personally, it's a pretty awesome moment and while it may lose impact upon rewatch, I have fond memories of watching the season 3 finale live and freaking out over the flashforward reveal. (Then, I promptly went on TWOP to read other reactions!). I'm curious why this is part of your worst, or is it just the line itself?

[truelovekiss]

Really? I think he learnt to be a good husband (once Sun's Dad wasn't an influence) but for much of their relationship he wasn't. If the plane had never crashed he probably would have ended up dead or she would have left him.

I don't think Lost has many good husbands (or wives for that matter) but then most the characters weren't overly good people. If anything the best husband would have been Kevin Callis (Nathan Fillion) had Kate stuck around long enough to marry him. Maybe even Richard in his one episode, 19th century husband kind of way.

I think Jin was a good husband because of how much he sacrificed for Sun. He did awful things and hurt people, because he wanted to be able to take care of her, and give her the life she was accustomed to. They could have run away together, but Jin didn't have the education or background to give her much. Working long hours and doing bad things for Mr. Paik made Jin and Sun grow apart, and Jin finding out that Sun kept such a huge secret from him made it worse. Not to mention their infertility and Sun's affair. But I don't doubt for a moment that Jin loved her, and would do anything for her. They absolutely weren't a perfect couple, but I think he was definitely one of the better husbands/boyfriends on the island.

[truelovekiss]

Sometimes Locke was a difficult character to honestly like, but I just love the moment when he and Jack are arguing over the damn button in the hatch and Locke asks Jack why he finds it so hard to believe, but then Jack asks why he finds it so easy, and Locke tells him that that it's never been easy. It's such a great character moment and it really showed how much mounting frustration Locke had and continues to have throughout his entire life and to his death. His entire arc is continually balanced between these moments of frustration and anger and disappointment and these other incredible moments of faith and affirmation and mystique.

While the line is pretty goofy to think about these days, I'm surprised this is a worst just because of the reveal of the flashforward that comes with it, completely reinventing Lost's story flashback structure and digging more into how Lost played with temporality for the remainder of the series. For me personally, it's a pretty awesome moment and while it may lose impact upon rewatch, I have fond memories of watching the season 3 finale live and freaking out over the flashforward reveal. (Then, I promptly went on TWOP to read other reactions!). I'm curious why this is part of your worst, or is it just the line itself?

I absolutely liked the moment, and the flash forward was such a mind blowing thing! To be fair, it was really just rolling our eyes at Jack and how far downhill he went after the crash. And mostly because my parents and I beat that line like a dead horse. If we liked a restaurant, "WE HAVE TO GO BACK." If I forgot my sweater at the movie theater, "WE HAVE TO GO BACK." So I will admit that I am biased :)

[Janet Snakehole]

It is such a great quote, just for the narm and over the top-ness of Drug Addict!Bearded! Jack.

Eta: another best/worst moment that I quote a lot is Kate's "I don't DO taco night!" The drama of it all! And Evie's acting, which definitely was good at times, was not the best for selling it.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Janet Snakehole

[scartact]

It is such a great quote, just for the narm and over the top-ness of Drug Addict!Bearded! Jack.

Eta: another best/worst moment that I quote a lot is Kate's "I don't DO taco night!" The drama of it all! And Evie's acting, which definitely was good at times, was not the best for selling it.

 

Oh yes, definitely to both these moments! Credits to Lost for never being afraid to go an inch up the narm ladder and then some. The moment is just so freaking dramatic and built up and everyone is still reeling from seeing Kate pop out of the car, but upon rewatch I completely forgot how much Jack said it over and over.

 

And yes! Kate doesn't DO taco night! In my rewatch, I realized EL was actually quite good at a lot of those dramatic moments, but that moment was a little bit much. To be fair, Kate's collective storyline(s) especially about her past were just really hard to buy as a whole. Lest we forget about all the work she did to retrieve a tiny little toy airplane.

[scartact]

ETA: Oh, and just like I feel the quadrangle ended up making the Jack/Sawyer dynamic a lot less rich than it could have been, I actually would have liked to see an eventual, genuine friendship form between impulsive, tomboy-ish (initially), more-of-a-rough-and-tumble-pre-island life Kate with the more formally educated, poised, repressed, calculating, even keel Juliet. And I always enjoyed Kate so much more around female characters. *sigh* Is it too late to write a platonic fanfic about that which absolutely no one will read?! ;) 

 

I just wanted to come back to this to chime in and agree about enjoying Kate more around the female characters! One friendship I forgot about from back in season 1 was the Kate/Sun friendship, which I remember loving when I first watched the show. I also especially loved the possibility of a friendship between Juliet and Kate, especially given how close EL and EM were on the show and that they apparently still keep in touch with one another in real life. In one of the S5 interviews, EM said she and EL thought that if the situation were different, Juliet and Kate would definitely have been friends.

 

On that note, I think Lost never quite succeeded in creating varied relationships between female characters, and I have my own critique about Lost's potrayal of women on the show. At the very least, I thought Kate and Cassidy had quite a nice friendship, even though I was kind of... blah about her suggestion that Kate kept Aaron because Sawyer broke her heart. And that just comes from a lot of my own frustrations that so much of Kate's character is rooted in her status as a love interest. It's like the writers tried harder to sell her as such, instead of focusing first on her character as a person, and it really came to the detriment of the kinds of storylines she was given and how her character could and should have had a more dynamic and interesting portrayal on the show.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scartact

[truelovekiss]

By far, the most irritating/tired line that almost everyone loves to use...

"I'M GOING WITH YOU!!!"

No, you pushy bastard, you weren't invited.

I just rewatched the episode at the end of the first season where Kate tries to take Sawyer's spot on the raft and he tells everyone she was being escorted by the Marshall. In that episode, the raft is almost done and Kate starts asking Michael questions about it. He's like, why do you care so much, Kate, I like never talk to you. And then she said...

"BECAUSE I'M GOING WITH YOU." And Michael was like, fuck no. This is my raft and you've done nothing. I didn't like Michael, but I appreciate that he was able to shut her down. At least temporarily.

[truelovekiss]

Oh yes, definitely to both these moments! Credits to Lost for never being afraid to go an inch up the narm ladder and then some. The moment is just so freaking dramatic and built up and everyone is still reeling from seeing Kate pop out of the car, but upon rewatch I completely forgot how much Jack said it over and over.

And yes! Kate doesn't DO taco night! In my rewatch, I realized EL was actually quite good at a lot of those dramatic moments, but that moment was a little bit much. To be fair, Kate's collective storyline(s) especially about her past were just really hard to buy as a whole. Lest we forget about all the work she did to retrieve a tiny little toy airplane.

The toy airplane was just such an eyeroller. The fact that she was willing to risk getting caught as well as risking the lives of other people in that bank robbery so she could have a little trinket made me dislike her even more.

Also, another eyeroll moment is whenever they talk about or reference Jack's count to five story. The best was when we say the actual moment, and instead of being the calm, collected surgeon he portrays, Jack was essentially put into time out by his daddy in the middle of surgery. So that part was a best.

Edited May 29, 2015 by truelovekiss

[joelene]

Ugh, the toy plane.

Whenever Kate pushed her way into going on adventures it was annoying. Whenever Jack actively shut her out of going on adventures it was annoying. They couldn't win with me. It was always The Worst Moment. Can you just go wherever it is you need to go without having a discussion about who's going for fucks sake?

[scartact]

I try to tolerate Jack and Kate, for the most part, and sometimes I do like them (I actually weirdly like the count to 5 moment in the Pilot and when Jack has Kate recite the story to him at the end of the cage arc; I haven't ran into the actual depiction of it in my rewatch of the show yet), but they reached the apex of Worst Ever during Something Nice Back Home when Jack demanded Kate hold the damn mirror so he could direct Juliet in his appendectomy. Then in the flashforwards, Jack's tyrannical, unrelentless need to know what Kate was doing. Ugh, actually, Jack was seriously worst ever in that flashback, more so than Kate.

[Kalliste]

Ugh, I forgot about Jack having to be awake and having to see what was happening and then having to do everything just after having it taken out.

[scartact]

Is it still unpopular to like the cage arc? I don't know what it is about the arc, because I definitely watched it in real time too, and I remember how disruptive it was to have only six little episodes that said almost nothing and left you understanding nothing about anything and why the Others would go through the hassle of provoking the triangle of doom in order to have Jack save Ben. I know it was frustrating and gave very little answers and relied more on the absence of information to drive the plot forward, even if it didn't plain old make sense. And yet... I have an immense fondness for it.

 

I love when Sawyer figures out the fish biscuit contraction, when he marches up to Kate and kisses her, the stupid sundress she has to wear while she has breakfast with Ben. I love Jack pulling on the chains for no damn reason, him running into the glass in his room, everything about Juliet. I just love the sheer lengths the Others went through to manipulate each one of them, and I loved freaking Danny (who was truly The Worst in that arc) angrily demanding Kate in the rain (of course rain!) to say she loves Sawyer! I don't even ship Sawyer and Kate; it was melodramatic awesomeness.

 

And Jack was never better than when he told Juliet he didn't care about making her feel better when Colleen died in the OR after being shot by Sun. I honestly just loved that angry and resistant Jack, trying to dodge being manipulated and attacking Juliet while she was trying to bring him sandwiches with toothpicks in them! His anger and resistance just felt so earned, given he was trapped in a old aquarium room, had no idea where any of his friends were, and hardly ever saw anybody but Juliet. And those beautiful shots of the entire quadrangle in various pairings, but especially of Juliet and Jack through the glass. And I especially loved how we realized Juliet was in just as much of a cage as each one of the 815ers by the time we got to the fabulous Not in Portland (which is sincerely one of my absolute favorite episodes of Lost ever, but I don't think it's an unpopular opinion to love this episode). Oh man, I was such a huge Jack/Juliet shipper in season 3 when we had no clue whose side Juliet was on.

 

Well, I certainly went on and on about why I loved the much-maligned cage arc.

[Kalliste]

I don't really dislike it as much as others appear to. I liked the stuff in the aquarium and Sawyer, Ben and the bunny. Also getting to meet Alex and having her help them out was cool.

[amensisterfriend]

but especially of Juliet and Jack through the glass. And I especially loved how we realized Juliet was in just as much of a cage as each one of the 815ers by the time we got to the fabulous Not in Portland (which is sincerely one of my absolute favorite episodes of Lost ever, but I don't think it's an unpopular opinion to love this episode). Oh man, I was such a huge Jack/Juliet shipper in season 3 when we had no clue whose side Juliet was on.

 

Oooh, table for to, please! I actually loved the Jack/Juliet dynamic in those S3 episodes. 

 

And if I could save just 5-7 episodes from the whole series, I'm pretty sure Not in Portland would be among them. Then again, 2-3 S6 episodes might be among them as well, so clearly my taste can't be trusted :) 

[Heatsja]

I'm rewatching for the first time since the original airing.  I had forgotten what a great show this is.  So many threads weaving through it.  I'm especially enjoying those "shock" moments.  Like when we first see that Locke was in a wheelchair, or when Charlie is found hanging in the tree or when Locke is banging on the hatch and it lights up.  I remember how I felt when watching those eps for the first time.  I still gasp, even though I know what it going to happen.  I loved watching it when it aired, but got frustrated with all the mystery and too few episodes airing in succession.  Seemed like we'd just discover an answer, only to be given two more questions, and have a month until a new episode.  The rewatch is riveting for me.  I almost can't stop.  :) 

Edited June 1, 2015 by Heatsja