20 years of Lost – a love letter to the best TV series of all time

On 22 September 2004, Lost was broadcast on American television for the first time. Oceanic flight 815 crashes on a deserted island on its way from Sydney to Los Angeles. Over the course of a total of six seasons, the mysterious story by J. J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse developed into an international cult phenomenon. Week after week, millions of fans shared in the excitement and mystery surrounding the survivors of the plane crash.

I was one of these Losties. Lost was more than just a show to me – it was a hobby that I sacrificed a lot of time on. Watching episodes was only a small part of this. A subsequent in-depth analysis and the wild theories across social media platforms and forums were part of the weekly Lost ritual. But the show also left a lasting impression on me IRL. Thanks to Lost, I met one of my best friends and visited the beautiful filming location of Hawaii – three times.

To celebrate the 20th birthday of my favourite series in style, I decided to watch all the episodes again. And on my fifth (or is it sixth?) rewatch, I fell head over heels in love again with this unique piece of television history. And I’m more than happy to get into why.

Warning: If you haven’t seen Lost yet, stop reading. Spoilers for the show’s biggest mysteries and storylines follow.

A mystery box that takes its time

My renewed passion for the series can be attributed in part to the slow mystery box storytelling. During my rewatch, I realised how much I miss the good old days when shows had more than just ten or twelve episodes per season. New shows on streaming platforms like Netflix feel far too fast-paced compared to Lost. As soon as a question is raised, the answer is served to me on a silver platter. In Lost I have to be patient, earn the answers and think for myself.

The very first episode establishes fundamental questions that raise my curiosity. I immediately realise that the island where Jack, Kate, Sawyer and co. crashed isn’t a normal place. What’s a polar bear doing on a tropical island? What’s the story behind the French emergency broadcast, which has been on loop for 16 years? And what the heck is that monster the survivors hear in the jungle? I’m hooked.

Charlie summarises the absurd events of the first episode with four words that are forever etched in the collective memory of the Lost fan community: «Guys, where are we?»

The answers to these questions from the pilot episode are delivered slowly and in small chunks over six seasons and a total of 121 episodes. Even answers to mysteries raised later («What’s in the hatch?», «Who are the indigenous Others?», «What’s with the cursed numbers – 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42?», «Who is Jacob, the immortal protector of the island?») must first be earned by the audience.

Magic versus science

I’m sure that many of the show’s iconic WTF moments wouldn’t have had the same explosive impact without the sometimes extremely long wait between question and answer. Makes sense – the more I have to wait for something, the more exciting the revelation. But the slow pace of reveals also served another purpose.

The audience first had to be slowly and carefully introduced to the answers to really big mysteries, often somewhere between the realms of science fiction and magic. If someone had shown me the summary below before the first episode, I probably wouldn’t have even tuned in – it would all have been too much for me.

So, turns out the island is actually a time-travelling magic cork designed to prevent an evil smoke monster from escaping into the world? Also, the passengers were brought to the island by an immortal man called Jacob to become immortal themselves and replace him? And in the final season, we get a glimpse into the time after the characters’ deaths? That sounds absolutely insane!

Across the six seasons, however, I slowly began to accept that not all mysteries can be answered scientifically. Bit by bit, I got used to the supernatural sci-fi elements of the show. I went through a similar hero’s journey as main character of the series, Jack Shephard.

The neurosurgeon initially viewed the events on the island rationally and scientifically. As a result, he was often at loggerheads with survival expert John Locke, a paraplegic before the crash. Due to his miraculous recovery on the island, he was convinced from the start that he and the other survivors were brought to the island for a reason. He believed in the island and accepted the supernatural from the very beginning.

It was only in the later seasons that Jack converted from science to blind belief. He realised Locke was right. The island is a special place, and it’s their destiny to be there.

And as Jack’s mind expanded, the great mysteries of the series were also explored in greater detail, with themes such as time travel, parallel dimensions and life after death being touched upon. Lost has managed to form all these crazy elements into a coherent whole like no other series since.

Flashbacks, flashforwards and flashsideways

All the wacky mythology covered in Lost never would’ve worked that well without the excellently written characters. The cast of over 20 is the true heart of the show, providing a realistic foundation for the crazy mysteries.

Despite the large cast of main characters, I didn’t just get to know them superficially. This is largely thanks to the special narrative structure in Lost. Each episode usually focused on one of the survivors. Character backstories were told parallel to the island’s history in flashbacks.

I particularly liked the variety that this character-oriented narrative style added. The story of Korean couple Sun and Jin was a tragic love story. Hurley’s struggle with the cursed numbers brought a lot of humour and heart to the series. And my favourite character, Desmond Hume, the crazy man in the hatch, almost messed up the space-time continuum with his time travel flashbacks.

The initially mysterious native Others were also turned into «real» characters with flashbacks – above all chief manipulator and notorious liar Benjamin Linus and doctor Juliette Burke, who wanted to flee the island just like the passengers on the plane.

Character-related flashbacks ensured that the often crazy and supernatural narrative elements on the island were grounded by comprehensible real-world stories.

However, the flashback concept wasn’t only used for character development. Over the course of the series, the tried-and-tested narrative principle was turned on its head several times in order to advance the mythology of the series. In the finale of season three, flashforwards and not flashbacks were shown for the first time. We weren’t looking into Jack’s past, but into his future – no longer on the island, but on the mainland in Los Angeles.

The big twist was only revealed in the final minutes of the episode. A bearded and obviously drugged-up Jack begs Kate, saying they «have to go back to the island». This is the point at which the previously rational doctor definitely becomes a believer. Jack’s desperate «We have to go back» is perhaps the most iconic quote of the whole series and one of the greatest plot twists in television history.

In season five, the non-linear storytelling of Lost reaches a completely new level with time travel. Benjamin Linus operates an ancient device on the island and transports some of the survivors to the year 1974. The rest remain in 2004. There are no more flashbacks or flashforwards, everything happens simultaneously and yet at different times. The focus on the human element, on real characters, is never lost. No other series since has managed to balance as many different genres and tell such comprehensible, human stories at the same time. Hats off to them!

The sixth and final season perfects the flash concept and introduces the so-called flashsideways. They show us how the survivors changed the future with their actions in the past, thus creating a parallel dimension. In truth, however, the flashsideways is a world that shows the lives of characters after their death. An incredibly brave idea that was implemented perfectly and still leaves me crying in front of the TV on the fifth rewatch.

Lost wasn’t perfect

Despite all the adulation, even I have to admit that Lost wasn’t perfect. Some storylines, such as Walt’s supernatural powers, were initially hyped up and then largely swept under the rug. The series also had major pacing problems. The first three seasons are sometimes too slow and stretched out with filler episodes, since broadcaster abc would’ve preferred to drag out the cash cow Lost forever.

In season three, however, the writing team around Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse managed to negotiate an organic end to the series with the broadcaster – a groundbreaking deal at the time. The result: the extremely focused, fast and shorter seasons 4, 5 and 6. They also had pacing problems – this time they went by too quick. Some of the remaining storylines were dealt with at light speed. In some sections of this turbulent time, part of the earlier Lost magic was lost for many.

I can also understand critics who couldn’t relate to the science fiction elements, time travel and the spiritual flashsideways world. Unlike Jack and I, not all viewers converted to believing over the course of the six seasons and accepted the answers as they were. Many hoped until the end that everything could somehow be explained scientifically. It’s the curse of the mystery box. The more you learn about the contents of the box, the less likely it is that what’s shown will meet your own expectations and theories.

All questions were answered

However, I have no sympathy for criticism based on misinformation and misinterpretation of what’s shown. Uninformed or misinformed Lost complainers can be roughly split into two groups.

Category One: people who, to this day, are firmly convinced that the big twist of the series is «Everyone was dead all along». Nope. You’re just plain wrong.

You can like or dislike the spiritual element of the series and the flashsideways world – but if you criticise it, you should at least have understood it. Jack’s dead father Christian actually explains it perfectly and clearly in the last episode. It’s a mystery to me how this can be interpreted in any other way.

Category Two: those who claim many questions were never answered. That the team of writers simply made stuff up without a concrete plan. I’m sorry, but that’s BS. Every single question was answered. I challenge anyone in the comments to ask a question they think went unanswered – I’m a human Lost encyclopedia and will prove you wrong.

Admittedly, many of the answers in Lost raised further questions – but they were answered. The writers deliberately didn’t want to make the mistake that Star Wars made with the Midi-Chlorians – needlessly breaking down mysteries too much just makes them seem banal. And I’m very happy they avoided this. Jacob is immortal because the island made him immortal. What exactly happened when he drank the island’s magical wine can remain a mystery.

I want more

After my anniversary rewatch, I feel an emptiness inside me. I need more. It’s insane that nothing more has been done with the franchise since the series ended. The centuries-long history of the island would provide many points of reference for spin-offs, prequels or sequels.

On the other hand, I’m also glad we haven’t been served any unnecessary additional stories. In a world where every series, every movie and every game is milked to the last drop, Lost remains a self-contained rarity.

I have no choice but to plan my sixth (or will it be seventh?) rewatch and my fourth flight to Hawaii. I have to go back.