We Have to Go Back!

Revisiting LOST ✈️🏝️

LOST aired on ABC from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010, over six seasons, comprising a total of 121 episodes. Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof, the supernatural sci-fi series follows the survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 after the plane crashes on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean.

If you’ve never watched the series, the story is told in a heavily serialized manner, with episodes utilizing flashback or flashforward sequences to provide additional insight into the survivors, the greater mystery surrounding the island, and their connection to it.

I was obsessed with LOST. The showrunners, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, were inspired by the same things I was — STAR WARS, THE DARK TOWER, THE TWILIGHT ZONE — and it was extremely rewarding to watch the series weekly and discuss it with friends and family, as well as the online fan community. I would write lengthy blogs about the series, offering up theories and speculation on the show’s many mysteries.

And as fun as that was, the constant theorizing by the fanbase may have hurt the series in the long run. For six years, fans attempted to outthink the showrunners and writers, leading to a lot of unrealistic expectations about how it would and should end. While I personally loved the final season and the finale, there were many fans who were underwhelmed or disappointed by the direction the series took.

With that being said, when Marissa suggested that we do a rewatch of the series, I was somewhat trepidatious about the endeavor. For one thing, it’s 121 45-minute episodes — that’s a pretty heavy lift, even for us. Secondly, how would the show fare 12 years later? How could it possibly live up to the experience of watching it as it aired?

With those apprehensions in mind, we decided to go back to the island. What I quickly discovered is that not only does the show hold up, it actually benefits from a binge format. Without having to wait between episodes and seasons, the need to theorize is nonexistent. Instead, you’re fully invested in the characters and their journey, which allows you to focus on the events unfolding in front of you instead of worrying about solving the greater mystery.

Watching 3-4 episodes a night, we finished our rewatch in a little over five weeks. And I’m so happy we decided to go back because it was an even more rewarding and cathartic experience this time around, getting to watch everything unfold all over again — this time with Marissa, who was also a diehard fan of the series when it originally aired.

The cast, the performances, the production design, the mythology, the incredible music by Michael Giacchino — there’s just so much to appreciate with LOST. It was the first television series that really hooked me by creating a universe I wanted to live in, and it was an absolute pleasure to live in that world again, even it was just for five weeks.

If you’ve never seen the series or you’re planning a rewatch, I would highly recommend checking it out on Hulu with a no-ad plan. Hulu also includes an uncut version of “The End” — the series finale. After you finish the series, don’t forget to watch the 12-minute epilogue, “The New Man in Charge,” which you can find on YouTube.

There’s also LETTING GO: REFLECTIONS OF A SIX-YEAR JOURNEY, a touching 40-minute documentary about the cast and crew’s experiences making the series, which you can check out below:

You May Also Like…

If you dig this, you may also enjoy:

• THE DARK TOWER (Barnes & Noble)

• THE STAND (Barnes & Noble)

• FRINGE (HBO Max)

• YELLOWJACKETS (Showtime / Amazon Prime)

• WATCHMEN (HBO Max)

• THE LEFTOVERS (HBO Max)

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