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IGN ranks every single episode of Lost

Evil Twin

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http://tv.ign.com/articles/109/1094268p1.html

Gotta say I agree with the Jack's tattoo episode being the worst, but "Trisha Tanaka is Dead" being second to last? Oh, HELLS no. I love that episode! Great fun.

I know most folks around here would also put "The Constant" at #1, but I was never THAT enamored with Desmond/Penny relationship, so I dunno. I couldn't really say what my absolute favorite is, lots of great ones out there. Probably will decide once I rewatch the complete series this fall. :)
 
I couldn't say what my favourite episode is, but I did rate "Through the looking glass" as a great one.
 
Gotta say I agree with the Jack's tattoo episode being the worst
Agreed. The worst-the trashy asian chick blew chunks, the flashback was boring and when this aired the big promo promised 3 major mysteries would be answered-ha!
but "Trisha Tanaka is Dead" being second to last? Oh, HELLS no. I love that episode! Great fun.
Disagree. I didn't like that one at all. The comet hitting Hurley's chicken restaurant was beyond stupid. Hurley's flashback-meh. The episode felt like filler. The only part I enjoyed was the guys in the old Dharma van riding around listening to Shambala(I think that's the name of the song). I also would put episodes like "Dave", "Everybody Hates Hugo" in there, "Everybody Loves Hugo"--I'm not a big Hurey fan. Not a big fan of Kate's either so "One of them"--isn't that the season 3 episode with Kate meeting with Sawyer's old flame and "I Do", "Whatever the Case May be" was a low point in season one, S6's "What Kate Does" was pretty flat. Couldn't stand the season 3 Locke episode with the sweatlodge and the pot grower flashback. "Fire + Water" was truly awful from season 2 that has to be near the bottom.

One that people don't enjoy but I did was the Nikki/Paolo "Expose". That is a filler episode done right.
I know most folks around here would also put "The Constant" at #1, but I was never THAT enamored with Desmond/Penny relationship, so I dunno.
Agreed. I think the Desmond-centered episodes are always overrated. "The Constant", "Happily Ever After", "Live Together, Die Alone". I was never a Desmond fan and frankly the Des/Penny romance didn't set the world on fire in my opinion.
I couldn't really say what my absolute favorite is, lots of great ones out there.
That is the hard part about LOST--serialized dramas are notirious for treating episodes as installments and I always prefer to view the big picture--in other words how well the Big Story is told. For LOST what makes that task even harder is that a lot of episodes were a mish mash doing all sorts of different things in advancing the Big Picture--there would be a brief teaser for something to come down the road, or it would advance the plot etc. And LOST was extremely consistent in S3-5 that I have no problem with almost all of them.

So I'd have to say my favorite episodes came in S3-5 and were either big key episodes like "The Shape of Things to Come", "Cabin Fever", "The Man Behind the Curtain", "Dead is Dead", "Greatest Hits" or big event episodes like the 3 parter "Theres No Place Like Home" or the season 3 finale "Through the Looking Glass". Not surprising most of those were Ben-centered episodes--about the only one that fell flat was this year's "Dr. Linus". And while I wouldn't call them excellent I thought "Not in Portland" was a well done episode that in hindsight was a turning point for LOST. "Par Avion" was a sweet Claire episode. I also thought the "LaFleur" was a good episode. "This Place is Death" was a pretty good pivotal and exciting Season 5 episode.
 
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It's a pretty good list, but I agree, Trisha Tanaka is actually a charming episode. I'm very glad to see Across the Sea there early in the list. Whereas Ab Aeterno was one of the most satisfying episodes of LOST ever, Across the Sea was... the anti Ab Aeterno. It may have been the most UNsatisfying episode ever.

The middle of the list kind of dull as it's just ranking episodes that were kind of average. Top and bottom of the lists are more or less good.

The author's point about the mid-S3 stalling is well taken. I realize the writers had to hold back the whole "Naomi freighter rescue WE HAVE TO GO BACKKK" storyline reveal until they had an end-date... but I was always disconcerted at their lack of ability to write compelling "mid-material". The stuff that aired was SO SLOW (like the mentioned Sawyer/Kate return to the beach endless trek), why couldn't they just sit down and write a couple of fast paced small arcs? Considering how INCONSEQUENTIAL some of the so-called "answers" were, is there any reason they couldn't have "stalled" in S3 by having episodes based around answering these mysteries? There's tons of "island survival" stuff they never even touched. The character stuff in S3 was pretty mind-numbing. What happened to their writing ability? I have a feeling that it was just as much them being fed up with the job as it was a lack of an end-date.
 
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Looking at this list makes me want to watch the whole series again. Gotta wait for 6 to come to DVD though.
 
I disagree with this entire list, except for the tattoo episode. The rest of them are in the wrong order.
 
I disagree with this entire list, except for the tattoo episode. The rest of them are in the wrong order.
Yeah like how in the world did the pedestrian "What They Died for" beat out "Theres No Place Like Home Part I". None of the season six episodes should rank higher than any season 4 episode or season 5 episode. The only three episodes that were of the same quality as season 4 or 5 that deserves to be in the same league were "Ab Aetero" and "LA X" I and II. "Some Like it Hoth" deserved to be higher. It wasn't as strong as a lot of season 5 episodes but any other tv show would kill to have as solid as an episode as that.
 
I'd have to agree with most of the list. That, and I too now want to go back and re-watch the series in it's entirety.
 
I'm always surprised by the hate for the tatoo episode. It wasn't stellar, but at the time I didn't find it disappointing or boring, it was about average with the many other episodes of Lost that weren't totally mind-blowing. It just wasn't that bad.
 
I'm always surprised by the hate for the tatoo episode. It wasn't stellar, but at the time I didn't find it disappointing or boring, it was about average with the many other episodes of Lost that weren't totally mind-blowing. It just wasn't that bad.

I thought it was better after watching it for the second time.

I also think Expose should have been higher on the list.
 
Best episode: Err, probably "Live Together Die Alone". Worst episode: "Fire + Water" or one of the early S1 eps.
 
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