After 121 episodes, over 5,000 minutes and thousands more moments, here we are at the end of Lost. It’s been a grand journey and I’ll miss it greatly.
But instead of mourning, why not celebrate all the great moments Lost has given us over its six incredible seasons? We here at Screen Rant have come up with a list of 25 of those best moments and present them to you below.
Now there was debate behind-the-scenes about whether or not we should put the list in order of a countdown, but we quickly realized that would turn the list into something other than what it ought to be. Instead of a countdown, we thought we’d just list these moments in chronological order – that way it’s less of a competition between the moments and more of a celebration of them.
[NOTE: Some of the moments have been combined together because they're linked in some way. So don't berate the article with "Those ares two separate moments!" comments 
. It goes without saying there's a MAJOR SPOILER WARNING for those who haven't seen the show from start to finish.]
Without further ado, join us as we look back on the top 25 moments of what has to be one of the most popular, talked about, thought about, theorized and just pain obsessed about shows in the history of television. Enjoy:
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Jack wakes up in the jungle – Season 1, “Pilot, Part 1″
The moment that started it all – Jack’s eye opens (just one of the show’s many iconic images), he finds some mini-bottles of alcohol in his pocket, sees Vincent the dog and runs through the jungle. When he emerges from the trees onto the beach everything seems peaceful for just a few seconds. But in true Lost style, nothing is what it seems and suddenly we’re in the hellish aftermath of a plane crash.
Even with the amount of diverse characters on the show, Jack has always been at the center of it and this is solidified by the fact he’s the first person we see. A great start that hints at a lot of what’s to come: mystery, excitement, intrigue, high stakes. Not to mention it added to what was the most expensive pilot of a TV show in history to date.
Locke revealed to be in a wheelchair – Season 1, Episode 4 “Walkabout”
Even though this happens just four episodes into the show, this was undoubtedly one of the most surprising Lost moments. The writers did a great job of disguising the fact that Locke was in a wheelchair, while at the same time hinting at something we had yet to see.
The actual moment when we find out Locke is a paraplegic is simultaneously heart-breaking and uplifting: In his flashback he argues with the walkabout guide, shouting the now-classic “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” line, when we finally see that he’s actually in a wheelchair. Cut to Locke just after the plane crashed, wiggling his toes, standing up and then running to help the other survivors. Classic.
Many people point to this as the moment when they where truly hooked on the show and although I was hooked from minute one, I can certainly see their point.
Jack’s “Live together, die alone” speech – Season 1, Episode 5 “White Rabbit”
Yes, that line of dialogue has since become overused in the years of promos and whatnot (something which the show made a “wink wink” moment out of in season 3, with Jack and Rose), but that doesn’t stop the line and the rest of Jack’s speech to the castaways from being any less iconic or impactful. Along with helping to unify the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, it also helped mark Jack as a leader.
Michael, Walt, Sawyer and Jin sail off on the raft – Season 1, Episode 22 “Exodus, Part 1″
In a show filled with death, destruction, pain, suffering and frightening occurrences, it was great to finally get a truly inspirational moment filled with hope, as some of our Losties sail off in a homemade raft in search of rescue. The scene is milked for all it’s worth (if you watch it back it does go on for quite a while), but deservedly so.
This was back when we didn’t know all the craziness that was to come; back when we truly thought everything was as simple as finding rescue and getting off that island.
The destiny debate between Jack and Locke – Season 1, Episode 22 “Exodus, Part 2″
One of the fundamental questions/debates in the Lost mythology is fate versus free will. In one decisive moment, two of the show’s best characters, Jack and Locke, butt heads over the issue. At the time, Jack couldn’t have been more of a man of science, while Locke was the complete opposite: A man of faith.
Jack perhaps changed more than any of the other characters over the course of the series. Little did he know at that point that Locke’s words, “Yes you do, you just don’t know it yet,” would turn out to be completely true.
The Others take Walt – Season 1, Episode 23 “Exodus, Part 2″
One of the best and most memorable twists in Lost was when the mysterious “Others” appear out of ink-black night at sea, leading us to believe that rescue had finally been found. However, just when we think things are going to turn out well, we hear the dreaded words, “We’re going to have to take the boy.” After that, we were left to wonder between seasons who took young Walt, where they took him and why.
Desmond down in the Hatch – Season 2, Episode 1 “Man of Science, Man of Faith”
Although not as effective upon repeat viewings as it was upon the first, the opening of season 2 when it’s revealed what’s down in the mysterious Hatch is still easily one of the top moments of Lost. I don’t know about you, but I honestly thought it was a flashback of Jack, before he became a doctor and all that (what with the long hair).
The use of the Mama Cass song “Make Your Own Kind of Music” was pure genius and I really love the way the camera makes its way up the Hatch shaft to reveal Jack, Locke and Kate looking down – exactly how we were left at the end of season 1.
Talk about opening up a can of worms.
Jack/Locke Faith Debate Pt. 2 – Season 2, Episode 3 “Orientation”
The second science vs. faith head-butting between Jack and Locke on our list occurred when Jack returned to the Hatch and told Locke the numbers. Locke said that Jack had to be the one to push the button but Jack didn’t want to, because he didn’t think anything would happen if he didn’t (something which is mirrored in the season 6 episode “The Candidate”).
Locke asked Jack why he found it so hard to believe and Jack replied by asking why Locke found it so easy. Locke replied that it’s never been easy for him. Before the timer ran down, Jack made a leap of faith and pushed the button. Electrifying stuff.
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I remember telling my girlfriend, who got me back into Lost after I had stopped watching around season 2, that it was Locke in the coffin. It was more vindicating for me than jaw dropping.
I completely agree with your list! Best show ever, not Mash, not Seinfeld, not cheers. LOST is it!
i think the reveal of the smoke thing was pretty cool, i was pondering for weeks thinking 5 w’s and a h about it. since it hardly appeared (at least until where i stopped wathcing) i would always get a shiver down my spin wonder why it kept ‘stalking’ the crasj victims.
Pretty good list. Here’s a few of my favorite moments.
Walkabout – Locke stares up at the monster
Outlaws – Sawyer kills Frank Ducket
Man of Science, Man of Faith – the man in the hatch is revealed to be Desmond
Live Together, Die Alone – “I was wrong”
The Man Behind the Curtain – Locke hears “Help me”
The Brig – James kills the real “Sawyer” (pretty much anytime Sawyer kills someone I love it :p)
The Shape of Things to Come – Ben wakes up in the desert and kicks some ass
those come to mind
Great list. So many good moments from without a doubt the best show ever created.
2 moments that I love which you haven’t included;
1. Sayid is captured by DHARMA in the 70′s and is brought a sandwhich by a boy. When the boy says “My name is Ben” I never felt such a shiver down my spine, truly a great scene
2. When we first saw the smoke monster when Eko stared it down
Lost Suck Worst Show Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEST SHOW EVER! I have enjoyed everything about LOST. I think the finale was very poetic in bringing so many of the beloved characters back together. The list of the top 25 moments was very satisfying and I also liked the finale explained. This has helped me to understand more of the things that were questioned and now I feel that I have more answers. Thank you to Screen Rant for doing justice to a great series. I look forward to watching the whole series over again and again.
what about the richard episode?
what about charlie’s greatest hist?
what about the boat going into the ocean with michael giacchino’s best music (season one finale)?
weak list….
Love this list, really brings back all the great memories this show gave me. For me it’s one of the best shows out there. Of course you have all those sitcoms that are fun, all the police shows with a case every episode. But Lost was different, it was character development, mystery and a great setting of a beautiful island.
I always loved the great endings en beginnigs of a season of Lost. It welcomed and left you with a jaw-dropping WTF moment. And some intro’s of episodes where also pretty mysterious. I remember (I download the show because I live in Europe) that I once started to watch an episode, and after 5 minutes I was like “this is strange, it’s not lost” and downloaded it again somewhere else just to come to the conclusion it was the exact same. It was the episode wich began with a TV show recording (I think it was Shannon who was an actress?)
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The best moment, for me, in Lost was the ending of Season 3. Jack who’s lost himself completely, not shaven his beard in quite some time and tells Kate he has been flying each friday to Australia and back just in the hope it would crash again. That moment was so emotional and strong for me, just brilliant.
And now this ride has ended, I look at it back with great Joy. For me the whole story is a bit like Devil’s Advocate. In that movie you see a whole bunch of weird things, just to come to the conclusion it was a shocking daydream of the lawyer. I see Lost as the last moments of Jack, and in his last moments his brain flashes this mysterious film through his mind and comes to peace.
I’ve seen it all end I can finally say that it is the best damn thing ever written or the greatest TV show in general. Yes, it still has its mysteries, which is cool because even in the end, Lost leaves you asking questions. The Island will always be The Island. The series finale shows us the true ending the story; one with its characters. While the ‘afterlife’ plot seemed a lil’ too surprising and out-of-nowhere, I’m not complaining. Lost came, it entertained, and it ended with an epic finale; one that’ll give us closure on the characters but will leave the Lost legacy intact. My personal favorites that are NOT in the list:
[1] The Richard Alpert episode ~ one of the best episodes in the series, we finally get to see how the iconic Alpert became that way.
[2] Lots of scenes with Daniel Faraday ~ most of his ‘experiments’ are intriguing. Sending that ‘package’ across the island, experimenting in Oxford, connecting with Desmond. Crazy.
[3] The smoke-monster teaser, Season 1 (Pilot) ~ we hear the roars, see the bushes shake, trees sway, and people get all tensed, frightened, and worried. Iconic moment. The teaser- introduction of arguably Lost’s most constant / pivotal character, besides Jack.
[4] The French Woman’s Message ~ Sayid, Charlie, Sawyer, and Kate make it to the top of a hill and discover a French message on loop for 16 years. Still sends shivers down my spine.
[5] Rose & Locke have a chat ~ Rose sits with Locke on the beach (for a few brief minutes), Locke is using crutches because of a leg injury. Locke expresses his frustration at having to use crutches for a long time, when Rose replies with a “We both know that isn’t going to happen.” Amazing moment from someone who also understands that the Island is special, yet stays silent about it to most. Love the scene.
One of my top moments was Sawyer and Juliet realising who they were, had a big effect on me for some reason.
Frogurt dies
Well,that scene where Hurley has a dream and Jin speaks english for the first time.”It’s all gonna change”.
I think another great moment when they reveal the cause of the 815 plan crash was that desmond did not push the button when he was out of the hatch.
I love what you have done here with Lost this website is amazing good job!
Hold-on just a few minutes you Lost souls. We need to examine a couple of glaring deficiencies with this crazy show.
What about the innumerable times that characters mention how Walt in “special”? This gets completely ignored later and walt turns out to be a no one.
This being said, why did the others want Walt, since he is a total no one?
Why do the others steal babies an kids?
How did Ben cure Juliette’s sisters cancer?
When Ben turns the big wheel, he says that once you leave the island, you can’t come back. Yet tons of people leave and come back. Jacob has been visiting all the candidates since they were kids.
There are dozens of omissions in this show. The writers clearly didn’t know where they were taking this from the beginning. They threw in random stuff and followed through with some ideas.
Kind of good storyline, if you’re into ghosts, monsters, and end of world stuff. Drags on forever though. I almost quit this a few times. Good cast. Good filming and editing. Huge budget, which I think is what saved this show. Not worth all the hype.
In a DVD and Blu-Ray extra called The New Man In Charge, it is revealed that Ben and Hugo picked Walt up from the mental institute and took him back to The Island after Hugo was made protector of The Island.
The Others stole babies and kids because they were perfect candidates – they could be taught only good from the beginning of their lives.
It was Jacob’s rule that you can’t come back to The Island so Jacob could break his own rule. People were proberly allowed to come back because they were candidates or they were a key part to The Island.
Curing Juliet’s sister’s cancer was never explained though, and neither was that Jin and Sun now have an orphaned child.
I agree that it dragged on at times though, especially seasons 1 & 2.
some of my other favorite moments (in no particular order) were:
when little charlotte tells faraday: “i cant have chocolate before dinner.”
when miles realizes that his father is pierre chang
when faraday and desmond realize that theyre in a sideways world
when jacob turns out not to be such a good guy and kills his brother and mom
when kate convinces claire to come on the plane back home
when it turns out thatkate and jack are sisters, but jack doesnt know this until he leaves claire behind
when you find out that sawyer has a daughter
when sawyer jumps off the helicopter
and finally, the most amazing:
when the man in the red sneakers dies
When the MIB (Masquerading as Locke) is talking to Ben about the night Ben killed John and the MIB says “Do you want to know what the last thing he thought was? ‘I don’t understand’.
Now isn’t that the saddest thing you’ve ever heard?”
I thought that was a brilliant scene and it’s such a sad quote.
Great list, I’ve got to say I’m amazed that Sawyer killing Anthony Cooper isn’t in there and I personally loved when Ben kills his own dad – that truly shocked me. I also thought the scene where Boone dies was a great moment too, very emotional and was the first death of a major character.
This show was truly amazing! I remember being intrigued by the first part of the pilot episode, but it was the second part that REALLY got to me. When that small group of the LOSTies hiked up into the mountains and heard Danielle’s recorded message and Shannon translated her words from French into English, “I’m alone now, on the island alone. Please someone come. The others are dead. It killed them. It killed them all…” And they figure out that that was posted for transmission 16 years ago? That moment STILL sends shudders down my spine! I’m a horror movie fan, and that is easily one of the most chilling moments I’ve ever seen.
I also vote for the “NOT PENNY’S BOAT” scene. Besides the tragic character death, that moment was incredible because it turned that whole season on its head. I’m also glad to see the part where Keamy shot Alex make this list. Just thinking of Michael Emerson’s expression during that moment is making me tear up a little bit. Truly horrifying.