Top 100 Scenes from 5 Seasons of LOST

jotop100bFor a while, I’ve been compiling a list of my favorite 100 scenes from all five seasons of Lost, and wanted to finally post them because tomorrow’s episode (“The Variable”) is #100! I was also inspired by my friend Ryan at Zap2It’s Guide to Lost, who is currently publishing his 100 Things I Love About Lost series.

Everyone’s list is bound to be different, and of course there will be some crossover…but below are my favorite scenes of all time; the most indelible, iconic and memorable moments of Lost. I’m almost sure that immediately after I publish this list, I will kick myself for not including other key scenes which have made me laugh, cry or scream at the television over the last five years.

I have included the season and episode of each, for your reference. Enjoy!

SEASON 1

1. The opening sequence; the first five minutes of Lost. The sound effects were as equally disorienting and frightening as Jack’s first glimpse of the massive wreckage. (Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot, Part 1)

jack-pilot-ep

2. Jack discovers that Kate is a fugitive but tells her that on the island, everyone gets a fresh start. (Season 1, Episode 3: Tabula Rasa)

3. Jack chases his father Ghost Christian through the jungle, and winds up over a cliff and hanging on for his life until Locke reaches down his hand to save him. (Season 1, Episode 5: White Rabbit)

locke-saves-jack

4. Locke convinces Charlie to hand over his drugs, and the sheer joy on Charlie’s face when Locke points up to show him that his guitar survived the crash. (Season 1, Episode 6: House of the Rising Sun)

5. Hurley’s very funny, numbers-riddled late dash to make flight 815 in Sydney. (Season 1, Episode 24: Exodus, Part 2)

SEASON 2

6. The montage at the end of the episode with Hurley smiling and distributing Dharma food to grateful passengers on the beach. (Season 2, Episode 4: Everybody Hates Hugo)

7. Shannon is accidentally shot and killed by Ana Lucia while searching for Ghost Walt in the jungle. (Season 2, Episode 6: Abandoned)

sayid-shannon

8. Hurley beats up Sawyer after enduring countless rude nicknames relating to his weight. (Season 2, Episode 14: One of Them)

hurley-fights-sawyer

9. Ben’s first mental manipulation of Locke in the Swan; Locke throws the dishes to the ground after Ben’s inquiry about him and Jack, “are you the genius, or are you the guy who always feels like he’s living IN THE SHADOW OF a genius?” Foreshadowing alert! (Season 2, Episode 15: Maternity Leave)

10. Ben helps Locke out from under the Swan hatch door, which is crushing his leg. (Season 2, Episode 17: Lockdown)

ben-locke-hatch-door

11. Hurley goes after his imaginary friend Dave up to a high cliff and almost follows him down into the ocean. Libby shows up and they kiss. But it is the moment after Hurley asks her if she thinks he can change that I absolutely love – her face drops completely as she lies and tells him yes. (Season 2, Episode 18: Dave)

libby-hurley-cliff

12. The reveal that a Cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs Libby is a patient at the Santa Rosa Mental Institute during one of Hurley’s stints there. (Season 2, Episode 18: Dave)

libby-insane

13. Michael takes the gun from Ana Lucia and shoots her in cold blood, followed by Libby’s ill-timed appearance; he shoots her several times without thinking and in a panic. (Season 2, Episode 20: Two for the Road)

michael-shoots-girls

14. Sane Libby/Elizabeth meets Desmond and gives him her deceased husband’s sailboat for Widmore’s race around the world. (Season 2, Episode 23: Live Together, Die Alone)

libby-gives-des-boat

15. Kidnapped Kate, Sawyer, Jack and Hurley are tied up and on their knees in front of Ben and the Others on the Pala pier, unsure about where they’re going to be taken. (Season 2, Episode 23: Live Together, Die Alone)

pala-pier

16. The Swan hatch implodes, accompanied by flying metal objects inside and a purple sky outside. (Season 2, Episode 23: Live Together, Die Alone)

swan-implosion-door

17. Two Portuguese men stationed in a cold and remote locale discover the electromagnetic anomaly caused by the Swan implosion on the island, and call Penny to report it. (Season 2, Episode 23: Live Together, Die Alone)

listening-station

SEASON 3

18. The earthquake during Juliet’s book club that turns out to be Oceanic flight 815 breaking apart above New Otherton. (Season 3, Episode 1: A Tale of Two Cities)

juliet-815-above

19. Other Tom tells Kate, who just emerged from a shower wrapped in a towel: “You’re not my type.” Ding ding! (Season 3, Episode 1: A Tale of Two Cities)

tom-kate-shower

20. Ben shows Jack a videotape of the Red Sox winning the World Series to prove that they have off-island communications. (Season 3, Episode 2: The Glass Ballerina)

21. Sun shoots Other Colleen on the sailboat. (Season 3, Episode 2: The Glass Ballerina)

sun-colleen

22. Locke’s sweat lodge induced visions of fellow survivors at the airport, and Ghost Boone’s prescient statements about their friends: “they’ll be okay, for a while”…about Claire, Aaron and Charlie, “he’s helping himself”…about Desmond, and “there’s nothing you can do for them yet” about Jack, Kate and Sawyer. (Season 3, Episode 3: Further Instructions)

locke-vision-airport

23. Young detective Eddie tells Locke that he was chosen to be watched and used because he is “amenable for coercion.” (Season 3, Episode 3: Further Instructions)

24. While strapped down to a table, Ben shakes a white rabbit to death over Sawyer and lies about placing a pacemaker in his chest like the one inside that bunny. (Season 3, Episode 4: Every Man For Himself)

ben-bunny-sawyer

25. Sawyer sees that he, Kate and Jack are being held on Hydra Island, an entirely different island than the one their friends are on. (Season 3, Episode 4: Every Man For Himself)

sawyer-hydra-island

26. Eko whispers “you’re next” to Locke right before dying after being thrashed by Smokey. (Season 3, Episode 5: The Cost of Living)

eko-death-locke

27. Juliet’s ex-husband Edmund Burke gets flattened by a bus, courtesy of Richard Alpert & co. (Season 3, Episode 7: Not in Portland)

edmund-burke

28. Mid-surgery, Ben’s private conversation with Juliet, which resulted in her shooting Pickett and helping Kate and Sawyer escape back to the main island. (Season 3, Episode 7: Not in Portland)

29. Desmond first meets with Eloise Hawking in a scene eerily reminiscent of Neo’s bench chat with the Oracle in The Matrix. (Season 3, Episode 8: Flashes Before Your Eyes)

hawking-des-bench2

30. Desmond informs Charlie that he’s saved him from death via drowning, lightning and arrow to the neck, but that no matter what he tries to do…Charlie is going to die. (Season 3, Episode 8: Flashes Before Your Eyes)

31. As punishment for killing Other thug Pickett, Juliet receives a mysterious branding on her lower back. (Season 3, Episode 9: Stranger in a Strange Land)

juliet-branded

32. Kate and Sayid spy on New Otherton, and witness the horror of Jack throwing a football [like a girl] to Other Tom. (Season 3, Episode 12: Par Avion)

jack-football

33. Anthony Cooper throws his son Locke out of an 8 story window. (Season 3, Episode 13: The Man from Tallahassee)

locke-window

34. Ben’s magic box special delivery of Anthony Cooper to Locke on the island. (Season 3, Episode 13: The Man From Tallahassee)

35. After Nikki randomly asks Sawyer for a gun, he says “who the hell are you?” (Season 3, Episode 14: Expose)

sawyer-nikki

36. Smokey is less than menacing, choosing to use flash photography to scan Juliet and Kate as they cower inside a bunch of trees. (Season 3, Episode 15: Left Behind)

smokey-scans-juliet

37. Desmond, Hurley, Jin and Charlie go camping; they whistle the theme to The Bridge on the River Kwai and Jin tells a ghost story in Korean. (Season 3, Episode 17: Catch-22)

38. Penny and Desmond first meet at the monastery. (Season 3, Episode 17: Catch-22)

des-penny-meet

39. Juliet records a secret message for Ben about Sun’s pregnancy, then turns off the tape recorder and says “I hate you” out loud. (Season 3, Episode 18: D.O.C.)

40. Sawyer kills Anthony Cooper, finally exorcising his demons and getting closure for his parents’ death. (Season 3, Episode 19: The Brig)

sawyer-cooper

41. Horace Goodspeed happens to drive by and help immediately following Ben’s premature birth outside of Portland. (Season 3, Episode 20: The Man Behind the Curtain)

42. Young Ben encounters his Ghost Mom just outside of the sonic fence after he ran away from Drunk Daddy in Dharmaville. (Season 3, Episode 20: The Man Behind the Curtain)

bens-ghostmom

43. Ben calculatingly kills his father Roger Linus via poisonous gas with absolutely no remorse. (Season 3, Episode 20: The Man Behind the Curtain)

ben-kills-dad

44. Locke demands to be taken to Jacob’s cabin, and Jacob whispers “help me” to him, much to Ben’s surprise and discontent. (Season 3, Episode 20: The Man Behind the Curtain)

jacob

45. Charlie reflects back upon his top 5 moments in life before swimming down to the Looking Glass station, knowing that he is fated to sacrifice himself doing so in order for his friends to get rescued. (Season 3, Episode 21: Greatest Hits)

charlie-list

46. Jack attempts to rally and lead the survivors after the Others storm their beach. Rose tells him, “If you say live together/die alone to me Jack, I’m gonna punch you in the face.” (Season 3, Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass)

47. Jack beats the hell out of Ben when he thinks that the Others killed Bernard, Jin and Sayid on the beach. (Season 3, Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass)

jack-bloodies-ben

48. Alex meets her mother for the first time, and Danielle’s first words to her long-lost daughter are a request to help secure her beaten up father Ben, “help me tie him up.” (Season 3, Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass)

49. Sayid is tied up on the beach, and manages to kill an Other…with his feet. (Season 3, Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass)

sayid-feet

50. Taller Ghost Walt appears to Locke, telling him to get up because he has work to do after Ben shot him and left him for dead in the Dharma pit. (Season 3, Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass)

taller-ghost-walt

51. Charlie’s death; warning Desmond with the message “not Penny’s boat” written on his hand, then crossing himself and floating away…what an incredibly moving and devastating moment. (Season 3, Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass)

charlie-death

52. Bad beard Jack and glam Kate meet at the end of the airport runway, the first time we realize and see that they’re off the island. (Season 3, Episode 22: Through the Looking Glass)

jack-kate-airport

SEASON 4

53. Matthew Abaddon assigns the Freighter Four to Naomi; a veritable Breakfast Club of misfits, including Faraday the headcase, Miles the ghostbuster, Frank Lapidus the drunk and Charlotte the anthropologist. (Season 4, Episode 2: Confirmed Dead)

abbadon-assigns-naomi

54. Charlotte unearths a Dharma collar on a polar bear in the Tunisian desert. (Season 4, Episode 2: Confirmed Dead)

charlotte-collar-tunisia

55. Off island, Sayid is shot, and we find out that he’s an assassin for none other than Ben Linus. (Season 4, Episode 3: The Economist)

sayid-working-for-ben

56. Desmond travels back in time and meets Professor Faraday at Oxford. (Season 4, Episode 5: The Constant)

des-faraday-oxford

57. Desmond’s emotional phone call with Penny on the freighter.(Season 4, Episode 5: The Constant)

des-calls-penny

58. Short term memory failure Faraday revisits his trustworthy physics journal to find a page that reads “if anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant.” (Season 4, Episode 5: The Constant)

faraday-constant-note

59. Ben’s astonishing and childish declaration, “you’re MINE, Juliet.” (Season 4, Episode 6: The Other Woman)

60. After Jack encounters creepy Harper Stanhope in the rain and expresses surprise about the Others needing therapy, Juliet reminds him that “it’s very stressful being an Other, Jack.” (Season 4, Episode 6: The Other Woman)

harper-stanhope-rain

61. Juliet reveals to Jin that Sun had an affair and that the baby may not be his, accompanied by the best Yunjin Kim evil eye stare ever, followed by an amazing slap across the face of my favorite fertility doc. (Season 4, Episode 7: Ji Yeon)

sun-slaps-juliet

62. Rousseau and Karl are killed by Keamy’s mercenaries on the way to The Temple. (Season 4, Episode 8: Meet Kevin Johnson)

63. The last words that Alex hears are spoken by her father: “she is a pawn, nothing more. She means nothing to me.” Keamy then murders Alex in front of Ben, and the subsequent look of horror on his face is both haunting and Emmy-worthy. (Season 4, Episode 9: The Shape of Things to Come)

keamy-kills-alex

64. Ben unleashes an angry and determined locomotive-like Smokey on Keamy’s mercenaries in New Otherton. (Season 4, Episode 9: The Shape of Things to Come)

smokey-mercenary

65. Ben confronts Widmore in his London flat, and tells him that he’s going to kill Penny because Widmore was responsible for Alex’s death. (Season 4, Episode 9: The Shape of Things to Come)

ben-london-widmore

66. A sharply dressed Richard Alpert appears at the hospital immediately following Locke’s premature birth. (Season 4, Episode 11: Cabin Fever)

alpert-at-locke-birth

67. Richard Alpert presents young Locke with a series of items, including a comic book, knife, baseball glove, a compass, book of laws and vial of sand. (Season 4, Episode 11: Cabin Fever)

alpert-tests-young-locke

68. Matthew Abaddon is an orderly in the rehab center where Locke is recovering from being pushed out of the window by his father. Abaddon suggests the walkabout to Locke even though he is now paralyzed. (Season 4, Episode 11: Cabin Fever)

abaddon-locke-rehab

69. Locke’s dream encounter with 12 years dead Horace Goodspeed as he’s chopping down wood to build Jacob’s cabin. (Season 4, Episode 11: Cabin Fever)

locke-dream-horace

70. Questionably dead Claire smiles and chills out in Jacob’s cabin with Ghost Daddy Christian while her baby son Aaron is left in a tree for Sawyer to bring to Kate. (Season 4, Episode 11: Cabin Fever)

claire-jacob-cabin

71. The awkward, uncomfortable Oceanic Six beginning and perpetuating the collective lie at the press conference. (Season 4, Episode 12: There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1)

o6-press-conference

72. Sun tells her father that she bought a controlling interest in Paik Industries, using the Oceanic Six settlement money. (Season 4, Episode 12: There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1)

sun-tells-dad

73. Hurley is paranoid about hearing whispers at his house, so he grabs his mother’s gold Jesus statue to defend himself. After his surprise party is revealed, Mrs. Reyes tells him that “Jesus Christ is not a weapon.” (Season 4, Episode 12: There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1)

74. Carole Littleton shows up at Christian Shephard’s memorial service and tells Jack about his half-sister Claire. (Season 4, Episode 12: There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1)

carole-littleton-jack

75. Ben stabs Keamy to death down below the Orchid, and his response to Locke’s anger about that action causing the deaths of everyone on the freighter: “so?” (Season 4, Episode 12: There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1)

76. Sawyer jumps out of the helicopter to lighten the load so that his friends have enough fuel to land safely, but not before whispering a favor to Kate about his daughter and then kissing her. (Season 4, Episode 13: There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2&3)

sawyer-jumps-helicopter

77. Sun’s sheer screaming anguish as she watches the freighter blow up with husband Jin on it. (Season 4, Episode 13: There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2&3)

sun-scream-helicopter

78. The island disappears. (Season 4, Episode 13: There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2&3)

island-disappearing

79. The violent helicopter crash into the ocean. (Season 4, Episode 13: There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2&3)

80. Ghost Claire appears in Aaron’s bedroom at Kate’s house, off island, warning her “don’t you dare bring him back!” (Season 4, Episode 13: There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2&3)

claireghost-kates-house

81. Locke is revealed to be Jeremy Bentham, the mystery man in the coffin. (Season 4, Episode 13: There’s No Place Like Home, Parts 2&3)

locke-bentham-coffin

SEASON 5

82. Hurley pours his heart out to his mother about the Oceanic 6 lie, and succinctly describes the crazy scenario that has been his life since boarding flight 815. (Season 5, Episode 2: The Lie)

83. Hurley is startled by Ben appearing at his house, and throws a Hot Pocket at him. (Season 5, Episode 2: The Lie)

hurley-hot-pocket

84. Hurley is driving a recently shot Sayid to safety. He gets pulled over by Ghost Ana Lucia, who tells him that Libby says hi. (Season 5, Episode 2: The Lie)

ana-luciaghost

85. Young Charles Widmore is stationed on the island as a soldier in 1954, and he answers to Richard Alpert. (Season 5, Episode 3: Jughead)

widmore-soldier

86. Ajira pilot Frank Lapidus realizes that the passengers on his flight include the Oceanic 6. His response to Jack is, “we’re not going to Guam, are we?” (Season 5, Episode 6: 316)

lapidus-guam

87. In the opening scene of the Ajira 316 ‘crash’ aftermath, Jack wakes up in same position he was in following the original Oceanic 815 crash. (Season 5, Episode 6: 316)

88. Jack puts his father Christian’s shoes on Locke in the coffin, preparing to return to the island. (Season 5, Episode 6: 316)

christian-shoes-locke

89. Charles Widmore decides that Locke’s off island pseudonym will be Jeremy Bentham. (Season 5, Episode 7: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham)

widmore-locke

90. Ben strangles Locke to death after getting key information from him and before boarding Ajira 316 back to the island. (Season 5, Episode 7: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham)

ben-strangles-locke

91. Juliet & Sawyer are on the Dharmaville dock in 1974; he convinces her to stay for two more weeks and that turns into 3 more years for her on the island. (Season 5, Episode 8: LaFleur)

sawyer-juliet-sub

92. Juliet and Sawyer fall in love after spending 3 years together in 70’s Dharmaville. (Season 5, Episode 8: LaFleur)

sawyer-juliet-love

93. Juliet’s creepy realization that she’s holding baby Ethan Rom, just born to Amy and Horace Goodspeed in 1970’s Dharmaville. (Season 5, Episode 9: Namaste)

114970_224

94. Sun clocks Ben over the head with an oar; households in every country cheer in unison. (Season 5, Episode 9: Namaste)

114968_547

95. Sayid shoots young Ben. (Season 5, Episode 10: He’s Our You)

ben-shot

96. Sawyer’s baby-mama Cassidy bonds with and is entirely honest with Kate. (Season 5, Episode 11: Whatever Happened, Happened)

cassidy-kate

97. Hurley and Miles share a lively and entertaining time travel conversation, for our benefit. (Season 5, Episode 11: Whatever Happened, Happened)

hurley-miles-time-travel-chat

98. Kate and Sawyer hand young Ben over to Richard Alpert, who takes the injured boy by himself to The Temple. (Season 5, Episode 11: Whatever Happened, Happened)

alpert-young-ben-kate-sawyer

99. Smokey manifests as Ghost Alex, scaring the crap out of Daddy Dearest. (Season 5, Episode 12: Dead is Dead)

100. Hurley writes his own version of The Empire Strikes Back in 1977 to send to George Lucas, with improvements and additions to the script. (Season 5, Episode 13: Some Like it Hoth)

hurley-empire-script

[Jo has watched every episode of Lost at least three times. For weekly in-depth analysis and theories about each episode, please visit her Lost blog.]

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