by Grace Alexander

Created on: May 23, 2010

After all these years, choosing the top ten greatest moments from LOST is an exercise in futility - you can’t pick just ten and make everyone happy. These are the ten that stick out, that gave watchers the chills and the terrific ‘aha’ moments - and sometimes left us baffled for seasons after, when we would pipe up in every LOST conversation - “But… what about the -?”

10.  Two words. Polar Bear. No-one ever forgets the polar bear. Face it - the polar bear threw everybody for a loop, and provided all kinds of strange theories from day one. Uber-fans got heartily sick of fringe LOST lovers asking about the polar bear over… and over… and over…

9. Charlie’s death. It’s actually a surprise that the ocean’s level didn’t rise a few centimeters the day Charlie bit the dust - enough buckets of tears were cried across the nation to rival the day that Elvis died. We loved you Charlie…

8. The first appearance of the smoke monster. Whoooeee! That was the bomb. Trying to figure out WTH that thing was gave us all plenty of terrific water cooler material. ‘The Smoke Thing’ was better than the Swamp Monster, the Headless Horseman and Bigfoot rolled into one.

7. The end of Dr. Leslie Arzt. The deteriorated dynamite found on the island claimed many victims before the end, but this one was classic - left everyone having to wipe bits and pieces of the entomologist off themselves. Arzt’s last words? “Did you hear about the guy who invented nitro glycerin? he blew his freakin' face off! His lab assistant came in the next morning, found his boss' body, and said, "Huh. I guess this stuff works." Nitro glycerin is the most unstable substance known to man. It is extremely temperamental so you have to be-”  (BOOM.)

6. Ben calls the bluff. Keamy promptly blowing Alex’s brains out on Ben’s refusal to cooperate was probably one of the most chilling moments in LOST history. The look on Linus’ face - well, it should be in the dictionary next to the word ‘devastation’.

5. The Others - in suburbia. How creepy was it to see the village in the depths of the island - little houses with picket fences and swing sets in the yards. Surreal. Sawyer goes back after Juliet’s tragic death, and it’s mocking.

4. The light in the hatch. Theer are too many ‘Locke’ moments to list, but this was definitely one of the best. Locke on his hands and knees practically trying to ooze through the tiny square glass to the other side - vindication.

3. Walt, Michael, and the computer - “Hello?” >: Hello? “Who is this?” … >: Dad.  People were jumping off sofas and screaming WTF?  THAT was great television.

2. Golf. That was just too cool. Hurley, a nine iron and a swath of green. Order among chaos. C’mon, you know you grinned when you saw Jack tee off.

1. Sayid on the sub. Sayid‘s odd behavior after his resurrection played havoc with preconceived notions - but in the end he still had some spark of himself left - his final few moments were perfectly played.

You could do a top 100 list and not manage to hit all the high points, but these ten LOST moments definitely stand out for great acting and great scripting.

Learn more about this author, Grace Alexander.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.