Lost is one of the most misunderstood TV series of all time

This article has been republished from our Rewind newsletter.

If you want to trigger a Lost fan, you need only utter the following words: “they were dead the whole time”. If that were indeed the case, I wouldn’t still be recommending this show more than 20 years after it first aired. And yet, this misconception persists, deterring people from revisiting the series or even starting it for the first time. 

So, do me a favour: Forget everything you think you know about Lost, if only for the next few minutes, and let’s start with a clean slate, shall we? 

Lost was a game-changer straight out of the gate, and, in many ways, ahead of its times. At first, you think you’re getting your run-of-the-mill desert island survival story. Almost immediately, it becomes abundantly clear that this isn’t an ordinary island, and that finding food and shelter are going to be the least of our survivors’ worries. There’s polar bears! A smoke monster! Time travel! 

That a show like Lost even survived in the cancel-happy, anti-Sci-Fi world of mid-2000s American network TV is something of a miracle. For every Lost, there was about 10 Fireflys, cancelled before they could ever reach their peak weirdness. Lost was one of the lucky few that managed to sneak through the cancellation cracks season after season, allowing its showrunners to experiment with unhinged plot devices and unknowable mysteries. 

And that was one of the true joys of Lost—the not knowing. You’ll have questions from the pilot episode that aren’t answered until the series finale, if at all. Lost doesn’t hold your hand and explain every little mystery, instead encourages you to formulate your own theories.  

But admidst the survival drama and all the island’s strange happenings, Lost is, at its core, a character study. However long or short their tenure on the island, each character undergoes significant personal growth, and with so many people in the main cast (14 in the first season), there’s always someone to relate to, to root for, or perhaps even root against. Television in 2004 wasn’t exactly known for telling the stories of people of colour, but Lost didn’t shy away from themes like racism and islamophobia, a particular feat considering this was a mere three years after 9/11. 

Is Lost perfect? Of course not. It loses the thread of many a plot point over its six seasons, some of the VFX are a bit janky, it features some of the worst Australian accents you’ll ever hear, and it suffers from a few bad filler episodes. But all these years later, these flaws simply add to its charm, and overall, it’s a show that’s aged incredibly well. And no, they weren’t dead the whole time.

How to watch Lost in Australia

All six seasons of Lost are available to stream on Disney Plus in Australia. It's also available to buy on Apple TV. Disney Plus plans start at $15.99 per month and while there's no free trial available, there are a few offers, such as annual plans, that can help you cut back the cost. 

	Plan	Price	Details
Disney Plus	Disney Plus Standard with Ads Standard with Ads Full HD streaming · 2 devices at once Ads included From $9.99/mth View Plan	From $9.99/mth	View Plan
Disney Plus	Disney Plus Standard Standard Full HD streaming · 2 devices at once Ad-free Annual: $179.99/yr (Save $35) From $17.99/mth or $179.99/yr View Plan	From $17.99/mth or $179.99/yr	View Plan
Disney Plus	Disney Plus Premium Premium 4K UHD + HDR · 4 devices at once Ad-free Annual: $249.99/yr (Save $49) From $24.99/mth or $249.99/yr View Plan	From $24.99/mth or $249.99/yr	View Plan

	Plan	Price	Details
AMC+ Bundle	AMC+ Bundle TV 7-day free trial TV 7-day free trial HD 1080p · 5 devices at once AMC+, Shudder & Acorn TV Annual: $83.88/yr (save $24) From $8.99/mth or $83.88/yr View Plan	From $8.99/mth or $83.88/yr	View Plan
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Georgia Dixon

Managing Editor - Singapore

​Georgia Dixon is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Singapore and an award-winning journalist. She has over a decade of experience as a journalist and copywriter, covering everything from consumer technology to entertainment and lifestyle.

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