Lost: Back to the Island; The Complete Critical Companion to the Classic TV Series

When Lost hit the airwaves in 2004, it became an immediate sensation. The survivors of Flight 815 found themselves on a decidedly not deserted island replete with mysteries and monsters. Over time, viewers learned more about the characters through innovative flashbacks, which often revealed connections between the survivors and created a compelling, complex mythology. By the show’s sixth season finale, flashbacks had become flash-forwards and “flash-sideways” as characters appeared in different timelines and realities. On the one hand, the show rewarded viewers who watched closely and parsed out clues scattered across several seasons. But the show’s drift from science to supernatural was divisive, as was adding more characters who pushed fan favorites to the side. St. James and Murray covered Lost for online outlets during its original run. They revisit the series, recapping episodes while taking deeper dives into cornerstone episodes. While they have a critical lens, explicitly calling out missed opportunities for representation, they are definitely fans of the show, and the book often reads as a Lost apologia.