Summary

• Some characters' deaths in Lost were disappointing and felt unnecessary to the storyline, leaving fans with a sense of loss and frustration.
• The time travel element in Lost confused many viewers and was seen as a turning point where the show lost its uniqueness and became convoluted.
• The concept of flash sideways in the final season of Lost left many fans feeling unsatisfied, as it undermined the significance of the characters' journeys on the island.

While there are many great aspects of the TV show all-time greatest TV pilots, and the entirety of season 1 is strong, but after, the writers and creators struggled to think of plots that were intriguing and realistic within the show's world.

Lost made its name by utilizing flashbacks that revealed the pasts of its ensemble cast after they crash-landed on a mysterious island.

Lost made its name by utilizing flashbacks that revealed the pasts of its ensemble cast after they crash-landed on a mysterious island. However, some of the biggest characters like Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway), were often at the center of the more unbelievable storylines presented by the show. However, there are still Lost characters whose stories are confusing, and provoke more questions than answers. Over ten years after the series finale, Lost's stories are still hotly debated by longtime fans and first-time watchers.

10 Lost Kills Off Libby In Season 2

As well as Ana Lucia in Michael's betrayal

Libby (Cynthia Watros) became a fan-favorite character almost as soon as she was introduced. She was a survivor from the tail section, and since the first season focused on those from the middle section, she didn’t arrive until season 2. However, she immediately connected with Hurley (Jorge Garcia), who became smitten with her and planned a picnic date that she would never attend. This was because when Michael (Harold Perrineau) returned to the group after searching for his son, he returned with an ulterior motive.

Libby was intriguing and empathetic as a character, and audiences agreed that she didn't deserve this ending, and could have elevated the show had she stayed.

In one of the most shocking twists in Lost, Michael was recruited by the Others to rescue Ben Linus (Michael Emerson). To do this Michael shot Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), and Libby had the bad luck to walk in on the aftermath of this, causing Michael to shoot her too. In a horrible twist of fate, she survived long enough for Jack to provide medical care, but she ended up succumbing to her wounds. Libby was intriguing and empathetic as a character, and audiences agreed that she didn't deserve this ending, and could have elevated the show had she stayed.

9 Jack's Thailand Flashbacks In Lost Season 3

The unnecessary origin story of his tattoo

The majority of Jack's flashback episodes in Lost season 1 were some of the best in the series, adding depth and nuance to his character. It was important to see that Jack wasn't the picture-perfect handsome doctor that people thought he was, and that he carried just as much baggage as anyone else on the show. However, after three seasons of flashbacks, the writers were running out of backstory to explain, and resorted to one of the worst episodes of the entire show, "Stranger in a Strange Land," which tells the story of Jack's tattoos.

To be blunt, few if anyone watching cared about how Jack got these tattoos, and the plotline that he got them after traveling to Thailand was an exoticization of the country and culture. The tattoo artist, Achara (Bai Ling), and Jack have an unnecessary romantic relationship that chips away at any remaining sympathy for Jack. Additionally, the episode doesn't tell the audience anything they don't already know about Jack, making the episode culturally insensitive and full of filler.

8 Lost Becomes A Time Travel Show

The island had always been powerful, but suddenly it could move in time

However, Desmond's ability to experience the past, present, and future at various times wasn't what shocked fans the most.

Suspending disbelief is an important part of watching any TV show, but when Ben suddenly revealed the giant wheel that could disconnect the island from time and space, it was hard to believe. Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) wasn't a survivor, but he knew the island better than most characters on the show and experienced a form of time travel within his consciousness. However, Desmond's ability to experience the past, present, and future at various times wasn't what shocked fans the most. It was when the survivors and the island were physically brought to different times.

After the wheel is turned, the survivors find themselves at different points in time and space, making it difficult to keep up with what's happening and when. Though Lost does its best to avoid paradoxes at all costs, this doesn't stop the time travel from being confusing, and the moment when many fans felt the show officially jumped the shark. Placing the characters in different timelines also meant people with the best relationship dynamics of the show were separated, and it took many episodes for loved ones to reunite.

7 Paulo & Nikki's Storyline

Two of the most hated characters on the show

While some characters introduced after season 1 successfully carved out their niche within the fabric of the show, others were so bad they were killed off after just a few episodes. Unlike Libby's death, which caused anguish and grief, Paulo's (Rodrigo Santoro) and Nikki's (Kiele Sanchez) demise was met with a sigh of relief. The two con artists from the tail section barely propelled the plot forward, and were so busy arguing about the diamonds they stole that they ended up paralyzing each other and getting buried alive.

At their best, characters should bring something new and compelling to a series, and even if they're villains they should be vital to the narrative. Paulo and Nikki served practically no purpose other than to get in the way of the main character's plans and take up valuable screen time. It's not the actor's fault, who did as well as they could with the material they had, but having to follow the plotlines of Paulo and Nikki always felt like a waste of time.

6 Sun & Jin Getting Killed Off After Reuniting

The best couple and two of the most well-developed characters

Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) crash land on the island as a married couple, and they go through so much together that it's horribly unfair when their love story ends in tragedy. Each character grows and changes to become better for the other, and when Sun leaves the island, believing Jin was killed in the freighter explosion, it's a devastating blow. After this, Sun relentlessly hunts Ben, believing he caused Jin's death, only for Ben to reveal that Jin is still alive and on the island.

Sun and Jin become trapped and die in each other's arms not long after this, leaving their daughter an orphan, and ending their story early.

This was Sun's reason for returning, and when she finds him on the island it's the kind of reunion that can be found in the most iconic romance movies. However, the fact that this happily ever after was so short-lived was like a gut punch for anyone rooting for the couple. Sun and Jin become trapped and die in each other's arms not long after this, leaving their daughter an orphan, and ending their story early. After watching them struggle to find their way back to each other for so many years, this was a letdown.

5 Juliet Is Killed Off After She & Sawyer Break Up

Though she was one of the Others, Juliet quickly became part of the central group

Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) might have been part of the Others, but her most significant relationships are with the survivors, namely Sawyer and Jack. Though the interpersonal dynamics of the Others was one of the disappointing Lost mysteries that seemed important, but quickly faded into the background, Juliet's role was always clear. She was brought to the island as a fertility doctor, making her invaluable to both the Others and the survivors. Initially, she and Jack connected, but soon, she, Sawyer, Jack, and Kate were all competing for each other's affection.

This romantic angle was a tired and uninteresting thrust of the story, as there were more important issues facing those on the island. However, when Juliet and Sawyer decided to be together, it felt like things were finally calming down, and that they would be good for each other. Similarly to the fate of Sun and Jin, Lost decides to kill Juliet in the aftermath of an explosion that sends everyone back to their present timeline. This trend of killing off a character as soon as they achieve some happiness is one that Lost could have done without.

4 The Survivors Cause The Explosion That Made Them Crash

The explosion that kills Juliet and doesn't change the future

The road to get there might be altered, but if a character dies they will always die, and if the survivors crash on the island, then they will always crash.

Due to Lost's rules of time travel, the final outcome of past events is fixed and can never change. The road to get there might be altered, but if a character dies they will always die, and if the survivors crash on the island, then they will always crash. When the survivors are sent back to 1977, Jack gets the idea that if they set off an explosion it will disrupt the island's electromagnetic field and change the past so that he and the others never arrive on the island.

Of course, it turns out that it's this very explosion that ensures they will crash and increases the island's electromagnetic pull. Though time travel must have rules and introducing competing timelines would have been all the more confusing for the series, the fact that the characters go through so much and lose several people in their quest to change the future is disappointing. It's also a low point for Jack's character, as he gets caught up in yet another scheme that won't turn out how he thinks.

3 Claire Abandons Aaron & Disappears

Following in the footsteps of Rousseau

One of the harsh realities of rewatching Lost is how it treats certain characters that seemed important at the start of the series but were neglected as the seasons continued. Claire was a compelling character in season 1, and her pregnancy was a source of tension and stakes in the story. When she finally gives birth to Aaron, her son, he is immediately targeted by the Others, which causes Claire immense pain and stress. However, her loyalty to her son fades as she loses her grip on reality, and Kate takes Aaron with her when she leaves the island.

This causes Claire to completely unravel and turn into Danielle Rousseau, a woman the survivors meet who had her child stolen from her by the Others. Claire disappears for several years and is missing during season 5. She pops back up in season 6 as a changed person to complete her story arc, even though she's unrecognizable from the woman who crashed on the island so long ago. For the first several seasons Claire does everything she can to be a good mother, and seeing her flip to become a devotee of the island didn't make any sense.

2 The Survivors' Prolonged Imprisonment In The Cages

Their relationship with the Others starts out violently

It makes sense that none of the survivors liked or trusted any of the Others for a long time, as one of them kidnapped Claire and killed several people in season 1, and then later they captured several survivors and put them in cages. The cages plotline turns out to be an extended ploy to get Kate and Sawyer together, as the pair end up acting on their feelings for each other once they've been imprisoned long enough. It was an exciting moment for fans of the couple but the characters are out of the action for too long.

The cages are returned to several times throughout the series, and each time it feels like a way for the writers to pause the story allowing them to think of what to do next.

Their being in cages also allowed Jack to see them and turn to Juliet for comfort, making their complex romantic entanglements a more prominent part of the show. The cages are returned to several times throughout the series, and each time it feels like a way for the writers to pause the story allowing them to think of what to do next. Additionally, as the Others end up becoming the survivors' allies later on, forgiving this entrapment is a tall order. The Others never have a strong enough motivation to justify this brutality.

1 The Flash Sideways

Which culminates in the controversial series finale

For audience who stuck with Lost until the series finale, there was nothing that could stop them from seeing the story through until the very end. However, the flash sideways that was implemented in season 6 to show the imagined afterlife of the characters ended up doing more harm than good. It was nice to see the return of beloved characters who got to live out their fantasy lives before moving on. Since the series had already employed flashbacks and flashforwards, the only other way to play with the timeline was to create a new one.

It was a classic tactic for a show's final season, as it allowed characters who died many seasons before to reappear and get the lives they always wanted instead of reliving the trauma of the island. However, in the end, none of the flash sideways plotlines ever existed, and since some of the characters chose to stay in this afterlife limbo, it's even less certain what's real and what's fake. Though the survivors weren't dead for the entire show, the flash sideways made it seem as if none of the series' events mattered.