I've been re-watching the entire show to get ready for the final season, and I'll be giving a mini-review of each. Of course, we begin at the beginning:
Notable new characters (on-screen appearances only): Everyone
Notable births: Aaron Littleton (1x20)
Notable deaths: Edward Mars (1x3), Ethan Rom (1x15), Boone (1x20)
First centric episode: Kate (1x3), Locke (1x4), Jack (1x5), Sun (1x6), Charlie (1x7), Sawyer (1x8), Sayid (1x9), Claire (1x10), Boone (1x13), Michael/Walt (1x14), Jin (1x17), Hurley (1x18)
Multiple centric episodes: Jack (3), Kate (3), Charlie (2), Locke (2), Sawyer (2), Sayid (2)
Name-dropped titles (not necessarily comprehensive, but obviously memorable): "Pilot" (cute), "Walkabout", "White Rabbit", "The Moth", "Confidence Man", "Raised by Another", "Special", "Numbers", "The Greater Good"
Monster appearances: 1x1, 1x4, 1x13, 1x23/24
Best episode: 1x1/2, "Pilot"--The first act (beginning with Jack's disorientation in the jungle, continuing past the jaw-dropping plane wreckage and the first encounter between himself and Kate, and ending with the introduction of the Monster) made it clear that this was a TV show unlike any other. The tension continues through the final act of part two.
Second-best episode: 1x23/24, "Exodus"--The finale is sometimes derided for lacking resolution on the hatch, and I'm sure that was incredibly frustrating when watching in real-time. However, when you can just pop in the Season Two DVD, the ending shot down the shaft of the hatch is a fitting one. "Exodus" also has a number of great emotional character moments--Sawyer telling Jack about his encounter with Christian, the departure of the raft, Michael and Walt firmly bonding--I don't know that any episode outside of "The Constant", "There's No Place Like Home", or "The Incident" has ever come close to matching it on that level.
Third-best episode: 1x19, "Deus Ex Machina". The dream is great, Locke's cavalier sacrifice of Boone is cold (especially when you see he's essentially using Boone as his father used him), and the radio response of "WE'RE the survivors of Oceanic 815" sets the stage for a major Season Two storyline. Not to mention the ending, discussed below.
Overlooked episode: This category is for an episode that I think is better than the consensus opinion would say. Of course, determining what the consensus ranking of an episode is impossible, so it's mostly just my impression. My season one choice is 1x17, "...In Translation", which might be the strongest episode of the season in terms of character development for pairs of characters. Jin and Sun are the focus, of course, but there are great moments between Locke and Walt, Walt and Michael, and to a lesser extent Jin and Michael and Michael and Sun. There's no mythology to speak of, but it's far from a placeholder episode.
Best episode ending: 1x10, "Raised by Another", as Sayid returns telling Jack that they are not alone and Hurley reports that one of the apparent Lostaways wasn't on the passenger manifest. That leaves Charlie and Claire in the jungle alone as Ethan emerges, and the show is never the same. Second is "Numbers"--the episode ends with the revelation that Hurley's numbers are embossed on the side of the Hatch. "Deus Ex Machina", when the light turns on in the Hatch, was amazing at the time but is actually kind of funny now that we know what caused it. Still a good ending, but the imagination running wild about what it could be is what really made it great.
Creepiest episode: 1x14, "Special". Walt's apparent psychic powers freak out Brian and many viewers as well. Claire stumbling out the jungle at the end is also a tense moment. A close second here would be another episode in which Claire features prominently, "Raised by Another". The dream alone makes "Deus Ex Machina" another candidate.
Best flashback: Locke's in "Walkabout". When you go back and watch it, you realize that you should have noticed that you only saw him from the waist up. But caught up in the moment, who is going to notice?
Most important mythological development: Hard to pick since everything is fresh and new, but the two most lasting are the Monster and the slow, season-long introduction of The Others that explodes (literally) in the finale. Whispers, the Black Rock, Rousseau, the Hatch, the Numbers, and the like are all here as well.
Most important scene of the season: "There are two players, two sides...one is light, one is dark."
Best scene of the season: I'm drawing a distinction between most important (the one that tells us the most about the larger story) and best, which is one that is great to watch. The best scene of Season One was the opening scene of the show, the breath-taking aftermath of the crash.
Feel-good moment of the season: The launch of the raft at the end of "Exodus, pt. 1". The musical score is incredible, the goodbyes of the characters are great, and there is a real sense of hope as the raft sails out onto the beautiful blue water. Of course, that hope is crushed an episode later, but that's how it goes.
TIVO moment: The monster's black smoke, seen for the first time in "Exodus".
Line of the season: Rousseau has so many great ones in Exodus, but it doesn't get any better than "This is where it all began...where my team got infected and Montand lost his arm. We must move quickly." Hurley and Rousseau make a great comic team in this episode as well (DR: "Dynamite. From the Black Rock. In the Dark Territory." HR: "Well there's three reasons to go." & HR: "How exactly does something like this happen?" DR: "Are you on the same island that I am?").
Secret scene: "The Bagel" sees Walt abducted off the raft. Like season three's secret scene, it's a great twist that one should have seen coming. But many (myself included) didn't anticipate it (season one--I knew something was seriously off with respect to season three). It also goes down as the first time that we see an Other without previously having been introduced to the character (a caveat which excludes Ethan). The scene doesn't really advance the mythology of the show, but the consequences of Walt's abduction really drive a lot of the season two storyline, and is a great human story.
Character of the season (each character can only be picked once): Jack is at his best in season one. The love triangle has not yet become so tedious, there are no spectacular tactical failures as seen in season two, his relationship with Locke is as solid as it ever was (at least prior to Boone's funeral), and he generally was the hero. Jack remains my favorite character throughout the show, but he never shone more than he did in the beginning.
Other observations on the season:
* I'd forgotten how many episodes end with a musical montage of some sort--"Tabula Rasa", "House of the Rising Sun", "Confidence Man", and "Numbers". I'm glad they went away from these, although I will admit its clever when the music is provided by Hurley's CD player (all of the above except "Confidence Man")--and how it stops abruptly in "...In Translation" as his batteries finally die.
* The women of LOST have never shown brighter, collectively, than they did in "Do No Harm". I suppose that's a little inevitable, as it's a zero-mythology, intensely emotional episode that features both the first main character death (Boone) and birth (Aaron) of the show. Kate and Claire are great together as Kate delivers the baby, and Sun is fantastic as Jack's assistant and moral watchdog as he attempts to save Boone. Shannon is of course the least consequential main character woman in the show's history (except Nikki, of course), but she does some nice work here too, on a date with Sayid and subsequently reacting to her step-brother's demise.
* It is interesting, in light of the fact that we now know there are two seemingly supernatural forces at work (Jacob and Black Robe), to go back and attempt to determine which supernatural actions were produced by each entity. Ryan has been doing this at the Zap2It LOST blog, and I have my own thoughts.
1. Jack's hallucination of Christian--I believe that this manifestation of Christian is a product of Jacob, as it spurs Jack to action that helps the group (discovering water and embracing his role as leader).
2. Claire's nightmare in "Raised by Another"--This one is a tough. If one believes that the later manifestations of Christian are products of Black Robe (and I do, at least now--I didn't in the past), then it seems as if Black Robe has a vested interest in separating Claire and Aaron, and getting him off the Island. That would make it logical that Jacob wants Claire and Aaron together, and on the Island, and the dream emphasizes Claire keeping the baby. The biggest factor that gives me pause is Locke's black and white eyes.
3. Boone's hallucination in "Hearts and Minds"--One should point out, in the case of both this and Claire's dream, that there was not a lot revealed that the characters couldn't have known on their own--it's possible that they are both the sole results of their own minds. However, I think this one is the work of Black Robe, as the experience causes Boone to become a disciple of Locke, a path that ends very poorly for him.
4. Saywer's boar in "Outlaws"--Jacob. The experience with the boar causes Sawyer to grow as a person, forsaking revenge as he realizes he was wrong to murder Duckett.
5. Locke's dream in "Deus Ex Machina"--Black Robe. This dream leads him to sacrifice Boone and encourages his ritualistic faith in the Island. That's not human progress as Jacob stands for.
6. Walt's directive that Locke not open the Hatch (in "Born to Run")--a tough call. Opening the Hatch leads to a whole chain of events, some of which serve the presumed interests of Jacob and some the interests of Black Robe. In the end, though, opening the Hatch does help set into motion the events that lead to the Oceanic Six leaving the Island, which helps Black Robe. I really have no idea on this one.
