Short Synopsis
A comprehensive and critical companion to the blockbuster TV show LOST, revisiting its core themes, lore, and impact on culture.

Full Synopsis
Before it premiered in the fall of 2004, LOST looked doomed to be an expensive, disastrous plane crash of a TV show. Instead, LOST was a massive hit, debuting with the biggest audience for a new drama on ABC in over a decade, reaching heights of over 23 million viewers at its peak, and holding on to a hefty fan-base for its entire six-season run. The elements that made the series seem like a boondoggle proved, instead, to be a big part of its appeal. Audiences loved the exotic island setting, became invested in the morally compromised characters, and feverishly tried to unravel the show's many mysteries.

In LOST: Back to the Island, TV critics and veteran LOST recappers Emily St. James and Noel Murray revisit what made the show such a success and an object of enduring cultural obsession, twenty years later. Through essays, episode summaries, and cultural analysis, they take us back to the island and examine LOST's lasting impact—and its complicated, sometimes controversial legacy—with a clear-eyed and lively investigation.

For fans of one of the most successful and highly discussed shows in recent memory, LOST: Back to the Island is both a delightful time capsule and a rousing work of entertainment criticism.

"Discerning and fun, this will delight anyone who's gotten into a heated discussion about the show's many mysteries." ---Publishers Weekly

"[A] deep dive analysis and thoughtful reassessment of what made the show one of TV's most captivating, inspired, and messiest masterpieces so dang fun . . . Perfect for those new to the island and need a guide to navigate its maze of haunted monuments and secret-stuffed hatches---and for those of us who never left." ---Jeff Jensen, former Entertainment Weekly TV Critic, graphic novelist, and TV writer

"Noel and Emily masterfully take us back to the island to celebrate every high, try to understand every low, and remind us what it was like to love LOST." ---Alan Sepinwall, Chief TV Critic for Rolling Stone, and author of Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History

"With 20 years of hindsight to unpack there's still a lot to be said about this groundbreaking show, and there are few critics better equipped to do it than St. James and Murray." ---The A.V. Club

"The time seems right for a deep dive into the series' creation, production and legacy---and the team of Emily St. James and Noel Murray is ideally qualified to explore what the show meant at the time and it means to watch it in 2024." ---Inside Hook