Tonight’s Lost-related festivities lack the amount of “Previously on Lost” rocking out as desired (that sold out incredibly quickly), so instead it kicked off here at BRR World HQ with a relatively Island-inspired dinner. (With less wild boar than a truly Island-inspired feast might have.)

Teriyaki marinated wild salmon with mango, onion, tomato and avocado. Served with asparagus, rice and salad. OK, salmon isn’t all that Island-specific, but it paired nicely with the Dharma Initiative branded Merlot.
Watching the clip show, it’s pretty clear that Lost is particularly unique in television history. Since having the most expensive pilot in broadcast television history, Lost is one of the last shows to film on 35mm film, rather than HD digital video, and may be the end of an era in large scale production for network television. Aside from The Simpsons, does any other show use a full orchestra score as much? Is anything else on broadcast as ambitious as Lost? On HBO and AMC, Breaking Bad, mad Men, Treme, as well as the forthcoming Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones may have comparable levels of ambition. But will any of these ever be as widely watched as Lost?
But what makes Lost so special is the breadth of the depth of the fandom. While it may not be the most watched show on television, it must be the most popular show that has such a high percentage of devoted fans.
After the jump, 10 Favorite Lost episodes (inspired by Todd VanDerWerff’s ranking of all 110 episodes at the LA Times.

10. Numbers. Number may not have been the first episode to introduce supernatural or mystical elements to the show, but it extended them into the characters’ past in a way that made the mythology of the show seem even larger than yet imagined.
9. The Man Behind the Curtain. This created more of a character out of Ben, revealed him to be a bit of a monster, even as he was also made more sympathetic by showing the wonderful parenting of Roger Linus.
8. LaFleur. This episode developed Sawyer into a deeper character, where he experienced tremendous character growth, largely off-screen.
7. Flashes Before Your Eyes. When Desmond started to Billy Pilgrim through time, it introduced the time travel elements of the show, as well as Eloise Hawking as the mysterious guardian of continuity.
6. The Shape of Things To Come. Watching Michael Emerson’s eyes convey the full range of emotions that went through Ben’s mind as he watched the most horrible, least forseeable event that might happen on his Island.
5. Pilot. The finale wouldn’t be such a big deal if the Pilot wasn’t great. It introduced a lot of characters, a lot of mysteries, but more than anything else, conveyed a tremendous sense of place, plot and was just visually spectacular.
4. Through the Looking Glass. The season 3 finale was one of the most surprising twists in television in that it changed the direction of the show. While much of season 3 was meandering through the story of Jack’s tattoos, Nikki & Paolo and other stalling tactics, Through the Looking Glass not only told the surprisingly emotional story of Charlie’s sacrifice. but completely changed the stakes in the last scene, introducing the flash forward and reveals that a number of the survivors will get off the Island.
3. Walkabout. The twist in the flashback was brilliant, both in how it recast the events of the previous hour, but also how it raised the stakes of the questions of how the Island affects people.
2. Exodus. While going through this list, Exodus kept rising higher and higher on this list. Between the Giacchino scored scene with the raft leaving, exploding Arzt, Charlie becoming a badass, the bad numbers, it was filled with a number of iconic scenes. But nothing was more shocking than “We’re going to have to take the boy.”
1. The Constant. On most of these lists, The Constant is clearly the favorite. It combines Desmond’s Billy Pilgrim tendencies against a sweet love story. Again, it’s all about the characters.