"Lost" turns 10: The 10 best episodes

Ten years ago today, a plane crashed onto an island, and the survivors were left to deal with the aftermath and the mysteries of the strange place where they landed.

It was the beginning of "Lost," which premiered Sept. 22, 2004 on ABC and went on for six seasons and 121 episodes, becoming a critical and fan favorite over its run.

Viewers fell into distinct camps and had very strong feelings about the finale, but even that episode's most vocal critics spent much of the six years that preceded it dropping their jaws, scratching their heads and debating the numbers, the candidates, who shot at the boat and what lies in the shadow of the statue.

"Lost" had a special kind of television magic (and not the kind that made the island move). Yes, there were massive plot twits and complicated mythologies to decipher, but none of that would have captured viewers' attentions without the compelling characters and their backstories.

So in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the show's debut, we've narrowed down the 10 best episodes and why we loved them. If you find yourself wishing you could board an Oceanic flight to LAX, we're right there with you (though re-watching the series on DVD or Netflix might be a safer, polar bear-free option).

10. "The Other 48 Days" (Season 2, Episode 7)

Between the jungle caves and Dharma food drops, the majority of the survivors of the Oceanic 815 crash didn't have it so bad -- especially compared to the "Tailies," or those who were in the back of the plane and landed on a separate part of the island. This comprehensive episode abandoned the show's traditional format to show how this group struggled to survive, were under constant threat of abduction by the Others and gave the lowdown on characters like Mr. Eko and Ana Lucia.

9. "LaFleur" (Season 5, Episode 8)

After lots of time-jumping, this episode regrounded Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Daniel Faraday and Jin in the 1970s, where they settle in and become part of the Dharma Initiative. It was a glimpse inside the organization that became such an integral part of the island's history, gave Sawyer the opportunity to be a leader and introduced us to what was arguably the best love story on the show -- the relationship between him and Juliet (or maybe the second-best love story, if you're big fans of Jin and Sun).

8. "Ab Aterno" (Season 6, Episode 9)

How did Richard Alpert, he of the impossibly long eyelashes, become one of the island's permanent residents? This episode reveals his arrival on the island, his encounter with the Man in Black and agreement to become Jacob's second-in-command. It also solved many of the show's unanswered questions -- how the Black Rock got there, how the statue got destroyed and how Richard became immortal.

In a season that was sometimes uneven (Did we really need to spend all that time at the Temple? Nope!), this hour was one of its finest moments.

7. "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" (Season 5, Episode 7)

The complicated relationship between Benjamin Linus and John Locke was one of the show's overarching highlights -- which makes the moment when he kills Locke one of the show's most shocking twists. This was the last time we'd see Locke alive (though, of course, there was still plenty of Locke-as-the-Smoke-Monster to come) and his murder kicked off the final arc that would lead to the series' conclusion.

6. "The Man Behind the Curtain" (Season 3, Episode 20)

Ben was the guy you loved to hate basically from the minute he parachuted in pretending to be Henry Gale. This episode packed so many revelations about his past and what makes him tick, from his birth to his childhood in the Dharma Initiative, his role in the Purge and becoming one of the Others. So evil, so great.

5. "Pilot" (Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2)

Here's where we first meet Jack, Kate, Claire, Hurley and the other Oceanic 815 survivors. Right from the very beginning -- that opening sequence where Jack Shepherd opens his eyes, stumbles through the jungle onto an beach and sees the aftermath of a plane crash -- it drew you in, laid out who these people were and teased just enough of the island's mysteries. Could anyone have expected to see the plane's pilot get snatched by a cloud of black smoke? If we'd only known then what else was to come...

4. "Man of Science, Man of Faith" (Season 2, Episode 1)

Like the pilot, the season 2 premiere had a fantastic, immediately-memorable kickoff: The first glimpse at what's inside the Hatch, the introduction of Desmond and the first foray into the mysteries of the Dharma Initiative and what the group was doing on the island. Bonus points for the pitch-perfect use of Mama Cass' "Make Your Own Kind of Music" in those opening moments where we have no clue what we're looking at, what year it is, who Desmond is or why he's there.

3. "Walkabout" (Season 1, Episode 4)

The episode that thrust John Locke -- the Man of Faith who'd become so central as the show went on -- to center stage. The revelation that he was in a wheelchair before the Oceanic crash gave viewers their first real glimpse into what shaped the man who seemed to understand the island, and its secrets, in a way none of the other survivors could.

2. "Through the Looking Glass" (Season 3, Episodes, 22 & 23)

This two-parter packed one of the biggest surprises in the show's history. Now three seasons in, viewers had gotten accustomed to seeing the characters' pre-island lives in the flashbacks interspersed throughout the show. But this time, the shots of Jack and Kate weren't from their pasts -- the flashbacks were actually flash-forwards. They'd gotten off the island, and Jack was regretting it. We have to go back, indeed.

This was also the episode that gave us one of the show's most memorable moments -- Charlie, delivering a warning message to Desmond: "Not Penny's Boat."

1. "The Constant" (Season 4, Episode 5)

The greatest "Lost" episode, hands down. It has all the elements that made the show wonderful -- the mythology, the back-and-forth time travel, the tension as Desmond's mind bounced back and forth between past and present...all culminating in that emotional moment when Penny picks up the phone and Desmond gets to speak to her again. Gives us chills just thinking about it. As far as "Lost" goes, just call this episode our constant.

Do you agree with our list? Are there any episodes we missed?