The Battle Begins

Since I hardly know anything about basketball and absolutely nothing about the college version of it (I couldn't tell you where or what a Gazonga is); it was the custom to do a LOST related March Madness field of 64. We tried it with LOST characters and it worked. Not only that it was fun to do as well. A lot of work, but still fun. So here we go with this years (and probably the last) installment. Since the show has ended we can now do a field of 64 dedicated to LOST episodes to crown a best episode of all time. We'll get into how to vote after the match-ups are listed. Now let's see who is meeting in the first round.

The first episode to be thrown into the mix is Lighthouse which is a number 9 seed from season 6.

It had an "old school" feeling to it as we saw the caves and the skeletons again. There was Shannon's inhaler. Remember way back to season 1 when Sawyer asked Kate for a kiss for the inhaler and then it turned out he didn't even have it? *Sigh...*

The lighthouse had the big dial with all the names and numbers written on it that made Jack freak out and destroy it.

This is a good iconic screen-cap from the episode. Refresh your memory of the episode here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Lighthouse

Lighthouse will be taking on the number 8 seed Happily Ever After.

Desmond was a lab rat Charles Widmore experiments on with his giant electromagnetic shiny doughnut coil thingy. Well, what do you call it?

In the flash sideways world we see Desmond and Charles have quite a different relationship than they did in the original storyline. Note the cool picture on the wall of the scale with one black rock and one white one on it.

A scene that actually had me jumping up and down as Charlie went to extremes to show Desmond "the truth". A recap can be read here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Happily_Ever_After

Our second match-up pits another 9th seed Numbers from season 1

Hurley's lottery win is explained.

There's the weird dude playing connect four while repeatedly mumbling the numbers. He tells Hurley the numbers are bad when Hurley tells him he used them to win the lottery.

At the end of the episode we see the same numbers that won Hurley the lottery are also on the door to the hatch. Here's a better recap of the episode to refresh your memory: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Numbers_%28episode%29

And it will go up against a number 8 seed from season 6 What They Died For.

In this episode we see Desmond attack Ben outside of the school where just a few days prior Desmond had run down John Locke. During the beat down Ben experiences his "awakening".

While back on the island we watched Ben kill Charles Widmore in order to get revenge for the death of Alex.

While elsewhere Jacob finds someone to take over as protector of the island. For a more in-depth recap of the episode you can click here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/What_They_Died_For

The first episode in the next pair facing off is a 9th seed titled The Last Recruit, also from season 6. This was the first meeting Jack had with The Man In Black after he took Locke's form.

Sayid was sent to kill Desmond. But he didn't or maybe couldn't do it.

We finally got the Sun and Jin reunion we waited nearly two years for. More info can be found here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last_Recruit

The opponent will be the 8th seeded episode LA X which was the season premier episode of the sixth and final season. Jack uses the bathroom then looks into the mirror where he sees blood on his neck. Something we would not fully understand the importance of until the end of the show.

We, along with Sawyer, said "Goodbye" to Juliette.

Sayid died in the middle of the episode but then came back to life. An episode recap can be found here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/LA_X,_Parts_1_%26_2

The next pair begins with an 8th seed from season two titled Everybody Hates Hugo

If there was an award for best use of garden gnomes, this episode would win.

Michael, Jin, and Sawyer meet Bernard and the rest of the survivors from the tail section

Hugo was left in charge of the supplies in the hatch. This led to him giving Charlie a jar of peanut butter he wanted so badly. More info here if you need it: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Everybody_Hates_Hugo

Everybody Hates Hugo will take on the 9th seeded Sundown from season 6. First Dogan wanted to throw Sayid out of the temple then he gives him a dagger and tells him to go kill the smoke monster/Man In Black who is wearing his John Locke disguise.

It doesn't work

But it does work when Sayid kills Dogan quickly followed by his John Lennon look-alike buddy. And yeah, Sayid was creepy afterward but not to be out done by the truly eerie version of Catch A Falling Star at the end of the episode. Info here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sundown

Par Avion is first up in the next pairing. It is a 7th seed from season 3. It marked the first time the Losties got to see the pylons that surrounded the Others home.

Desmond tells Charlie he foresaw Charlies' death. Claire attaches a note to the birds leg and releases it in an attempt to find rescue.

A big reveal in the episode came when we found out Christian Shephard was Claire's father. http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Par_Avion

The opponent is a 10th seed from season 5 titled This Place Is Death. Jin meets up with Rousseau's research group while time jumping and we find out just how Montand lost his arm.

Oddly enough I was almost as touched with Jin and Sawyer's reunion as I was with the Jin/Sun reunion in The Last Recruit. During the episode Charlotte; a victim of the time warp sickness.

Once again Christian Shephard shows up but this time it was on the island at the bottom of a well that Locke fell down after time jumping. Sound convoluted? Get some clarity here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/This_Place_Is_Death

The next 7 versus 10 match-up involves the 7th seed Deus Ex Machina. Locke starts seeing visions as he tries to figure out a way inside of the hatch. He should have heeded the warnings the visions gave him if he wanted Boone to stay alive.

In the flashback we found out that Locke had some messed up parents. His mother was loopy and his father used Locke to get a kidney from him.

One of the more memorable moment of the entire show was here when Locke screams at the hatch. A light can be seen coming from the window in the top. More here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Deus_Ex_Machina

Taking on Deus Ex Machina will be a number 10 seed from the 5th season titled LaFleur. In the photo above we see Amy, the Dharma Initiative member that Sawyer and the rest of his group saved from the Others.

Faraday figured out that they had stopped time jumping but were not where they wanted to be in time. They were stuck in the 1970's. Here we see a very young Charlotte wave to Faraday causing him to become a little more twitchy.

At the end of the episode we see that Sawyer and Juliette had furthered their relationship and were now a couple living together in the Dharma barracks. More here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/LaFleur

Our next contest takes place between 7th seed Man of Science Man of Faith where we see the first meeting between Jack and Desmond.

We also saw Jack's future wife Sarah come into the hospital clinging to life. Jack was miraculously able to fix her spine. Something we would come to learn that Jack needed to do on a regular basis: "fix" something or someone.

This was the first episode we saw inside of the hatch and the computer. A recap here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Man_of_Science,_Man_of_Faith

10th seeded The Variable is the episode it will be taking on. We saw Daniel talk to Pierre Chang about the pocket of energy they did not want to hit while drilling.

We also found out more about why Daniel was crying when he first saw the news about Oceanic 815 being found on the bottom of the ocean.

At the end of the episode, while holding a gun on Richard, Daniel is killed by his own mother. Much more here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Variable

Our final match for this post is the episode simply titled ? from the second season. Locke and Mr. Eko go on a search for another hatch. Under the wreckage of the drug plane Eko's brother was on the two found the Pearl station.

Inside, they found another orientation video which claimed the pushing of the button being donein the Swan station was just an experiment to see if they would actually do it. This information puts Locke in a rather foul mood.

Meanwhile, back at the Swan hatch, Anna Lucia was dead and Libby was dying. More here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/%3F

And it will be taking on the number 7 seeded episode The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham from Season 5.

Abaddon tells Locke that Helen died. The two go to her grave where Abaddon is shot and killed.

Thinking he has failed in his mission; Locke is ready to take his own life only to be stopped by Ben. Moments later Ben kills Locke. Got all that? This might help: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Life_and_Death_of_Jeremy_Bentham

Now, here's how to vote:
You can simply leave a comment after the post with your vote. Remember to vote for one in each pair so you should be voting for 8 total episodes. Or go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-DHARMAand-Greg-Project/117869818231185 and leave a comment on the blogs facebook page. Either way your vote will count. I will be making it so you can vote on the blog post without having a Google account so anonymous comments should be allowed. If not check back later as I will be allowing it for this contest.