The Worst Lost Episode Ever Tournament: Sucky Sixteen
Welcome to the Worst Lost Episode Ever Tournament. This is the Sucky Sixteen round. Voting ends at midnight (Eastern Time) Tuesday, August 18.
This is a single-elimination tournament. Episodes have been seeded. You do not have to cast a vote for every pairing in order to have your vote counted.
Note: If you voted in the nominations post, you'll probably be surprised to see that there is only one episode apiece from seasons 4 and 5, which you all lamented as the worst. This is because of the way I had to break ties. When a list had a tie for second place, I took all tied episodes and put them in the Sucky Sixteen list, resulting in a list of 18. I sorted the list by both number of votes and percentage of votes (since the polls had different numbers of participants), and either way, the two episodes at the bottom that were cut happened to be the other two from seasons 4 and 5. I feel like this was the fairest way to handle the situation, especially since the seeding process will help even things out (for example, "Eggtown" is the only episode from season 4, but it's the #1 seed). In the future, in the event of a tie, the vote will go to the highest seeded episode of the pair.
Please feel free to campaign in the comments below. Remind us why your least favorite episode is Truly, Unforgivably Awful!
Sucky Sixteen Matchups
(Please note: episode blurbs, which were C&P'd from each season's wikipedia page, contain spoilers all the way through the last episode aired to date.)
(1) Eggtown (4.04, Kate flashforward; Kate goes on a quest to get information from Miles, which leads to her banishment from Locke's group. In flashforwards, Kate is raising Claire's son Aaron and goes on trial for her numerous past crimes.)
vs
(16) Two for the Road (2.20, Ana Lucia flashback; Michael returns with news that the Others are virtually defenseless. Ana Lucia tries to get Henry to tell the truth. Hurley takes Libby on a surprise date. In the hatch, Michael shoots Ana Lucia and Libby and releases Henry. In flashbacks, Ana Lucia works as a bodyguard for Jack's father in Australia.)
*****
(8) The Other 48 Days (2.07, tailies flashback; The first 48 days after the plane crash are shown from the tail section survivors' point of view. Over the course of many nights, the Others infiltrate their camp and kidnap many of the survivors, forcing the remaining survivors to take refuge at a Dharma station.)
vs.
(9) Raised by Another (1.10, Claire flashback; A badly wounded Sayid returns to camp and tells the others about Rousseau and that there are other people on the island. Claire wakes up screaming two nights in a row and insists that someone held her down and stabbed her stomach. This attack persuades Hurley to take a census of the survivors using the flight manifest, and he discovers that Ethan was not on the plane. In flashbacks, Claire finds out she is pregnant and her boyfriend leaves her. She goes to see a psychic, who says that great danger surrounds her baby.)
*****
(5) The Incident (5.16, Jacob flashback; In 1977, the survivors succeed in detonating the modified nuclear bomb at the construction site of the Swan station, the finale ending when the bomb is detonated. In 2007, Locke and the Others travel to the base of the four-toed statue, where Jacob lives. Locke is revealed to be an impostor: an old acquaintance of Jacob who manipulates Ben into killing Jacob. In flashbacks, Jacob visits several of the main characters.)
vs.
(12) Born to Run (1.22, Kate flashback; Sayid and Locke show the hatch to Jack, who believes that the hatch needs to be opened. Walt warns Locke not to open the hatch, despite not ever being told about it. Kate seeks a place on the raft, threatening to take Sawyer's spot. After Michael is poisoned, he kicks Sawyer off the raft. Sawyer reveals to everyone that Kate was the fugitive on the plane. Walt confesses to Michael that he was responsible for the fire that destroyed the first raft and, although Michael says they can stay on the island, Walt insists that they have to leave. In flashbacks, Kate returns to her home town to see her dying mother, and meets up with former boyfriend Tom Brennan. With Tom's help, Kate is able to be alone with her mother, who begins screaming for help upon seeing her. She and Tom try to escape, but Tom is killed and Kate runs.)
*****
(13) Adrift (2.02, Michael flashback; Michael and Sawyer drift back to shore. Upon landing, they see Jin running out of the bushes, having been found by a group who they believe to be more of the Others. In the hatch, Desmond forces Locke to push a set of numbers, identical to Hurley's winning lottery numbers, into a computer. Flashbacks show Michael giving up custody of a two-year old Walt to Walt's mother.)
vs.
(4) Expose (3.14, Nikki and Paulo flashback; Charlie tells Sun that he and Sawyer were behind her kidnapping attempt in the jungle. The survivors investigate the apparent deaths of Nikki and Paulo. Flashbacks show that Nikki and Paulo arguing over diamonds that they conned from a millionaire television executive. On the island, Nikki releases venomous spiders upon Paulo, but they are both bitten and stuck in an eight-hour paralysis. The survivors do not figure out that Nikki and Paulo are not dead, only paralyzed, and they accidentally bury them alive.)
*****
(3) Stranger in a Strange Land (3.09, Jack flashback; Juliet is put on trial for killing Pickett. With Jack and Ben's help, Juliet does not receive the death penalty. The Others and Jack begin their journey to the Others' homes, which are located on a different island. Flashbacks show Jack getting his tattoos during a strange vacation in Thailand.)
vs.
(14) ...And Found (2.05, Jin & Sun flashback; Michael goes looking for Walt, and Jin and Mr. Eko chase after him and see the Others. Fearing for her husband's life, Sun searches for and finds her lost wedding ring. Flashbacks show Sun and Jin's lives prior to their first meeting.)
*****
(6) Whatever the Case May Be (1.12 Kate flashback; While swimming, Kate finds the marshal's locked case. Jack agrees to help Kate open the case if she will show him what is inside it. There are guns inside and a toy airplane. Kate says the airplane belonged to the man she loved-and killed. In a flashback, Kate robs a bank so that she can recover the toy airplane.)
vs.
(11) D.O.C. (3.18, Sun flashback; After learning that the Others' pregnant women died before giving birth on the island, Sun allows Juliet to examine her in the Dharma medical station. Juliet reports back to Ben. Desmond meets a living Mikhail in the jungle and allows him to help save the life of Naomi. Flashbacks show Sun being blackmailed by Jin's biological mother, whom Sun thought to be dead. Hurley learns that Oceanic flight 815 was "found" with "no survivors" from Naomi.)
*****
(7) Fire + Water (2.12, Charlie flashback; Charlie has a dream that Aaron's life is in danger and feels a need for Claire's baby son Aaron to be baptized. Claire is disgusted by Charlie and Locke moves the heroin statues to the hatch. In flashbacks, Charlie's one-hit wonder band unsuccessfully tries to regain some of their past fame.)
vs.
(10) Further Instructions (3.03, Locke flashback; Locke, Desmond, and Eko survive the implosion of the hatch. Locke sees a vision of Boone and goes with Charlie to save Eko from a polar bear. Hurley discovers that Desmond can see the future. In flashbacks, Locke accidentally brings in a cop to the marijuana planting community he was a part of.)
*****
(15) S.O.S. (2.19, Rose & Bernard flashback; Bernard attempts to create an S.O.S. signal, but stops when Rose tells him that she wants to stay on the island because she thinks it has cured her cancer. Romantic sparks are rekindled between Jack and Kate. Locke continues to lose faith in the island. In flashbacks, Rose and Bernard have their honeymoon in Australia. Michael reappears to Jack and Kate when they try to trade Henry to the Others in exchange for Walt.)
vs.
(2) Special (1.14, Michael & Walt flashback; An annoyed Michael confronts Walt, who has been studying knife skills under Locke, and enlists his help in scavenging parts from the wreck to build a raft, but Walt wanders off. Michael and Locke track Walt into the jungle and find that he has been trapped by a polar bear. Michael risks his life to save Walt and they reconcile. Later, Locke and Boone find Claire stumbling out of the jungle. Flashbacks show that when Walt was only a few months old, his mother accepted a job in Amsterdam and took her child with her. She married a co-worker named Brian when Walt was two and refuses to let Michael speak to Walt. Years later, Susan dies and Brian does not want custody of Walt because the boy is "different".)
*****
POLLS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS ROUND. TOMORROW MORNING THE NEXT SET OF BRACKETS FOR THE EMBARRASSING EIGHT WILL BE POSTED.
Poll The Worst Lost Episode Ever: Sucky Sixteen
This is a single-elimination tournament. Episodes have been seeded. You do not have to cast a vote for every pairing in order to have your vote counted.
Note: If you voted in the nominations post, you'll probably be surprised to see that there is only one episode apiece from seasons 4 and 5, which you all lamented as the worst. This is because of the way I had to break ties. When a list had a tie for second place, I took all tied episodes and put them in the Sucky Sixteen list, resulting in a list of 18. I sorted the list by both number of votes and percentage of votes (since the polls had different numbers of participants), and either way, the two episodes at the bottom that were cut happened to be the other two from seasons 4 and 5. I feel like this was the fairest way to handle the situation, especially since the seeding process will help even things out (for example, "Eggtown" is the only episode from season 4, but it's the #1 seed). In the future, in the event of a tie, the vote will go to the highest seeded episode of the pair.
Please feel free to campaign in the comments below. Remind us why your least favorite episode is Truly, Unforgivably Awful!
Sucky Sixteen Matchups
(Please note: episode blurbs, which were C&P'd from each season's wikipedia page, contain spoilers all the way through the last episode aired to date.)
(1) Eggtown (4.04, Kate flashforward; Kate goes on a quest to get information from Miles, which leads to her banishment from Locke's group. In flashforwards, Kate is raising Claire's son Aaron and goes on trial for her numerous past crimes.)
vs
(16) Two for the Road (2.20, Ana Lucia flashback; Michael returns with news that the Others are virtually defenseless. Ana Lucia tries to get Henry to tell the truth. Hurley takes Libby on a surprise date. In the hatch, Michael shoots Ana Lucia and Libby and releases Henry. In flashbacks, Ana Lucia works as a bodyguard for Jack's father in Australia.)
*****
(8) The Other 48 Days (2.07, tailies flashback; The first 48 days after the plane crash are shown from the tail section survivors' point of view. Over the course of many nights, the Others infiltrate their camp and kidnap many of the survivors, forcing the remaining survivors to take refuge at a Dharma station.)
vs.
(9) Raised by Another (1.10, Claire flashback; A badly wounded Sayid returns to camp and tells the others about Rousseau and that there are other people on the island. Claire wakes up screaming two nights in a row and insists that someone held her down and stabbed her stomach. This attack persuades Hurley to take a census of the survivors using the flight manifest, and he discovers that Ethan was not on the plane. In flashbacks, Claire finds out she is pregnant and her boyfriend leaves her. She goes to see a psychic, who says that great danger surrounds her baby.)
*****
(5) The Incident (5.16, Jacob flashback; In 1977, the survivors succeed in detonating the modified nuclear bomb at the construction site of the Swan station, the finale ending when the bomb is detonated. In 2007, Locke and the Others travel to the base of the four-toed statue, where Jacob lives. Locke is revealed to be an impostor: an old acquaintance of Jacob who manipulates Ben into killing Jacob. In flashbacks, Jacob visits several of the main characters.)
vs.
(12) Born to Run (1.22, Kate flashback; Sayid and Locke show the hatch to Jack, who believes that the hatch needs to be opened. Walt warns Locke not to open the hatch, despite not ever being told about it. Kate seeks a place on the raft, threatening to take Sawyer's spot. After Michael is poisoned, he kicks Sawyer off the raft. Sawyer reveals to everyone that Kate was the fugitive on the plane. Walt confesses to Michael that he was responsible for the fire that destroyed the first raft and, although Michael says they can stay on the island, Walt insists that they have to leave. In flashbacks, Kate returns to her home town to see her dying mother, and meets up with former boyfriend Tom Brennan. With Tom's help, Kate is able to be alone with her mother, who begins screaming for help upon seeing her. She and Tom try to escape, but Tom is killed and Kate runs.)
*****
(13) Adrift (2.02, Michael flashback; Michael and Sawyer drift back to shore. Upon landing, they see Jin running out of the bushes, having been found by a group who they believe to be more of the Others. In the hatch, Desmond forces Locke to push a set of numbers, identical to Hurley's winning lottery numbers, into a computer. Flashbacks show Michael giving up custody of a two-year old Walt to Walt's mother.)
vs.
(4) Expose (3.14, Nikki and Paulo flashback; Charlie tells Sun that he and Sawyer were behind her kidnapping attempt in the jungle. The survivors investigate the apparent deaths of Nikki and Paulo. Flashbacks show that Nikki and Paulo arguing over diamonds that they conned from a millionaire television executive. On the island, Nikki releases venomous spiders upon Paulo, but they are both bitten and stuck in an eight-hour paralysis. The survivors do not figure out that Nikki and Paulo are not dead, only paralyzed, and they accidentally bury them alive.)
*****
(3) Stranger in a Strange Land (3.09, Jack flashback; Juliet is put on trial for killing Pickett. With Jack and Ben's help, Juliet does not receive the death penalty. The Others and Jack begin their journey to the Others' homes, which are located on a different island. Flashbacks show Jack getting his tattoos during a strange vacation in Thailand.)
vs.
(14) ...And Found (2.05, Jin & Sun flashback; Michael goes looking for Walt, and Jin and Mr. Eko chase after him and see the Others. Fearing for her husband's life, Sun searches for and finds her lost wedding ring. Flashbacks show Sun and Jin's lives prior to their first meeting.)
*****
(6) Whatever the Case May Be (1.12 Kate flashback; While swimming, Kate finds the marshal's locked case. Jack agrees to help Kate open the case if she will show him what is inside it. There are guns inside and a toy airplane. Kate says the airplane belonged to the man she loved-and killed. In a flashback, Kate robs a bank so that she can recover the toy airplane.)
vs.
(11) D.O.C. (3.18, Sun flashback; After learning that the Others' pregnant women died before giving birth on the island, Sun allows Juliet to examine her in the Dharma medical station. Juliet reports back to Ben. Desmond meets a living Mikhail in the jungle and allows him to help save the life of Naomi. Flashbacks show Sun being blackmailed by Jin's biological mother, whom Sun thought to be dead. Hurley learns that Oceanic flight 815 was "found" with "no survivors" from Naomi.)
*****
(7) Fire + Water (2.12, Charlie flashback; Charlie has a dream that Aaron's life is in danger and feels a need for Claire's baby son Aaron to be baptized. Claire is disgusted by Charlie and Locke moves the heroin statues to the hatch. In flashbacks, Charlie's one-hit wonder band unsuccessfully tries to regain some of their past fame.)
vs.
(10) Further Instructions (3.03, Locke flashback; Locke, Desmond, and Eko survive the implosion of the hatch. Locke sees a vision of Boone and goes with Charlie to save Eko from a polar bear. Hurley discovers that Desmond can see the future. In flashbacks, Locke accidentally brings in a cop to the marijuana planting community he was a part of.)
*****
(15) S.O.S. (2.19, Rose & Bernard flashback; Bernard attempts to create an S.O.S. signal, but stops when Rose tells him that she wants to stay on the island because she thinks it has cured her cancer. Romantic sparks are rekindled between Jack and Kate. Locke continues to lose faith in the island. In flashbacks, Rose and Bernard have their honeymoon in Australia. Michael reappears to Jack and Kate when they try to trade Henry to the Others in exchange for Walt.)
vs.
(2) Special (1.14, Michael & Walt flashback; An annoyed Michael confronts Walt, who has been studying knife skills under Locke, and enlists his help in scavenging parts from the wreck to build a raft, but Walt wanders off. Michael and Locke track Walt into the jungle and find that he has been trapped by a polar bear. Michael risks his life to save Walt and they reconcile. Later, Locke and Boone find Claire stumbling out of the jungle. Flashbacks show that when Walt was only a few months old, his mother accepted a job in Amsterdam and took her child with her. She married a co-worker named Brian when Walt was two and refuses to let Michael speak to Walt. Years later, Susan dies and Brian does not want custody of Walt because the boy is "different".)
*****
POLLS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS ROUND. TOMORROW MORNING THE NEXT SET OF BRACKETS FOR THE EMBARRASSING EIGHT WILL BE POSTED.
Poll The Worst Lost Episode Ever: Sucky Sixteen