Episodic Classics: Lost, "The Constant" | Season 4, Episode 5
An all-time classic, but did we know it at the time?
Noel Murray: Myles, can you recognize a classic TV episode on first watch? I feel like I can. But I also don’t think this is some kind of rare skill. In fact, I think there may be something inherent to the way we traditionally experience television that makes it easier to spot an instant classic.
On the night “The Constant” originally aired, I was on the job, covering Lost for The A.V. Club, with no advance screeners. At the time, the AVC’s TV Club was fairly new, and along with the rest of the first wave of contributors, I was still figuring out how best to fill that space. Early on, we all put a premium on speed: get the reviews up quick to get the conversation in the comment section started. By the end of Lost’s fourth season, my AVC reviews would start sprawling, rambling toward the 3000-word juggernauts that became standard for TV Club reviews of popular shows. (The writers’ strike had a lot to do with this, since we launched “TV Club Classic” during the hiatus and…
