Take a couple of handfuls of survivors -- some family, mostly strangers -- crash them onto an island with a traumatic plane wreck, and give them little sign of hope, a mystery in the jungle, and no sign of rescue; add a pinch of Gilligan's Island, a smidge of Survivor, a sprinkle of grown-up Goonies, a dab of 24, and a generous serving of originality to taste. This is what being Lost is all about. Each episode adds a building block to the mystery surrounding the survivors. Viewers are slowly introduced to each character's past via flashbacks to what led them onto the fictitious Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 -- and, eventually, to the island. Slowly, viewers discover that the characters' fate was no accident, and there are connections between the remaining passengers.