There were few shows likeLostbefore it aired, and few shows like it since, but these six underrated mystery TV shows should have captured the public imagination to a degree thatLostdid. There have been fewshows that can claim to beLostreplacements, even if the series lost its heading and many original viewers stopped watching.
Themysteries littered throughoutLostwere so intriguing that even though many were never resolved,the joy of talking about them with friends at work, online, and everywhere else made the series feel like a part of the fabric of pop culture. Very few shows have had that effect, much less mystery shows, though these six should have been considered.
InTravelers, special operatives from a post-apocalyptic future are sent back in time to prevent the collapse of society. To do so, they are transferred to a “host” body, which is a person in the present who is going to die soon. This stipulation ensures there are noparadoxes created by the time jumping.
These “hosts” are saved from their fates, but now, the “traveler” from the future must live the rest of their “host’s” life, matching behaviors, so no one suspects anything. It’s a complicated series, and though it sets out with six iron-clad protocols that define the rules of time-jumping for travelers, these rules are naturally broken and extended.
Leave the future in the past.
Protocol 3
Don’t take a life, don’t save a life, unless otherwise directed. Do not interfere.
In the absence of direction, maintain your host’s life.
Protocol 6
Do not communicate with other known travelers outside of your team unless sanctioned by the Director.
It’s a series that almost requires other people to discuss it, because it can be hard to keep track of who is who in this body-jumping series.Travelerslasted for three seasons before it was unceremoniously canceled, but before that time, it pondered some genuinely thoughtful questions about free will and fate.
The Wildscould have become aLost-like “water cooler” series, had it not been canceled after only two seasons.LikeLost,The Wildsbegins with a plane crash on a deserted island; only this time, the passengers are all teenage girls. As it turns out, this was no freak accident. Instead, these girls are the subjects of a social experiment.
The show jumps around to show flashbacks to their previous lives, and then to the future to show the girls being interviewed by mysterious agents, giving their accounts of what happened. There are clear parallels toLostin the series, though with fewer fantastical elements, asThe Wildsattempts to remain realistic.
The Wildswas acclaimed upon release with a 93% onRotten Tomatoesfor the first season and an 86% for the second season. The second season even introduces a new group of people, a la “The Others” inLost. These newcomers are less mysterious, however, though no less troublesome: teenage boys.
Fringewas created by one of the co-creators ofLost, J.J. Abrams, and for a moment, it seemed like that would be enough for the science fiction mystery series to cultivate the same appreciation as his previous series. Sadly, that didn’t end up being the case, and public discourse around the series dropped off.
That doesn’t meanFringeis a bad show, however, andthe five-season series retained strong reviews and viewership for its entire run, earning two Emmy nominations along the way.Fringefollows the members of the novel “Fringe Division” of the FBI in Boston, MA, designed to use fringe science to investigate paranormal cases.
They soon learn that the majority of these cases seem to be the result of a parallel universe, and though there aremystery-of-the-week elements toFringe, it’s the specifics of this parallel world that run through the entire story. There are twists and turns throughout the entire show, and though it has a cult-following, it could have been much bigger.
Josh Brolin stars inOuter Rangeas Royal Abbott, the owner of a ranch in Wyoming who is desperate to keep control of his land for his family. His life gets exponentially more complicated when a black void appears in one of his pastures in connection with a drifter named Autumn, played by Imogen Poots.
Outer Range, unlikeLost, really only has one central mystery, though plenty of questions and puzzles spring up and out of this black hole-shaped plot mechanic. The series was canceled after two seasons, but had it kept going, the secrets of the void and what’s on the other side would have been plenty to chew on.
Brolin leads a talented cast, including Poots, Lili Taylor as Royal’s wife, Cecilia, and Lewis Pullman as Rhett, Royal’s son. Like the cast ofLostwho have gone on to some impressive careers, the longevity of these actors would have kept the series in the pop culture conversation for years.
One of the few period mystery TV series available, sadly,1899only lasted for one season, but in that time, the multilingual German show posed some intriguing questions and heart-pounding mysteries. Set in, when else, 1899, the series follows European immigrants making their way to New York City on board theKerberos.
Unknown to most of the passengers,Kerberos' sister ship, thePrometheus, disappeared four months earlier on the same route. However, during their travels,Kerberosgets a message from the thought-lost ship and finds it completely empty. There are dozens of questions and clues that pop up within the first eight episodes.
It feels like the exact type of show that would inspireLost-style deep dives and rewatches to find every hidden detail and the double meanings of different scenes and lines. There was no clear reason for the cancellation, and the lack of confidence in something like this shows how rare a series likeLostis.
Person of Interestpremiered in 2011 and ran for five seasons, and was also produced by J.J. Abrams. Abrams brought along a favorite fromthe cast ofLost, Ben Linus' Michael Emerson as Harold Finch. In the series, Finch is a reclusive, genius billionaire who developed “the Machine” for use in crime fighting.
“The Machine” uses powerful AI to predict terrorist attacks and identify people planning on doing them, sometimes years in the future. Such a powerful computer eventually gains sentience, resulting in “the Machine” going rogue, leaving Finch and his special forces partner, John Reese (Jim Caviezel), to stop it.
Unfortunately, the series was canceled after its fifth season, ending on a crucial cliffhanger.
Unfortunately, the series was canceled after its fifth season, ending on a crucial cliffhanger. Those first five seasons, though, are among the best science fiction has had to offer television.The questions regarding morality and free will have echoes of those fromLost, and the series offers plenty of clues to chew on.
