The fifth season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing on the ABC network in the United States and on A in Canada in January 2009 and concluded with a two-hour season finale on May 13, 2009. The season continues the stories of the survivors of the crash of the fictional Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, after some of them are rescued and those still stranded seemingly disappear to an unknown location and time with the island that they inhabit. According to Lost co-creator/executive producer/writer/show runner Damon Lindelof, the season "is about why [the people who have left the island] need to get back". Lost returned on January 21, 2009, on ABC with a three-hour premiere consisting of a clip-show and two back-to-back new episodes. The remainder of the season aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm EST. The season began in the UK and Ireland on January 25, 2009, on Sky1 and RTÉ Two, respectively. The season was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc under the title Lost: The Complete Fifth Season – The Journey Back, Expanded Edition on December 8, 2009.

Crew

The season was produced by Bad Robot and Grass Skirt Productions and was aired on the American Broadcasting Company network in the United States. The show was primarily filmed in Hawaii with post-production in Los Angeles. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse continued to serve as the show runners. Lindelof and Cuse's fellow executive producers were co-creator J. J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. The staff writers were Lindelof, Cuse, Kitsis, Horowitz, co-executive producer Elizabeth Sarnoff, supervising producer Paul Zbyszewski, producer Brian K. Vaughan, co-producer Melinda Hsu Taylor and Kyle Pennington. The regular directors are Bender, co-executive producer Stephen Williams and Paul Edwards.

Cast

Main

The following fourteen actors played main characters and received star billing this season.

In 2007

In 1977

Both 2007 and 1977

Special guest stars

Recurring

Reception

Season 5 received general acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an 90% approval rating, with average rating of 8.8/10, based on 21 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Though it introduces yet more unanswered questions, Season 5 of Lost also moves quickly, covers more character development, and fleshes out its rich world further for hungry fans." Metacritic gave the season a score of 78 out of 100 based on 17 reviews, making it generally favorable. According to year end lists published by entertainment publications and prominent TV critics, the fifth season of Lost was the second most mentioned show of 2009. Season 5 continued Lost decline in ratings, with the two-hour season premiere being watched by 11.37 million American viewers; the lowest season premiere in the series' history. Overall, the entire season averaged 11.05 million viewers. The season was also nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof for the episode "The Incident", Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Michael Emerson, Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour). The only winner among the nominees was Emerson, after being nominated for the same award two years previous. Emerson was later nominated at the 67th Golden Globe Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Episodes

The number in the "No. overall" column refers to the episode's number within the overall series, whereas the number in the "No. in season" column refers to the episode's number within this particular season. "U.S. viewers (million)" refers to the number of Americans in millions who watched the episode as it was aired. "Lost: Destiny Calls", a clip-show recapping the first four seasons preceded the premiere. A second clip show, "Lost: The Story of the Oceanic 6", aired on April 22, 2009 (before the 14th episode of the season, which is the 100th episode of the whole series), and a third, "Lost: A Journey in Time", was aired before the finale on May 13, 2009.

Home media release

The DVD and Blu-ray box set of season 5 was released on December 8, 2009, in Region 1, on October 21, 2009, in Region 4, and on October 26, 2009, in Region 2. It includes all episodes in the season and bonus features including: