'Lost' in the Numbers: 15 mind-bending twists

Before “Lost” unspools what will hopefully be an otherworldly final season next week, it’s time to look back. But because “Lost” is so dense, sprawling and complicated, it’s not good enough to just throw together a “best episodes” list. Oh no. Instead, here are six lists, one for every one of the Numbers – 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 – that should sufficiently prep you for the final 18 hours. Third up: The 15 most shocking moments.

No TV series has done the didn’t-see-that-coming twists as well as “Lost,” and thankfully, they’re never used for shock value but as a way to improve the story. Here are the biggest surprises.

1. Season three flashes forward: After toiling in the back-stories of the survivors, the season three finale showed us a pilled-up, horribly bearded Jack who was ready to die – or go back to the island.

2. Locke is not resurrected: Locke somehow came back to life on the island after being murdered by Ben off the island – until he didn’t. Instead, the mysterious Man in Black took the box man’s form in the hope of killing Jacob.

3. Locke used to be paralyzed: The series’ first big reveal showed us that the creepy hunter guy was somehow healed by the island.

4. Desmond is in the hatch: Everyone wanted to know what was in the hatch. No one expected it to be a Scottish man pushing a button.

5. Michael kills Ana Lucia and Libby: Michael returned from his Walt-finding mission empty-handed and seemed shifty. But not so much as to make us suspect he murdered two of his companions in cold blood.

6. Richard doesn’t age: The thick-eyebrowed one has popped up in the ’50s, ’70s and ’80s – looking exactly the same.

7. The Others aren’t hilljacks: Turns out all those dirty clothes and scraggly beards were just for show.

8. Sawyer and co. are a part of the DHARMA Initiative: They needed a break after all that time traveling.

9. Ben moves the island: Who knew a wooden, frozen wheel would move an entire island in time and space?

10. Smokey’s full form appears: After hearing it and barely seeing it in the season one finale, the Smoke Monster confronted Eko early in season two and confused the hell out of everyone.

11. Everyone can time travel: Ben moved the island and left the survivors behind time traveling through different periods and getting souvenir nosebleeds.

12. Jacob “dies”: We finally got to meet Jacob in the season five finale – and then Ben stabbed him to death. Awesome.

13. There are two islands: Ben showed Sawyer that the Hydra station existed on an Alcatraz-sized island next to the main one.

14. There’s a map on the blast door: During a lockdown, Locke found himself staring at a black-lit map of the island’s hatches.

15. Ben slaughtered the DHARMA folk: Hey, he was misunderstood and missed his mom, all right?