'Lost' in the Numbers: 4 hottest hook-ups

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. Up first: The four best couples.

Though people think of the series as a mythos-heavy headache, there’s plenty of lovin’ happening on “Lost.” Here are the four best couples of the series’ run.

1. Desmond and Penny: Introduced in season two’s finale, this relationship overcame evil fathers, time traveling and hatches before the two got together for good when Penny rescued Desmond and the Oceanic Six. Their relationship is why “The Constant” is one of the series’ best episodes.

2. Claire and Charlie: The rock star and the preggers Aussie made what was the closest thing to a nuclear family found among the survivors. Charlie’s drug problem derailed things occasionally, but any scene involving them debating how to care for baby Aaron was priceless.

3. Sawyer and Juliet: Four years of Jack-Kate-Sawyer bull was washed away with this loving and realistic hook-up. Always the mature two of the love quadrangle, it was believable that they’d shack up while stuck in the 1970s.

4. Rose and Bernard: Mostly on the peripheral, these two older folks survived being on separate parts of the island and never gave up hope – and they’ll probably never leave.