1. The Hatch - Lost
There's a number of storylines from Lost that I could've put into this spot. What is the island? What was the Smoke Monster? Why were the main characters brought to the island in the first place? But it's "What's in the hatch?" that snatches the coveted number one place for me. In the first season of Lost, we were treated to a seemingly unending amount of mind-bending theories on who the characters were. The storytelling, character backstories, and mysteries (not to mention that amazing score) kept us all enthralled and mesmerised. But it was when human terminator Ethan kidnapped the pregnant Claire when the show took a running leap of faith. In the episode, "All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", Locke and Boone are searching for Claire when they discover the Hatch, an inaccessible metal door that seemed to keep a lock on more mysteries. Why is there a steel door that can only be opened from the inside on a (seemingly) deserted island? From that point forward, the survivors and the audience were obsessed with getting that hatch door open. When getting inside the Hatch became a matter of survival in escaping "The Others", we all felt we were witnessing something special as the door was blown apart. And there was somebody instead: Desmond, a man who had been pushing a button for 3 years, saving the world. By opening the hatch, the survivors would be opening Pandora's Box, of course. Nothing would be the same on the show after this point. It would introduce the D.H.A.R.M.A. Initiative, and bring "The Others" into the storyline as the main antagonists - the game changer of all game changers. Then there was Desmond himself, whose consciousness could vault him back and forth through time. Yes, the hatch gave us more mystery, intrigue, and mythos than we ever thought possible. Because once Pandora's Box has been opened, it can never be closed again. And we were all thankful for it.
Well, there you have it: my picks for the 10 greatest storylines of all time. Were there any great storylines that I missed?
