Back to the Island

Jeff Rosenstock (left) and Chris Farren (right) in an Antarctigo Vespucci press photo from around the time of the first episode of Back to the Island.

Back to the Island is a LOST rewatch podcast started in February of 2014. It is hosted by punk musicians Jeff Rosenstock and Chris Farren, usually along with a rotating third guest host. Each episode of the podcast centers around a single episode of LOST, and episodes are watched in no particular order, which only adds to the general confusion of the hosts and guest hosts.

History

The concept for the show came about while Chris was visiting Jeff in New York and they were working on the first release from their collaboration, Antarctigo Vespucci. The origin was explained by Chris and Jeff in response to a listener question in episode 18 “Dave.” Chris stated, “The genesis of it was, when we were making the Antarctigo record we started talking about how it would be cool to have a podcast together, and that it should be some sort of like, TV related podcast. Originally we were going to binge watch a show—a whole series… We were thinking Game of Thrones or Scandal… and there was like, a lot of things that we couldn’t figure out, like that Jeff hadn’t seen that I had seen, and vice versa. And we wanted to have something that neither of us had seen and then somehow that turned into something that both of us had seen.” Jeff continued the thought, “Then one of us said ‘back to the island,’ and then we were like, ‘That’d be a funny name for a podcast about LOST,’… That’s what I remember happening.”

Segments

In addition to the main discussion of the episode, Back to the Island features several regular segments, each with their own accompanying theme music or sound effects.

Lost(a)pedia

Chris and Jeff look through the Lostpedia.com entry for interesting facts and mistakes from the episode. This segment usual ends with one or both of them annoyed with the lack of interesting trivia. It’s called Lostapedia even though the website is Lostpedia.

The theme is from a 1988 Food Emporium commercial with the word “Lostapedia, Lostapedia” layered over the original lyrics “Food Emporium, Food Emporium.” Otherwise the theme is unchanged from the original. There have been several variations/parodies including "Mousapedia" and "Farrenpedia."

Lost My Report Card

Near the end of each episode Jeff, Chris and their guest(s) will rank the episode of LOST they watched on a scale of 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 or 42 with 4 being the lowest score and 42 being the highest. To date Chris iis the only host to stray from this ranking system, rating “Expose” a 23.5 and “Collision” an 18.

There are special themes for when all three hosts give the same rating (“3-fr-3’s Day”) or, if there are four hosts, when all four hosts give the same rating (“4-fr-4’s Day”). There has also been a “2-fr-2’s Day” from an episode without a guest host, but Jeff doesn’t like the song and vowed it would never happen again. Jeff and Chris have each contributed their own version of a “1-fr-1’s Day” theme for their solo episodes.

Back to the Mailbag

Occasionally they will check the show’s e-mail inbox and read and respond to fan emails. The theme is the main show theme with additional vocals layered over top to change the words to “Back to the Mailbag at gmail.com.”

Apologies

Some episodes will end with the hosts apologizing (or refusing to apologize) for things they said during the episode that they feel were offensive, insensitive or embarrassing. Occasionally one host will apologize to another and there is a special “Apology Accepted” theme song if the apology is accepted.

Bonus Clips

Bonus clips come at the very end of an episode and usually include a short and often out of context audio clip recorded at the same time as the episode, but not included in the main body of the episode. Bonus clips are not included in every episode.

Guest Hosts

Back to the Island has featured many guest hosts, usually musician friends of either Jeff, Chris or both. The following is a list of everyone who has guest hosted, along with the number of episodes they have guest hosted ordered by number of appearances.

• Tim Daniels, 17
• Casey Lee, 4
• Mike Campbell, 2
• Jonah Bayer, 2
• Amy Glickman-Brown, 2
• Christine Mackie, 1
• Christine Hooker, 1
• Marie Miller, 1
• Dave Garwacke, 1
• John DeDomenici, 1
• Laura Stevenson, 1
• James Brown, 1
• Larry Kwartowitz, 1

Theme Songs

One of the hallmarks of Back to the Island is the abundance of music found throughout the episodes. Jeff and Chris are musicians so they both have the ability to easily create short themes based around topics of conversation during the episode. New themes can be called out at any time and are occasionally done by one host (usually Chris) as a joke on the other host (usually Jeff) knowing that they will have to no write and record that theme for the episode.

The first season contained 77* different songs and themes including variations on regularly used themes. The following is a list of theme songs used during the show. (Song titles are assumed, as official titles are rarely given)

• Main
• Main (Quiet)
• Main (After Dark)
• Main (Chris)
• Main (Night Boys)
• Main (Christmas)
• Lostapedia
• Lostapedia (Chris)
• Back to the Mailbag
• Back to the Mailbag (Chris)
• End
• End (After Dark)
• End (Chris)
• End (Night Boys)
• End (Christmas)
• 1-fr-1's Day (Chris)
• 1-fr-1's Day (Jeff)
• 2-fr-2's Day
• 3-fr-3's Day
• 4-fr-4's Day
• Apology Accepted
• Bonus Clip
• Bonus Clip pt. 2
• Bonus Clip (Fuzzy)
• Bonus Clip (Xtreme)
• Technical Difficulties
• Recommendations
• Lobster Watch
• Behind the Magic Scene Work
• Funky Love
• Gettin' the Door
• Back to the Audience
• Answers from the Audience
• Birthday Texts
• Birthday Tweets
• Beauty Tips With Christine
• It's My Birthday, Baby (Hallelujah) *Daughtry*
• Sisters
• Back to Late April
• There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
• Requiem for Walt
• Lobster/Crab Watch
• Best Cameo
• Pooping Cough
• Croc Rock
• Frienemies
• New York Thitty Seem
• Cassie's Poppin' In
• Drinkin' a LaCroix (Chris)
• Go to Google (Jeff)
• Screw You, Brian! (Jeff)
• Stinker
• Mousapedia
• Grandma's Day
• Farrenpedia
• Questions That Can't Be Responded To
• Roomies
• Mystery Dust
• Amy's Trivia Corner
• Callin' You Out
• Phone Bit
• Happy Birthday Jeff
• Little Gems
• Anyone Can Get Along
• Witchy Aunts
• Bright Eyes Rocks
• Weenie Boy Theme Song
• Marc Maron's A Screw Ball & His Podcast is the Least Favorite One
• Disconnections
• Wrapping It Up (Live)
• Do You Think That’s a Thing?
• Frozen Covers (Chris)
• Chris' Nicknames For Sawyer
• Weenie Boy From Outer Space Theme
• Our First Disagreement on the Podcast
• Christmas Joke Theme (English)
• Christmas Joke Theme (Spanish)

The Incident

(L to R) Jeff Rosenstock, Chris Farren and Tim Daniels at the first live Back to the Island event at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY on April 25th, 2014

"The Incident" was a harrowing and uncertain time for fans and hosts alike. It spanned a total of 6 episodes from episode 27 to episode 32.

At the end of episode 26 "Some Like it Hoth (5x13)" Chris teases a very special apology for Tim Daniels. Tim guest hosts the following episode, "The Whole Truth (2x16)," and during the apologies section Chris reveals that when he was in New York a month earlier he saw Tim on the street after exiting the subway but didn't say hi or catch Tim's attention. The episode ends with Jeff and Tim discussing Chris' duplicitous nature and calling for him to reflect on his behavior. Tim decides not to accept Chris' apology immediately and asks instead for some time to think about it.

The next episode, "Solitary (1x09)," opens with the series' only "Previously on..." segment recounting Chris' apology from the week before. Chris then leaves Jeff a voice mail saying it's time to record the podcast and that he hasn't been able to reach him or Tim since recording the last episode. Chris proceeds to record episode 28 on his own, featuring more somber sounding acoustic versions of the theme songs. This is also the shortest episode in the series.

Episode 29 "Because You Left (5x01)" has Chris hosting with Casey Lee. For the majority of the episode Chris repeatedly redirects the conversation to Jeff and even writes him a birthday song.

Episode 30 "Happily Ever After (6x11)" begins with a phone conversation between Chris and Jeff where Jeff explains that he's been in Japan and Korea and that he's worried about Chris after listening to the last two episodes. Chris replies that he thought Japan and Korea were boroughs of New York. Jeff then further explains that Tim was also out of the country. The rest of the episode follows normally with a much more happy and energetic Chris.

For episode 31 "? (2x21)" Jeff hosts alone while Chris is out of town. This episode is almost the complete opposite of Chris' solo episode with Jeff speaking very fast and energetically for the entire episode.

Episode 32 "Whatever Happened, Happened (5x11)" wraps up "the Incident" story-line with Jeff and Chris hosting together with Tim Daniels again. During the episode Tim is noticeably still upset with Chris, making almost constant, subtle digs at Chris. Chris doesn't seem to notice and recounts how he made it up to Tim by flying to New York and taking Tim to dinner at the Times Square Red Lobster, boasting that he picked up the $65 tab and only made Tim pay the tip even though he only had a salad.

"The Incident" ends up with everything going back to normal.

Episode List

All episodes are available to stream for free through iTunes or SoundCloud.

Episode air dates are estimated based on iTunes dates, Facebook posts and the idea that new episodes were supposed to premiere on Wednesdays even though that didn't always happen.

#	Date	Episode Title	Hosts	Ratings	Theme Songs	Special Notes
1	February 26, 2014	The Constant (4x05)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	23 16 23	Main Lostapedia End
2	March 5, 2014	Numbers (1x18)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels Christine Hooker	15 15 8 16	Main Lostapedia End
3	March 12, 2014	The Shape of Things to Come (4x09)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	23 23 16	Main Lostapedia End
4	March 19, 2014	Exposé (3x14)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Marie Miller	42 23 1/2 8	Main Technical Difficulties Back to the Mailbag Lostapedia End
5	March 26, 2014	Walkabout (1x04)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	15 15 23	Main Lostapedia End
6	April 2, 2014	Further Instructions (3x03)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Dave Garwacke	16 4 16	Main Lostapedia Back to the Mailbag End Bonus Clip	This is the first episode to receive a rating of 4 by any host.
7	April 9, 2014	All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (1x11)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	15 15 15	Main Lostapedia Recommendations Back to the Mailbag 3-fr-3's Day End Bonus Clip	This is the first episode to have a 3-fr-3's Day.
8	April 17, 2014	LaFleur (5x08)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels John DeDomenici	23 42 16 23	Main Lostapedia Back to the Mailbag End Apology Accepted Bonus Clip
9	April 23, 2014	What Kate Does (6x03)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	8 8 8	Main Behind the Magic Scene Work Lostapedia 3-fr-3's Day End
10	April 30, 2014	Ji Yeon (4x07)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	23 16 42	Main Funky Love Lostapedia End
11	May 5, 2014	Stranger in a Strange Land (3x09) LIVE!	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	8 8 8	Main Lostapedia Back to the Audience 3-fr-3's Day Apology Accepted	This episode was recorded live in front of an audience at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY on April 25th, 2014.
12	May 14, 2014	Greatest Hits (3x21)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Jonah Bayer	42 23 23	Main Gettin' the Door Lostapedia End	This episode was supposed to include the theme "Interesting Kisses."
13	May 21, 2014	One of Us *AFTER DARK* (3x16)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Christine Mackie	16 16 16	Main *AFTER DARK* Birthday Texts Birthday Tweets Beauty Tips With Christine Lostapedia 3-fr-3's Day It's My Birthday, Baby (Hallelujah) *Daughtry* End *AFTER DARK*	This is the first *AFTER DARK* episode. This episode was recorded in the early hours of April 29th, 2014 which is Chris Farren's birthday.
14	May 28, 2014	What They Died For (6x16)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Mike Campbell	8 8 8	Main Sisters Back to Late April There is a Light that Never Goes Out (Chris Rap Cover) Lostapedia Requiem for Walt End Bonus Clip Bonus Clip pt. 2 Bonus Clip (Fuzzy)	This episode is a 3-fr-3's Day but they forgot to play the song.
15	June 4, 2014	The 23rd Psalm (2x10)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	42 42 23	Main Lostapedia Back to the Mailbag End
16	June 12, 2014	Ab Aeterno (6x09)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Laura Stevenson Mike Campbell	42 42 42 42	Main Best Cameo Pooping Cough Croc Rock Frienemies Lostapedia 4-fr-4's Day End Bonus Clip Bonus Clip pt. 2 Bonus Clip (Fuzzy)	This episode features the only 4-fr-4's Day.
17	June 22, 2014	Jughead (5x03)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Casey Lee	16 23 42	Main New York Thitty Seem Song Lostapedia End
18	June 25, 2014	Dave (2x18)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Casey Lee	42 23 23	Main Gettin' the Door Lostapedia Back to the Mailbag Cassie's Poppin' In End
19	July 3, 2014	Special (1x14)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	16 15	Main (Quiet) Drinkin' a La Croix (Chris) Go to Google (Jeff) Technical Difficulties Screw You, Brian! (Jeff) Behind the Magic Scene Work End	This is the first episode to not feature a guest host. It is also the first episode to not feature a Lostapedia segment.
20	July 10, 2014	Collision (2x08)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	23 18 8	Main Behind the Magic Scene Work Technical Difficulties Stinker Mousapedia End
21	July 16, 2014	SOS (2x19)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	8 16 16	Main Lostapedia Grandma's Day End Bonus Clip	This episode is mistakenly labeled 2x10 on iTunes and SoundCloud.
22	July 23, 2014	Outlaws (1x16)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	15 16	Main Farrenpedia End	This is the first of two episodes Jeff recorded from Australia.
23	July 30, 2014	The Greater Good (1x21)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	8 8	Main Questions That Can't Be Responded To End	This is the second episode Jeff recorded from Australia.
24	August 6, 2014	Cabin Fever (4x11)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Amy Glickman Brown	8 8 8	Main Roomies Mystery Dust Technical Difficulties Beauty Tips With Christine Lostapedia Amy's Trivia Corner Stinker 3-fr-3's Day End Apology Accepted
25	August 13, 2014	The Last Recruit (6x13)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Casey Lee Amy Glickman Brown James Brown	15 16 16 16 23	Main Amy's Trivia Corner Lostapedia Back to the Mailbag 3-fr-3's Day End Apology Accepted	This episode is features the most guest hosts in a single episode. Despite having three ratings the same, it was determined not a 3-fr-3's Day because the ranking wasn't unanimous, but they played the theme anyway.
26	August 20, 2014	Some Like It Hoth (5x13)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	42 42	Main Callin' You Out Phone Bit Lostapedia End	At the end of this episode Chris teased a very special apology for Tim on the next episode. This would be the beginning of "The Incident."
27	August 27, 2014	The Whole Truth (2x16)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	42 23 23	Main Lostapedia End Callin' You Out Apology Accepted	This episode was mistakenly labeled 6x13 on iTunes and SoundCloud This episode marks the true beginning of "The Incident."
28	September 3, 2014	SOLITARY (1x09)	Chris Farren	15	Main (Chris) Lostapedia (Chris) Back to the Mailbag (Chris) 1-fr-1's Day (Chris) End (Chris)	This is the first episode not featuring both Jeff and Chris. It is also the first episode to feature a single host. This is the only episode to begin with a "Previously on..." segment. This is the shortest episode.
29	September 10, 2014	Because You Left (5x01)	Chris Farren Casey Lee	4 23	Main (Chris) Happy Birthday, Jeff Lostapedia End (Chris)
30	September 17, 2014	Happily Ever After (6x11)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	15 23	Main Lostapedia End	This episode marks Jeff's return after a two episode break while he toured Korea and Japan with the Bruce Lee Band.
31	September 24, 2014	? (2x21)	Jeff Rosenstock	42	Main Lostapedia 1-fr-1's Day (Jeff) End	This is the only episode Jeff hosts alone, and the only episode Chris is not featured on.
32	October 1, 2014	Whatever Happened, Happened (5x11)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	23 23 16	Main Technical Difficulties Little Gems Lostapedia End	This episode brings to a close "The Incident" which spanned a total of 6 episodes
33	October 7, 2014	The Economist (4x03)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	23 42 23	Main Technical Difficulties Lostapedia End Apology Accepted Bonus Clip Bonus Clip pt. 2 Bonus Clip Xtreme
34	October 16, 2014	Left Behind *AFTER DARK* (3x15)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	42 42	Main *AFTER DARK* Anyone Can Get Along Witchy Aunts Lostapedia End *AFTER DARK*
35	October 23, 2014	Raised By Another *AFTER DARK* (1x10)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Jonah Bayer	42 23 23	Main *AFTER DARK* Bright Eyes Rocks Weenie Boy Theme Song Behind the Magic Scene Work Marc Maron's a Screwball & His Podcast is the Least Favorite One Lostapedia Disconnections End *AFTER DARK* Bonus Clip	Jeff has stated multiple times that this is his least favorite episode of the podcast and he'll never listen to it again.
36	October 29, 2014	Tricia Tanaka Is Dead LIVE! (3x10)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	15 16 42	Main Back to the Audience Lostapedia Wrapping It Up (live)	This episode was recorded before a live audience a Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY on October 19, 2014
37	November 19, 2014	Born to Run (1x22)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	42 42	Main Do You Think That's a Thing? Lostapedia 2-fr-2's Day End	This episode is mistakenly labeled 1x20 on iTunes and SoundCloud. This episode marked the return of the show after an unscheduled 2 week break while Jeff and Chris were touring with their band, Antarctigo Vespucci. It was the longest break between episodes in season 1.
38	November 26, 2014	Not In Portland (3x07)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	42 23	Main (Night Boys) Frozen Covers (Chris) Chris' Nicknames for Sawyer Lostapedia End (Night Boys)
39	December 4, 2014	This Place is Death (5x05)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	23 23	Main Chris' Nicknames for Sawyer Lostapedia End
40	December 10, 2014	Something Nice Back Home (4x10)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Tim Daniels	42 43 4	Lostapedia	Nothing discussed in this episode of the podcast actually happened on an episode of LOST. It's debatable whether they even watched this LOST episode before recording. This is the only episode to not feature some variation on the main theme.
41	December 18, 2014	LAX Pt. 1 (6x01)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren Larry Kwartowitz	23 42	Main Weenie Boy From Outer Space Our First Disagreement on the Podcast Lostapedia End Bonus Clip	Though he's listed in the episode title, Larry only appears in the episode as a short recording at the end giving his explanation of the final season of LOST. He doesn't give a rating for the episode.
42	December 24, 2014	The Other Woman CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (4x06)	Jeff Rosenstock Chris Farren	4 4	Main (Christmas) Christmas Joke Theme (English) Christmas Joke Theme (Spanish) 3-fr-3's Day End (Christmas)	While recording the original 42nd episode Chris' computer shut down before he had saved his logic file and his half of the episode was lost. They were forced to rerecord the episode. This is the worst rated episode of LOST so far based on average host ratings. This was not a true 3-fr-3's Day, but they played the theme anyway because "It's Christmas."