Season Three in Review

The “LOST” withdrawal symptoms are setting in. For this, our first of about thirty Wednesday nights without a new episode, Jen and I take a look back at the last twenty two. ||| SEASON THREE felt like two separate seasons, largely due to the experimental, six-episode “pod” that aired last Winter before a two-month break. That first set was well-written and laid the groundwork for the Others we’d grow to know and love, but it’s safe to say it made for a shaky, slow start.

But once “LOST” returned to the full slate of familiar characters, elegantly folding in a great bunch of new faces, the magic was back. And unlike the ill-fated tail section survivors (Ana Lucia? Mr. Eko? Remember them?), the Others turned out to be mysterious and compelling. Now, loyal “LOST” fans will always put the original cast first. But we dare say that Elizabeth Mitchell’s Juliet and Michael Emerson’s Ben stole nearly every scene they were in. Mitchell, in particular, would get an Emmy Award. If we could give out Emmys, that is.

Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Jin, Sun, Charlie, Claire, Hurley, Locke… all our old friends charmed us, and experienced real growth this season. Sun’s role in Jin’s tortured life as a Korean hit man was fantastically done. The answer to the question of how Locke ended up in his wheelchair did not disappoint. We learn Jack and Claire are half-siblings, and that Sawyer and Locke both owe their conflicted lives to the same con artist. And Locke’s evolution from hapless, bumbling pawn to pivotal leader was great to watch.

Now, we’re not the biggest fans of the ‘love triangle’ business. But we gotta admit, the Kate-Sawyer-Jack subplot brought us great moments of both the sweet and steamy variety.

Meanwhile, the underlying mysteries of “LOST” started to surface. The DHARMA Initiative, the healing properties of the Island (and its paradoxical threat to pregnant women), and in the last few weeks, the mysterious Jacob and hints at some of the larger powers at work.

We’re not able to forget the stakes, either, as we bid a bittersweet farewell to Charlie. Once again, the writers brilliantly make us fall in love with him all over again before killing him off. Meanwhile, not every new character was welcomed with open arms. Season 3 also gave us Nikki and Paolo, a pair that never did fit in and vanished as suddenly as they appeared. Their Hitchcockian, spider-bite send off wasn’t very sentimental, but it was hilarious.

Desmond’s “flashes” were also an interesting development, and definitely started to push “LOST” into tried-and-true science fiction territory. We’ll have to wait and see whether Charlie’s death (or the concussion Charlie administered in the canoe) puts an end to his visions.

But the season finale, and the mind-blowing twist the creators called “the snake in the mailbox,” truly showed the brilliance and ambition of the “LOST” universe. In a show where anything can happen, they still do something that no one could’ve imagined. We see Jack and Kate in a flash-forward rather than a flashback, alive but not quite well off the island. And Jack wants to go back.

We long had visions — somewhat troubling visions — of the last episode of “LOST” being a rescue and a warm and fuzzy stroll into the sunset. Inevitable, we figured, but we hoped for something more. Well, Season Three closes with that long-awaited rescue already made… and a lot, lot more story left to tell.

Season three of “LOST,” frankly, is one of the all-time best seasons of television. And that makes the nine-month wait for season four even harder. But now, more than ever, we’re hooked.

This entry was posted in Podcast. Bookmark the permalink.

35 Responses to Season Three in Review

  1. adsit comapny version point 0 says:

    woooot first point anyhu well the season three third time lucky but like they wernt lucky in the other searies well it was beautiful highs and low possibles in between moments charlies death but lockes paralysis due to out of window moment didnt really cut it well theres alway season 4 lost fan 108 did shows us an insight but it wouldve been better without ur existance lol take care

  2. Paul in York UK says:

    Great to see you guys posting during the long drawn-out hiatus. Its going to be a long 9 months!

    Season 3 was definitely the season of the Others, Season 2 – the hatch – so will season 4 be the rescue and the aftermath?

    Spot on with Elizabeth Mitchell’s Juliet deserving an Emmy, and has a guy ever been beaten up so much on TV as Ben – he’s almost permanently bruised!

  3. Rob Raymond says:

    Ryan,

    You never cease to amaze me with your well written synopses of the show. I look forward to reading your posts each week and get your take on the characters and plot development.

    Keep up the great work!

    Rob
    Windsor, ON
    Canada

  4. Gustavo says:

    I didn’t like THAT much the season finale, but instead i loved “The man behind the courtain”. The best episode ever. Anyway, I discovered your blog in the middle of the season, and damn it was a good one.

    See ya on the next season!

  5. Gustavo says:

    I didn’t like THAT much the season finale, but instead i loved “The man behind the courtain”. The best episode ever. Anyway, I discovered your blog in the middle of the season, and damn it was a good one.

    See ya on the next season!

    Gustavo Delgado B.
    Chile

  6. HeyBrah says:

    Telling the story of the Losties’ rescue with answers to the Island’s mysteries as a flashback from the present is a clever strategy for a couple of reasons:

    – LOST will not leave its loyal fan base in a total lurch if the shows producers and ABC end the show sooner rather than later, and
    – The focus on an “after-rescue” theme takes advantage of the opportunity to film LOST on the mainland, since the word is out on how expensive it has been to film a show on location in Hawaii.

    Then again, the flash-ahead story could just be a red herring, as posted earlier on this site.

  7. The Pink says:

    I kind of have a solution for my Lost fix for the next 8 months. I will probably watch all 3 seasons evenly divided per month. There are a total of 72 shows, making me watch 9 shows a month- that’s about 2.25 a week (ok 2 or three a week). I think I’ll try to lock my Wednesday and Sunday nights to watch it. That’s IF I can control myself without watching it marathon style again. I watched Season 1 in about 5 days and finished right in time to start season 2. That moment was just so sweet!

  8. becksmex says:

    Ryan and Jen – Thank you so much for your wonderful insights and masterfully written postings all season! I will keep checking the site in the hiatus, hopefully seeing some interesting on-island info from your neck of the woods!

    Pink – good strategy. I am hoping to do something similar — with a newbie. I want to watch the whole series again with someone who has not yet been a fan of the show. I hope that it will be as fun as I think it will be, watching someone else become hooked on the most interesting show on television!

    See you round!

  9. What I’d like to see on LOST next season..

    An episode featuring Dr. Marvin Candle. Where did he come from? Did he have “bad daddy” issues? What happened to his arm?

    Karen and Gerald de Groot assembling their research team during 1970 at University of Michigan

    How someone became one of the “Whisperers” on the Island

    A day following the mystical Walt around

    An investigator on the mainland who doesn’t believe the report about Flight 815 crashing and killing all passengers

    A day following Richard Alpert around, as he does errands for Ben

    The backstory of Mikhail Bakunin (Patchy)

    and finally… where did the Numbers come from and why are they so powerful? Did they come from a mathematician, a psychic, mental telepathy experiment, the Four-Toed guy, Nostradamus predicting the end of mankind, Leonardo da Vinci, John Lennon, Timothy Leary, Dead Sea Scrolls.. give us more clues, please 🙂

  10. Lori says:

    I was reading about the Others on Wikipedia, and under Greta, the last sentence was as follows: “Greta is Sawyers old love interest”

    Did I miss something? Was she on one of Sawyers flashbacks? Or is this incorrect

  11. Connie from Alaska says:

    Dan in SD-About the numbers. The numbers were thoroughly explained in last summer’s web based Lost Experience. If you go to lostpedia.com you can get a pretty good synopsis of the Lost Experience. I tried to follow the LE last summer, but I just don’t have that kind of time.

    In a nutshell, the numbers are from something (I don’t know if it is real or fabricated) called “Valenzetti’s Equation” and represent specific percentages regarding the world’s popluation, use of resources, pollution, disease, etc. When these percentages are reached, the end is near for Mankind and doom is assured. The Hanso Foundation or Dharma or both speculated that manipulating one or more of these numbers could forestall Doomsday. They were experimenting with a program to wipe out 30% of the world’s population, thus changing that aspect of the Equation and saving the world. You can get better and more accurate details by searching the web, I am sure!

    While the producers have said that information gained in the Lost Experience is not necessary to enjoy and understand the series, I would not be surprised and am in fact expecting all of the info from the LE to be incorportated into the show during the next three seasons.

  12. KWhit says:

    Well said.

  13. Connie (Alaska), thank you for explaining where the numbers come from. You helped my understanding and gave me a solid background about their origination.

    My next questions are: how and why do you think the Numbers got “pushed” into “significant areas” of reality off of the Island.

    For example, Hurley won the lottery using the numbers, the numbers were written on Desmond’s hatch, the numbers helped the guy in Australia win the “count the beans” contest, they are on the kids jerseys at the airport.. they are part of the plane crash Flight number (815).. the numbers seem to be spread out everywhere. Any ideas or theory about what you think could be the reason? (Speculation is welcome)

  14. old H says:

    Did anyone make out what Jack said as he stood on the bridge contemplating suicide?

  15. Bryan says:

    The Pink, thats a great idea. I’ve done that too. Never watched season one until DVDs came out and watched marathon style for 3 days before season 2. Then rewatched season 1 and 2 the week before season 3 came out.

    I’ll need a vacation to watch them all by season 6.

    Anyone know when season 3 is supposed to be out on dvd?

  16. Connie in Alaska says:

    I heard Season 3 won’t be released until December 11! That seems like way too long, but I suppose they want to springboard off DVD sales (just in time for the holiday season) right into Season 4. Slow poke newby watchers should be just about finishing “Through the Looking Glass” and salivating for some delicious Season 4 answers right about, oh, say, February maybe. Great way to increase the audience. I have friends who don’t have time to watch on TV and/or miss too many episodes to follow week to week who are dying to get their hands on Season 3. It’s hard not to inadvertently “spoil them” all the time.

  17. Paul says:

    Saw this LOST-inspired piece of original art at a local restaurant yesterday. Thought you might enjoy it.

  18. HeyBrah says:

    Old H, Jack said “[God} Forgive me” when he was contemplating suicide on the bridge. God is parenthical becaue the first word was muffled but it did sound like “God.”

  19. Tori says:

    Paul, can you resend the artwork? There was no link that I saw. Thanks!!

    And thanks, Ryan and Jen, for giving us another stab at blabbing about our favorite show!

  20. joyce says:

    Ryan and Jen — I just love this site! I’m a Terry O’Quinn fan from way back and I adore Locke. If anyone is old enough to remember — there was a 1937 film — “Lost Horizon”. About a plane crash and the passengers who found Shangri-La. It’s a Frank Capra film and is available on DVD. Anyway, the main character of the story at the end leaves Shangri-La and then spends the rest of his life trying to find it again — sounds like Jack to me! Tell me what you think. There was also a 1973 update but it was more a musical than a story.

  21. John F DiFelice Jr. says:

    No way its Locke in the casket. He never left the island, he walked back into the jungle as Jack made the call. And, the only Other to leave the island was Ben – who they turn into the police? Juliet is now one of the good guys – so I do not count her as an Other anymore. So, out Others (albiet fewer of them now) are still there.

    My reach into the future. The last episode witll have some of our losties (Jack, Sayid, Juliette, Hurley, etc) in a silient and triumphent return to the island. At which point of course – Locke is now in charge….

    Also, did anyone find anything weird about Mr Friendly’s (Tom) death? As Sawyer stands above him with the gun he says too calmly “Ok, I give up”. Like he did not expect in any way shape or form that Sawyer would actually kill him.

    With everything the Others have put the losties thru, would you not think they would be scared to death of them? After all this time, tauting them, killing them, sacring them, obducting them…. How can they still believe that they are somehow the “Good Guys” as Ben puts it?

  22. Tori says:

    Thanks for the comments, John! I found Mr. Friendly’s death disturbing mostly because Sawyer was so cold-blooded about it– to me, that doesn’t bode well for Sawyer’s fate. And the fact remains that the Losties have killed a whole heckuva lot more folks than the Others– it’s just that the Others are so creepy and underhanded in their doings (not to mention quite unattractive compared to our good-lookin’ crew, leading me to believe they are indeed “the Bad Guys,” at least from a Hollywood perspective!).

    Reading the talk about the Numbers and their meaning leads me to wonder if the big finale will somehow involve the numbers’ prediction coming true– that maybe Jack and Kate, etc. are returning to a post-apocalyptic world. Hope not, but could be? And maybe their only salvation is to return to the island.

  23. I wonder if this question has been addressed before.. and if so, forgive me for asking it again..

    Does it seem that the people who live on the Island (Losties, Others) have become immortal. What I mean is that no one dies of sickness, natural causes, or old age (Richard Alpert is a perfect example of someone who never grows old). The only deaths that occur are murders or accidents.

    Ben obviously grew up to reach a certain age, and it could be that he’s stopped growing older too. Also, some of the “Black” Others could have been transported on the Black Rock before it crashed.. just a thought. Comments?

  24. Connie from Alaska says:

    Dan from SD-The question of immortality is a good one and caused me to link that to the supposed Others/Hostiles moral code. It has been mentioned that the Others/Hostiles do not resort to murder and that the Losties are the only ones who have killed anyone. In a society that lives forever, wouldn’t taking another life be considered the most heinous of crimes? This suggests that they may have a higher morality than all those “evil” Losties who shoot first and ask questions later.

    For some reason people tend to forget that Ben killed his father, the Hostiles were at least in on the gassing of the Dharma community and attacked them with guns, Ethan killed Scott/Steve on the beach in Season 1, Goodwin killed Nathan in the pit in Season 2, they left Jin, Michael and Sawyer to die in the ocean…I am sure I am leaving out some examples. So, yeah, the Losties are probably ahead in the who-has-killed-more contest, but the other side had racked up a few too.

    Another thought about why it is probably Michael in the coffin in TTLG. We have been rewatching Seasons 1 & 2. At the end of Season 2 Michael, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer and Jack are on their way to meet the Others (they were on “the list”). They stop midway because they are being followed and it all comes out that Michael killed Libby and Ana Lucia. What a gripping and painful scene. Reason #1 why no on would be eager to attend Michael’s funeral.

  25. Paul says:

    Tori, click on my name in the post above. Or go here.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/doubledown/527439889/

  26. LORD LIONAL says:

    Hey. This is a great site. Only just discovered it. Some answers I would like in Season Four are…
    1. How did Eko and Locke get out of the hatch before implosion?
    2. Why did the island tell Locke (via the Boone vision) to rescue Eko from the polar bear, when the island (via the monster) was gonna kill him two episodes later?
    3. How come the Others moved through the jungle without making any sound whatsoever (episode 2×05) but we’ve seen no evidence of this since?
    4. Who the hell is doing the whispering?
    5. What was with those guys in the Arctic base?
    6. Did Locke really blow-up the submarine? He was soaking wet as he returned?
    7. Was Locke really the one pesponsible for bringing Anthony Cooper to the Island?
    8. What about the “Hurleybird” from the Season Two finale? Let’s not forget him?
    And some things I’d like to see…
    1. We know there’s a temple and a volcano. Let’s see ’em!
    2. Libby!
    3. Michael!
    4. Flashbacks for Richard, Karl and Rousseau.
    5. More of the strange old woman from Desmond’s time travel adventures. Actually, just more time travel period!
    Finally does anyone else think like me, that it’s the volcanic ash surrounding Jacob’s hut and on his chair that may be holding him prisoner?
    He said “Help Me”, so what would happen if we were helped? If Jacob were freed, what would that mean?
    Oh well. I, like all of us, will just have to wait. After trying so hard to second guess that “game-changer” twist in the finale, I’m glad to say that none of my ideas were anywhere near close. It really has just kicked the show up a gear. Where do we go from here? I’m hoping that now Harold Perrineau’s CBS pilot isn’t being picked up, we’ll see him sooner rather than later. On the rescue boat perhaps…?
    All the best guys. Keep on pondering.
    Lord

  27. Tori says:

    Paul, thanks for the fun photo; much appreciated. And the fries sound awesome!

    Connie, good points about all the killings on the other side. Duh! The two sides do have such different “feelings” to them– the Losties, all tangled up in human affairs and emotions; the Others, cold-blooded, but rather more philosophical and cerebral, as if they’ve somehow moved beyond the human stuff. But I’ll cast my vote with the Losties’ foibles any day.

    Lord, I’ll leave your good questions to more intelligent beings than myself, though I’d forgotten about Hurleybird… Hummm…

  28. Tori says:

    P.S.– Does the inset thing in “Jacob’s” head look like a wolf to anyone else?

  29. Tori says:

    Also– that quickie photo of Jacob reminds me of the shadowy figure of Alvar Hanso on The Hanso Foundation Web site; any one agree? Also, on the current Hanso Foundation Web site, Alvar H. looks mega different than in did in the earlier Web site– younger and more pleasant looking. Any thoughts?

  30. Connie (Alaska), I have another question/example to add to the Island-Immortality question.

    When Juliet’s life was spared, she was given a “branding mark” on her back. Could this be because she wasn’t expected to die naturally, and this would mark her as a murderer for anyone new who comes to the Island in the distant future?

  31. Connie from Alaska says:

    Dan in SD-That is interesting. I don’t think we have seen anyone else sporting that particular brand. Also, without Jack’s intervention, it is likely that Juliet would have be given a death penalty (I don’t remember what they were going to do to her before Jack made the deal that he did). It was something monumental and important as they brought everyone over to witness her hearing and sentence…even the kids! They don’t seem to have a problem protecting themselves from outsiders through violent means, but within the group murder is a serious capital offence. I think your idea about the brand marking her for the future is a good one. Ben had to do something to punish her and set her apart from the rest without losing face or control of the group.

    Then again, Ben is so devious and Juilet’s loyalties are still (at least in my view) in question…could the whole thing have been part of a manipulation? Hopefully we will find out and it won’t be one of those things that kinda “flies” off the map like the Hurley bird!

  32. LORD LIONAL says:

    Seeing as time travel has been introduced, I like to think that later on, Desmond or someone else will travel back again after they’ve been rescued. Let’s say for example that everyone leaves the island after whatever happens with the “rescue” boat, and then one of them (it’s gotta be Des!) will find another way of travelling back, and will put everything right again.
    Jack never makes that radio call.
    Locke and Eko rescued from hatch implosion – Which means it’s already happened.
    And deaths are prevented.
    Then the final episode ends with Hurley and Libby strolling along the beach hand in hand.
    Aaaah!
    The End.
    Just a thought.

  33. Chicago Mark says:

    I think Pink and Becksmex have the perfect solution. As loyal LOST fans, we have a responsibility to get others hooked so that next year’s ratings are better, thus ensuring we’ll get to see it through to the end. The Jericho fans proved that we do have that power.

    So here’s everyone’s mission for the hiatus:

    Get one new person hooked on LOST. It’s really easier than you think since the show will do all of the work….you just have to convince someone to start. I actually convinced a friend of mine during Season 3 to rent the past episodes and she got hooked very fast. Now we talk about LOST all the time and she is a new loyal viewer. If everyone does the same, the ratings will go back to being spectacular. We owe it to this one true great show!

  34. Connie from Alaska says:

    Chi Mark-Did the same thing with my daughter and some friends! I got Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD for Mother’s Day. My college-age daughter plowed through them in about two weeks and now she is hooked…it is so hard for me and my husband to keep Season 3 goodies to ourselves so she is not spoiled…she gets very irritated when we let something slip like “Who do you think is in the coffin?” or “It’s so sad about Charlie…oops!” (hee hee)

    Our friends have been out of the Lost loop and they are now watching my DVD’s. Too bad I missed the Heroes bandwagon. They want to discuss Heroes, but we are waiting for season one to come out on DVD and don’t want to be spoiled. After what happened to “Invasion”, “Threshold”, “Surface”, “Firefly” and some other episodic shows I was watching, I decided not to get hooked on Heroes only to have the rug yanked out from under me by ratings obsessed network suits. Bad call on my part. Oh, well…it’s only television.

  35. Alvar Hanso says:

    Very nice.

    The door has been opened. An invitation to the DHARMA Initiative Phase II is yours.

    http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c9fa6917-a3e4-4f82-a39b-661cce7393fd

    Namaste!

Comments are closed.