Jack, Kate, and Sawyer escape from “The Others” and are rescued from the island.
Season 3 of Lost will always be remembered as “the season of controversy”. After returning in October with a six episode story arch, that would be followed by an uninterrupted run in the spring, many of Lost’s loyal viewers began to tire of the show. Every time you heard the show referenced in the news or on the net, the prevailing theme was that “Lost had lost it”. After two years of being captivated by the shows mysteries, the masses were fed up with the seemingly endless wait for a pay-off. And so the shows ratings began to plummet and many begain to wonder if the series that started with such promise would fizzle out like The OC.
Personally, I never got why people complained about the six fall episodes. I thought they were awesome and gave us some real insight into the daily life of “the others”. Sure they were heavily focused on Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, but those are the main characters. It’s not like Hurley, Charlie, and Sayid have so much going on with them. Basically, I think all the whining came down to the fact that we live in a society where we get what we want in 0.3 seconds. Want to hear a song? Download it. Want to tell somebody something? Send them a text. And I’m not insinuating that there’s anything wrong with that. But the beauty of Lost is that it’s a huge mystery that’s going to be revealed slowly piece by piece. The producers never claimed anything otherwise, so I’m not sure why everyone decided to throw a hissy-fit because they couldn’t handle the wait.
If you want a show that’s going to give you big twists each week, then tune into Heroes. That show throws in a surprise in almost every episode. And while it’s somewhat interesting, those twists never satisfy quite like the ones that Lost brings. When shockers happen every week, they almost lose their effect. When you’ve been waiting 18 months for the answer to a mystery, it’s a whole lot more gratifying.
Anyway, all of those “fans” who abandoned the show after the fall run definitely missed out. At the end of my Season 2 review, I couldn’t decide whether it was better than the previous one. But after watching Season 3, I can confidently say that this was unequivocally the best season ever. The spring episodes were a veritable roller coaster ride. Tons of answers were revealed, yet at the same time so many new questions were raised. There was pulse-pounding action, heart-wrenching drama – it was the total package. And nothing this show has ever thrown at us was as absolutely mind-blowing as the final twist in the finale. Talk about cataclysmically altering the entire direction of the show!
By now I think you’ve all gotten the point that Season 3 of Lost was simply off-the-hook amazing, so I’ll move on to the character reviews…
Season 3 Cast:
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Matthew Fox
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| Kate could be with the one she “loved” was also a major stand-up move. And his tough-guy lines like “We’re going to blow them all to Helsinki, Finland”, were on par with even the greatest of the WWF Superstars. Basically, Jack started off the season with a bang, then slumped a little when he was getting buddy-buddy with Juliet. But he came on incredibly strong near the season’s end, culminating with this amazing line in the finale right after he pummeled the snot out of Ben:
“Because I want him to see it. I want him to experience the moment we get off this island and I want him to know that he failed. And then I’ll kill him.” Needless to say, Vince McMahon immediately put in a call to Matthew Fox after the finale. In his wildest dreams, The Undertaker could never have come off as crazy, intense, and borderline frightening as Jack Shepard did in that scene. Amazing! |
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Evangeline Lily (Kate Austen)I’ve never really been a big fan of Kate. There’s just something about her that bugs me, and I can’t really put my finger on it. I honestly can’t tell you what it is. Maybe it’s that she’s a little too capable out there to play the role of the leading lady. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool that Kate can mow down an “Other” just as good as Jack or Sawyer. But at the same time, that leaves you with the feeling that Kate really doesn’t need a man. And maybe in some strange way that kills the whole “star-crossed lovers” aspect of the Jack/Kate romance, which makes it come off as shallow. |
| For example, when Jack broke out the “I love you” line in the finale, I was almost like, “you do?” I know that Jack basically sacrificed himself so that Kate could go on to live happily with Sawyer, but for some reason Jack and Kate just never really seemed to “click”. There was never a moment where you really said, “these two belong together”. You just kind of assumed it since he’s the leading man, she’s the leading lady, and that’s how these things are supposed to happen. Then again, maybe this is not the reason I don’t like Kate at all and I’m just grasping at straws. Very possible.
Anyway, all that build-up was to say that for a character that I’ve never really liked, Kate was actually pretty cool in Season 3. She showed a really tough side and a lot of character when “The Others” were holding her captive. There was also some pretty awesome acting by Evangeline Lily when Sawyer was about to be executed. And the fact that she went back to save Jack and her whole conflict with Juliet actually went a long way in establishing that Jack-Kate connection that seemed to be so “forced” before. If Kate keeps this up, there’s a remote possibility that it could get “a little dusty” in the room when her and Jack actually do get together. |
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Josh Holloway
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| However, I felt that the “softy” Sawyer played a very important role in Season 3. With Jack exiled away from the rest of the survivors, the group desperately needed a leader, and the reluctant Sawyer was the perfect person for the job. Season 3 was the ideal time to reveal the truly good side of Sawyer. But I also don’t think that we’ve seen the end Sawyer’s “bad boy” days either. Something tells me that killing Locke’s father, the con man who gave Sawyer his name, and Kate’s eventual romance with Jack are going to give James a lot of demons to wrestle with. | |
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Terry O'Quinn (John Locke)
There’s been a trend so far with the Season 3 review, that every character has improved from Season 2. John Locke is absolutely no exception. After disappointing me in Season 2 by departing from his “Man of Faith” role, John Locke managed to redeem himself. It took a while, as Locke’s storyline seemed to wander aimlessly in the beginning half of the season, but once he was able to face “The Others”, things really picked up. |
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Locke’s quest to uncover the mysteries of the island propelled the season forward. Blowing up the submarine and killing Naomi were two radical moments that showed Lock’s commitment to his “faith” and made some major impacts to the show’s overall plot. In some ways, Locke was to Lost what “Dreamz” was to Survivor:Fiji – a completely random X-Factor who would throw-off everyone’s plans and leave nothing standing in his wake. I can only imagine what major plot twists Locke will cause in Season 4. I’m guessing he plays a major role in Jack’s need to go back to the Island. I’m also fairly sure that his involvement with “Jacob” is going to lead to something phenomenal as well. But what I do know for certain that John Locke came up huge in Season 3 and was probably the biggest reason why this was the best season ever. |
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So far I’ve just covered the four “main” characters. There’s still a whole airplane full of survivors to discuss in Part 2 of the Lost Season 3 Review, including the puke-tastic Nikkie and Paolo!
