While I enjoyed Season 2, it's definitely not hard to feel like Lost was starting to drop in quality a bit. Season 3 is where the writers started to figure out how to bring the show back to its former glory, though not without making a bad first impression.
Season 3 of Lost is pretty infamous for a few things, but primarily its very bad first half. After Season 2 ended with the main trio of the show getting captured by the Others, the first six episodes of Season 3 revolve around them in capture, and it's so boring. There is no sign of progress or plot progression throughout any of these first few episodes, nothing changes. Ben, a character I otherwise love, is at his most boring and generic. The same applies to the newly introduced Juliet, who also gets her more interesting material later on in the show. The season starts to look up once Jack, Kate, and Sawyer escape captivity, but there were still plenty of bad episodes (Stranger In A Strange Land) and the show just couldn't shake that rough first impression. As for the rest of the cast, they spend much of Season 3's first half floundering around on the island. Eko, the last of the tail section, is abruptly killed. And the show introduces Nikki and Paulo, two characters so obnoxious and despised that they also end up getting abruptly killed off not too far into the season.
Thankfully, Season 3 does start to get better over time, probably because the crew decided to set a date for the show to end, forcing them to start answering the many questions they've been setting up. The flashbacks started to feel purposeful again (no more dumb tattoos stuff), and the pacing was kicked up to eleven with the final half of the season being composed of plot twist after plot twist after plot twist. The Others started to feel like more active antagonists, the subplot about Locke's father was some of the most emotionally affecting material in the show so far, and of course, there's everything around the buildup to Charlie's death. It all culminates in one of the greatest and most iconic season finales in television history, which paid off everything from the past three seasons pretty much perfectly. But that all just begs the question of what we're supposed to make of Season 3 as a whole. This entire season was just the writers figuring out how to solve the several issues with the show, and while Lost came out the other side better than ever, what resulted doesn't really feel like a cohesive season of television.
Still, once Season 3 got good, it got really good:
The Man From Tallahasee: I think for a lot of people this is the point where Season 3 really started to kick into high gear. It's probably the most fascinating and interesting Locke episode since Walkabout as we learn about how he became a paraplegic, and the big twist that reveals his father is on the island is just great.
The Brig: This is one of my favorite episodes of Lost just for how raw and intense it is. Much of The Brig takes place in the titular brig as Locke and Sawyer confront their father, tying the two's stories together and leading to some really heartwrenching moments. Sawyer killing Locke's father in particular is a moment I will always remember.
Greatest Hits: I like how low-key this penultimate episode, pretty much entirely being about Charlie coming to terms with the fact that he's probably going to die. It lays the groundwork for the finale but does so in a very powerful way.
Through The Looking Glass: I don't think I need to say just how phenomenal this season finale is, Through The Looking Glass is packed, exciting, and damn near perfect. I could talk about the crazy "Not Penny's Boat" twist, or Charlie's sad death, or Locke's big face-heel turn, or the Others getting almost completely slaughtered, but there's really just one scene that deserves all the attention: That legendary and iconic flashforward reveal, the scene that launched Lost into becoming one of the biggest TV shows ever.
Overall, Season 3 of Lost is just weird. It starts with the show at its absolute worst, dragging out boring storylines, wasting characters, and unnecessary flashbacks. However, throughout the season, it feels like the writers slowly start to figure out what they need to improve on, leading to an absolutely fantastic second half. What results is a season that feels incredibly uneven and disjointed, but I think it's a necessary step towards two of the greatest seasons in the whole show.
First half: 2/5 Stars
Second half: 5/5 Stars
3.5/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment