Creators: Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof
Starring:Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews, Josh Holloway, Matthew Fox, Dominic Monaghan, Michael Emerson
Season 3 of Lost had a lot to do in order to convince an audience who’s patience had been tried with a second series that dawdled along, that the story of our ensemble cast(aways) was really going somewhere. Did it deliver in the end, or are will still…well…lost?
Season 2 of Lost was always going to be a tough one for the creators, not least of all because it had to follow the enormously popular Season 1. In the end the second Season foundered for a number of reasons. Firstly the broadcast schedule was somewhat sporadic and thus there were a number of episodes repeated to fill the gap. Secondly, even when the episodes came a lot of them left the viewers feeling like the story had progressed about as much as it had in the re-run the week before. In attempt to alleviate at least one of these problems the series creators decided to split Season 3 in two. The first six episodes would air consecutively, followed by a 13 week break, followed by the remaining 18 episodes of the series aired consecutively. This was a fairly brave model to utilise, and it had mixed results.
The first six episodes of Season 3 acted as something of a prologue to the second, larger portion of the season. They were set predominantly away from the main island, and focused on the Others, and on their then-captives Jack, Sawyer and Kate. A lot of people have criticised these episodes as being too drawn out, and pretty superfluous to the overall story. Personally I disagree, and think they served several valuable functions. Firstly they gave closure to the Sawyer/Kate/Jack love triangle, which had been becoming fairly tedious, secondly they provided the push for Jack to move into a new space as a character, and finally they provided us with a window into the world of the Others, which, given the increased role they played in the later part of the season, was essential. Whether the gap worked or not is moot, it was necessary for the next part of the Season to run consecutively and I think Season 2 proved that that was essential for the series to work at all.
The final 18 episodes of the series were a mixed bag, but overall the quality was high and more importantly the number of throw away episodes was kept to a minimum in favour of progressing the larger story. Particularly pleasing was the development of Jack from the typical altruistic doctor to a much more hard-bitten and effective leader. There were also a couple of notable character deaths; one of these much more fulfilling than the other. Probably the highlight of the series though was Michael Emerson’s performance as Ben, the defacto leader of the Others; scheming, manipulative, and just the tiniest bit unbalanced.
In traditional Lost style almost as many questions were raised as answered, but perhaps to a lesser extent than the first two series. We see a lot more of the Others and their history, particularly Ben, and we discover a lot more of the back-story for the main players among the castaways. What we don’t really get any further hints at though are the mysteries of the island itself, and the season finale with its surprise conclusion certainly throws a whole new load of questions in to the mix.
Lost season 3 was overall a success, it certainly managed to re-ignite my interest in the series and its characters following the rather plodding second season. The series has been confirmed to conclude over three further seasons, each 16 episodes, to be broadcast one season a year beginning 2008. That means no conclusion until 2010, which means, to hold the public’s interest, Season 4 is going to have to raise the bar again. Personally I’m looking forward to seeing what the talented writers and creators on the show can come up with in order to do that.
Having recently finished a PhD in Immunology Ross is currently working for a UK biotech company. He lives in Cambridge where he reads comics, spends too much money on music and attempts to learn Portuguese. He owns at least 7 lightsabers, yet still manages to have a very attractive girlfriend who he misses very much, thus proving anything really is possible.