The Return of "LOST"

THE 10 BEST SEASON THREE EPISODES OF LOST!

Seasons 1 & 2 of Lost were a mixture of contemporary fantasy, science-fiction, action/adventure, and religious allegory. Season 3, however, focused more on action & adventure as the survivors go to war with "The Others", also known as "The Hostiles" and "The Natives." This season got mixed reaction from viewers since focus shifted from the ensemble to the core cast of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. The writers also threw a few curve balls like the revelation of Claire being Jack's half-sister and Locke's father being the mysterious Tom Sawyer that ruined "James Ford's" life. But as always, the creative team managed to crank out a few excellent episodes. And, of those, here are my Top 10:


#10 - THE GLASS BALLERINA
Original Airdate: October 11, 2006
Written by Jeff Pinkner & Drew Goddard
Directed by Paul Edwards

Sayid and the Korean couple plan a surprise attack on The Others, but it is them who get the surprise. Flashbacks reveal Sun having an affair with her English instructor. When her father finds out, he orders Jin to kill the man.

#9 - A TALE OF TWO CITIES
Original Airdate: October 4, 2006
Written by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof
Directed by Jack Bender

J.J. Abrams returns for the season 3 premiere. In the episode... Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are kidnapped by The Others. Flashbacks show Jack beating up his father when he suspects him of having an affair with his wife. It's an heavy-duty episode, but what's great about it is the wealth of information. We learn who exactly The Others are (although where they come from is a different matter) and we finally get an explanation of why there's polar bears roaming around. The Island has an aquarium, which is where Jack & Company are held prisoners, and it's implied that the animals escaped or were let go.

#8 - EXPOSE
Original Airdate: March 28, 2007
Written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by Stephen Williams

Nikki and Paulo were new additions in season 3 and to say fans hated them is an understatement. So, the writers did what they had to do... kill them... sort of. Personally, I think this episode is awesome and the way they're "killed" is very inventive.

#7 - ENTER 77
Original Airdate: March 7, 2007
Written by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Directed by Stephen Williams

Another hatch is discovered but this one has a surviving member of the Dharma Initative. Or at least he claims to be. Flashbacks show Sayid (Naveen Andrews) being confronted by a woman he tortured in Iraq. Like the season premiere, it's an heavy-duty episode with lots of answers. Here, we learns what happened to Dharma and its people. The Others, or The Hostiles, killed them.

#6 - TRICIA TANAKA IS DEAD!
Original Airdate: February 28, 2007
Written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by Eric Laneuville

Hurley discovers a Dharma van. The dead driver inside is Ben's father, although they don't know that. Speaking of fathers, the flashbacks reveal what Hurley did before going to Sydney, Australia. He's confronted by his dad (played by Cheech of "Cheech and Chong") who abandoned him and his mother nearly two decades earlier. It's largely a somber episode, but it concludes with a happy ending. The van also plays a big part in the season finale.

#5 thru 1
THE MAN FROM TALLAHASSEE (March 21, 2007)
THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN (May 9, 2007)
GREATEST HITS (MAY 16, 2007)
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, PARTS 1 & 2 (MAY 23, 2007)

Writers: Carlton Cuse, Drew Goddard, Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis, Damon Lindelof, Jeff Pinkner, and Elizabeth Sarnoff
Directors: Jack Bender, Bobby Roth, and Stephen Williams

These five episodes feature everything that's important and GREAT about season 3. Ben (Michael Emerson) is revealed to be a child who grew up on the island when his father got work with Dharma. His dad hated him cause his wife died giving birth to Ben. A lot of pain and anger comes from that so when he becomes an adult, Ben teams up with The Natives to eliminate Dharma and take over the island. Back in the present time, a woman (played by that lesbian on White Collar) has landed on the island and she has a radio that can signal for help, but first, Charlie and Desmond have to go to a Dharma submarine that's blocking all communication while everyone else heads to a radio tower to stop playing Danielle's transmission that's also blocking all signals. Meanwhile, Locke meets Jacob and flash-forwards reveal that Jack regrets leaving the island. Season 3 has its flaws, there's no doubt about it, but there's also no denying it ended VERY strong.

LaFLEUR (MARCH 4, 2009)
NAMASTE (MARCH 18)
HE'S OUR YOU (MARCH 25)

Season 5 begins with Saywer & Friends jumping through time like some weird episode of Quantum Leap, while Locke tries to get off the island. In the flashforwards, Jack & Company debate whether or not to return to the island. After 7 episodes of that nonsense, the season settles into its main storyline. Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Jin end up in 1974 and bulls--t their way into joining Dharma. Three years later, they've settled into their new lives and are finally happy. But then Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid show up and ruin everything. These three episodes highlight the best moments of that situation. Sawyer manages to get Jack, Kate, and Hurley to join Dharma but Sayid is confused for a Hostile and is imprisoned. While in Dharma's holding cell, he meets 12-year-old Ben. Ben helps Sayid escape and Sayid returns the favor by shooting him. These episodes are great because it shows how quickly everything turns upside down after a period of peace and harmony. It's almost heartbreaking.


THE VARIABLE (APRIL 29)
FOLLOW THE LEADER (MAY 6)
THE INCIDENT, PARTS 1 & 2 (MAY 13)

In the 100th episode of Lost, Daniel returns to inform Jack that he can change the future by dropping a hydrogen bomb on Swan Station a/k/a The Hatch. But the bread and butter of these final episodes is Locke returning from the dead, taking over The Others, and finally meeting Jacob. In typical Lost fashion, more questions are raised than answered but it's all very compelling nonetheless.

Yeah, I mean, I already know how it ends. So I figure, why not? It's been a TV blindspot for me all these years.

THE 5 BEST SEASON SIX EPISODES OF LOST!

The first three seasons of Lost had their flaws, season 3 moreso, but they were compelling and imaginative nonetheless. Seasons 4 &5, however, were generally disappointing except for a few episodes. So, I can understand why so many people said farewell to the island. And for those who remained till the end, I can understand why some went into season 6 with a very cynical attitude. But I'll make the argument that season 6 was a major rebound for the series and the show concluded on a high note. Only 17 episodes were produced in season 6, so instead of doing a top 10, I'll do a top 5.

#5 - ACROSS THE SEA
Original Airdate: May 11, 2010
Written by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Directed by Tucker Gates

In the early days of Lost, every strange occurrence had a plausible explanation. But towards the end, it got very - fantastical - or biblical. This episode, more or less, explains it all. It tells the story of Jacob and his brother. Jacob is, of course, the God-like protector of the island and his brother is just a dude trying to get off the island. Their "mother" doesn't want him nor Jacob leaving the island because they'll encounter people and people are bad. So the mother does everything she can to stop the brother, but is ultimately killed by him. That angers Jacob and, by accident, turns his brother into the Smoke Monster. Then they spend the next hundreds of years trying to kill each other and finally figure out how to do so. And our castaways are the solution to their problem. The Haters probably roll their eyes at this episode, and I don't blame them, because it's all very silly. But..... it answers a lot of questions and I guess I gotta give it credit for that. It may not be the direction I would have chosen, but Damon and Carlton had a specific vision and sticked to it. In fact, they rub it in at the end by including a flashback to the season 1 episode where Jack and Kate discover the caves and find the bodies of Smoke Monster and his "Mommy." So, I guess they really did have all this figured out from day one.

#4 - AB AETERNO
Original Airdate: March 23, 2010
Written by Melinda Hsu Taylor & Greggory Nations
Directed by Tucker Gates

The ageless Richard finally gets his backstory. It's an okay episode, I guess, but like Across the Sea, it answers a lot of big questions. The biggest being, "what's the island?" Since the pilot, people have had lots of theories, and they still do, but at least we have some perspective here. Jacob explains to Richard that the island is a place to keep evil contained. Of course he's referring to his brother, the Smoke monster, but it's also obvious that MOST people that land on the island have done bad things and they find it very difficult to leave. So, it works both ways. The island is a purgatory of sorts, but not literally the actual place.

#3 - THE CANDIDATE
Original Airdate: May 4, 2010
Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff & Jim Galasso
Directed by Jack Bender

Since returning to the island, Jack has decided to take a more passive role and just go with the flow. That leaves Sawyer in charge and he does nothing but make bad decisions. He may have been great in 1970's Dharma as Head of Security, but he's obviously out of his league when dealing with the fantasy-based ordeals of the island. His big plan in this episode is to steal Charlies Widmore's submarine and leave the island. When the entire gang gets there, they discover that the Smoke Monster, who is now walking around as Locke, planted a bomb on Jack's backbag. Instead of listening to Jack that "Locke" can't kill them and only wants them to kill themselves by trying to stop the bomb, Sawyer goes ahead and starts meddling with it. The bomb goes off and kills Sayid, Jin, and Sun. It's an edge of your seat episode with a very emotional ending.

#2 - SUNDOWN
Original Airdate: March 2, 2010
Written by Paul Zbyszewski & Graham Roland
Directed by Bobby Roth

The hydrogen bomb sents the gang back to the present day. Jacob appears and sents them to a temple where his people are located. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Locke didn't return from the dead. It's actually the Smoke Monster impersonating him. He builts an army and marches to the temple. When he gets there, he informs everyone that they have till sundown to join him. Those who don't will be killed. And boy, he sure wasn't f---ing around. What's great about this episode is that it sets-up the Smoke Monster as a major threat and it gives the castaways, or candidates, their purpose for being there. This - thing - wants to get off the island and they have to stop it.

#1 - THE END
Original Airdate: May 23, 2010
Written by Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
Directed by Jack Bender

The series concludes with Jack, who succeeded Jacob as protector of the island, fighting the Smoke Monster till one, or both of them, are dead. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang have a chance to get off the island when Lapidus gets his plane working again. All of that is an exciting ending to the show. Except... there's more. All throughout the season there has a been an alternate universe of sorts. Daniel explains it like Doc Brown in Back to the Future. When they dropped the hydrogen bomb in 1977 they created a new 2007. That's all fine and dandy, but then it's revealed that there's no Alternate 2007. They're just in limbo and once they accept death they can move on. This is, of course, where audiences lose their s--t because none of this makes any sense whatsoever. If this had been the conclusion to Season 1, then yeah, it's perfect and what everyone expected. But after 5 years of Dharma, The Others, and Jacob, it's a major WTF conclusion to the story. HOWEVER, with that being said, the producers have a secret weapon: composer Michael Giacchino. As every character on the show accepts death and moves on, Giacchino's beautiful score is blasting through the speakers. Personally, I can't help but get caught up in the moment. Intellectually, I'm disappointed, but emotionally, I'm not. If that makes any sense.