When ABC’s ‘Lost’ first hit the television sets of America in 2004 it was
hailed as one of the best series in a long time. It came around during a time
when most networks were embracing so called reality shows, unscripted with real
people. Not only did ‘Lost’ return audiences to scripted programming it was a
thriller, mystery, drama and romance show all rolled into one. In the second
season the fan base began to slip. There was an introduction of a new set of
characters and many felt that the series was diverting from the original format
that made it a hit. Then in season three, now on DVD, the story lines became
more diffuse, and the network split the season in half making the legion of
remaining fans wait. The first six episodes aired between October and November
of 2006 but the remainder of the season didn’t restart until February 2007.
Actually, this DVD is released at the perfect time. Most of the networks are in
their end of year repeat cycle so there is very little new programming on.
‘Lost’ works a lot better when you can just immerse yourself in the stories. So
just put the DVDs in and watch it all the way through instead waiting endless
months for the next episode.
With all the criticism placed on the series it is still one of the best around.
The stories are nicely complex with excellent character development and just the
right touch of mystery. The one downside is they do drag out the exposition a
bit much. Hopefully in the upcoming forth season they will take a page from the
playbook of ‘Heroes’ and balance the reveals and new secrets better. The format
used to present each episode goes a long way to the success of the series. Each
episode represents about a two day period on the island. Every episode has a
character specific flashback that somehow ties into the current dilemma that
character is facing. This has the effect of teasing the audience with little
drips and drabs of information each week. In many ways this series is best
viewed on DVD. The details included in each episode are so dense that one
viewing is not enough. I know a lot of people who watch once for the overall
feel and then a couple of times to get the details hidden in the scenes. They
also run to the Lost Wiki to see what they might have missed.
Season three is one of major changes for the survivors of the ill fated
Oceanic Airlines flight 815. Three of the ad hoc leaders of the castaways; Dr.
Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), Kate Austin (Evangeline Lilly) and James Sawyer
(Josh Holloway) have been kidnapped by the sinister group called the ‘Others’.
Kate and Sawyer are held outside in cages once used by the mysterious ‘Dharma’
organization for animal experiments. As punishment for their rebellious
attitudes ‘the Others’ force them to do manual labor around the camp. During
their captivity Kate gets a lot closer to Sawyer eventually having sex with him.
Sawyer’s independent streak constantly gets him in trouble in this season. He
pushes one of his captors, Tom (M. C. Gainey) to the point where the mountainous
‘Other’ nearly kills him in front of Kate. They discover that they are now on
another island from where they crashed. Kate and Sawyer befriend the daughter of
Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), Alex (Tania Raymonde). She offers to help get
them a boat if they will rescue her boyfriend, Karl (Blake Bashoff) who was
being tortured by the ‘Others’. In order to make their escape Jack has to make a
deal with his captors.
Back in the ‘real world’ Jack was one of the best surgeons in the world.
Initially he is kept in a glass cage, another test site for Dharma. His only
contact with the ‘Others’ is Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) another medical
doctor specializing in fertility problems. It turns out that the leader of the
‘Others’, Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) requires immediate surgery or he will die.
Jack reluctantly agrees but in the middle of the operation demands the release
of Kate and Sawyer or he will let Ben die on the operating table. During his
time with the ‘Others’ he becomes very close to Juliet even saving her life when
she is put on trial by the ‘Others’ for permitting the escape.
One character who gets more attention in this season is Desmond Hume (Henry
Ian Cusick). He was recruited by the Dharma organization to man the hatch that
held the famous count down clock. He also played a major part in the crash of
the plane. It is revealed that Desmond can peer into the future. What he sees
for former rock start Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) is not good, his death.
Desmond tries to save Charlie on several occasions but is sure his prediction is
destined to come true.
A lot of the focus this season is with the castaways on the ‘Others’ island
instead of the main group. While this was a sore point for many it does fit in
with the overall development of the story. The attention given to the ‘Others’
provided a natural way to give the back story of what lead to the mysterious
group. There is a lot here about what Dharma was actually doing on the island
and even a flashback of life on their island before the main story. There are
also major revelations about the main characters. Many of the questions that
were posed are answered in this season. There was an announcement by the
creators of the series that everything will wind up in the fifth and final
season. This gives the writers a target to pull all many strings together. This
season reflected this well. There was a flash forward episode that added to the
questions by showing Jack and Kate after they get back to civilization.
Considering this series has a five year arc planned it is only natural that the
focus concentrates on one group of characters from time to time. It is usually
the best way to advance the plot and deepen the mysteries.
Even if there is a real reason to deride the network for splitting the season
they more than make up for it with the fans with this DVD release. Like the
previous two seasons sets this one is packed to the rim with incredible extras.
These are not just the run of the mill behind the scenes ‘making of’
featurettes; they are a necessary part of understanding the hidden clues and
meanings of the season. The extras give you more information to help you
decipher the island and its inhabitants. Since you really have to watch all the
episodes to understand the bonus features they are all located on the seventh
disc of the set. The menu for the extras is a monitor panel with six screens.
Four of them when highlighted will reveal a Dharma logo and take you to a
different bonus section.
Screen Two: