Season 3A final round upSo, the dust has settled, the freighter’s been contacted and Charlie is dead. Season 3 came to an
incredible end two weeks ago, and I had been lamenting the loss of my mid-weekly entertainment (until I discovered that Season 3 is going to be broadcast on M-net series on Mondays).
I know I promised a round-up of the finale, but all that’s left are endless questions, new theories and stumped viewers. Instead, I have opted for a summation of the season, with highlights, lowlights etc.
Writers of the show stated that Season 3 would be the season of the Others, and they weren’t kidding. No matter where on the island the Losties went, the Others were there… a seemingly omnipotent presence... lying in wait to ambush and kill and maim, and always a step ahead. That’s what it seemed like anyway.
From the very first episode of the season and the revelation of Otherville, Lost promised to take us on a roller-coaster ride; and, as far as I am concerned, it delivered. It’s been an emotional, intense, mind-blowing season which unfortunately left us with more questions that ever. It also left us with one of the biggest answers we have yet received, and that is – Yes, they get off the island.
They Get Off The Island! Unbelievable! I could talk all day about that point alone, but, instead, I will compile a list of what I think are the highlights and lowlights of the season.
We’ll start with the bad first – The lowlights (or what I didn’t like)
• Some of the flashbacks were
terribly boring. For the first time ever, I found myself getting bored during an episode. I guess there really is a first time for everything, and thanks must go to Jackass and his boring tattoos for that one.
• The Death of Mr Eko. Huge mistake. Eko should not have been killed off. He was such an enigmatic character and he added a fantastic vibe to the show. He fit in perfectly with the mysterious air that surrounds the show. It’s really a pity that Adewale either opted to leave as some reports state, or, as other reports go – was axed for being a diva. Either way, a huge mistake.
• The introduction of Nikki and Paolo was met by most fans with disdain. Who were these two and why were they being propelled into the limelight now. I don’t know if we, as fans, were just not willing to let new characters enter that scared circle of losties … nah. They were just weak characters, badly handled and just shoved into our faces. Of course, their demise definitely provided one of the highlights of the show.
• Ok, this one I can’t place in the category of lowlight, but I certainly don’t like it – Charlie’s death. Charlie did not have to die. Yeah, sure, I see why they did kill him off, and why not killing him off would have been the biggest cheat yet and I understand why it was good tv to do it… but he did
not have to die. I am still a huge fan of the show, and I am as obsessed with this show as I always have been, but without Charlie… it’s a little less sparkly for me.
I’m just glad that the way in which it was handled was not cheesy and overdone. It was really very touching and emotional.
• Not enough answers. We are never given enough answers, and one of my biggest fears is that we would eventually end up with so many unanswered questions that it would be impossible to end the show on a high.
Those were my pet peeves for the season. There are other little niggling details, but they are minor. Onto the highlights.
• Benry. Wow. He’s definitely one of the highlights of the season for me. I absolutely love to hate him. Benry evolved to a new level, demanding that we pay close attention to him. No matter how dangerous and demented he seems, I have to admire his audacity and his tenacity. He’s wonderfully written and superbly acted.
• The Death of Nikki and Paolo was as much a highlight as their introduction was a lowlight. It was one of the biggest “WTF” moments, and I thought it was a stroke of genius. No matter what we felt about those two, none of us are
ever going to forget how they died.
• Character growth – There are so many characters that had brilliant character growth in this season, but the two that I thought were best handled were Hurley and Sawyer.
Hurley, while he always been one of the most loved characters in the show, was not someone who would willingly step up and make decisions or even want to get involved in certain situations. He’d displayed huge amounts of fear in the past. I love how his character was handled this season. Hurley was allowed out of his shell and he emerged as someone with a good head on his shoulders. It’s easy to see why Hurley is not only a fan favourite, but well-liked amongst the losties. Hurley and his blue Dharma van racing onto the beach is one of my favourite moments of the show.
Sawyer. I know many people who would disagree with me on this point, but I thought that we saw a new side to Sawyer this season. Sawyer, in my opinion, stopped placing himself first. A huge,
massive step for him, I believe. We saw a very vulnerable, sometimes lonely and hurt Sawyer this season. He’s one of the characters I’m afraid for in upcoming seasons. I’m still not sure how his killing Cooper has affected him, although it seems as though he’s hardened his heart against Kate.
• The Others. Like I stated earlier, Season 3 promised to be the season of the Others, and it lived up to all its hype. From Benry’s frantic need to lead his people to Mikhail’s many lives, we learned so much about the Others. I loved watching them manipulate everyone and just about every circumstance around them to suit themselves. I am so looking forward to seeing more Other flashbacks in upcoming seasons.
• The flash-forward. It has to be
the biggest “What.The.Frakk” moment in this show yet. So totally unexpected and mind-blowing. I couldn’t wrap my head around it when I first saw it but I think it is an incredibly brave move by the writers. This could be what sinks this island or it could propel the show further into television history and high ratings.
There were so many other highlights this season. I truly believe that Season 3 was as good as, if not better than Season 1. We had some wonderful, touching moments, but as always, it’s always the “what the frakk” moments that keep us riveted to out seats. We had some big shockers this season – Nikki and Paolo being killed off, Locke pushing Mikhail into the sonic fence, the arrival of Naomi and Desmond’s flashes, but here is my list for the 5 biggest shockers of the season
• The flash-forward rightly tops the list
• The “revelation” of Jacob. I am still totally stumped by that entire sequence in the hut. I don’t know if Jacob is real, and if he is real then who is he? What is he? So many questions.
• The revelation of Anthony Cooper in “The man from Tallahassee”. I’m sure we all felt as shocked as Locke looked. His subsequent death was something of a shocker too.
• Ben revealing to Sawyer that they were on a totally different island in “Every Man for himself”. Yet another possibility I had never considered.
• Eko’s death, for me, was a huge shock. I couldn’t believe that they would have him survive the hatch implosion and have him survive almost being polar bear dinner only to have him tossed around and killed by the monster.
So there you have it. I could have gone with favourite scenes, favourite quotes etc but then I would probably never finish. I hope you have enjoyed Season 3 as much as I have. I would love to know what your highlights and lowlights were.
I may still update this blog from time to time (before Season 4 starts) with new information, provided that it is Spoiler free. I have a strict Spoiler policy, and on that not I’d like to thank everyone for not posting spoilers and ruining this great season for us.
And finally, thanks to everyone who reads this blog. I really appreciate it, and I appreciate your kind words of encouragement.