Friday, November 13, 2009

Season 3 Recap

Another season over already. Where season 1 was dealing with the bewilderment of being trapped on a desert island and trying to find rescue, and season 2 was learning to live on the island, season 3 was discovering more about the inhabitants of the island, and how to either co-exist with them or separately from them.

Jack came to terms with his divorce from Sarah and then helped Kate and Sawyer get away, but because of what he’d seen on that video, he decided he’d had enough of the island and was going to leave on a sub. He said he was going to come back for her, and then later reassured her that he didn’t want her to come get him because he was worried about her, but he was probably just saying that to help make her feel better. Would he have come back for her? Of course he would have... just look at him in the flashforwards, living with the guilt of leaving everyone ELSE there. If Kate had been left behind, that guilt would have been tenfold.

Kate’s loyalties between Sawyer and Jack were tested a lot this season, and she began using Sawyer near the end of the season because of her jealousy over Jack and Juliet. At the beginning of the season, she’d slept with Sawyer and had abandoned Jack. By the end of the season, Sawyer had really hurt her with his pregnancy comment and Jack was making her feel better.

Sawyer finally killed the other Sawyer, and it leaves him with the realization that his lifetime goal didn’t actually take any of the pain away. I remember thinking he’d probably be a shell of his former self in season 4 because of it, but instead he really begins to take charge in the upcoming episodes as if he’s recognized his life was a bit of a waste and he needs to start over.

Sun and Jin have grown closer this season (more revelations to come, obviously) and Sun is now living with the belief that as long as she stays on the island, she will die before the baby comes to term. Jin doesn’t know any of this, but through their flashbacks we’ve learned even more about both of them this season... including the fact that you just don’t mess with Sun.

Sayid was a bit of a side character in season 3 and will return to prominence in season 4, but he continues to be the voice of reason (I love when Jack is so caught up in his war with the Others that Sayid has to remind him he’s trying to get them RESCUED).

Locke seemed to go completely freakin’ crazy partway through the season, but his little chat with Jacob — and then Walt — at the end of the season has given him a new purpose, and by next season there will be a LOT more to say about John Locke.

But this season was really the season of the Others. Juliet was introduced in the first episode, and through “Not in Portland” and “One of Us” we learned of her background and her desperate need to leave the island. Yet she’s almost as complicated as Ben at times: while we know about Rachel and the slimy Edmund Burke and what a good-hearted person she is, we also know she’s been capable of deception. In “Exposé,” we saw her wearing the raggedy costume the other Others wore and conniving with Ben in the Pearl station. She left tapes for Ben about Sun, and while on the one hand, she reassured Jack she wasn’t really going to turn in the other women, on the other hand, she DID tell him accurate details about “Kwon,” and let them know she was expecting and the details of the pregnancy and fetus. In light of season 5, any banter between her and Sawyer is going to be dissected and takes on an entirely new meaning for us. We’ve all seen her fall down the Swan station shaft and despite not actually seeing her die, it would seem the way the writers are talking about her and the media is writing about her, she’s pretty much dead now. So for me (a huge fan of Juliet, whether she’s good or bad), it’s great to go back and revisit those first few episodes where we got to know her.

Ben is as deliciously evil and wonderful as ever. Season 3 was the real turning point of the show for the series (and specifically, the season finale, where the direction turned to flashforwards). Henry Gale became Ben Linus, the Dharma Initiative boy who grew into the Other man, who believes he is Jacob’s chosen one, and who sees John Locke as a threat. We’ve seen some of the depth of his cunning (there will be much, much more to come; season 3 only skims the surface of what Ben is capable of) but we’ve also seen his flashback, which gives us a tiny, tiny bit of humanity in him. He once had a mother (albeit only for moments), he had a rough childhood, and he overcame a lot to become who he is today. But he’s also a liar who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

I completely forgot to mention this in my recap for the season 3 finale, but how amazing is it to watch Ben telling Jack that the people coming on that freighter aren’t actually coming to rescue them, and instead it’s being led by bad “people” (read: Widmore) who have been trying to find the island... and now know that he’s telling the TRUTH?! It’s one of the best moments to rewatch having seen the events of seasons 4 and 5 and the history between Widmore and Ben. It adds an entirely new depth to that scene with Jack.

And now, on to season 4!! You can pick up a copy of my book here if you haven’t already, but this will be an interesting discussion, because many of you joined me in season 4 and were here for our original chats about these episodes! So it’ll be fun to rewatch them with you. Just a quick note that we’re just doing the first 3 episodes next week, according to our schedule.

And until then, here’s the season 3 blooper reel!! One of my faves. See you next week!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Imho the second half of season three is as good as Lost has ever been.

-Tim

Susan said...

Nikki props to you for keeping up with this rewatch blog when most of the other sites gave up long ago.

I don't have much to add to your recap, you did a very comprehensive wrap-up of the season 3.

I didn't see a problem with Jack focusing on the Others' imminent attack; what's the good of trying to turn off the jamming and Danielle's message when there are Others with guns on the way.

celandinehaleth said...

Niki your comments on Kate, Juliet, Sawyer and Jack just made me realize the irony of season 5 where Sawyer and Juliet appear to be well adjusted, at least in their own relationship, while Jack and Kate are still going through the same dramas in theirs. I sure would not have predicted that when season 4 or 5 began!

It is also interesting to me how the season’s slow down as we go along. Season 1 took about 40 days and season 2 another 40 or so. Seasons 3 and 4 only cover two or three weeks of island time. Season five appears to take up two and a half to three years off island, or in the past, but I’m not clear how long Rose and Bernard thought had passed on island. As far as we know Rose and Bernard are the only ones still doing island time, or maybe the Others are too??? I hope season six doesn’t get me any more confused!!!

Blam said...

I have the sinking feeling that time works differently on the Rewatch blog than out in the rest of the world. Am I really two weeks behind on comments already? I just got to jump in at long last, and now you're wrapping up Season 3!

Fred said...

@Blam: yes, you have to watch into the late night hours, with a bottle of McCutcheon's beside you. If you don't you will be sentenced (still love that joke!!!). It will fall on your shoulders to decide, who is faster, Flash or Superman? Actually Desmond--faster than a speeding arrow.

@Nikki: Finally, got my copy of Finding LOST Season 5. I think rather than rake leaves, I'll while away the weekend reading. Now I am just awaiting DVDs for Season 5. Soon, soon.

With the end of Season 3, the show takes on a new direction. We have learnt enough about the island itself, with only a few more surprises in store. But it is the groups contesting the island that will make up the bulk of Seasons 4 & 5.
Each significant alteration in the direction of the narrative seems marked by a major character's death:
Boone--hatch (Arzt is a minor)
Shannon--meeting between one group and the other.
Ana Lucia/Libby--return of Ben to Others; Michael leading firends to Others.
Cooper--Locke joining the Others.
Charlie--rescue.

I find Eko's death to be anomalous; as it just doesn't fit in with the pattern, probably due to the actor's leaving the show. Kate's decision to rescue Jack did not hinge on Eko's death, nor did it affect Locke's decision to blow up the sub.

Season 3 also raised the issue of time travel, and how it played out between Desmond and Charlie. If executives were initially worried about defining LOST as Sci-fi, by now we were hooked and fans loved it. I suspect the executives would have thought LOST would jump the shark with references to time travel, but bravo to the writers, the show keeps going, and the shark keeps swimming with its Dharma logo on its side. I wonder if it too is time traveling? Do sharks get nose bleeds?

Rebecca T. said...

Seriously, this rewatch/blog is one of the few things keeping me sane (ironic that a show about black smoke monsters, time travelling bunnies, psychopaths and immortal eyeliner-sporting men could keep me sane).

It's a welcome reprieve to reality and I will SOOOOO miss it when it's ::sob:: OVER :(

crazyinlost said...

@Fred- "Do sharks get nose bleeds?"
I laughed at lout at that one!

The Shout said...

not much to add- much as I love the early seasons, from the second half of this one, all the way through to the end of Season 5, Lost really raises the bar for me. The idea of the flash forward and getting off the island seems so obvious in retrospective - pure genius. This is where the story turns from being a tale of castaways on a mysterious island to something more far reaching and mythic.

I also love the contrast between Ben at the end of this season and the season 4 finale. Here tied to a tree, down (but not out), battered and hated; by the end of the next, heroically striding towards the Orchid with The Losties side by side with The Others (though prehaps not united in there goals).

JW said...

Hey Nik, remember the mobisodes that are included with the fourth season DVD set? What do you think about tacking them onto the fourth season rewatch? There are 13 of them, each about two or three minutes. Maybe we could do three a week and four the last week? You cover them in your fourh season guide on Pp. 131. Or maybe you have another idea? It would be nice to work them into the rewatch, wouldn't it?

glf said...

I must admit that I haven't finished watching the last ep of S3 yet probably because I don't want S3 to end - for me it was the best. Especially because at last some progress FINALLY started to happen.

I also just remembered that at the time it was first screened I thought that if they didn't do any more I could live with it. It would have ended being a 'don't wish too hard for something coz you might get it' sort of story.

But frustrated as S3 was supposed to be about the Others and even after five seasons - the key questions for me about them are unanswered (which must mean they're integral to the core story of Lost doesn't it).

Blam said...

Fred: It will fall on your shoulders to decide, who is faster, Flash or Superman
...
Well, of course, it depends on which Flash and even which Superman (pre-Crisis, Byrne post-Crisis, current, etc.). The answer will generally be Flash in a foot race but Superman if he's allowed to fly, but rarely do the writers or editors definitively let one win an equal race. < /geekitude >

Austin Gorton said...

@Blam: I tend to side with what Byrne said on the matter, that basically because running fast is more or less Flash's entire schtick, he should have the edge over Superman.

Of course, it really depends on in whose book the race is occurring. :)