Available at Amazon.com
Creators:
J.J. Abrams
Damon Lindelof
Jeffrey Lieber
Cast:
Naveen Andrews ………. Sayid Jarrah
Emilie de Ravin ………. Claire Littleton
Matthew Fox ………. Jack Shephard
Jorge Garcia ………. Hugo “Hurley”Reyes
Josh Holloway ………. James “Sawyer” Ford
Daniel Dae Kim ………. Jin Kwon
Yunjin Kim ………. Sun Kwon
Evangeline Lilly ………. Kate Austen
Dominic Monaghan ………. Charlie Pace
Terry O’Quinn ………. John Locke
The Show:
There is no sense in reestablishing the premise of Lost. By now, anyone reading this knows that it is about a group of plane-crash survivors coming together on an island as they not only try to find themselves but also search for rescue. While the first season of the show focused upon setting up the show’s core concept and its characters, and the second season revolved around finding out who the “The Others” were along with introducing new characters from the tailend of the plane, the third season of the show puts “The Others” at the forefront of the plotline.
The second season of the show ended with perennial favorites, Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Halloway) being captured by the “Others” who were led by the creepy Ben (Michael Emerson). There is a great parallel that can be drawn between the way that the main Lost characters were introduced in the first season and how they were developed in the second season to how the “Others” were introduced in the second season and how they were developed in the third season of the show.
There is no question that Jack and Ben are the central characters of the third season and their rapport is augmented by their respective relationships with Kate and Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell). While Jack is, for all intents and purposes, Captain America and Ben is supposed to be the ultimate villain, the reason that Lost is as good as it is, is because it constantly leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. By the end of the season, an argument can be made for Ben actually being the protagonist of the series given that his true motives are always unclear. One of the arguments against the show is also one of its main highlights. The fact that on Lost nothing is as it seems and that no piece of information can be trusted completely makes the show both painfully frustrating and brilliantly addictive.
While the focus of the third season seemed to move away from the regulars and onto new people, some of the show’s classic techniques were still used magnificently. The caliber of each character’s flashbacks only seemed to improve this season with the storylines coming closer and closer to present day and character nuances being fully revealed. While the fear with the show was that the writers would eventually run out of flashback material, this certainly did not happen in the third season of the program.
Ultimately, Lost will always be the story of whether the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 will make it off the island that they are stuck on (whether the island is figurative or literal is another story for another day). But as the proverb says, it isn’t about the destination, it is about the journey and there has never been a more compelling ride to take than Damon Lindelof and company take viewers on every week. While Jack, Kate and Sawyer struggled to free themselves from their captors this season, Charlie still struggled to find the right words to say to Claire or that Claire and Jack are actually half-siblings is what makes the show so interesting to watch. While viewers want to see their favorites return back to modern-day society, it is also apparent that true Lost fans fear the impending rescue the most because that will mean the end of the show.
While reviewing the first two seasons of Lost on DVD was easy, now that the third season has been released, it is an arduous task to discuss it without openly revealing major plotlines to those waiting to see the entire series. As a result, while the show is must-watch, I would like to make an amendment to that statement by saying that while it was easy to jump into the show in its second season (if you hadn’t seen the first), it is impossible to do so and appreciate its execution if you only started watching in the third season. Suffice to say that this show is much more than just people on an island.
And the ending of the third season finale is so good that I would have been satisfied even without any DVD extras at all.
The DVD:
Video:
The DVD is presented in a widescreen anamorphic aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The display is very clear and very sharp. No complaints.
Audio:
The sound is presented as English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. English subtitles are available. No issues.
Special Features:
While the extras in the third season pale in comparison to the special features included in the first two season releases, that is just about the only thing that they pale in comparison to.
The third season box set features four audio commentaries and a host of featurettes including:
“Lost Book Club” – A segment that analyzes all of the literary references on the show where show producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse explain why certain books were infused into show storylines.
“Cast In Clay: Creating The Toys of Todd McFarlane” – Discusses the making of the Lost action figures.
“The Next Level – Inside The Video Game” – Discusses the making of the upcoming Lost video game.
“Lost: On Location” – Behind-the-scenes of the show shooting episodes in Hawaii.
“Crew Tribute With Evangeline Lilly” – Evangeline Lilly hosts a segment that gives accolades to the faces behind the best show on television.
“Lost In A Day” – Undoubtedly the best featurette on the set, this segment depicts one day in the show’s production. It truly is unbelievable to see how seven episodes are being worked on at the same time and using split-screens, manages to show both the technical and creative production in Hawaii and Los Angeles. This is perhaps the best single DVD featurette ever produced and offers an even higher appreciation of the amount of work that goes into making the show.
“The World Of The Others” – A behind-the-scenes extra where various actors, producers and directors discuss the inclusion of “The Others” on the show and where they conduct their business. The focus is obviously on Michael Emerson (Ben) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet).
“Terry O’Quinn: Throwing From The Handle” – O’Quinn demonstrates the amount of practice he had to do for all of his knife-throwing scenes. A fun addition.
“Blooper Reel” – Exactly.
“The Lost Flashbacks – Deleted flashback scenes from the “Further Instructions,” “The Glass Ballerina” and “Expose” episodes.
“Deleted Scenes” – 9 new scenes that didn’t make the show!
“The Orchid Instructional Film” – A full Dharma orientation film that should have Lost geeks salivating for more. It introduces a time travel concept that can be relentlessly debated (in terms of whether or not it has actually happened on the show).
