LOST - THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON (2006)

Lost - The Complete Third Season (2006)

Actors: Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O'Quinn
Format: NTSC
Language: English, Dutch, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Number of discs: 7
DVD Release Date: December 11, 2007

The Unexplored Experience Bonus Features:

The World of the Others
Crew Tribute With Evangeline Lilly
Lost Flashbacks
Lost On Location
The Lost Book Club
Lost in a Day
The Next Level - Inside the Video Game
Cast in Clay: The Toys of Todd McFarlane
Deleted Scenes
Lost Bloopers, Audio Commentaries and more!

Movie: * * * ½
Disc: * * *

Has Lost lost you? Amidst dropping viewer ratings, declining media attention and stiff competition by the likes of Heroes, this would seem to be the common wisdom nowadays. General consensus has it that Lost will probably suffer the same ignominious fate as The X-Files in that the series will be allowed to drag on beyond its original premise and that the show’s writers will in time simply write themselves into a corner.

In an effort to allay these fears the Lost producers have sent out conflicting messages about the show not going on longer than a fourth season (in the meantime it has emerged that the series will actually last longer) and that, yes, the writers do indeed have a grand scheme in mind. All will be revealed eventually . . . Then again, they will say anything to keep us watching, right?

The reality however is that Lost has been a victim of its own over hype. Much in the same way The Phantom Menace would never satisfy die-hard fans who have waited decades for another Star Wars flick no matter how good it would be, Lost viewers would never be satisfied with whatever was down that mysterious hatch as was revealed towards the beginning of Season 2.

To recap: a group of airplane crash survivors find themselves stuck on a remote tropical island (actually it was filmed in Hawaii, near where they filmed Jurassic Park). The island seems to be imbued with magical powers: a cripple finds that he can walk again and there is a vicious creature (later revealed to be a supernatural black cloud) out in the woods. Most worrisome of all is a group of mysterious island inhabitants simply known as “the Others” who attack them and kidnap their women and children.

At the beginning of Season 3 it is revealed that “the Others” aren’t quite what they seemed to be and the season in general focuses on them, slowly peeling away their back history and motives. However, in the tradition of grand narrative fiction, as some questions are answered, others arise again. If you’re new to the show, then it is best to start right at Season 1 as the show consists of one continuous narrative instead of television’s usual standalone episodes. Miss one or two episodes and you’ll miss the gist of things: main characters often come and go at an alarming rate as they are killed off and new ones introduced. The last two episodes of Season 3 overdoses on this by killing off a huge swathe of characters plus one leading man and potentially introducing a whole new set of characters. The season finale also comes so far from the left field that one is disoriented as to what the next season might actually bring and how things would work out.

Watching Lost is like watching a magician perform his tricks and trying to outguess him. Except he still manages to trick you. This is what still makes Lost hypnotic viewing particularly suited to the DVD format. This is one of those rare shows in which one simply selects “Play All” from the menu instead of playing a disc episode by episode. If Lost has lost you, then this DVD is the perfect way to get back onboard one of the best sci-fi adventure shows on TV right now again.

THE DISCS: The entire season is spread over six discs with a seventh disc consisting of only special features. Best of these special features is one which investigates the several literary influences on the show as well as the various books read by characters throughout the series’ run thus far, none of which seems to be dropped in without a reason. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an obvious influence and so are the various Stephen King novels that make up the reading list of the Others’ book club, but some other titles will come as a surprise. While the talks with the writers on this featurette give one the impression that there is indeed a Grand Scheme to the Lost series, it is dispelled by the featurette chronicling a single day in filming Lost. This featurette clearly gives an idea of how television differs from movie-making and what a daunting enterprise it is bringing in a show such as this to TV sets each week. As one episode is being filmed, another is in post-production whilst the writers are busy writing upcoming episodes . . . It also gives one the impression that, yes, the Lost writers are making this all up as they go along and has no clear idea as to how things are going to end . . .

WORTH IT? Yes.

RECOMMENDATION: This is a show that always manages to surprise one by heading off into unexpected directions and keeping one glued to the TV set for the ride. It is still one heck of a ride despite what the doomsayers might be proclaiming. Buy this latest box set and bid farewell to your social life for the next few weeks . . .