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"Can I ask you something, Jack? Why do you want to leave the island? What is it that you so desperately want to get back to? You have no one. Your father's dead. Your wife left you...moved on with another man." - Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) trying to convince Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) to remain on the island where Oceanic Airlines flight #815 crashed

Lost: The Complete Third Season DVD Review

By Jonathan Boudreaux

In a peaceful, bucolic village, a woman named Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) is preparing for a meeting of her book club. She accidentally burns her cookies and puts Pet Clark's classic "Downtown" on the turntable as guests arrive. They begin a lively debate of Juliet's favorite book-Stephen King's Carrie. Could this tranquil sequence actually be the opening of Lost: The Complete Third Season, the thrill-a-minute series about the survivors of a plane crash trapped on a mysterious island? With a sudden sonic explosion, the idyll is broken. The guests run outside only to see Oceanic Flight #815 crack up in midair. Will these intruders be friends or enemies? Scouts are sent out to pretend to be survivors and write up lists of fellow "survivors." Yep, Lost is back on track, taking us to the beginning of the survivor's adventures while simultaneously showing us the plight of surgeon Jack (Party of Five's Matthew Fox), now locked in a mysterious glass room; and fugitive Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and con man Sawyer (Josh Holloway), both forced into hard labor and filthy cages where experiments were apparently once performed on animals. What sort of experiments do the Others have in store for our heroes?

Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), his newly pregnant wife Sun (Yunjin Kim), and former Iraqi Republican Guard officer Sayid (The English Patient's Naveen Andrews) attempt a daring rescue of their friends. In the meantime, former paraplegic Locke (Millennium's Terry O'Quinn), must decide how far he's willing to go to maintain the island's healing powers. Unlucky lottery winner Hurley (Jorge Garcia) discovers a beat-up VW van filled with Dharma Initiative beer in the jungle. Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) gives former heroin addict Charlie (The Lord of the Rings' Dominic Monaghan) some startling news about his future, putting Charlie's growing relationship with single mom Claire (Roswell's Emilie de Raven) and her new baby into danger.

Season three introduces several new characters, some more effective than others. The most intriguing is Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell), a fertility specialist working with the Others. Not only is the character well written, Mitchell is inscrutably deft at playing her. Is she good, or evil? Or both? We never can tell, and Mitchell pulls it off brilliantly. Juliet has quickly become one of the most fascinating characters on the show. Her seemingly tempestuous relationship with Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) is also a thrill to watch.

Their interactions with each other and their captors during the first half of the season are great at making us wonder who is aligned with who, but we soon begin to miss the camaraderie and intrigue of the group of people who are struggling to build a new society on an uncharted beach.

Many viewers-including one in my home-complain that the core group of survivors seemed to be the only people around on the island, while we didn't get to learn about the other survivors wandering around in the background as so much set decoration. This season, the writers and producers decided to rectify this by introducing Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) as a surviving couple. Fan reaction was immediate and swift-they didn't want new characters after all. The old, familiar ones were just fine, thanks. Admittedly, the characters weren't exactly smoothly integrated into the show. Their introduction was awkward and abrupt. Realizing this mistake, the characters were amusingly dispatched in "Exposé," an uncharacteristic but entertaining episode that drops the actors into footage from previous episodes.

More compelling and mysterious developments as season three comes to a head are Desmond's seeming ability to meld past and present, the introduction of the Hostiles and the creepy Jacob, and the twisting of time in the season's final episode, "Through the Looking Glass." These storylines set up season four to be an exciting-if brief-one. The show's final three seasons will consist of only sixteen episodes apiece, so that the creative team can better plan how the series will come to a close. Now if only the writers' strike would come to an end...

The twenty-three episodes that make up The Complete Third Season are divided onto six discs. A seventh disc contains bonus features. Each disc features images of the show's cast. The discs are housed in a foldout case includes production stills and a map of the island. The seven discs attach to four panels-three of the panels hold two discs one on top of the other in a figure eight pattern. Another panel of the foldout case includes a folder which holds an episode guide. The case slides into a clear plastic sleeve.

Once again, the full motion DVD menus perfect reflect the mood and tone of the series. Part of the fun of this set is anticipating what each disc's unique menu will look like. Viewers can play all episodes or choose them individually. There are no scene selection menus, but the episodes include chapter stops.

Video and Audio

The video and audio of Lost: The Complete Third Season are pretty incredible. The 1.78:1 enhanced widescreen is crisp and clean. White specks and other flaws are so infrequent that they only serve to point out how terrific the rest of the series looks.

The episodes include English, French and Spanish subtitles and audio tracks.

Extras

Four episodes feature audio commentary with members of the cast and crew: executive producer Damon Lindelof and actor Elizabeth Mitchell on "A Tale of Two Cities;" writer/producer Carlton Cuse and actors Evangeline Lilly and Josh Holloway on "I Do;" and Lindelof, Cuse, and actor Michael Emerson on "The Man Behind the Curtain."

The remaining extras are found on disc seven. Again, the menus, which mimic the various Dharma stations, are brilliant. The cast and crew take a look at the literary references that run through the series in "Lost Book Club" (8:12), including allusions to and inspirations by Of Mice and Men, The Stand, Dickens, Watership Down, A Wrinkle in Time, and, of course, The Wizard of Oz. This zippy featurette provides a glimpse of insight into the tiniest details of the series.

"Cast in Clay: Creating the Toys of Todd McFarlane" (5:13) is basically a promo piece for the line of Lost action figures. Skip it.

Ditto "The Next Level: Inside the Video Game" (4:06).

Several episodes get the mini behind-the-scenes treatment in "Lost: On Location" (58:13), including "The Glass Ballerina," "Every Man for Himself," "Not in Portland," "Flashes Before Your Eyes," "Tricia Tanaka is Dead," "The Man from Tallahassee," "Exposé," "The Man Behind the Curtain," "Greatest Hits," and "Through the Looking Glass." It is amazing what the DVD producers can do with these mini-featurettes. They are jam-packed with information and are just as entertaining as the episodes themselves. The featurettes can be viewed individually, or the "play all" feature can be used.

"Crew Tribute with Evangeline Lilly" (7:19) focuses on the people behind the camera.

On February 21, 2007, a bevy of camera crews followed the Lost cast and production team as seven episodes were worked on simultaneously. The fascinating featuretee "Lost in a Day" (25:33) depicts this typical day in the creation of Lost.

"The Lost Flashbacks" presents scenes cut from three episodes: "Further Instructions" (1:27), "The Glass Ballerina" (:39) and "Exposé" (3:35). These are hit and miss.

Nine "Deleted Scenes" (17:20) from throughout the season can be viewed individually or in a reel. As with most deleted scene collections, some are worth watching, but many were cut for legitimate reasons.

"The Orchid Instructional Film" (2:10) is another creepy faux-Dharma Initiative film that also serves as a preview for season four.

Explore "The World of The Others" (14:12) in this featurette that takes a closer look at the morally ambiguous keepers of the island.

In "Terry O'Quinn: Throwing from the Handle" (1:41), the actor demonstrates his knife throwing technique.

The normally serious cast gets the giggles and screws up their lines in the reel of "Lost Bloopers" (6:35).

Finally, be on the lookout for a number of hidden Easter Eggs, including a look at a WWII submarine.

Summary

Lost: The Complete Third Season is a category buster. The series isn't always perfect, but it is always interesting, and this DVD set supplements it with a bunch of informative extra features.

1/03/08