Lost (season 3)

The third season of the American serial drama television series "Lost" commenced airing in the United States and Canada on October 4, 2006 and concluded on May 23, 2007. The third season continues the stories of a group of over 40 people who have been stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific, after their airplane crashed 68 days prior to the beginning of the season. In the "Lost" universe, the season takes place from November 28 to December 21, 2004. The producers have stated that as the first season is about introducing the survivors and the second season is about the hatch, the third season is about the Others, a group of mysterious island inhabitants.
In response to fan complaints about scheduling in the previous seasons, ABC decided to air the episodes without reruns, albeit in two separate blocks. In the United States, the first block consisted of six episodes aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm and after a twelve-week break, the season continued with the remaining 16 episodes at 10:00 pm. In addition, three clip-shows recapped previous events on the show. "Lost: A Tale of Survival" aired a week before the season premiere, "Lost Survivor Guide" aired before the seventh episode and "Lost: The Answers" aired before the season finale. Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the season under the title "Lost: The Complete Third Season – The Unexplored Experience" on December 11, 2007 in Region 1 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
Crew.
The season was produced by Touchstone Television (now ABC Studios), Bad Robot Productions and Grass Skirt Productions and was aired on the American Broadcasting Company network in the United States of America. The executive producers for the third season were co-creator J. J. Abrams, co-creator Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jeff Pinkner and Carlton Cuse. The staff writers were Lindelof, Cuse, Pinkner, co-executive producers Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, co-executive producer Drew Goddard, supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff, story editor Christina M. Kim and executive story editor Brian K. Vaughan. The regular directors were Bender, supervising producer Stephen Williams, Paul Edwards and Eric Laneuville. Lindelof and Cuse served as the show runners.
Cast.
The season featured 16 major roles with star billing, making it the second largest ensemble cast of the 2006–2007 television season, behind ABC's "Desperate Housewives". Characters are briefly summarized and credited in alphabetical order.
The third season featured numerous recurring guest stars. M. C. Gainey plays the Other Tom. Tania Raymonde plays Alex, while Mira Furlan plays her mother Danielle Rousseau, who meets Alex for the first time since she was born. Andrew Divoff acts as the eye-patched Other Mikhail Bakunin and Nestor Carbonell acts as the ageless Other Richard Alpert. Marsha Thomason plays Naomi Dorrit, who arrives on the Island. Blake Bashoff plays Alex's boyfriend Karl. Michael Bowen portrays the vengeful Other Pickett and William Mapother portrays the late Other, Ethan Rom. Sonya Walger plays Desmond's off-island girlfriend Penny Widmore. L. Scott Caldwell and Sam Anderson briefly return as Flight 815 married couple Rose Henderson and Bernard Nadler as does Kimberley Joseph as kidnapped 815 flight attendant Cindy.
Special guest stars are actors and actresses who were once given star billing, but due to a character's death or escape from the island, now appear on occasion. First season main cast member Ian Somerhalder reprised his role in hallucinations and flashbacks as Boone Carlyle, as did his stepsister Shannon Rutherford, played by Maggie Grace. Malcolm David Kelley returned for a single scene as ten-year-old Walt Lloyd.
Reception.
Critical reception.
The first block of episodes was criticized for raising too many mysteries and not providing enough answers. Complaints were also made about the limited screen-time for many of the main characters in the first block. Locke, played by Terry O'Quinn, who had tied for the highest second-season episode count, appeared in only 14 of the 23 episodes in the third season – only two more than guest star M.C. Gainey, who played Tom. Reaction to two new characters, Nikki and Paulo, was generally negative, with Lindelof even acknowledging that the couple was "universally despised" by fans. The decision to split the season and the American timeslot switch after the hiatus were also criticized. Cuse acknowledged that "No one was happy with the six-episode run."
The second block of episodes was critically acclaimed however, with the crew dealing with problems from the first block. More answers were written into the show and Nikki and Paulo were killed off. It was also announced that the series would end three seasons after the third season, which Cuse hoped would tell the audience that the writers knew where the story was going.
Awards and nominations.
The third season was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards. It was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Jack Bender for "Through the Looking Glass), Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for "Through the Looking Glass"), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Michael Emerson), Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series. Terry O'Quinn won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
"Flashes Before Your Eyes", written by Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard, was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in the "Episodic Drama" category. The producers were nominated for a Producers Guild Award in the "TV Drama" category. "Lost" stunt team was nominated for the season's only Screen Actors Guild Award. "Lost" third season also received a Television Critics Association nomination in the drama category. The season also received two Directors Guild Award nominations, Eric Laneuville for "The Brig" and Jack Bender for "Through the Looking Glass".
Ratings.
The season averaged 13.74 million American viewers per episode, ranking 17th in viewership and ninth in the key adults 18–49 demographic. The first block had an average close to four million more viewers than the second block, with the 14th episode meeting a ratings low for the series, with 11.52 million viewers. However, "Lost" was the most recorded program of 2007.
Episodes.
The number in the "No. in series" column refers to the episode's number within the overall series, whereas the number in the "No. in season" column refers to the episode's number within this particular season. "Featured character(s)" refers to the character(s), whose back story is featured in the episode's flashbacks. "U.S. viewers (million)" refers to the number of viewers in the United States in millions who watched the episode as it was aired.
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