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After Lost’s second season really heated things up and delivered one hell of cliffhanger finale, season 3 finally gave us a proper introduction to the Others, focused on answering some long awaited questions, and gave us more of those character driven episodes that made season 1 so great. Picking up where season 2 left off, Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) were now held captive at the Others camp, which is apparently a well-to-do neighborhood of barracks with running water, electricity, a book club, and a rec room. Basically, the Others’ leader Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson), better known as Henry Gale from season 2, has a tumor in his spine and needs Jack to fix that, and uses Kate and Sawyer as leverage. Also introduced is Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), a sympathetic Other who bonds with Jack and also wants nothing more than to get off the island.

Meanwhile, back at the beach the rest of the survivors start living in a post-hatch world, since destroying it in season 2’s finale. Having turned the key that destroyed the hatch and releasing an electromagnetic energy, Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) plays a pivotal role throughout the season having visions of the future. In particular, these visions have to do with Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) dying, and while he consistently manages to save Charlie’s life, they both are forced to face the fact that no matter what they do, Charlie will die. This storyline is crucial to themes that come later on in seasons 4 and 5 about fate and destiny.

It’s also important to note that Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) were introduced and subsequently killed off by mid-season, and are considered one of the worst decisions the writers ever made. They were introduced as a means of acknowledging that there were at least 30 or so other survivors in the background, and sort of flesh out what those other survivors have been up to all this time, while also bringing new faces into the fold, but something about them just didn’t quite fit. Most blamed the backlash due to the treatment of their introduction to the show as being too sudden, but I think it was more so that they simply were not given enough to do and therefore their presence as part of the cast seemed pointless.

There were certainly some standout episodes. Early in the season, an Eko-centric (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje)episode focused on him confessing his sins, repenting for the things he had done, and essentially being judged by the smoke monster, something Ben would later do in season 5. Ultimately, he refuses to apologize for the things he had done, and he becomes the first main character to fall victim to the smoke monster. Desmond also had a standout episode focusing on his visions and a sense of reliving his life, marking the first time flashbacks were used so tightly wound in the on-island events. In what might have been the best episode of the season, and probably one of the best ever, Hurley (Jorge Garcia) finds an Volkswagen bus and fixes it up with Charlie, Sawyer, and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim). Lastly, the second to last episode focused on Charlie as he finally gave in to fate and chose to sacrifice himself in an attempt to help everyone get rescued. It was tough to see Charlie go, but the episode couldn’t have been handled any better.

Locke (Terry O’Quinn) has a turbulent season, joining the Others and emerging as their apparent leader. Furthermore, he faces down an old demon, his conniving and manipulative father, who he learns may be connected to Sawyer in a very interesting twist. Sawyer too, goes through profound changes this season. He becomes far more of a leader with Jack, Kate, Locke, and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) elsewhere on the island, a quality that grows later in season 4 and then clearly resonates in season 5.

Season 3 really comes to a head when a woman parachutes on the island claiming to be part of a rescue team, and rescue seems imminent, but Ben and Locke both claim that the rescue freighter is not who they claim to be. Oh yeah, and the revelation that all the flashbacks to a drugged out and bearded Jack are actually off-island flashforwards, doesn’t hinder the finale from being pretty damn awesome.