Lost: Season 3, Episode 21 "Greatest Hits" Review

 "If any of them are stupid enough to get in your way, kill 'em."

-Ben Linus

Jack (Matthew Fox) finally reveals his plan to the survivors.  When the Others come the following night, they will mark the tents like Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) is supposed to, but they will actually be rigged with dynamite and they can blow up the Others.  As the group prepares their trap, Karl (Blake Bashoff) arrives and reveals that the Others are coming tonight instead.

Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) has another flash of Charlie's (Dominic Monaghan) death, but says that this flash included Claire (Emilie de Ravin) and Aaron boarding a helicopter and getting off the Island.  Charlie agrees to go along with his death this time if it means that Claire and Aaron are saved and Desmond tells him he has to flick some sort of switch before drowning in a Dharma station.

Without enough time to put the trap together, Jack forms a three pronged plan.  Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), and Bernard (Sam Anderson) will stay behind to shoot the dynamite and kill the Others.  Meanwhile, Rousseau (Mira Furlan) will take the main group up to the radio tower to turn off her distress signal, so they can use Naomi's (Marsha Thomason) satellite phone.  Juliet reveals that all signals going off the island are being jammed by an underwater Dharma station called The Looking Glass.  Charlie volunteers to swim down to the station, while Desmond agrees to go with him.

As Charlie prepares himself for his imminent demise, he writes a list of the five greatest moments of his life, which we see in flashbacks.  The first time he heard himself on the radio, his dad teaching him how to swim, when his brother, Liam (Neil Hopkins), gave him the DS ring, saving a woman, who turns out to be Nadia (Andrea Gabriel), from a mugger, and, finally, the first time he met Claire after arriving on the Island.

As Charlie and Desmond paddle out to The Looking Glass, Charlie gives Desmond the list and asks him to give it to Claire.  When Desmond volunteers to swim down instead, Charlie knocks him out and swims down to the station.  Charlie discovers it isn't actually flooded like Juliet said it was and also discovers two women are living inside, who proceed to hold him at gunpoint.

What Works:

I'll go ahead and say it: this is the best non-finale episode of Lost.  I think it's a perfect piece of TV and I love everything about it.  It works best as a redemption story for Charlie, who has been a problematic character over the course of the show, especially in season 2.  In this episode and the finale, Charlie fully redeems himself in a fantastic way and gives him one of the best arcs on the show.

This episode kicks you in the balls emotionally, not just once, but over and over again.  We're meant to believe Charlie dies at the end of the episode, so watching him say goodbye to Claire, Aaron, and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) hurt tremendously.  Even the flashbacks don't let up, especially the one where Liam gives Charlie the ring.  Knowing where these two brothers end up in life makes it even more tragic and I definitely felt tears welling up.

The climax of the episode is arguably my favorite scene in the entirety of Lost.  Charlie's last moments on the boat before diving down is nothing short of incredible.  Dominic Monaghan is at his best here as Charlie prepares to dive in.  And as we're all set to say goodbye to Charlie, at the last moment, he survives with a surprising twist.  It's a huge relief and doesn't take anything away from the previous scenes, especially because we know Charlie isn't long for this world.

The non-Charlie elements work great as well.  The ticking clock introduced by Karl sets up the best finale of Lost.  I love Jack's plan of all these different things happening at once.  This is how you set up a finale and I say this is the greatest penultimate episode of any season of TV ever.

Finally, this episode gives us a lot of little character moments that are great.  Rose (L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard return, Jin and Sun (Yunjin Kim) talk about the baby, Karl throws Juliet under the bus, and Naomi tells Charlie that a new Drive Shaft album has been released in the wake of the plane crash.  This episode has plenty of big moments, but I love the little moments as well.

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Greatest Hits", I'm giving this award to Charlie Pace for being willing to sacrifice himself for the rest of the survivors and swimming down into The Looking Glass.  This is Charlie's 2nd time winning this award, which ties him for 9th place overall with Rose, Ana Lucia, Kate, Juliet, and Jin.

Verdict: 

"Greatest Hits" is one of the best episode of Lost, second only to "Through the Looking Glass."  It's emotionally brutal and does an impeccable job of setting up the finale.  Dominic Monaghan is incredible and every moment, big and small, works wonderfully.  Without question, this episode has got it going on.

 10/10: Amazing