Television Review: Exodus, Part III (Lost, S1X25, 2005)

Exodus, Part III (S01E25)

Airdate: May 25th 2005

Written by: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cruse
Directed by: Jack Bender

Running Time: 42 minutes

The enormous popularity and critical acclaim garnered by Lost during its first season all but guaranteed that ABC would continue the saga into a second year. This inevitability, however, meant that the fundamental mysteries of the island and the fates of the dozens of survivors from Oceanic Flight 815 could not be definitively resolved within the season finale. While still constrained by the imperatives of broadcast television and the need to fuel inter-season publicity with convenient cliffhangers, Exodus, Part III manages its balancing act with notable skill, delivering a finale that, in retrospect, contains several rather clever twists that would shape the series' future.

The least likely conclusion for the season, and indeed the series, would have been the successful launch of the raft into a serene rescue. Experienced viewers knew such a direct escape was narratively improbable. The episode confirms this, but does so with a particularly cruel flourish. After detecting a ship on their improvised radar, Michael, Walt, Jin, and Sawyer fire their lone flare and are approached by a motorboat. The initial hope is brutally ripped away when the leader of the men (M.C. Gainey) demands "the boy." Michael's horrified realisation that these are The Others comes too late; Walt is abducted, Sawyer is shot attempting intervention, Jin leaps into the water to save him, and an explosive device destroys the raft, leaving the survivors scattered and in peril. This moment is powerfully unsettling, transforming a potential triumph into a devastating loss that immediately raises the stakes and deepens the show's central mystery. The cliffhanger was great example of delayed gratification, leaving viewers to agonise for months over the fates of these four characters.

In contrast, the mission of Sayid and Charlie proves more straightforwardly successful, albeit underpinned by a tragic misunderstanding. Their trek through the jungle, despite traps injuring Charlie, leads them to the source of the black smoke: a pyre set by Danielle Rousseau. Her story of an attack was an invention. Motivated by whispers saying "they" wanted "the boy," Rousseau believed kidnapping Claire's baby, Aaron, might trade for the return of her own daughter, Alex. Her despair upon learning the coveted child was actually Walt renders her entire violent endeavour pointless. The return of Aaron to Claire, who has named him, provides one of the episode's few unambiguously positive resolutions, though it is shadowed by Rousseau's renewed tragedy. This plot twist cleverly recontextualises earlier episodes and misdirects both characters and audience, a hallmark of the series' layered storytelling.

Meanwhile, Jack's mission to find shelter by blowing open the hatch is, in retrospect, rendered somewhat pointless by the immediate aftermath, despite costing the life of the unfortunate Arzt. The sequence, however, serves a crucial character and thematic purpose. Locke's encounter with the island's unseen monster, where he is "tested" and nearly dragged into a pit, reinforces his mystical faith in the island, directly opposing Jack's rationalist scepticism. Their philosophical conflict crystallises as they, along with a panicked Hurley, finally blast the hatch open. The final shot of the duo peering into the dark abyss, ladders descending into the unknown, is a perfect visual metaphor for the series itself: offering a glimpse of answers while presenting a deeper, more compelling mystery. This cliffhanger is less visceral than the raft's destruction but arguably more potent, promising a fundamental shift in the story's axis.

The flashbacks in this concluding part remain the episode's weakest element. Their function is largely expository, filling in final pre-crash moments. A notable exception is Hurley's comical, last-minute dash to catch Flight 815, which lends bitter irony to his subsequent assertions of being cursed with bad luck that endangers others. It’s a efficiently executed character beat that underscores the show's interest in fate and coincidence.

Directorially, the episode is handled with Jack Bender's customary assurance, balancing multiple threads and escalating tension effectively. However, the musical montage near the end, which cross-cuts the doomed passengers taking their seats, lacks the raw emotional power and soaring hope of the raft's launch sequence in Part I. It feels more like a functional recap than a poignant thematic coda.

As a season finale, Exodus, Part III serves its purpose remarkably well. It answers a few immediate questions while posing several more profound ones, and leaves the immediate fate of at least four central characters hanging in the balance. This was the standard operating procedure for broadcast-era television cliffhangers, designed to ensure audience retention. The brutal irony of Walt's abduction was later revealed to be driven in part by a practical production consideration: actor Malcolm David Kelley was entering puberty and aging faster than the show's timeline could accommodate. His departure marked the first of a major character being written out without being killed, a narrative workaround that the series would employ again. Ultimately, the finale successfully cemented Lost's identity as a show that would prioritise deepening mystery over neat resolution, for better or worse, setting the stage for the ambitious and divisive seasons to come.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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