The Season Three LOST Soundtrack Gives You Double the Listening Pleasure

Tomorrow, the final season of LOST begins. ABC has finally released official clips of new material, and in an effort to avoid glancing at them, I am instead immersing myself in previous seasons. One way in which I’m doing that is revisiting the soundtracks, particularly for season three, the longest of the four thus far released. Spoilers ahead for those who have not yet seen those episodes...

Season three signaled a major turning point for LOST. That was the last year when it aired in the fall, the last year when there was still a slight possibility that the show might end before it could be wrapped up properly. Announcing an end date shortly before the season three finale was a real game-changer, and Through the Looking Glass, while my least favorite of the finales, opened up a whole new dimension of possibilities for the show. It also saw the departure of one of LOST‘s most beloved characters. I imagine that all of these factors contributed to the decision to make the season three soundtrack a double disc. While the main disc features music from 16 different episodes (with four episodes unrepresented), the second, just as lengthy, disc is limited exclusively to music from Greatest Hits, the second-to-last episode, and Through the Looking Glass.

Suspense is never in short supply on LOST, and this soundtrack reflects that, starting things off with In With a KABOOM!, which accompanies the opening moments of season three as the Others witness the crash of Flight 815. Unusual metallic-sounding percussion amplifies the sense of danger. The piano drives the sense of anxiety in Awed and Shocked, while Fool Me Twice uses the steady beat of a drum to imitate sneaking footsteps. Steel drums accompany The Island, giving it an appropriately tropical sound, while other percussion approximates the sound of running to give a sense of panic.

Under the Knife also conveys a sense of danger, incorporating a suspense theme that has been used throughout the show. Rather surprisingly, however, the suspense ebbs away as strings play the Life and Death theme before returning to more threatening territory. Teaser Time captures the sense of pursuit as Kate and Sawyer flee, while Here Today, Gone to Maui, after a soothing start, prickles with danger as bows slide menacingly back and forth across strings. This, too, eventually leads to Life and Death; in this case, the piano takes the bulk of the melody, with the strings providing understated backup.

Once Kate and Sawyer escape their captivity, the first disc switches focus, for the most part, from action to character. There are three major exceptions to this, all involving running through the jungle. The strings give us a sense of pulse-pounding pursuit in Sweet Exposé as Nikki flees the spiders, stopping to bury the diamonds that would be her undoing. Trombones give an unusual flavor to Storming the Monster, while ominous, occasionally screechy strings give us a sense of menace. The very brief Rushin’ the Russian is more percussion-driven at first, before returning to the string-heavy motif that is often heard on the show when a character is in danger of being captured.

Many individuals have a moment in the spotlight on the remaining tracks, but Eko has three before he bows out. Eko of the Past has a spooky sound to it as the delirious priest sees his brother and makes an escape from camp after his tent burns down. The swift percussion feels like foreshadowing of his encounter with the smoke monster. Church of Eko’s, by contrast, is soft and delicate, though also very short as piano and strings come together to accompany Eko’s decision to truly step into the role of priest. Lego My Eko is one of the most startling tracks, with the strings capturing the Smoke Monster in hot pursuit before quieting down for a slow, lovely melody that seems to suggest peace and possible redemption.

Sun also fares pretty well, with two centric tracks. Pagoda of Shame is a slow and sad backdrop to Jae Lee’s funeral. It starts in familiar territory before branching off in a new direction for the midsection, then returning to the first tentative melody with some very quiet piano. This track is about the same length as Deadly Fertility, which also unfolds slowly as strings play, only to be replaced with very gradual percussion reminiscent of Fool Me Twice.

Of course, as Jack is arguably the show’s central character, the soundtrack often highlights him. Achara, Glad to See Me? has a fairly tender tone to it, with the gentle strings suggesting more depth to his relationship with this mysterious woman in his most-maligned flashback. A Touching Moment finds him back with Kate for a moment, as the mournful tones of a cello convey a sense that things between them have changed irreparably. Beach Blanket Bonding accompanies Jack with yet another woman, this time Juliet, with the cello coming across as tender rather than regretful. A lovely track until, in the final seconds, it dissolves into cacophony.

Kate and Sawyer are nearly as important to the show as Jack and certainly drive many of his decisions. Ocean’s Apart is one of the prettiest tracks, a strings-driven melody with the emotions of at least five different characters - Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Alex and Karl - wrapped up in it. The majestic tone toward the end, with its rich percussive underpinnings, seems optimistic, supporting the Somewhere Out There feel to this gorgeous scene in which distances (and bodies of water) separate loved ones from each other. In Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Nothin’, the hesitant piano speaks for Kate as she gives Sawyer the cold shoulder, while the strings betray his affection toward her.

All of the trauma Desmond endures in the epic Flashes Before Your Eyes is distilled down into Distraught Desmond, which has a very creepy sound to it that allows us to experience the implosion of the hatch along with him. The tone turns romantic and regretful about a minute and a half in as he reflects on his lost opportunity with Penny. With the help of the harp, Claire-a Culpa gently resurrects the show’s friendship theme. The melody proceeds very slowly, and the cello kicks in as a reminder of the troubles that have passed between them, but the overall tone is one of reconciliation. Another of the loveliest tracks, despite the spooky last minute that doesn’t seem to fit what precedes it.

Juliet’s ordeal in first coming to the Island comes across in Juliet Is Lost, notable for the spooky-sounding chimes accentuating the sense of mystery and the swelling strings that accompany her first sight of the Island itself, a magnificent but ominous vision. Dharmacide is a downer of a track to end the disc on. Dark and suspenseful, it is the backdrop for Ben’s murder of his father. After the intense first minute and a half, the piano comes in to suggest a tinge of regret in a melody later taken up by the strings. By the end of the track, however, the tone has shifted again as Ben hardens his heart against any tender feelings toward his father that might lie submerged.

I’m saving Hurley’s tracks for last because, with the exception of the various renditions of Life and Death, his themes tend to be my favorites. The Lone Hugo accompanies the beautifully elegiac moment when Hurley, in a move very reminiscent of Forrest Gump, stands by Libbie’s grave and pours out his sorrow to her. Very sad, with the plucks of the harp strings falling like teardrops against the more prominent strings. Fetch Your Arm is mysterious but with a playful bent as Vincent leads Hurley to the Dharma van.

Shambala is much more easily recognizable as a Hurley track than the first two. Harp and guitar work together with the violins to make this gently jubilant tribute to Three-Dog Night one of my favorite tracks. But my hands-down favorite is Heart of Thawyer, which I still consider a Hurley track, since his influence is what inspires Sawyer’s generosity in this scene. The guitars double as ukeleles and mandolins, giving it a wonderful Island sound. Mellow, warm, friendly... All the things I love most about Hurley come across in this track that accompanies the luau where the castaways on the beach are allowed a brief reprieve from panic.

There are even more tracks on the second disc, which is well over an hour long. As on the first disc, there are many suspenseful tracks, and with all the death and destruction in Through the Looking Glass, there’s plenty of flat-out action too. But when it comes to plot-oriented tracks, what I like best are those that primarily convey a sense of adventure. These are fairly rare on the soundtracks in general, but we get five of them here, all from the finale, which goes to show how much is going on in that episode.

The cellos come right in with the iconic “walking music” in The Good Shepherd as Jack leads his followers up toward the tower. It’s a short track, but it’s very effective in demonstrating the sense of excitement in the air as the castaways journey toward what they believe will be the last stop before rescue. The walking music returns for the more ominous, and even shorter, An Other Dark Agenda, in which Ben and Alex set out on their journey to meet Jack. Kate Makes a Splash is even shorter, by a few seconds, and the melody is never fully realized as she has paused in her journey to worry about those left on the beach. The walking music is back full force in The Only Pebble in the Jungle, to be quickly followed by a hesitant harp leading into a more romantic theme as Jack confesses his love for Kate. Finally, the walking theme makes a dramatic reappearance in Jack FM, where excitement is mingled with fear as Jack reaches the radio tower.

While Greatest Hits is a lead-in to all of the grand plans executed in the finale, it’s first and foremost a showcase for Charlie. Charlie’s Fate is pretty to begin with, but tense, percussive strings come in to accompany Desmond’s revelation to Charlie that he’s had another vision, and this time, he isn’t going to save him from death. The friendship theme returns in Ta-Ta Charlie as Charlie bids a tender farewell to Hurley. Fairly short, but one of my favorite tracks. Similarly, Heirloom Holiday accompanies a tender moment with Liam. Very different melodically, but the sense of brotherly love is just as apparent.

Finally, the track Greatest Hits underscores Charlie’s friendship with both Claire and Desmond and is very similar melodically to Ta-Ta Charlie but more drawn out and even more delicate. As the harps fade away, the piano comes in for a very slow unfolding of a related melody as Charlie explains to Desmond what he is writing and each offers to take the other’s place. The track, and the episode, ends on a mingled note of panic and surprise as Charlie undertakes his task and receives an unexpected greeting. Other tracks from this episode include the suspenseful Paddle Jumper and its reprise and She’s Dynamite, along with the more tender The Good, the Bad and the Ominous.

The most troubling aspect of the finale for me, surpassing even the death of Charlie (which, at least at the time, seemed to have been for an important purpose), was the complete breakdown of Jack’s character. Unlike many, I wasn’t blind-sided by the big reveal that the presumed flashbacks we’d been seeing were, in fact, flashforwards, since I couldn’t imagine Jack having been in such a dark place prior to the Island - but I could easily see how regretful despair might tie him up in such knots if he’d managed to get off the Island and discovered that he never should have left after all. Many of the Greatest Hits tracks explore Jack’s psyche in various ways.

Flying High is one of the prettier tracks, accompanying the first moments of the finale as we see the stark contrast between the shattered Jack in L. A. and the confident Jack on the Island. Mostly fairly slow and emotional, it takes on a sense of urgency toward the end. Ex Marks the Jack finds Future Jack in an uncomfortable reunion with his ex-wife, while in the short and ominous The Fallen Hero, he comes to terms with the disconnect between his heroic portrayal in the media and reality. Early Mourning Mystery is delicately elegiac, stopping just short of reprising Life and Death before launching into a piano-driven version of the walking theme.

All Jacked Up, the shortest track by far, has no time for anything more than a few suspenseful shrieks of the strings as Jack tries to refill his prescription. Act Now, Regret Later is slow and troubled, with ominous beats emphasizing the underlying fear that Jack’s actions have caused his friends at the beach to be killed. Just What the Doctor Ordered has a threatening tone to it as Jack confronts his doctor. The walking theme also turns up again as Jack heads off in a huff. Finally, Flash Forward Flashback, the final track aside from the ending theme, has an enigmatic feel to it, then the slow dawning of an epiphany as the show reveals that bearded Jack is in the future. The first half of the track is panicked and suspenseful, before Life and Death makes its last of many appearances on the soundtrack in one of its most mournful incarnations, followed by the walking theme, an indication of the journey to come.

The important counterpoint to Jack here is Ben, whose plan to kidnap the women on the beach precipitates Jack’s plan to blow up the Others. Meanwhile, his primary preoccupation in this episode is stopping Jack from making contact with the freighter. Six of the finale tracks underscore important scenes dealing with his response to the building crisis.

The Looking Glass Ceiling is a suspenseful track accompanying Ben finding out that Charlie has breached the Looking Glass. Meanwhile, trombone blasts fall like heavy footsteps as the shootout begins at the beach. Another tense track, Jintimidating Bernard (perhaps the punniest title on a track listing full of wordplay), is driven by percussion of various kinds that beat like the hearts of captors and captives as Jin’s life hangs in the balance. Suspenseful beats also abound in the brief Benomination of the Temple, which has Ben telling Richard to lead the Others to the Temple.

In Torture Me Not, violins creep underneath a hushed conversation as Ben orders Mikhail to attack those he has found in the Looking Glass, including his fellow Others. A very ominous track that finds resolution four tracks later with Patchy at Best, in which the piano provides the sound of pounding footsteps as Mikhail carries out his orders and, back on the Island, Ben tries to convince Jack that the freighter is bad news. Their confrontation is heightened in Hold the Phone as Ben and Jack fight for the mobile phone to the accompaniment of suspenseful strings.

Desmond and Mikhail share a brief, tense moment in Diving Desmond, as the Scotsman dives to safety from the rogue Russian. In Sticking to Their Guns, we have Sawyer and Juliet breaking away from the pack to head back to camp. Hints of the romance to follow two seasons later can be found in the soft melody, though the sense of stealth predominates. Through the Locke-ing Glass is another ominous track. Some interesting percussion accompanies Walt’s sudden appearance that pulls John from the brink of suicide (one of three instances of such intervention, intentional of not, in John’s hours of deepest despair).

The brief but beautiful Hurley’s Helping Hand includes gently swelling strings and hints of the friendship theme as Hurley announces to Jack over the phone that Bernard, Jin and Sayid are alive and out of danger. Naomi Phone Home gets off to a creepy start as the audience weighs what dire consequences this contact might have for the castaways in light of Ben and John’s misgivings. Finally, however, more than three minutes in, the dark strains melt away into the bliss of an impending rescue. It takes a long time to get to this point, but the gorgeous final minute or so makes it worth the wait.

It’s only fitting for me to save the tracks about Charlie for last; he was one of my favorite characters from day one, and his sacrificial death remains one of the most poignant scenes in the series. In Manifesting Destiny, piano and strings emphasize the danger of his situation as he is interrogated by Bonnie and Greta. The suspense continues with Weapon of Mass Distraction, a very similar-sounding track. Code of Conduct starts off with a similarly ominous feel but becomes somewhat playful as Charlie learns what he must do to fulfill his mission.

Finally, Looking Glass Half Full serves as a powerful farewell to this washed-up rock star-turned-hero. First come the notes of danger as we realize that Desmond’s vision is about to come true after all. Panic ensues as Charlie scrambles to keep Desmond out of the control room in an effort to save his life. Around the two-minute mark, resignation sets in, and harps and strings take up the all-too-familiar mournful refrain that mingles with Charlie’s addiction theme from season one to form one of the most stirring renditions of Life and Death yet. The tempo gradually slows as Charlie’s lungs fill with water, until the track and his life end together.

This is an epic undertaking of a soundtrack, with Michael Giacchino and the Hollywood Studio Symphony creating an audio representation of so many iconic moments. As you listen, you can remind yourself of some of the scenes corresponding to the music, thanks to the CD booklet, which consists mostly of high-quality stills from the season. There are more than two dozen of these; my favorite is probably the shot of Hurley looking startled as John’s knife lands in the middle of his canteen. Also included is a track listing, a list of episodes with the corresponding tracks in parentheses, and notes from Darlton (writer-producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) and Giacchino. Of course, if you can only get one thing from season three, I’d recommend the DVD boxed set. But if you’ve been impressed with the music from LOST, it’s hard to go wrong with the season three soundtrack, in which, as indicated by Darlton’s note, Giacchino “has taken the themes he’s developed for all the main characters... turned them, deepened them, and found new ways to express the emotions of the show.” Truly a marvel of television music.