Lost: The Complete Third Season

This once-sensational series, always guaranteed to be the topic of water-cooler conversation after an episode aired during the first two seasons, slipped last year—and not just because of interruptions and repeats—as the show's writers seemed to have gotten lost themselves. With the possibility of rescue becoming more remote each day, the survivors of Flight 815 find themselves drifting further away from established moral and societal norms. The 2006-07 third season opens with several episodes revolving around the imprisonment of Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) by the dreaded “Others,” who bedevil them with mind games and worse, and eventually capture Locke (Terry O'Quinn). Midway through the season, the captives escape and bring the enigmatic Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) back to their camp. Other plot threads emerge over the course of the 23 episodes collected here, but it's hard not to sense a palpable sense of bewilderment in the plotting, not to mention the feeling that the show would be better off with fewer characters. DVD extras include four audio commentaries, a slew of behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. A strong optional purchase. (E. Hulse)