After last season, I took the liberty of compiling the ratings of Fuselage members for all the season 2 episodes. The old thread is here (http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=53302). Since no one else has done something similar for season 3, I figured I'd give it a shot. It's going to be a bit tricky, because episodes 3.1 through 3.5 were done with the old method (ie "best episode of TV ever") with 9 choices and the rest were done on a numerical scale with 10 choices.

To simplify matters, I'm not going to do 2 separate lists. I'll just convert the worded list to a scale of 2-10 and keep the other list 1-10. You can argue with my methodology if you like; fortunately for all of us, this isn't a stats class exercise. Also, in order to facilitate comparison, I'm going to redo season 2 on a 2-10 scale, rather than the 0-8 scale I did it on. I saved last year's chart (I'm a geek), so that's quite easy for me to do.

Season 3 calculations

Episode Average Rank ~ Episode Name ~ Number of Votes

9.079 ~ The Man from Tallahassee ~ 491
9.050 ~ The Man Behind the Curtain ~ 477
8.996 ~ The Brig ~ 449
8.995 ~ Through the Looking Glass ~ 588
8.884 ~ One of Us ~ 457
8.600 ~ Flashes Before Your Eyes ~ 477
8.483 ~ Enter 77 ~ 418
8.438 ~ Par Avion ~ 411
8.422 ~ Greatest Hits ~ 412
8.111 ~ Not in Portland ~ 415
8.093 ~ D.O.C. ~ 353
7.701 ~ Left Behind ~ 421
7.569 ~ Catch-22 ~ 406
7.466 ~ Tricia Tanaka is Dead ~ 515
7.073 ~ A Tale of Two Cities ~ 463
6.970 ~ Every Man for Himself ~ 435
6.852 ~ The Glass Ballerina ~ 433
6.774 ~ Further Instructions ~ 469
6.548 ~ I Do ~ 615
6.548 ~ The Cost of Living ~ 451
6.427 ~ Expose ~ 541
5.441 ~ Stranger in a Strange Land ~ 521

Season 2, new calculations

Episode Average Rank ~ Episode Name ~ Number of Votes

7.909 ~ Lockdown ~ 563
7.725 ~ Live Together Die Alone ~ 455
7.722 ~ Maternity Leave ~ 640
7.558 ~ ? ~ 308
7.558 ~ Two for the Road ~ 609
7.505 ~ Orientation ~ 186
7.495 ~ What Kate Did ~ 295
7.357 ~ The Other 48 Days ~ 244
7.283 ~ The Long Con ~ 628
7.250 ~ Man of Science, Man of Faith ~ 16
7.183 ~ Collision ~ 229
7.155 ~ The Hunting Party ~ 148
7.045 ~ Abandoned ~ 199
6.977 ~ Three Minutes ~ 309
6.955 ~ One of Them ~ 598
6.870 ~ Everybody Hates Hugo ~ 208
6.680 ~ Dave ~ 556
6.514 ~ S.O.S. ~ 539
6.480 ~ The Whole Truth ~ 456
6.295 ~ Adrift ~ 129
6.178 ~ ...And Found ~ 174
5.665 ~ Fire + Water ~ 203

Seasons 3 and 2, combined

Episode Average Rank ~ Episode Name ~ Number of Votes

9.079 ~ The Man from Tallahassee ~ 491
9.050 ~ The Man Behind the Curtain ~ 477
8.996 ~ The Brig ~ 449
8.995 ~ Through the Looking Glass ~ 588
8.884 ~ One of Us ~ 457
8.600 ~ Flashes Before Your Eyes ~ 477
8.483 ~ Enter 77 ~ 418
8.438 ~ Par Avion ~ 411
8.422 ~ Greatest Hits ~ 412
8.111 ~ Not in Portland ~ 415
8.093 ~ D.O.C. ~ 353
7.909 ~ Lockdown ~ 563
7.725 ~ Live Together Die Alone ~ 455
7.722 ~ Maternity Leave ~ 640
7.701 ~ Left Behind ~ 421
7.569 ~ Catch-22 ~ 406
7.558 ~ ? ~ 308
7.558 ~ Two for the Road ~ 609
7.505 ~ Orientation ~ 186
7.495 ~ What Kate Did ~ 295
7.466 ~ Tricia Tanaka is Dead ~ 515
7.357 ~ The Other 48 Days ~ 244
7.283 ~ The Long Con ~ 628
7.250 ~ Man of Science, Man of Faith ~ 16
7.183 ~ Collision ~ 229
7.155 ~ The Hunting Party ~ 148
7.073 ~ A Tale of Two Cities ~ 463
7.045 ~ Abandoned ~ 199
6.977 ~ Three Minutes ~ 309
6.970 ~ Every Man for Himself ~ 435
6.955 ~ One of Them ~ 598
6.870 ~ Everybody Hates Hugo ~ 208
6.860 ~ Dave ~ 556
6.852 ~ The Glass Ballerina ~ 433
6.774 ~ Further Instructions ~ 469
6.548 ~ I Do ~ 615
6.548 ~ The Cost of Living ~ 451
6.514 ~ S.O.S. ~ 539
6.480 ~ The Whole Truth ~ 456
6.427 ~ Expose ~ 541
6.295 ~ Adrift ~ 129
6.178 ~ …And Found ~ 174
5.665 ~ Fire + Water ~ 203
5.441 ~ Stranger in a Strange Land ~ 521

Where the heck is 'The 23rd Pslam', Jen?! That was my favourite S2 ep.

Oh, from S2? Some of the eps in season 2 never had a ratings thread started for them, unfortunately. If you click back on last year's compilation thread, I think that was discussed there.

And suuuure, I do all this work and all I get is a complaint? :p ;)

Oh, from S2? Some of the eps in season 2 never had a ratings thread started for them, unfortunately. If you click back on last year's compilation thread, I think that was discussed there.

And suuuure, I do all this work and all I get is a complaint? :p ;)

This is awesome! Thank you jennylee!

well done, jennylee.

i love looking at stats and comparing them (for no good reason at all).

your combined S2/3 stats really shows how well received and executed the episodes in the second half of S3 were. Your Top 10 is dominated by them...

kudos from me for your work...:thumbup1:

Wow, why was Stranger in a Strange Land so ill-received? I'm really surprised to see that episode ranking so poorly. 5.4? I really enjoyed that one; the Thailand scenes, the cage scene where he wonders why he's being looked at, the introduction of the Sherriff, and the Others own "court of law."

your combined S2/3 stats really shows how well received and executed the episodes in the second half of S3 were. Your Top 10 is dominated by them...

kudos from me for your work...:thumbup1:
Thanks! Yeah, I noticed that as well. I wonder if people were just being more enthusiastic about their votes? The problem with voting highly at any point, is that there is little room to go up. If you give a 9 to an episode you really like, what are you going to do with episodes you love, and then your favorite episode ever? They all end up being 10 10 10s. That could skew the numbers a bit.

Wow, why was Stranger in a Strange Land so ill-received? I'm really surprised to see that episode ranking so poorly. 5.4? I really enjoyed that one; the Thailand scenes, the cage scene where he wonders why he's being looked at, the introduction of the Sherriff, and the Others own "court of law."
The reaction after SIASL was just horrible. Take a look at some of the threads in the episode board, if you dare. People generally hated having another Jack flashback, and having to wait so long to learn something perceived as uninmportant as a tattoo. It was also preceded by FBYE, which had an entirely different feel, leading to a kind of let-down/hang-over phenomenon. I'm not surprised at all to see it so low, only interested to know that it came in last, behind other eps that get bashed so frequently (ie Expose and Adrift).

The reaction after SIASL was just horrible. Take a look at some of the threads in the episode board, if you dare. People generally hated having another Jack flashback, and having to wait so long to learn something perceived as uninmportant as a tattoo. It was also preceded by FBYE, which had an entirely different feel, leading to a kind of let-down/hang-over phenomenon. I'm not surprised at all to see it so low, only interested to know that it came in last, behind other eps that get bashed so frequently (ie Expose and Adrift).

Yeah, I did just that right after making my post and yeah, there were alot of negative comments about it. One thing struck me though: the promo. Had the promo not promised viewers "3 big mysteries revealed" I think it would have been better received.

Anyways, good job on the ranking compilation, OP.

The reaction after SIASL was just horrible. Take a look at some of the threads in the episode board, if you dare. People generally hated having another Jack flashback, and having to wait so long to learn something perceived as uninmportant as a tattoo. It was also preceded by FBYE, which had an entirely different feel, leading to a kind of let-down/hang-over phenomenon. I'm not surprised at all to see it so low, only interested to know that it came in last, behind other eps that get bashed so frequently (i.e. Expose and Adrift).
Agreeance that it was one of the poorest FBs of the series (along with Michael's in "Adrift" and Charlie's in "Homecoming"), but the PRESENT TIME story--Jack deals with the Others on his own on Alcatraz--was pretty darn good. A shame that gets forgotten in the general hatred of the Achara story.

Actually, I myself didn't rate the ep too badly. The Jack/Juliet stuff was my favorite for them - up until their kiss!

Thanks! Yeah, I noticed that as well. I wonder if people were just being more enthusiastic about their votes? The problem with voting highly at any point, is that there is little room to go up. If you give a 9 to an episode you really like, what are you going to do with episodes you love, and then your favorite episode ever? They all end up being 10 10 10s. That could skew the numbers a bit.

i can't speak for other people, but I've always rated realistically, trying to leave out fandom factors ('ooohh, it's a Jack/Sawyer/Locke/etc. episode - it's the best EVER!!!). Every episode is a mini-story within the larger story arc, and thus is rated according to acting, execution, and attention-to-detail (default factor, if you're a 'Lage member :biggrin: ).
Overall, when you check out the Rate It threads, most people are fair with their assessments and, concordingly, their votes. It can be safely assumed that certain people will vote higher if it's centric on their fav character, because they will legitimately enjoy it more. But, I don't think people get carried away.

I also think that most of the Top 10 are great examples of everything fantastic about Lost. Writing, acting, mythology, character interaction, etc... What would be fantastic, albeit not really possible, is if you could compare S3.2 to S1. S1 set the medium, and has been constantly brought up. When Lost struggled a little in S3.1, a lot of people would say things like, 'do remember when Lost was good like in Season 1?' It would be interesting to see how ATBCHDI or Exodus would match up to TTLG or The Brig (I didn't mention the Pilot because, really,.. what compares? :cool: )

i can't speak for other people, but I've always rated realistically, trying to leave out fandom factors ('ooohh, it's a Jack/Sawyer/Locke/etc. episode - it's the best EVER!!!). Every episode is a mini-story within the larger story arc, and thus is rated according to acting, execution, and attention-to-detail (default factor, if you're a 'Lage member :biggrin: ).
Overall, when you check out the Rate It threads, most people are fair with their assessments and, concordingly, their votes. It can be safely assumed that certain people will vote higher if it's centric on their fav character, because they will legitimately enjoy it more. But, I don't think people get carried away.

I also think that most of the Top 10 are great examples of everything fantastic about Lost. Writing, acting, mythology, character interaction, etc... What would be fantastic, albeit not really possible, is if you could compare S3.2 to S1. S1 set the medium, and has been constantly brought up. When Lost struggled a little in S3.1, a lot of people would say things like, 'do remember when Lost was good like in Season 1?' It would be interesting to see how ATBCHDI or Exodus would match up to TTLG or The Brig (I didn't mention the Pilot because, really,.. what compares? :cool: )


Most people don't get carried away, however I've seen enough negative comments about Foxy/Jack to last me a lifetime. What I don't get is instead of bashing the character/actor, complain about the writers and producers - they are the one's who wrote ANOTHER Jack flashback. He's getting paid to do a job - what's he going to do, say no, I'm not doing that episode.??

Believe me, there is plenty of bashing the writers/producers on the boards, you just have to look around for it (since the site is sponsored by them, technically people have to be more polite about it).

But I do think ratings reflect people's favorite characters. That's only natural. I love Juliet and learning about her character, so I end up liking her episodes more. But, that's why this is a ranking of preferences, and not of objective quality of the episodes. :)

I think the promo for 'Stranger In A Strange Land' was even more responcible for that episodes terrible rating than you guys do. In the few days after it aired pretty much everyone - even the die-hard everything-on-lost-is-awe-inspiring if-you-disagree-you're-not-a-true-fan people - where asking "where the f*** were the three big answers????". Not that I think it was a great episode.

TTM, I agree that it was a huge problem. And that's unfortunate for TPTB, because of course they don't create the promos. They even said in the podcast that they have no idea what the 3 mysteries were supposed to be. Hopefully the promo people have learned their lesson.

Wow, great job. Itis weird how T2C didn't rate well. In my opinion it contains one of the best sequences EVER in TV (the opening sequence, from "down town" to the plane crash...:confused:
And this complation clearly shows how people disliked season 2...

Thanks Annie. :smile: You know, pointing out TOTC, I see you are right. It actually ranked BELOW The Hunting Party, which is routinely bashed around these parts. How odd.

Aww, and "....And Found" shouldn't be at the near bottom. It was a good episode.

Aww, and "....And Found" shouldn't be at the near bottom. It was a good episode.

i just rewatched that episode yesterday and i agree with you. i really liked the jin and sun stuff. the michael storyline in that episode was pretty lame though.

TTM, thanks for posting and reawakening this thread. I hope people remember to vote after every new episode, so I can keep the list going. I find it pretty interesting myself!

Ive been watching season 3 off and on, and the Greatest Hits eppy still gets me. Especially when I think about how during the season, most people expected him to die in that eppy.