Greatest Hits (Lost)

Charlie Pace (played by Dominic Monaghan) recounts the five greatest moments of his life, which are depicted in flashbacks, as he prepares to fulfill Desmond Hume's (Henry Ian Cusick) premonitions of his death.

[3] The Others' leader Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) orders ten of the Others to go to the survivors' camp to kidnap any pregnant women that night—a night earlier than was scheduled.

Ben's adopted daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde) persuades her boyfriend Karl (Blake Bashoff) to canoe to the survivors' beach to warn them.

The survivors' leader Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) plans to kill the ambushing Others with dynamite retrieved by island resident Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan).

[4] Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), Jin Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) and Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson) are selected to stay behind to shoot the dynamite-rigged tents when the Others arrive.

[20] "Greatest Hits" marked the first appearance for married couple Rose and Bernard since the late second season[21] and fans welcomed the recurring characters' return.

[29] In the United Kingdom, the episode attracted 1.21 million viewers, and was the second most watched program of the week on the non-terrestrial channels, beaten only by Katie & Peter: The Next Chapter.

[32] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Monaghan "turned in his best performance yet on Lost"[33] and described the final scene as "breathtaking"[34] with "a stunningly realized, Emmy-worthy triumph of F/X.

[37] Chris Carabott of IGN rated the episode as an 8.5/10, commending the character development of Jack and Charlie, and the acting skills of Emerson, who portrays Ben.

[39] Erin Martell of AOL's TV Squad rated "Greatest Hits" as a 6/7, saying that it succeeded in building momentum for the season finale, but pointed out the plot inconsistency regarding Charlie's (in)ability to swim.

[40] Scott Juba of The Trades decided "Greatest Hits" was the best episode of the third season, saying that the flashbacks "evok[e] the type of identifiable human emotions that drives the success of Lost.

The true genius of the show lies not in its plot twists or mysteries but rather in its ability to make the audience invested in the characters by evoking themes that almost anyone can identify with.