HBO’s The Third Day has proven to be a compelling new addition to the folk-horror genre — but it actually has a surprising amount of similarities to J.J. Abrams’ series, Lost. Created by Dennis Kelly, The Third Day starred Jude Law as a grieving father, Sam, who stumbled upon an attempted suicide. After rescuing the girl and taking her home, Sam was beset by local forces with drastically different intentions for him. Desperate to escape but seemingly fated to remain, Sam’s journey was told across three episodes and a special 12-hour live event, titled “Summer” and “Autumn”, respectively. The overall story continued with “Winter”, which saw things switch to the equally mysterious viewpoint of Helen (Naomie Harris).
Lost, meanwhile, was created by Abrams with Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof. The latter would serve as the showrunner alongside Carton Cuse. The hugely successful series premiered September 22, 2004, and ran for six seasons, concluding in May 2010. Despite its divisive and still oft-debated series finale, Lost is still considered one of the greatest television shows of all-time, and has remained at the forefront of popular culture for many. Boasting one of the largest ensembles ever amassed, the show followed a group of plane crash survivors as they reckoned with both each other and elements of their increasingly mysterious environment.
Since it’s release, The Third Day has drawn favorable comparisons to such classics as The Wicker Man and more recent outings as Midsommar. However, despite being delivered through extremely different lenses, The Third Day actually shared a lot of thematic and logistic DNA with Lost. For starters, the central hero of Lost was the equally grieving Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox). As per the famous plane crash, his journey also kicked off in the direct aftermath of a traumatic event. While that could equally be attributed to countless other shows, here’s a breakdown of several more specific similarities between Lost and The Third Day.
The Mysterious Island Setting And Its Connection To The World
Both shows took place predominantly on a mysterious island. While Lost‘s was never given a specific name, The Third Day‘s setting was Osea, just off the coast of Essex in England. Both, however, had the unmistakable feel of being worlds unto themselves — steeped in history and lore that’s unfurled slowly across the episodes. Part of that lore is also eerily similar. On The Third Day, Osea is believed to be the soul of the world. As such, it’s stated that the island’s condition is reflected in the rest of the Earth. If Osea declined, the world declined. If Osea thrived, then the world thrived. At its core, the crux of Lost‘s mythology was a traditional battle between good and evil. Therefore, it was equally believed that the events on The Island were not just a battle for it or its residents. It was, in fact, a battle for the fate of the world as a whole, which would have faced similarly reflected consequences.
The Island’s Devout Native Residents
When Sam arrived on Osea, he was greeted by the locals with reactions that ranged from hostile to aggressively friendly. While some wanted to dote on him and his every need, others just wanted to kill him. When the castaways of Lost crashed onto The Island, they were met solely with hostility by a group known as The Others. Over time, however, different subsections of this group were revealed. As they were, views on how best to deal with the castaways were retroactively conveyed to have been equally varied. While some saw Jack, Locke, and the rest as threats to their prosperity, some of The Others were more welcoming — viewing them as potential recruits and maybe even more. Both sets of Island natives were also beholden to their own specific belief system, merging several religions with ancient rituals and traditions.
Equally, both the residents of Osea and The Others counted dressing up in costumes, using undercover agents, and abducting children among their methods. On The Third Day, they wore costumes of creatures called the Sajora, planted Jess (Katherine Waterston) as a faux-ally and confidante for Sam, and orchestrated the initial kidnap of his son. On Lost, they posed as unkempt forest-dwellers, sent in spies like Ethan Rom (William Mapother) to live among the plane crash survivors, and kidnapped several children. These included Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley) and Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde).
The Man in White
Both The Island and Osea were overseen by mysterious men perpetually dressed in white. On Lost, it was a timeless man named Jacob. The character was mentioned intermittently throughout multiple seasons of Lost, before finally making his first appearance in Lost season 5, episode 16, “The Incident, Part One”. Played by Mark Pellegrino, Jacob was personally responsible for bringing people to The Island and generally tasked or otherwise guided the majority of their actions.
The residents of Osea also followed a white-suited man known as The Father (Richard Bremmer). A distant relative of Osea’s original settler, he made all the important decisions for the island and was in charge of ensuring it thrived. Like Jacob, The Father was, at first, only referenced or briefly glimpsed in passing before he made himself directly known to Sam. The role that Jacob and The Father inhabit were both passed down to them and eventually expected to be passed down to others.
The Quest For A Replacement
In Lost season 6, it was revealed that Jacob’s principal motive was to find a successor. After centuries as The Island’s protector, he had grown weary of life and his purpose. As a result, the majority of those brought to The Island – including the show’s main castaways – were candidates. Of course, he couldn’t just hand over that kind of power and responsibility. In his own words, he wanted somebody who knew “the difference between right and wrong without me telling them“. Looking back, it was made clear that the majority of Lost‘s events had been a series of trials, enabling potential protectors to overcome their demons and prove themselves worthy, as well as readying them for what was to come.
On The Third Day, Sam was faced with a similar revelation — he was a direct descendent of the original Father of the Island, and believed destined to be Osea’s new leader. Once he begrudgingly accepted that fate, he was also put through a series of trials to seemingly purify him and make sure the island deemed him worthy. Prior to being chosen, Sam’s arrival (and continued presence) on Osea was achieved via an ancient ritual undertaken by Epona (Jessie Ross). As such, both Sam and the castaways were drawn to their respective islands by mystical means. Equally, Sam was singled out as a prospective leader because of his seeming glimpses of the future. One of Jacob’s candidates on Lost, the aforementioned Walt, was similarly viewed as a primary choice for comparable gifts. Also like Jacob, Osea’s initial Father had grown tired of life, but only allowed himself to die after a successor was decided upon.
Ghostly Visions That Are Anything But
From the moment Sam arrived on Osea, he experienced eerie visions of his dead son, Nathan. The figure would appear to him, often from a distance, but always ran away as Sam tried to make direct contact. The same thing occurred on Lost. From almost the first day Jack arrived on The Island, he saw glimpses of his recently deceased father, Christian Shephard (John Terry). He also attempted to catch up to the figure, only for it to always flee and vanish. In both cases, it turned out to be far from an actual ghost.
On The Third Day, it was revealed that Nathan’s death had been staged. Instead, he had been raised on Osea as a potential substitute for Sam. In the case of Lost, such ghostly figures as Jack’s dad or Mr. Eko’s brother were actually the Man in Black (aka the Smoke Monster) taking on their form. He did so in order to manipulate candidates or otherwise lead them to their deaths. Nathan was ultimately used in a similar fashion, to coerce Sam into accepting the leadership of Osea.
The Looming Threat/The Darkness
From the earliest episode of Lost, the smoke monster served as one of the show’s biggest mysteries. After it was revealed to be one of the Man in Black’s many forms, he was moved officially into the category of the primary antagonist. Wanting nothing more than to leave the island, halting it was The Island protector’s central purpose. As per Jacob’s famous cork speech, to let it escape would be to allow evil to spill across the world and destroy it.
The threat hanging over The Third Day is not quite as literal as the one (dis)embodied by The Man in Black. Instead, residents of Osea frequently espoused a more metaphorical darkness coming to consume the world. Regardless, it’s the duty of those on Osea Island, but most especially its Father, to prevent such a disaster from occurring. And the consequence of not being able to do so was projected with an eerily similar description. As such, The Third Day served as a testament that, despite it being a decade since the final episode and its divisive conclusion, Lost has remained hugely influential.
