We find it surprising that the writers managed to cram the majority of the cast into this week's episode without the story feeling over populated, bloated or poorly paced. Even Bernard and Rose, who we haven't seen since last season, make an appearance this week and they both appear to play an important part in the finale. The Others receive a small amount of screen time but it's enough to convey to the audience Ben's rage due to the events that happened last week. Even with his limited screen time, Michael Emerson's performance shines through and we hope that he survives the events of the finale because we love seeing his character every week.
The writers continue to find creative ways to use the flashbacks and this week they highlight the five greatest moments in Charlie's life. The flashbacks are intertwined nicely with what is happening to Charlie on the island, his progression and finally his acceptance that he must die to save those that he cares about most. A few episodes ago we might have said that Charlie finally biting the big one wouldn't have been such a bad thing but now that we're faced with the prospect we really don't want to see him go. Sure, he's been annoying and his drug habit storyline dragged on for far too long but he's grown on us and this episode proves that he's developed into someone who can be an important member of the group.
It's obvious that the primary task of this episode is to setup the finale, which is a good idea considering the scale of the storyline this season. It's clear that Jack and Juliet have been planning a way to strike back against the Others for some time but we don't understand why they didn't tell the group about their plans until they were cornered last episode. Jack and Juliet would have definitely benefited from the groups help a lot sooner and probably wouldn't be rushing to formulate a plan at the last minute like they are now. Of course, where would the drama be if they had days to plan out their war on the Others? One thing is for sure; this is the best version of Jack we've seen in a while.
The only real complaint about "Greatest Hits" is that it is obvious most of the "WOW" moments are being saved for next week and all the setup is reserved for this episode. Still, following Charlie's journey as he comes to terms with the prospect that he is going to die made for a good story. Also, for those of you who are following those Lost Loose Threads that we posted late last year, we finally found out what the purpose was of that cable running along the beach and into the ocean.
The final moments of the episode reveal a new group of Others living in the Looking Glass Dharma station. Charlie finding a secret group of attractive women living in an underwater station is an exciting twist and hopefully we'll get a good explanation of who they are next week.