Reception
"Stranger in a Strange Land" was watched by 12.95 million Americans, ranking Lost as the 21st most watched program of the week. This was an increase in viewers from the previous episode, making Lost the number one scripted television series in the adults 18-49 category for the third consecutive week. The episode garnered more viewers than other television series' showing at the same time on other networks, including Criminal Minds and CSI: NY. The ratings, however, were a decrease compared to the same time the previous year, when the episode "One of Them" garnered 18.20 million Americans.
"Stranger in a Strange Land" garnered many negative reviews from critics. Chris Carabott, a writer for IGN, wrote that "the episode was "nothing more than a transition episode". Carabott felt that although it was "a necessary evil in episodic television like Lost", it did not "excuse the poor execution and uninteresting story". IGN later chose it as the worst episode of the series, describing it as "pointless and boring". Cinemablend.com's Josh Spiegel claimed that the episode "was the first rough patch of an otherwise very good third season." Spiegel went on to write that although previews for "Stranger in a Strange Land" promised that three questions would be answered, they were not the mysteries he had been worried about. Mac Slocum of Filmfodder.com was upset about the "overblown marketing" which failed to deliver the answers that he wanted.
"Stranger in a Strange Land" is almost universally considered among Lost fans as the worst episode of the show, and was even recognized as such by show runner Damon Lindelof in an interview. It was part of the inspiration to set an end date for the series after season 6.
Read more about this topic: Stranger In A Strange Land (Lost)
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