Reception
17.15 million American viewers watched this episode live, standing as the ninth most-seen program of the week. It also had 1.1 million viewers in the United Kingdom.
Chris Carabott of IGN gave a 9.3 out of 10 to "I Do", describing it as "delivering some key moments in the series' history and leaving viewers with a spectacular cliffhanger ending." Carabott complimented Locke's scenes as "short but nonetheless powerful" and praised Matthew Fox's acting, saying he "steals the show with one of his best performances to date". Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Christine Fenno considered that the flashbacks "weren't as exciting as the action on the island, but they were full of fun details" and liked Jack's scenes at the operating room. Jonathan Toomey of AOL's TV Squad called "I Do" "an episode worthy of being called a mid-season finale", thinking that the romantic scenes between Kate and Sawyer worked for "the tension that existed". BuddyTV's Oscar Dahl considered "I Do" as "a worthy end to Lost's truncated Fall season", having a good reaction to the cliffhanger and saying the episode "set up incredible possibilities for the rest of the season". Not all reviews were positive, with Slant Magazine's critic Andrew Dignan feeling it was "lacking both the immediacy and urgency that keeps viewers clamoring for months on end", and being critical of the writing, particularly on most of the essential plot elements occurring in the final minutes.
"I Do" was selected as one of the "25 Sexiest TV Shows on DVD" by Entertainment Weekly. IGN ranked the episode 28th out of the 115 Lost episodes, describing it as a "turning point episode of the third season." On the other hand, a similar list by Los Angeles Times ranked "I Do" as the 91st, saying it "mostly botched" the plot point of Kate's wedding despite Nathan Fillion's presence, and feeling it was an episode that "probably shouldn't have had to have as much pressure on it as it did (acting as a mini-cliffhanger in early Season 3)". Evangeline Lilly submitted this episode for consideration on her behalf in the category of "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" at the 2007 Emmy Awards.
Read more about this topic: I Do (Lost)
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