 Patrick Day of the Los Angeles Times thought that " as far as penultimate set @-@ up @-@ to @-@ the @-@ big @-@ finale episodes go , ' Greatest Hits ' was above par in more than one way . " Day celebrated the return of Jack " from Mt . Boring " , the use of drums in Michael Giacchino 's musical score and the return of Rose and Bernard . Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Monaghan " turned in his best performance yet on Lost " and described the final scene as " breathtaking " with " a stunningly realized , Emmy @-@ worthy triumph of F / X. " Kristin Veitch of E ! also enjoyed Monaghan 's acting and called the episode a " perfect example " of the series ' high quality . Charlie McCollum of the San Jose Mercury News described the latter episodes of the third season as " an absolute thrill ride " . 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 . Lulu Bates of Television Without Pity graded the episode as an " A – " . 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 . Scott Juba of The Trades decided that " 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 . " Jon Lachonis of BuddyTV noted that the episode was " wildly successful " in turning Charlie into a likeable and relatable character . 
