▁an ▁un re li able ▁historian ▁of ▁the ▁island ▁in ▁the ▁best ▁way . ▁R ous seau ▁has ▁been ▁on ▁this ▁island ▁for ▁over ▁six teen ▁years , ▁and ▁it ▁shows ▁in ▁her ▁ram sh ack le ▁b unker , ▁her ▁un k empt ▁appearance , ▁and ▁the ▁fact ▁she ▁tort ures ▁Say id ▁for ▁information ▁before ▁even ▁asking ▁him ▁a ▁curs ory ▁question ▁about ▁his ▁identity ." ▁ ▁In ▁a ▁ranking ▁of ▁every ▁episode ▁of ▁Lost ▁( ex cluding ▁the ▁finale ) ▁for ▁the ▁Los ▁Angeles ▁Times , ▁Em ily ▁Van Der W er ff ▁ranked ▁" Sol it ary " ▁as ▁the ▁show ' s ▁ 4 5 th ▁best ▁episode , ▁and ▁called ▁it ▁under r ated . ▁In ▁a ▁similar ▁list , ▁I GN ▁staff ▁ranked ▁the ▁episode ▁as ▁Lost ' s ▁ 5 1 st ▁best , ▁and ▁observed ▁that ▁" des p ite ▁[ S ay id ' s ] ▁dark ▁past , ▁it ▁was ▁hard ▁not ▁to ▁love ▁the ▁character ▁even ▁more ▁after ▁this ▁episode ." ▁MTV ▁ranked ▁the ▁episode ▁the ▁ 3 2 nd ▁best ▁of ▁the ▁series . ▁Writing ▁for ▁Z ap 2 it ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁Ryan ▁McG ee ▁said ▁he ▁particularly ▁enjoyed ▁the ▁episode ▁and ▁de emed ▁it ▁one ▁of ▁his ▁top ▁ten ▁favorite ▁episodes ▁that ▁had ▁a ired ▁up ▁to ▁that ▁point . ▁McG ee ▁explained ▁that ▁" Sol it ary " ▁contains ▁" a ▁lot ▁of ▁en closed ▁enc oun ters ▁between ▁two ▁people , ▁set