I finished S3 earlier today.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised because I figured that the season finale would be
The pacing had been slower than other seasons, so I fully expected Sutter and the writers to stretch that across the rest of the year. When almost all of that shit went down in the same episode with three to go, I got excited because I thought, "Oh, damn! Where the hell are we going
now?"
I still think the finale's caper works out a little too well given all of its twists and turns, but it was still awesome to watch and it brought us back to what I feel is the central, defining question of the series — Jax questioning his loyalty and allegiance to the Sons.
Edit: S1 > S3 > S2.