Category Archives: Behind the scenes / elsewhere

Maureen Ryan, who writes The Watcher column at the Chicago Tribune, recently talked to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, for over an hour, about Season 6. She published a column with the highlights of the interview and will be posting the full transcript soon.

Here are some highlights of the highlights:

Damon and Carlton will write the Season 6 finale, and Jack Bender will direct it.

Season 6 will start where Season 5 left off. Carlton said:

There’s an eight-month gap [between seasons], but when you actually buy the DVDs, you’ll put the finale in for Season 5 and then you’re put the first disc in for Season 6 and it will feel like a very continuous experience.

Carlton said that this season’s central concept will be bold:

Last year, we committed to this concept of time travel with a certain expectation that some people really might not respond to it. I think the most pleasant surprise was how much people embraced it, because it was difficult and it was much more overtly science fiction, and yet people really seemed to like the season,” Cuse said. “But we have the same anxiety about what we’re doing this season. We kind of feel like the fundamental tenet that we’ve tried to follow as storytellers is ‘Be bold.’

He expressed uncertainty that the bold Season 6 approach would be well-received, but perhaps he doth protest too much:

But in being bold sometimes you fall on your face. So, we committed to a narrative approach this season which we feel is bold and it’s different than what we’ve done before. And if it works, it’ll be exciting, but it might not be everybody’s cup of tea either.

Damon said they really did plan everything out far in advance. Really, really, truly:

Despite what people think or say, so much of it has been talked about and planned for years now that you’re just kind of executing the plan to the best of your ability and changing the plan when it’s not working, but otherwise, you’re kind of married to the inevitable — the stuff that we want to do.

Carlton said it will be up to us to interpret the show, when it’s all over, and they won’t get in our way. Will they really be able to resist putting in their two cents? I wouldn’t, if it were me:

Cuse said the duo is going “off the grid” after the finale airs in order to avoid “having to interpret the ending.” More from Cuse on this topic: “We’ve always felt that one of the compelling elements of ‘Lost’ is its intentional ambiguity. The fact is, it’s open for interpretation and discussion and we feel like we would be doing a disservice to the fans and the viewers to say, ‘No, you must only look at this in one way.’ We don’t think that is really good for the show or for people’s ability to read into the show what they want…. We really feel we are very committed to this notion of not sort of stripping the show of its essential mystery. I mean, mystery exists in life …. There are sort of fundamental elements of mystery and magic to the show that are unexplainable, and any attempt to explain them would actually harm the show, and in our opinion, the legacy of the show. So we’re trying to find that kind of right blend of answering questions, but also leaving the things that should be mysterious, mysterious.

Finally, there’s great news for all of you (or is it only me?) who love to hear the LOST actors sing:

I jokingly suggested that this season we’d see either the much-discussed Zombie Season or at the very least a “Lost” musical. Unfortunately it was a no on both counts, but Cuse did say that in Season 6, we will see “a character singing.”

See Maureen Ryan’s full column, along with new Season 6 cast publicity photos here: ‘Lost’ photos and info found: A few thoughts from Cuse and Lindelof on the end of the island drama

Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear picture via Lostpedia