Cuse and Lindelof on LOST

As Season 5 of LOST approaches, you’ll probably be hearing more and more about LOST from me. I can’t help myself. It’s the best show ever created, and we’re living in the middle of it. Some day, when High Schools and Colleges are teaching classes about LOST, we’ll be able to tell our grandkids that we were there when the show originally aired.

Thought I’d pass along this link today. It’s highlights of a panel with Cartlon Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the head writers for LOST. (there are no Season 5 spoilers in this link, but the site I link to does have Spoilers elsewhere, so be warned)

Here’s a few of the more interesting snippets:

+ Asked if they know the answers to all the questions they raise on the show right away or sometimes figure it out as they go along, the duo said it was a combination of the two. Lindelof recalled how the entire pilot was put together – including writing, casting and production – in 12 weeks, which didn’t allow much time to come up with any long-term mythology. However, once the series was given a full season order, beyond the initial 12 episode order it received, Cuse said he and Lindelof sat down and discussed, “What the overall mythological underpinnings of the show would be. We quickly landed on the ending, and then constructed this broader road map of other mythological points we’d hit on this story.”

+ While each season of Lost is mapped out,
the duo said you have to, “let the show organically tell us what it’s going to be,”

+ Cuse said that while they know the fans love to dissect the mythology, “We probably spend 80% on character, and 20% on mythology,” stressing that he thinks the focus on the characters, is “Why the show crossed over to not being a small genre show.” That being said, he acknowledged, “This year will probably be a little bit more science fictiony.”

+ As for the end of the series,
and whether every question will be answered, Lindelof noted, “Sometimes we’re presenting things that are not really questions for us, but they become questions for the audience, and we don’t have an intention of answering them.” He said that something like what is causing that roar in the jungle they certainly intend to answer, but, “that’s not to say there won’t be some questions left,” depending on the individual viewer and what they become fixated on.

(thanks DocArtz)