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Q&A with LOST show runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse
December 2nd, 2008 by Michael Stailey
It’s always a treat to sit down with Damon and Carlton. Not only are they adept at breaking great stories, but they can work a crowd like nobody’s business. This morning, Walt Disney Home Entertainment set up an online chat with Bad Robot’s dynamic duo regarding next week’s release of Lost: Season Four on DVD and Blu-ray. The amazing thing is that they were surprisingly forthcoming about what we can expect from the show’s final two seasons. This isn’t a spoiler-laden discussion, but there are enough little nuggets to keep Lost fans hungry for that January 21 premiere.
Oh, and while the chat was going on, Disney shared two of the Season Four set’s many bonus features. One was Damon and Carlton doing their deadpan Abbott and Costello routine on the subject of flashforwards, and the other a History Channel inspired investigation of the truth behind the Oceanic Six.
A brief excerpt:
Q: It seems that the next season will have stories set in two time frames. Does this mean that you have to outline the story of the season in advance in ways you never did before?
Cartlon Cuse: Our approach to the story telling changed drastically once we were able to negotiate an end date to the show. Before that we didn’t know if the mythology had to last two seasons or seven seasons. Once we knew there were only going to be 48 eps of the show left we were able to start charting out the remaining journey. We approach it on three levels. First we have discussions about the uber-mythology and plant the big landmark events in rough locations. Then at the end of each season we have a writer’s mini camp where we discuss the arc of the upcoming season in great detail. Then we break each individual episode and see where we end up at the end of each break. We give ourselves a fair about of latitude to listen to the show and react — writing more or less for various characters or situations depending on how they play.
Q: Watching Season Four in one sitting on DVD, do you think there’s a break in style between the pre-strike and post-strike episodes?
Damon Lindelof: Hopefully not, Charlie. The fact of the matter is that we designed out — at least roughly — the entire sixteen episode season… planting flags as to what would happen where in the grand scheme of things. In that original design, there were a couple of episodes focusing more on the Freighter Folks (Faraday, Miles, and Charlotte) that got pushed into this season, but more importantly, things like Jack’s appendicitis and Keamy arriving at New Otherton and killing Alex happened SOONER than we had planned due to the collapsed schedule. I think if there’s a sense of separation between the first eight episodes (ending with “Meet Kevin Johnson”) and the final six hours, it’s that the story is really moving at a much higher rate of speed than we’re traditionally accustomed to.
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