LOST - Damon Lindelof Talks at Length about the Ending (Video)
24 May 2012
Cancelled ShowsLost ended almost two years ago, and the finale was predictably controversial and divisive. After the finale, show-runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse understandably went radio-silent, so the ending could sink in. The duo also didn’t return to Comic-Con that summer because it wouldn’t have been a conversation with fans but an inquisition (although I would have liked to seen the room erupt in a massive conflict between people who liked the ending and those who disliked it). While Lindelof eventually did open up regarding some of the fan questions, I haven’t seen a one-on-one interview where he has a civil conversation about the ending rather than an interrogation.
Source and more: Collider
I've been waiting so long to this king of interview with Lindelof. So much things I have to say about this. When my mind will be more focus, I'll try to express my self.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting interview and I liked how blunt he was with some of the things. I definitely agree that having a more ambiguous ending is far better than having the architect explanation (loved that analogy) where absolutely everything is spelled out for you. The middle ground between answers but leaving some room ambiguity is the goal, but I'll side on the side of Lost as Damon said if I had to choose one extreme.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad he clarified, for all the people who didn't believe, that everything really happened (minus the flash-sideways), that all happened to them in their lifetimes. I also appreciated hearing that they listened to the fans, even if they couldn't do much at times since they had written some of the "icebergs" as he mentioned. Hearing they have a plan and they changed the plan if they needed to was good to hear, knowing that sure they had to spitball some stuff but they at least had a general direction they were going in.
I'll probably watch the rest of it later, gotta get some sleep, but I definitely enjoyed this video.
I like Michael Emerson's explanation from when he was on The View better. He seems way too defensive.
ReplyDeleteDamon didn't like Across the Sea any more than I did. I feel validated.
ReplyDeleteI really never get the people who were dissapointed with the way Lost ended...
ReplyDeleteI really loved the Finale. Why? Because, as he said, Lost is named Lost because of the way the characters were living... The way i see it, the show was about all theese people looking for redemption, and in the finale they do redeem themself.
Also, all the hints about the mithology are there! If you get the time to do some research you can complete all the plotholes like what is the Island, who is The Mother, Jacob and The Man in Black, etc... The problem is that the people wanted the direct answer, and i think that would have taken some of the show's magic. Use google and you'll find all the answers...
I can't believe that is a legitimate complaint about the series and how it ends. It never even occurred to me that none of this ever happened. In fact, it is quite clear that everything on the island and in the flashbacks/forwards was real and season six was an after-death reunion.
ReplyDeleteThe Lost Finale is still my favourite series finale, that show is still my all time favourite. I hate how its become something people shit on or act like everyone hated it when many of us didn't!
ReplyDeleteCould someone clarify what he said (I didn't quite catch it) about "Matthew Fox closes his eyes, and everything from there..." I think he was saying the flash sideways didn't happen. Or that Jack was imagining these scenes. So everything on the island really happened, but the flash sideways didn't?
ReplyDeleteLOL it looks like Damon Lindelof was going to punch this guy for saying this things in the beginning "right, mhm right! and damon looks is like " i know were you live, watch out what you're saying dude" xD
ReplyDeleteI never understood how anyone would argue that case either.
ReplyDeleteThen again I never understood half (or more) of the things things people complained about with the LOST finale! So much was answered in the lest few episodes if you looked and listened, and most of the complaints were for such irrelevant things that never seemed even remotely important to me personally.
No everything that happen on the island was real but after matthew fox closes his eyes the beginning of season 6 flashsideways begins!
ReplyDeleteSo basically the flashsideways is after jack dies at the very end of lost
He's saying that everything that happened before Jack died really happened. The flash-sideways is up for interpretation. You can believe that they all really did move onto another realm or dimension that exists in-between life and afterlife after they all died, and they met up there in order to let go of their regrets that were holding them to their lives in order to move on, or you can believe that the flash-sideways didn't happen at all and was all in the head(s) of (a) dying character(s).
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abrams for me are genius. Lost is amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks to both of you. That makes wonderful sense to me. Everything in the flash sideways happened after Jack died.
ReplyDelete(I haven't watched the video yet, so if my concerns are addressed in it, I'm sorry for raising the question) I am sure you are probably the only one here who would give me a reasonable answer to this; my only problem with the finale (or the one that I still remember at least) was that they never revealed what the island actually was. They removed a cork of some sort and put it back in, big deal! I know fans say you should have paid attention or whatever and I I understand the show's style and mythology with regards to such things, but that was THE mystery, the big one, and I wanted it to have been solved explicitly and not in an ambiguous or metaphorical or open-to-interpretation manner - it just made me feel they did not have the answer themselves or they would have given it.
ReplyDeleteI'm two minutes into the video and it seems to me that the interviewer is using this as a soapbox to tell Lindelof about the target audience of Lost and why he (the interviewer) was disappointed by Lost's finale. And one wonders why Lindelof is defensive in interviews?! Lindelof hasn't been allowed to speak yet.
ReplyDeleteThis is his art and we had the option to view it (or not). If you didn't like it, fine, but don't go off on the guy for it. It's ridiculous.
I enjoyed LOST immensely. The series finale wasn't what I envisioned it to be but I still enjoyed it.
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteThis interview was also posted on the darkufo site, where one commenter, Henry Parker, posted this in his comment: http://mypals.at/pics/interview.jpg. I think you'll enjoy it.
LOST was never about explicit answers though and that was the beauty of it to me honestly.
ReplyDeleteI am not a LOST expert and may not be the best person to ask on a site that started from the LOST fansite! XD
Plus honestly, while the Island was a character unto itself in many ways, it was mostly the setting to the characters' journeys to me. Who built statues or how far back the Light goes or any of the questions like that were not what the show was about to me.
Maybe DarkUFO or one of the other long time LOST fans and experts would answer you. I'm sure they could be more definitive and succinct than me.
Yeah, and almost everyone else made me feel crazy for not liking (actually loathing is the appropriate word) that episode.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fair complaint. I understand that taking that view and the frustration you must feel. I'm a faction of the fanbase that isn't bothered by this ambiguity.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is ambiguous. I doubt anyone could give you a clear answer to this. I think it's purposefully nebulous though. However, I think that if it was something that was explicitly explained it would just arouse more dissent and frustration. It'd be the Midi-chlorians or the architect in The Matrix, which Lindelof references in this video. It would too much.
So while I feel that this a legitimate bone to pick with the series for many fans, I also don't think any answer the show could have provided would have satiated many of them.
Do watch the video. He addresses this in it, discussing how Across the Sea is an episode he was not fond of. And this is the episode that gets closest to exploring just what indeed the island is.
Personally, I think what explanation we got was sufficient. The island is a place that holds a precious supernatural force that is to be protected. If it is not, it will be bring darkness over mankind. In the end, the island to me, is a statement on humanity. About its benevolence but about its evil as well. It keeps with the philosophical edge the series explored too.
We are the same sect of the fandom, Darque. I was very much satisfied by the end. Lost would not have been the show it was if it were not for the characters that inhabited it. Their journeys was the important part. And I agree. There were many answers to be had. And the smaller ones left unanswered were never particularly relevant anyway. In fact, many you could infer answers for based on all the info and clues we got throughout the series.
ReplyDeleteThe Man is Charge is super fun. It plays very tongue-in-cheek for me. It's like, "you want answers? Okay. But I can't promise they will live up to what you've built up in your head." I think if one gets too wrapped up in wanting answers, they are only setting themselves up for disappointment. Especially in a fandom like this. One that was uniquely analytical and that spent hours on wikipedia researching everything from The Philadephia Experiment to polar reversal. All those crazy theories could never live up to whatever the show would give us.
Exactly.
ReplyDeleteI loved that it was layered, had nuance and a lot of science and mythology behind the story because it enhanced the characters and the story itself - not because that science and mythology was important on their own.
I tried to explain it a fan that HATED the finale this way....
If I was telling you the story of how my day went, I may say I walked by Starbucks and that little record shop that used to be a gas station, but I would not tell you when those structures were built, how long it took, what other shops occupied those buildings or who designed them. It's irrelevant to the story of how my day went.
People wanted answers to so many things that just didn't matter very much to the story.
Yes, Andy would have a better answer. But even that would be just speculation...I am a fan of suspense and mystery genres and I caught on the show like a year before it ended, I never kept up with all the online discussions and stuff; I just watched the show because I liked the mystery in it....probably I looked at the show from the wrong perspective...they never intended to give the answers maybe? Anyways...I will watch the video and reply back!
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is a "wrong" perspective really....
ReplyDeleteSome people watch shows for supporting cast that barely matter to the series story. Some watch for characters, some for story, some for humor... and even some people watch for romantic love triangles I have read although I simply refuse t believe those people exist! XD
The mystery was intoxicating! I think that was what drew me into the series like many other people. I just changed over time and realized it was a show about the characters more so....
That said I think many people still have differing opinions of the island. The cradle of life, the soul of the world, or even just a mystically charged place.
I think the key to understanding LOST mysteries is not to want every answer for the big complex questions. They just could not give every detailed answer for complex stories or locations like that. The key is to look at the answers they do give. Some may be vague and others may be unsatisfying to some people, but the answers are there.
For me the brilliant part is most of us interpret those answers differently. I like that... open-ended aspect of shows like that.
OMG, the host is one of those who think that the show didn't really happened at all? And he's a fan?
ReplyDeleteEmbarrasing.
Okay, that's hilarious, and accurate. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. :)
ReplyDeleteHost wasn't very good, don't think he was a huge fan...one thing I would of just liked to know....what was the plans for mr eko before he left.
ReplyDeletegreat interview but disagree about purgatory- audience thought the island was purgatory I don't remember any of us wanting them to create an off island purgatory. I was disappointed by ending because the whole - light and end of the world scenario wasn't really acknowledged. I guess I was really waiting for the Christian Shepard to Walt moment -you can go now moment instead of some non defined moment you guys decided to do this - if Jack had participated in that discussion, he would have remembered and acknowledged it. So I didn't buy intot it. I wish Charles Whidmore death could have had more meaning and more clarity to what they had been fighting to save.
ReplyDeleteWell I was unhappy with the ending in that I never wanted an off island purgatory. I felt the island would have been the purgatory. Also could never figure out when they could have all gotten together to have "the conversation about meeting at the church" and why Jack would not have remembered it. I guess I wanted Whidmore's death to have more meaning and maybe let him be the architect to give some resolution to the War he always talked about and how much the candidates changed it.
ReplyDeleteThere was no conversation to remember. They met at the church, that's all.
ReplyDeleteThe conversation in the church was a flash-forward to a point in time after everyone had died and gone to the in-between place that exists between life and the afterlife (not purgatory).
ReplyDelete