Thanks to B3RT4 for the heads up.
WHAT'S TO COME
Lost boss Damon Lindelof attended the excellent Juan-Manuel Rocha-hosted Comics on Comics event at Meltdown on Sunset tonight. He offered the assembled crowd several very interesting insights about the future of Lost.
VOTE NO ON MIDI-CHLORIANS: Damon gave us a sense of what kind of Lost questions will be answered, and which other mysteries won't explicitly be explained by the end of the series: "There are certain questions about the show that I'm very befuddled by like, 'What is the Island?' or 'What do the numbers mean?' We're going to be explaining a little more about the numbers, maybe significantly more about the numbers, but what do you mean by 'What do the numbers mean?' What is a potential answer to that question? I feel like you have to be very careful about entering into midi-chlorian territory...I grew up on Star Wars, I've seen the Star Wars movies hundreds of times, I can recite them chapter and verse, and never once did anyone ever say to me or did it occur to me to say, 'What is the Force, exactly? Can you explain that for me, better than Alec Guinness does?' I understand, 'When are we going to find out about Libby?' That's a very finite question. 'Who is Jacob?' OK, yes, we've been talking to this guy named Jacob, so those questions then should have answers, but 'What is the Island?' That starts to get into 'What is the Force?' It is a place. I can't explain to you why it moves through space-time, it just does. You have to accept the fact that it does." Can you live with that?
SURVEY SAYS, ZZZT! WRONG ANSWER: Regarding the approaching final season and possible fan reaction to the accompanying reveals, Damon says, "There isn't a perfect way to end the show, but the end inevitably approaches and so the show has to start answering more and more questions. To me the greatest thing about Lost, just in terms of writing it, was that [over the years] the show could ask a question, and everyone [watching] could say 'Here's what I think the answer to that is.' And next year we're basically going to spend the entire season telling you you're wrong. 'Here's the actual answer to that question.' And you're going to say, 'S--t, my answer was actually much better.' " Have you been satisfied or displeased with the answers we've gotten so far?
HOW IT ENDS: Just as an insight into Damon's mind (and thus a pointer to possible plans for the Lost series ender), you might be interested to know that the M*A*S*H finale is Damon's all-time favorite series conclusion.
MORE SERIES FINALE CLUES: Damon says that when the show ends, "All of the character resolutions will be very defined. There is going to be no cut to black. The show for me and Carlton [Cuse] and J.J. [Abrams] and all the people writing it—it's not about the Island. The Island is where it takes place. It's about this group of people who crashed on the Island on Sept. 22, 2004, and how they influenced the history of the Island in some ways and had a very significant and pivotal role to play there. You're going to see that role play out, and their fates will all be resolved by the end of the series—that's the story that we're telling. In terms of every little bit of minutiae about the Island itself...there will be questions [left unanswered] after the show [ends]."
LIBBY SAYS HI: Libby's story will not be wrapped up on the show. Says Damon, "I have learned that if you kill someone off the show, they are less likely to cooperate with you." Basically, Cynthia Watros is busy until further notice and they can't explain Libby without her, at least not in any way that shows her story rather than annoyingly tells her story. What's the takeaway for us fans? Next time you've got Damon cornered, don't waste your breath asking about Libby. Instead, bust his chops about another very important blonde: Claire! Where is that little minx, anyway?
THE SUM IS 108: This one goes out to all the Lostpedians out there. Damon said, "Here's the story with numbers. The Hanso Foundation that started the Dharma Initiative hired this guy Valenzetti to basically work on this equation to determine what was the probability of the world ending in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Valenzetti basically deduced that it was 100 percent within the next 27 years, so the Hanso Foundation started the Dharma Initiative in an effort to try to change the variables in the equation so that mankind wouldn't wipe it itself out." This information, in more convoluted form, was leaked out via the online games rather than explained on the show itself, says Damon, because, "That would be the worst thing ever. We have to make the show for the hardcore fans who care about the numbers, but we also have to make it for my mom, who just wants Sawyer to take his shirt off."
SO THERE: While discussing Wolverine and the role of canon in comic adaptations, Damon said, "At the end of the day, you can do anything you want [as a storyteller] so long as it's cool." Certainly applies to Lost too, don't you think?
Source: E!Online
