Culture Wars: Are the Creators of Lost Making It Up As They Go?

Theories on Season 6.

BY SCOTT VON DOVIAK AND ANDREW OSBORNE

Scott Von Doviak: The fifth season of Lost ended with a literal bombshell, as the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 trapped in the island's past dropped an atomic warhead down the hatch in hopes of setting off an explosion that would prevent their plane from ever crashing, thus rebooting their personal histories. Meanwhile, back in the island's present, we learned that ousted Others leader Ben really had killed his heir apparent John Locke, as an imposter posing as Locke engineered the murder of mythical island ruler Jacob.

If all of this sounds like complete gibberish, then you obviously aren't one of the millions of viewers breathlessly awaiting the February 2nd premiere of the final season of the mind-bending series that has intrigued, infuriated, bewitched, bothered, and bewildered us (often all at the same time) for the past five years. Writer-producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have many questions to answer in the climactic run of sixteen episodes. Among them: did the lostaways succeed at changing history? What is the smoke monster? Why does Richard Alpert never age? Why is Jack's dead father still hanging around the island? And most importantly, where can we get our hands on a six-pack of that refreshing Dharma beer?

Andrew, as I know well from your many exasperated emails over the years, you are something of a Lost skeptic. So on a scale of one to ten, how confident are you that Lindelof and Cuse have a master plan? Will they pull it all together and deliver a satisfying final act, or have they just been making it up as they go along?

Andrew Osborne: Oh, I have no doubt they've been making up huge chunks of it as they've gone along. And, yes, maybe there's some tiny part of the story Cuse and Lindelof planned from the start that will in some way connect with other parts of their convoluted mythology — and the infuriating thing is that I'll still watch every episode, because the show is good (and unusual) enough to keep me hooked even when I'm screaming at the television set. But at this point, I'd say the evidence is incontrovertible that most of the show's plot to date is so illogical and half-assed that it's simply impossible for any chain of events in the final season (including a total reboot) to repair the irreparable damage to my willing suspension of disbelief.

There are countless examples, but I'll list three of the most egregious to get the ball rolling.

First of all, I heard Cuse and Lindelof say in an interview that, oh yeah, the numbers — remember the numbers? — were never really that important, and so they basically wasted our time with them for the first half of the series before dumping the explanation of what seemed like a crucial plot point into The Lost Experience online game. It was like reading an Agatha Christie novel where the detective's investigation leads to the discovery of a space unicorn while the murder mystery from the first half of the book is resolved in a game of Clue (sold separately). (Speaking of which: for those still interested in the secrets of our ol' pals 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42, the answer can be found under "Valenzetti Equation" on Wikipedia.)

Second: whilst bopping around the time/space continuum last season, Jin meets young Rousseau in the past, even though older Rousseau never gave any sign of recognizing Jin in earlier seasons — a discrepancy no time reboot can fix... unless Cuse and Lindelof somehow teleport themselves and the cast back to the first season and do some quick reshoots.

And third — no, not the Bai Ling episode... no, not Michael killing Libby... no, not Charlie's ridiculous death at the hands of the ridiculous Indestructible Russian... no, not Jack/Kate/Sawyer's endless third-season imprisonment — but rather the entire credulity-stretching fifth-season storyline where Jack gets the Oceanic Six to head back to Craphole Island. Sure, okay, I can see Sun returning when she finds out Jin's alive, but was I really supposed to buy (or share) Jack's obsession with rescuing crazy ol' Locke (whom Jack despises), Sawyer (mere discussions of whom were enough to break up Jack's relationship with Kate), some scientists Jack barely knows, a bunch of disposable extras (now mostly dead), the ever-elusive Bernard and Rose, and Juliet (the "Other" who never gave him a straight answer about anything)?

So, to answer your original question, on a scale of one to ten, my confidence in L & C's master plan is somewhere around three at this point. And that's being generous. And yet, as noted above, I'll still keep watching, because — thanks to last season's Looney Tunes momentum — in terms of emotional satisfaction, I'm guessing the series finale will score a solid eight (even if it doesn't make a lick of sense).

Scott Von Doviak: To address your specific points first: 1) At this point, I think of the numbers as the Lost equivalent of whatever was in the Pulp Fiction briefcase. 2) Rousseau is crazy, so it's at least possible that she doesn't remember Jin, or thinks 2004 Jin is a figment of her imagination (she doesn't seem to remember Ben either, as she tells Sayid in the first season that she's only ever heard the whispering of the Others), and 3) I think it's made clear that Jack isn't going back to the island to rescue anyone but (BOM-BOM-BOM) himself. After all, he's a drunken, pill-popping loser with a terrible beard in the real world, but (at least, in his mind) a hero on the island.

But I take your larger point, as there has certainly been no shortage of frustrating, head-scratching developments over the years (personally, I'm still unconvinced by the time frame of Michael's departure from the island and subsequent return, all of which transpires in about a three-week period), but I must admit, I've become a lot more forgiving about these lapses, particularly during the brilliantly constructed Rubik's Cube of a fifth season. My biggest problems with the series stem from the second and third seasons, back before the end date had been set and the creative team was forced to navigate the "endless middle." (I loved the Hatch as much as the next guy, but that whole button-pushing storyline could have been collapsed into six episodes and spared us Michelle Rodriguez altogether.) But I think the show really hit its stride in this last season, so I'm almost absurdly psyched for the home stretch. Which brings me to my next question: how's it gonna end? Will they actually reboot the series, wiping out the past five seasons, or is that too far out even for Lost?