The Tail Section

While promoting the Season 4 boxset, Damon Lindelof and Cartlon Cuse talked a little about Lost season 5. Although there aren’t major spoilers, it’s nice to see where they’re going with the season.

First and foremost, Lost is going back to its ensemble roots. Although the Oceanic 6 and their struggles will be important, it won’t be the only focus. “I think everyone, writers and fans alike, feels the show is at its best when our characters are together,” Lindelof says. “But the fact of the matter is that the story is constantly twisting and turning to keep them apart. Let’s face it — absence makes the heart grow fonder… but there’s nothing sweeter than a reunion. All we’re willing to say at this point is that if we were to spend the ENTIRE duration of Season Five with the Oceanic Six trying to get back to the island, we are fully aware that the audience would strangle us.”

That means, in a nutshell, that we will see quick results. Lindelof and company know they’ve got to get the ball rolling on the storyline so I’m expecting a 4 or 5 episode story arc to get the 6 back to the island. Maybe I’m being generous, but one can dream.

As hinted to in the news about Sayid’s potential past, Lost will once again be adapting the flashback formula. “We still love doing them and will when appropriate,” says Cuse. “There are still some cool flashbacks left to tell for our characters." I doesn’t sound like it will be a strict formula like it used to be, but I’m glad Lost will be getting back to its roots, even if just slightly. Damon Lindelof said, “We can’t go back to the ambiguity of season 1 because our characters have experienced so much since then,” he says. “Carlton and I often talk about the stand… how the story starts with something scientific, an epidemic that kills of 99 percent of the world’s population… but slowly and steadily transforms into a mystical tale where people are having prophetic dreams… and finally, LITERALLY ends with the hand of God coming out of the sky and setting off a nuclear device. Our story has always been about a journey… but just because we’re embracing some of the more fantastical aspects of the island, doesn’t mean we’re completely abandoning the science vs. faith of it all.”

Science vs. Faith. That’s how it’s always been. The two things I always loved most about Lost were the Locke vs. Jack / Science vs. Faith dichotomy and the character development inherent in the flashbacks. I’m so glad that season 5 will be full of both.

In other news, no word yet on the Blu-ray release of seasons 1 and 2.

Source: ifMagazine