Damon Lindelof Speaks

Image from Thursday's upcoming "Confirmed Dead" episode.

There's no denying it, the storytelling in Lost has taken quite the turn now that we're given glimpses of the future, not just of the past. In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, Damon Lindelof, the show's co-creator, spoke of the shift:

“It’s not a different show, but the whole paradigm of the show [has changed]. Every week it was like, ‘Here’s a conflict on the island and here’s something about this character that helps explain why they’re acting this way or what’s motivating them.’ It was more emotional -- [the flashbacks] were never plotty. The flashback stories always were, Carlton likes to say, these little New Yorker short stories. They had a beginning, a middle and an end. ‘This is the time that Kate got caught in Australia, this is the time that Sawyer decided to stop conning, this is the time that Locke went on walkabout, this is the time that Jack ratted out his dad.’
“Now, when you talk about doing flash-forwards on the show, the paradigm shifts entirely, because you’re showing the audience A, which is, they’re on the island, and you’re showing them Z, which is, they’re off the island. But the audience doesn’t know B through Y.

“So when you watch the flash-forwards, there’s an emotional component, but you’re also completely engaged on a plot level, because you’re like, ‘How did they get here?’ Every little sentence they say is a clue to what B through Y may be. You have to watch the show in an entirely different fashion.

He also gave interesting insight into the scrutiny from fans, spoiler control, and storytelling mistakes.

"The problems speak for themselves. It’s doubly frustrating for me to read it when it’s like, ‘Duh, I know Nicki and Paulo were a mistake. I know. Stop rubbing it in my face.’ But that’s the nature of the beast. That’s your job. Your title is not ‘the cheerleaders,’ it’s ‘the critics.’”

Two days and counting. Here's hoping for more flashes (forward and back) of Damon's brilliance.

TAGS: Behind The Scenes, Lindelof, Season4
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