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THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (PART TWO)
THE HIGH-STAKES SIGNIFICANCE OF LOST'S SUPER-SIZED SEASON FINALE

Perhaps most of you have heard the cool news that Lost's season finale will now be a two-hour affair, airing from 9-11 p.m. on May 29. When I interviewed DL and CC 23 days ago, they were just beginning to recognize the need for another hour for season 4 as they were finishing up the first draft of the finale. I could sense they were feeling the pressure of wrapping up the season's storylines, especially after last year's crop of season cappers, in which Lost's flash-forward stunner was widely acclaimed for reinventing the series but a host of other shows (particularly Heroes; remember that show?) were blasted for fumbling their finales. As Lindelof explained:

''The finale that we are writing now is in many ways the pilot for what season 5 is going to be. Creative choices we are making and where we leave our characters at the end of the season have to hold from May 22 and the end of January of next year [the projected start of Lost's fifth season]. The finale, there's a tremendous amount of pressure on us; it's like playing in the championship if you're a basketball team. You have to play enormously well or else [the fans] will hold it against you — especially if you're off the air for eight months and you don't have a reset button like 24. Shows like Lost or Heroes or Grey's Anatomy, they are judged by their last episodes, and the taste in the audience's mouth after the last episode has aired directly influences the storytelling coming in next season.''

Actually, the stakes might be bigger than that, given the fundamental challenge facing Lost next season. In my interview, I asked the writers a question unrelated to the finale: Does the prospect of 36 more episodes — the number of episodes left before the end of Lost — feel like too much, not enough, or just right in terms of bringing their story to a conclusion? This was Damon's response, which was seconded by Cuse:

''From our vantage point right now, they feel like they're just enough. The real trick of season 5 will be getting to season 6 without feeling like it's stalling. Because the audience is so used to the narrative moving at 90 miles an hour [this season] that even a reduction of speed to 70 will feel slower. So as far as the pacing of the fifth season goes, we have to basically hold back on the things the audience really, really cares about for the final season.... I think because people love season 4 so much, I think all of us are preparing for the inevitable 'Season 5 sucks, it was completely unnecessary, let's just get to the good stuff.' Although we think we have some really great stuff in season 5, it is the connective tissue that will bring us home. But that is the nature of the beast.''

NEXT PAGE: Charles Widmore...starring in Spamalot?


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