1. How long have you been watching Lost? If you’ve been watching since the pilot, can you remember your initial reaction to it?
I was there from the premiere. I remember being frustrated that ABC split up the 2-hour pilot over two nights the first time it aired, when it was clearly meant to be shown as a single episode.
There were so many things that appealed to me about Lost from the get-go. I was already a JJ Abrams fan, and I despise procedurals and shows where the "reset button" is hit at the end of every episode. Lost was everything that the most popular shows of the day wasn't, and I'm still amazed that something like this was shown by a broadcast network. The storytelling was so bold, confident, with all these juicy mysteries, and it had the audacity to have fully formed, three-dimensional characters. Abrams and Lindelof found a way to take a premise that had no right to work whatsoever, and turned it into this giant, mythology-rich serial that's the most addictive thing I've ever seen on television.
2. How did Lost get its polar bear claws into you? What about it got you hooked?
They had me at the monster in the jungle, the night of the crash. But like so many others, the moment I realized this was something truly special, the second it became my favorite television show, was at the end of "Walkabout" when Locke is revealed to be a former wheelchair user who's been suddenly healed by the island. That was one of the most awe-inspiring moments in television history.
3. What or who do you think is really behind the mystery of LOST or the island?
I don't know who or what exactly, but I definitely think the ultimate explanation of the island and Jacob and the Man in Black is going to be an answer that's supernatural, not scientific. Unless the smoke monster turns out to be some kind of technological AI from the far off future (and that ain't gonna happen), when you look at smokey and all he can do, there's just no way he's not supernatural in origin. I think the hieroglyph in smokey's lair beneath the temple -- the one that showed the monster facing down Tawaret -- is a big, big clue. All of this is going to tie into ancient faiths and mythologies somehow.
4. Do you think Jacob or MIB (Man in Black) are definitively good or evil?
I want to believe that they are. I like my world to have absolutes, and Darlton has mentioned before that the Bible is one of many influences on their story, so I'm hoping Lost will turn out to be pretty literal when it comes to black & white/right & wrong.
It sure looks like Jacob is the Jesus-like figure, and MIB is the Satan-like figure, don't you think? If Jacob somehow manages to rise from the dead (and I absolutely think his death at the hands of the very Judas-like Ben was something he not only knew was coming, but probably intended to let happen), then the biblical symbology will be cemented.
5. Who is one character you believe will not die by the end of LOST?
Man, that's a tough one. Maybe Kate, since the question of whether she ends up with Jack or Sawyer is such a big one with the fans -- she's got to wind up with one of them, right? Her death would make that pretty hard. I also really hope that Hurley survives to the end. He has the purest heart of any character on the show, so I think he deserves a happy ending.
6. What do you think the numbers mean or what they represent?
I don't think we're ever going to get an answer to this question. It's like asking, "Why does magic exist in Harry Potter's world?" It's a question that's never been addressed, because it doesn't matter in the slightest. You just accept that it exists, and enjoy the ride. Lost has always engendered endless questions about why things are the way they are in this world, because from the beginning it's been depicted as though it's happening in the real world. I'm not sure this was ever the writer's actual intent. They've compared the island to Narnia -- a magical place that exists for no particular reason. I think the Numbers are the same.
7. Do you think the Losties will have resolution or do you believe they are trapped in an eternal time loop?
I want there to be a resolution, and Darlton has been promising a definitive ending. But I'm still mortified that we might get an "eternal time loop" ending. Particularly when you think about how much Darlton has been influenced by Stephen King. I always think of (SPOILER ALERT!) the ending to The Dark Tower and am terrified that we'll get a similar ending for Lost. I will be tremendously disappointed if that's how it ends. I want a real ending, not a return to the beginning.
8. If certain questions do not get answered by the end of the show, will you be upset? What questions are they?
I think they absolutely must answer: who Jacob and MIB are, what the smoke monster is, what the Tawaret statue is all about, who the Adam & Eve skeletons are, the story of the Black Rock, Richard's story, and what's at the Temple. Those are the bare minimum requirements. Everything else is more negotiable, though my personal wish-list is much longer, and filled with things I still wonder about. I'm hoping to finally know what the deal was with Libby, why Eloise Hawking can see the future, who built the frozen wheel, what Richard Malkin saw in his psychic reading of Claire, why pregnant women die on the island, what the Whispers are, and on and on.
9. Which character do you believe will have the most impact on the resolution of the show?
This might be the hardest question of all. I think it'll come down to Jack, Locke, or Ben. Ben just because he's always got a hand stirring in every pot. Locke because I don't want to believe that his long-awaited, all-important destiny was just to die so MIB could kill Jacob. And Jack because he's always been the most proactive character at the heart of the show.
10. Tell us a bit about your site/blog/podcast, i.e. why you started it, how it runs, your post-season 6 plans for it, etc.
ApproachingLOST.com has been around for years, but I took over in November of 2008, just a few months before Season 5 began. I post daily Monday through Friday. Since I started, I've focused on really raising the bar in what I choose to cover and the quality of what I post. I'm a fiction writer myself, so my episode recaps are fairly in-depth and tend to look at things from a writer's perspective, which might be a little different than other recaps out there. I can't wait to sink my teeth into the Season 6 eps.
My post-Season 6 plans will include coverage of whatever else Lindelof, Cuse, and JJ Abrams create and produce. I plan on covering Abrams' other shows Fringe and Undercovers, and I eagerly anticipate whatever Lindelof and Cuse each come up with next. I also think that Lost will live on after the show ends. Disney has made it clear of late that they see Lost as one of their top franchises, and I can't believe they'll just let it end forever. I think we'll see more stories that fill in some of the blanks, in the form of books, comics, video games, and the like. In the long-term, depending on how the show ends, somewhere down the road there could even be another TV story worth telling that's set on the island. We'll see.
11. What are you favorite online Lost communities, blogs, podcasts, etc.?
I wish I had more time to interact with the communities, but I'm a husband and father of two little ones, I write novels, and I also cover Electronics for EveryJoe.com, so I just don't have the time. But I'm an avid lurking fan of TheODI, DarkUFO, Doc Arzt, and of course LostBlog. Lostpedia is probably my favorite, because it's such a treasure trove.
12. Has watching Lost sparked any creative inspiration in your life, i.e. writing, media, art, etc.?
Yeah, as I said before, I'm a novelist myself, so watching Lost has been like sitting in the best writing class of all time. It's definitely been an influence on what I do.
13. How do you plan on combatting PLDS (Post Lost Distress Syndrome) or do you think we’re all destined to end up continously re-watching our Lost: The Complete Series Ultimate Box Set for the rest of our lives?
Ha! Very possibly. There will be other great stories, but there will never be another LOST on TV.
14. What do you think will be Lost’s legacy?
The journey is important, but the ending is what people will always remember. LOST’s legacy depends almost entirely on what kind of ending it delivers. I have faith in Darlton; I don't believe they'll let us down. I think back on the legacy of shows like MASH, and I think Lost actually has a shot at topping them all. I guess you could say I have high hopes about Lost's legacy, and like most fans, I feel pretty protective of it.
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For other great LOST resources from Robin at ApproachingLost.com, please see below
- Rewatching Lost - full recaps of every episode from all five seasons.
- The Ultimate List of Unanswered Questions - a downloadable checklist of every remaining mystery.
