Looking for some resolution

By Ken Sury

Like many "Lost" fans, I've been scouring websites, checking out magazine and newspaper stories and filling myself up with all things "Lost" in preparation for the final 2 1/2 hours Sunday night.

On Thursday night, I plunked down $12.50 at the Hollywood Jewell Theaters to check out a special live interview sponsored by the New York Times with "Lost" show runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. It's similar to those special "Live at the Met" showings that are brought into theaters nationwide (disclaimer: the image of Lindelof and Cuse on this blog is from a different interview).

I was among about 20 people sitting in that theater for the special showing. My compadre on this blog, Chris Oliver, couldn't make it and I was wondering if it was going to be worth the $12.50.

For me, it was worth it. A fair amount of their talk and their answers to questions posed by audience members in the Times Center in New York and submitted by others beforehand revisited comments they've made before. But Cuse and Lindelof are pretty entertaining, and even though they wouldn't divulge any plot points for the finale it was an enjoyable 1 hour and 40 minutes. Surprise appearances by Michael Emerson (Ben) and Jorge Garcia (Hurley) added to the experience.

Two teases were shared during the presentation. The lesser of the teases came from Lindelof, a big "Star Wars" fan, who said there will be a "Star Wars" reference within the first seven minutes of the finale. I think it's a safe bet that reference will be uttered by Hurley.

Cuse gave up that Malcolm-David Kelley will appear in the finale, so that means we'll be seeing Walt, or "Waaaaaltt." They didn't share, however, if we'll learn more about what made Walt special. In response to a question about Aaron being special, Lindelof said they felt they made it pretty clear that there's nothing magical about Aaron. When it was shown that the psychic who told Claire that her son would be special was proven to be a fraud, that was a clue to the viewers that he was lying and Aaron is just a baby, Lindelof and Cuse insisted.

Lindelof also said that viewers need to be careful about taking certain things some characters say at face value. He noted that we saw Jacob visit a bandaged Ilana in the hospital and tasked her with the mission to protect the candidates. We didn't see Jacob visit Charles Widmore as the industrialist claimed to Ben in the "What They Died For" episode. Widmore hasn't been trustworthy in the past, so we shouldn't believe his story to Ben, Lindelof said. Of course, I don't think Ben believed him either.

They said that Jack's "Live together, die alone" mantra really shaped the series overall as we saw these flawed, isolated individuals form a community to work together for a greater good. For all the mythology and mystery the characters are the core of the show with ideas like faith, reason, free will and redemption serving as overarching themes.

The pair admitted that they expect some people may be disappointed with the finale, but they said they are satisfied that they told the story they wanted to tell. We'll see if viewers have a similar response.

For me, finding out how the flash-sideways world fits in is huge. And how that plays into the final showdown with FLocke intrigues me.

It's funny in that we should consider the entire body of work, the whole six seasons, in how we view "Lost" as a TV series. But how it wraps up Sunday night is likely going to color our overall opinion of the series.

I'm hoping to be amazed. Chris and I will post a quick reaction online after Sunday's finale and follow up with a more detailed review Monday and maybe for a few days after that.

Until then, in those words from the Dharma Initiative: Namaste!

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