Carlton Cuse: The revised season 4 plan for Lost!

// February 13th, 2008 // family

Once again, the Ausiello Report comes through with all kinds of delicious Lost information. He spoke to Carlton Cuse, one of the head writers and co-creators of Lost, about what happens now with season four post-WGA strike.

The estimated 4-6 episodes that we’d been told that we’d possibly get has been narrowed down to five.

Not only that, but we’re assured that everything that was supposed to occur in the remaining eight episodes WILL be squeezed into the final five.

Damon [Lindelof] and I are going to try to make five more episodes before the end of May, which is ambitious. But we’ve found ourselves in a situation where we had eight episodes of story planned, and we’re going to try to fit that into five hours of the show. Even though it’s going to be very hard to execute, we felt like any less would be doing a disservice to the story we had planned. We really want to give the fans the best possible experience and ending… to Season 4.

This means a few interesting things, in my eyes:

The first is that usually fans have been critical of the show’s “pace” and how slowly things are revealed. This change that squeezes eight episodes into five will likely make them slick, fast and full of answers and new questions.

In other words, information overload. Riveting. Sweet.

The second thing is that this could almost be TOO MUCH information in five episodes. I truly feel that once the writers knew they had 16 episodes each season, they really planned out how they’d use them. The article mentions now that guest actors might have to be eliminated due to the fact that stuff will need to get cut out and trimmed.

I feel like we’re going to miss out on some good stuff that was in there and yet somehow it could feel rushed. I hope not.

The good news if you see it that way is the missing three episodes will hopefully be made up in the coming seasons:

Damon and I remain committed to producing the 40 additional hours of the show that we promised. We haven’t figured out exactly when we’ll put those other three on, but we’re not eliminating them from the show. You will get those three episodes downstream.

So with two episodes already aired, we have six more to go before we get a four-week break until the final five.

The break will likely suck again, but at least this time it’s expected and warranted.

And those final five episodes…man, they are likely to be frakking amazing.

10 Responses to “Carlton Cuse: The revised season 4 plan for Lost!”

  1. The Trousered Ape says:
    February 13, 2008 at 10:26 am

    WOOT!!! I’m glad some of the season will be salvaged. This is great news.

  2. Frank C says:
    February 13, 2008 at 10:32 am

    Good news but I do hope that they do repeats, perhaps even enhanced, pop-up video style ones, that highlight the clues.

    Frank C’s last blog post..Someone Please Tell Me the Secret

  3. The Trousered Ape says:
    February 13, 2008 at 10:36 am

    Ugh – please no repeats…

    I doubt that they will with the lash back they received from the fans the last time they tried that. That was why there was a long break from between episodes last season with no repeats, because the previous year it was a disaster having them.

  4. Jina says:
    February 13, 2008 at 10:48 am

    It seems like since we had to wait like 8 months for this season to start, I can wait 4 weeks to get the second half of it. I’m onboard, Lost producers, give me all you think I can handle.

  5. Jason A Clark says:
    February 13, 2008 at 10:55 am

    It’s mathematically impossible to squeeze 8 hours worth of information into 5 hours of time and have it make sense…

    Jason A Clark’s last blog post..“Terminator Salavation” Gets Its Lead

  6. Frank C says:
    February 13, 2008 at 11:26 am

    @Ape – I want repeats because I always miss at least one episode a season because of technical problems, such as the power being out and the Tivo not being able to record. You also have to consider that a Lost repeat is better than any vapid reality show.

    @Jason – They could have cut the Nikki and Poochy segment from last season with almost no effect on the story line.

    I just hope Locke gets to blow up that darn freighter soon. :)

    Frank C’s last blog post..Someone Please Tell Me the Secret

  7. Jason A Clark says:
    February 13, 2008 at 11:58 am

    That was then, this is now, Frank! Everything matters! It’s all relevant! Don’t you see? Every clue must be studied. Every frame must be stilled. We must see EVERYTHING!

    That’s just my opinion.

    Jason A Clark’s last blog post..“Terminator Salavation” Gets Its Lead

  8. Mike says:
    February 13, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    Every frame will matter now too.

  9. The Trousered Ape says:
    February 13, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    Only if it is in HD. Can’t see crap in Standard Definition anymore…

  10. Adam says:
    February 13, 2008 at 1:04 pm

    This is great news, thanks for posting it because I was looking for some kind of press release or announcement concerning Lost. I came to accept we’d only be getting 8 this year so 5 more is a bonus to me!

    Adam’s last blog post..Sarah Connor Chronicles – Week 5 of 8

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