We feel like "Lost" deserved a real resolution, not a "snow globe, waking up in bed, it's all been a dream, cut to black" kind of ending. We thought that would be kind of a betrayal to an audience that's been on this journey for six years. We thought that was not the right ending for our show.

Carlton Cuse

Categorized in : Dream Real Betrayal

The creative process is not like a situation where you get struck by a single lightning bolt. You have ongoing discoveries, and theres ongoing creative revelations. Yes, its really helpful to be marching toward a specific destination, but, along the way, you must allow yourself room for your ideas to blossom, take root, and grow.

Carlton Cuse

roots discovery ideas

I think that we're moving into this new phase of television where audiences are really embracing stories with a beginning, middle, and end.

Carlton Cuse

stories moving thinking

As a writer, I always think about who my prototype actors are, in my brain. It's helpful, as a writer, to think about that.

Carlton Cuse

actors brain thinking

It's a very artistic process to translate and adapt a book into a series.

Carlton Cuse

artistic process book

I think that the best television now is giving you a three-act experience.

Carlton Cuse

three giving thinking

Tragedy is a great storytelling form. It worked extremely well for Shakespeare. It worked extremely well for Jim Cameron with Titanic.

Carlton Cuse

storytelling form tragedy

It's entirely possible that the notion of what is the past, what is the present and what is the future, could change.

Carlton Cuse

notion past

The Following and Hannibal are really well made, but the tone is very consistently dark.

Carlton Cuse

tone made dark

You have to be able to get inside the heads of the characters and completely sympathize and understand them.

Carlton Cuse

able character

As hard as you try to write a good script and you have great intentions, this alchemy has to occur.

Carlton Cuse

scripts writing trying

There are just so many options that people have. But as a writer, you'll drive yourself crazy, if you worry about that too much. People watch a lot of TV, so they think certain things are going to happen, and you're always trying to subvert expectations.

Carlton Cuse

always-trying crazy thinking

I can't say that the ending of a story is always the best part of the story, and yet there's sort of this implicit idea that the finale is somehow supposed to be the mind-blowing best episode of a show. The question is: Why is that? Why do people make that assumption?

Carlton Cuse

ending story best people

I think 'North by Northwest' and 'Rope' and Rear Window' and 'Psycho' are on my list of favorite all time movies. I just think his kind of command as a director was almost unparalleled, and I feel like in certain ways the sort of character-based thriller owes more to Hitchcock than anyone.

Carlton Cuse

feel think time window

As we began working toward the finale of 'Lost,' I knew there was no possible ending that was going to be universally loved, and I accepted that. We ended the story the way we wanted it to end, and we stand by it. On my Twitter feed, I still get ten to fifteen positive comments for every negative one.

Carlton Cuse

ending loved positive way

I think movie and television companies are in the business of making money, and if you have a franchise, eventually you'll want to exploit that franchise and revisit it. So I assume at some point someone will do another story in the 'Lost' world.

Carlton Cuse

you money business world

When you're a storyteller, part of the process of storytelling is the kind of communion you form with the audience to whom you're telling your story. If some segment of the audience doesn't like that story, it doesn't feel good.

Carlton Cuse

feel good you feel-good

This idea that you can watch a show like 'True Detective,' and it was awesome, but is it really ruined for you if the finale is not your favorite episode of it? It's just odd to me.

Carlton Cuse

true your me you

I feel like if you enjoyed the 119 hours that precede the finale of 'Lost,' is that whole experience ruined by the fact that you might not agree with everything that we did in the finale? I would hope not! I would hope that you would appreciate the fact that you were entertained for 119 hours even if you didn't love the finale.

Carlton Cuse

you experience hope love

Television used to be made much more in a vacuum; the only feedback the audience had for a long time was in a Nielsen number that would arrive sometime after the show had been broadcast. And now, people are just completely engaged on so many levels, and I think that you have to find a way as a show creator to follow your own compass.

Carlton Cuse

you time long people

The most difficult story that I've ever been involved in breaking on any of my shows was 'The Constant' episode of 'Lost,' which was when Desmond was consciousness-traveling.

Carlton Cuse

breaking story difficult lost