The Leftovers: Lindelof Says Final HBO Season Won’t Be Lost

The Leftovers TV show creator Damon Lindelof, who, along with Carlton Cuse, was showrunner on ABC‘s Lost, says he does not want the HBO series’ finale to be a reaction to the still controversial Lost TV series finale, which first aired on ABC on May 23, 2010.

Lindelof tells Bryn Elise Sandberg and The Hollywood Reporter that he is telling himself not to treat The Leftovers finale as if it is a big deal. Comparing his efforts to adding too many gumdrops when decorating a cake, Lindelof says, “The key is to know when to say, ‘Yep, this cake looks good. I want to eat this cake.”

Here is more from THR:

 

I know I’ve said that I’m done talking about the Lost finale, but there is no way to not talk about the Lost finale now that I’m ending another show. That’s probably the thing that’s most interesting to people, right? “What’s going to be different this time?” or “What have you learned from Lost?” And the answer is, I don’t know yet. God, if I figure that out, then I wouldn’t need to go to therapy anymore. I don’t need to be on Twitter to know there are enough people out there saying, “Don’t disappoint me again, Lindelof.”

I wish I could say we’re looking at it as another season of television, that it’s just another game, but it’s the finals — and I want The Leftovers to be something that only lived for three years but people speak very highly of with no buts. What I don’t want is The Leftovers to feel like a reaction to Lost. In the same way a parent has two different kids, just because you f—ed up with your older kid doesn’t mean you have to extrapolate those same mistakes onto your younger one. And I’m not saying that I f—ed up with Lost. I’m just saying every parent feels like they f— up constantly. And the world is full of siblings who complain about the fact that their parents raised them as a reaction to their older sibling. So I’m focused on not doing that.

If the takeaway from Lost was that there was a disgruntled portion of the fan base that said, “You did not give satisfactory answers to the mysteries,” then I feel somewhat liberated with The Leftovers because that’s off the table. Both shows traffic in mystery, but The Leftovers has been unapologetic that it’s not the mystery-solving show. Lost was that show. During the finale writing process, Carlton Cuse and I had a list of unanswered questions on a white board, and when we felt we answered them satisfactorily, we erased them. The lesson learned is there were apparently not enough questions on the white board.

 

Lindelof says he is purposefully not watching or re-watching great TV series finales right now, so that he doesn’t inadvertently borrow from them. When he does watch TV, he avoids dramas and focuses on comedies including Silicon Valley, Transparent, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, because they make them feel good and he doesn’t have wonder how he can do, on The Leftovers, what those comedy writers are doing.

Disclaimer: This writer covered Lost extensively for Television Without Pity and is not ashamed to admit she enjoyed the Lost TV series finale.

Are you a fan of The Leftovers TV show who also watched Lost? If so, are you worried about how The Leftovers will end, or do you think Damon’s got this covered? Do you think he should exhale and switch therapists? Do you just want to give him a hug and some warm chocolate pudding? Sound off, in the comments.