Lost In Five Seasons

[Mr Light]

Someone mentioned in another thread that LOST was originally supposed to run five seasons. I had never heard this before myself, though they had always said it was a limited run series and couldn't go on forever.

So how do you think the story would have been compressed into five years?

Maybe it's just a matter of it being five full seasons, which gives you an extra 7 in S4 and 5 in S5, which equals 12 episodes out of the 18 that makes up S6.

Because of the way the finales were structured I don't really see how it could have worked another way. Unless perhaps the Season Four finale would have been "316" when they return to the Island, with the final shocking twist that Locke is alive and well on the Island again. This is assuming S1-3 happened as is.

 

[RoJoHen]

Hey, that was me!

If I remember correctly, this all goes back to the Writer's Strike. Season 4 was supposed to be longer, and I think the Dharma arc was supposed to be shorter. I'm not sure where the big season finales would have been or how they would have been restructured, though.

The beginning of Season 5 probably would have been condensed. As it is, the first 5 episodes or so involve a lot of wandering around not really accomplishing anything. I think the Oceanic 6 would have returned earlier.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Judging by the impact of the Tailies on the overall narrative I think a lot of season 2 could immediately go on the cutting room floor.

 

[D Man]

It's really tricky to figure out how to structure it in just 5 seasons based on the events we've seen. The Oceanic 6 leaving is a big deal and so is the island moving, but I think The Incident is the most important cliffhanger they've done. I don't know how I'd condense and shuffle things around in order to keep a longer 4th season ending with Jughead going BOOM. But if you throw that out as the must-be-season-finale, then everything opens up quite a bit more.

 

[sidious618]

Back in season two they said it could run 5-6 seasons. That's the only time I've heard them mention 5 seasons.

 

[Hunter X]

I thought that during season three they made a deal with ABC on when the show would end. The showrunners wanted two more normal-length seasons, totaling five, while ABC wanted more. So they compromised at three more shorter seasons, totaling six.

I've also wondered at how the show would've been structured with five seasons. The first three would've been the same, it's just season 4-6 that would've been affected. The most obvious, to me, is that 316 would've been a season finale, while There's No Place Like Home and [/i]The Incident[/i] would've come mid-season. 316 definitely has an odd feel to it, like it should be a bigger deal, the Six trying to get back to the Island. It's also the mid-point of our season five, exactly where a longer season four's finale would've been. But I don't think it's as simple as just drawing a line down the middle of season five and putting the first half with season four and the second half with season six (making it season five). Revelations would've come earlier or later, character introductions and stories would've been shuffled around, and so on.

 

[Joe Washington]

I would have Season 4 either end with 316 or the Life and Death of Jeremy Bethem and have Season 5 open with LaFleur.

But in all my honesty, I'm fine with the way the show is now. Because each season has its own feel and element:
Season 4 had the freighter, the mecenaries, and the mysteries of the Oceanic Six, how they left the island, and their lives after leaving the island. The season had a renewed air of mystery and a heigtened air of danger about the fates of the characters.
Season 5 had the Oceanic Six's return to the island, the leaps through time, and the beginning of the rise of the Smoke Monster as the Big Bad of the series. That season felt like things were being put into position and coming to a head for the climax of the series.
Season 6 has the Temple, the Smoke Monster's continued rise as the villian, and the emerging mystery of the flash side-ways and the Candidates and this season has
that final season feeling which wouldn't exactly mash with Season 5 if they were combined in one form or another. The same could be said about the other seasons.

 

[doubleohfive]

Back when LOST had first premiered, I seem to recall the producers saying they had enough material to make the show for eight years, not five.

 

[Mr Light]

^^ Maybe they were talking about 13 episode seasons there?

 

[D Man]

Or a whole lot more time spent in bear cages.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Back when LOST had first premiered, I seem to recall the producers saying they had enough material to make the show for eight years, not five.

I seem to remember this too. Maybe Season 2 taught them that stalling wasn't quite as compelling as they'd imagined it could be, so they'd decided to up the pace?

One does wonder though what exactly happened there.

 

[Hober Mallow]

I would have Season 4 either end with 316 or the Life and Death of Jeremy Bethem and have Season 5 open with LaFleur.

That would have been an awesome season opener.

Back when LOST had first premiered, I seem to recall the producers saying they had enough material to make the show for eight years, not five.

On the season one DVD set, Bryan Burke says they came up with enough material for a six-season series.

 

[doubleohfive]

^
Fair enough. However, I still feel like there was an article or interview somewhere, about the same time Alias was still on and LOST was between season one and two, when it was all the rage and this big mega-hit for ABC, that the producers were saying that they had enough material to keep the show going for eight seasons.

 

[Mr Light]

^ I vaguely recall this as well.

 

[Joe Washington]

Here's how I would see Season Four and Season Five with the way I would have liked it to be structured if the show ran for five seasons:

SEASON FOUR
1. The Beginning of the End
2. Confirmed Dead
3. The Economist
4. Eggtown
5. The Constant
6. The Other Woman
7. Ji Yeon
8. Meet Kevin Anderson
9. The Shape of Things to Come
10. Something Nice Back Home
11. Cabin Fever
12. There’s No Place Like Home (Part 1)
13. There’s No Place Like Home (Part 2)
14. There’s No Place Like Home (Part 3)
15. Because You Left
16. The Lie
17. Jughead
18. The Little Prince
19. This Place is Death
20. 316
21. The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

SEASON FIVE
1. LaFleur
2. Namaste
3. He’s Our You
4. Whatever Happened, Happened
5. Dead is Dead
6. Some Like Hoth
7. The Variable
8. Follow the Leader
9. The Incident (Part 1)
10. The Incident (Part 2)
11. LAX (Part 1)
12. LAX (Part 2)
13. What Kate Does
14. The Substitute
15. Lighthouse
16. Sundown
17. Dr. Linus
…

 

[doubleohfive]

Who's Kevin Anderson?

 

[Joe Washington]

That was the name Michael assumed when he joined the freighter crew who was headed towards the Island.

 

[doubleohfive]

Actually, it was Kevin Johnson.

(I was being facetious.)