Damon and Carlton have their Eye on the End

LOST Writers Eye the End

Producers of ABC's Lost told SCI FI Wire they know how the show will end, though the series finale won't happen until 2010. The producers even know what the final shot will look like, they said in interviews.

Co-creator and executive producer Damon Lindelof said that the writers will be working toward the end of the series over the next two years. "We always knew the ending," he said. "We just didn't know how much time to take before we got there. So, yes, it still completely fits with where we're at in the storytelling right now."

Lost will become more focused because the end is in sight, the producers added. "With 48 episodes to go, it's exciting to be working towards an endpoint we're already familiar with," Lindelof said.

During a press conference for the release of the Lost season-three DVD set on Dec. 11, executive producer Carlton Cuse said that the show will be using flash-forward scenes, but warned cryptically that "it would be wrong to think that the flash-forward you saw is the end of the series." Viewers got their first glimpse at a possible future in the third-season finale last spring.

Cuse added that he already has the final image of the series in mind. "Yes, we do know what the last image of the show is," Cuse said. "And it won't be a black screen!" he added, alluding to the controversial cut that ended HBO's The Sopranos. The fourth season of Lost starts Feb. 6, 2008. —Mike Szymanski