The ending of Lost is the most misunderstood series finale in television history – but it almost drew to a close in a far different way. Remember that flashback which sees Ben being taught about the island's volcano as a youngster by the Dharma Initiative? Probably not – but you will soon considering the hit drama has just been added to Netflix in the UK and US, weeks before its 20th anniversary. The scene occurs in third season episode “The Man Behind the Curtain” – and it has since emerged that this was “one of the first hints of an endgame”.
Showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse spoke to EW about the scrapped plans in 2017. *Spoilers follow – you have been warned* The story goes that Cuse - very much the duo's big-dreamer - got the idea of including a volcano at the end of the series after visiting Hawaii's Big Island with his family, and later envisioned it being home to the climactic showdown between Jack (Matthew Fox) and the smoke monster, incarnated as John Locke (Terry O'Quinn). “We were always looking to cannibalise anything on Hawaii to aid in the visual storytelling of the show,“ Cuse said.
”We also thought of the island as a character on the show, so we were always looking for things that would give it more personality.” For those who don't know (and if you haven't seen Lost , go watch it immediately), season six presented the concept that the island was a metaphorical cork bottling up some very bad things that, if unleashed into civ.