The art of the non-scoop with Matthew Fox

Today the always tempered writers of Watch With Kristin brought us a news item with the promising title "Matthew Fox Tells Us How Lost Ends (and How Season Six Begins)." Being a fan of said program, I naturally was quite curious to hear why the shows biggest star had gone ahead and revealed all of its secrets. Much to my non-surprise, when I read Fox's actual words, it turns out the headline was somewhat.. er.. misleading. Let's parse:

Matthew Fox says Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse will prove they knew where they were going all along when the show ends in "an incredibly powerful, very sad and beautiful way. I think it is going to be pretty awesome."

Okay, so Matthew Fox has some vague thematic generalities about how the show will conclude. Really, star of Lost thinks Lost will have a "powerful", "very sad", and "beautiful" ending. Stop the presses.

Skipping ahead a bit (I'm not gonna quote the whole article) we have:

The sixth season will begin with an examination of what happened after Juliet seemingly detonated the hydrogen bomb. As usual, Fox said, "It's very surprising and probably fairly confusing initially to the audience.

Let me get this straight.. The sixth season will pick up where the fifth season left off? And will feature a resolution to the show's cliffhanger? And that it will be confusing? How un-Lost like of you, writers of Lost.

"Like, a third of the way in [to the season], I would guess we are going to [settle] into one time frame, and it will be very linear—no more flashbacks, nothing. It will be on the Island and sort of a final conflict to the end," said Fox.

Rest assured, fans, that during the show's last season, we will build towards a final conflict. This might or might not help in bringing the show towards the conclusion Fox discusses earlier. I'm not clear on that point.

He assured fans that all the crazy storylines introduced in earlier seasons will be resolved and that the conflict between Jack and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) "will come head to head" this season, but he wouldn't divulge more than that. When asked what would happen if he did, he said, "Some guys would pull up outside this building in a white van and masks, and I'd never be seen again."

So ultimately, Fox hasn't told you anything other than that the show will end, it will somehow involve the heretofore established plot of the show, and that he feels its satisfying. I take no issue with Fox saying these things, they are exactly what I would expect him to say. However, when I see a headline like "Matthew Fox tells us how Lost ends" I sort of hope that maybe he'll, you know, do that. Thanks Watch With Kristin for this big scoop.

I haven't been this disappointed since your mom invited me inside for lemonade and actually served me lemonade.


via Watch With Kristin