After the [TCA] awards show, I asked Lindelof about the end credits of the last “Lost” episode which showed pictures of the plane wreckage on the beach, which some viewers interpreted to mean that everyone died when the plane crashed. ABC had said they put that footage there, which turns out to be sort of true.
Lindelof said three days before air he got a call from someone at the studio who said the network planned to run a “Cougar Town” spot over the end credits of “Lost” and everyone agreed that would have been inappropriate. Producers’ first choice was to just go to black but the network feared that would set a precedent, there might be issues with the unions over credits and then everyone would want to run credits over black (heaven forbid!). So producers suggested using B-roll footage of the empty hatch, the empty beach camp, whatever they could find. Turned out no such footage existed but there was footage of the empty, broken plane fuselage. No one thought when it cut together it would be interpreted the way it was but Lindelof said he didn’t know of any other way he would do it differently if he had it to do over because no matter what images they put there, he figures viewers would pick them apart.
Lindelof also said he’ll never talk about what producers’ artistic intention was with the finale because he feels like it was very simple and very clear and no matter what he says, some viewers won’t believe him.
