Lost Executive Producers Redefine the Idea of Radio Silence

Many of you might not realize this, but Lost ends this Sunday night. ABC should really be publicizing this more, right? Kidding! The two-and-a-half hour series finale is basically being positioned as the geek Super Bowl: ABC is starting coverage at 7 p.m. and will keep fans tuned in until 1 a.m., when the special Lost edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live -- with cast members and three alternate endings -- wraps up. Two people who won't be appearing with Kimmel, though, are Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Like David Chase -- The Patron Saint of Finales -- the men will go into a self-imposed radio silence following the last frame of Lost as a way to let their work speak for itself. Oh, and also because they have no one left to talk to.

In the last month, Lindelof and Cuse (or Darlton, if you prefer), have gone on record with HitFix, the New York Times, Vulture and EW; they did a Top-10 List with David Letterman; and last night, they sat down with Jimmy Kimmel. That's right: Kimmel did a ten-minute interview with these guys just two days before he plans on devoting an entire show to their final episode. This isn't so much "radio silence" as "radio we will talk to anyone who will listen."

To be fair, Kimmel is a huge Lost fan, and the interview -- which you can watch below -- is quite good because of his excitement. Though like every other interview with Darlton lately, nothing truly major is revealed. (SPOILER ALERT: Vincent the Dog lives; fans might get some unsatisfying resolution about Walt's powers.) But that's the problem: By permeating the media with nothingness, Lindelof and Cuse have made themselves -- and their series -- feel less than legitimate. They have expended so much effort over the last two weeks talking about how they aren't talking and explaining stuff they can't actually explain that it feels like they're trying to overcompensate for something. A bad finale? A sense that the fanbase will be irate? Only they know for sure. But for two men who are ostensibly all about "mystery," they've gone a great job of letting everyone behind the curtain.

When David Chase stopped talking about The Sopranos for a few months, it was earned because he never really spoke about it much in the first place. When Lindelof and Cuse stop talking about Lost, will anyone actually care?