It’s now been over 20 years since “Lost” changed TV forever, bringing a level of serialization and genre storytelling to broadcast television that hadn’t been seen before at that level. Watching the show today feels like staring at a time capsule for a bygone era in which mysteries fueled fan forums yet the mystery box approach wasn’t the mandate in TV and movies (and when serialization was a tool rather than the rule for the entire medium).
Though some people love to complain about the unsolved mysteries of “Lost,” the truth is that, down to its controversial finale, the show resolved virtually every mystery it raised in one way or another — whether it was the polar bears, the numbers, the island whispers, or even Walt. That being said, there is one mystery audiences never got an answer to whatsoever: who was on the other outrigger?
Backing up a bit: In season 5, episode 4, “The Little Prince,” as the island is flashing across time and space, survivors Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Locke, Miles, and Charlotte take an outrigger to the other side of the island, only to be shot at in the water by people in another outrigger. Right before they can discover who their attackers are or fight back, the island flashes through time again and the survivors disappear, never to figure out who shot at them. In an interview with Josh Horowitz back in 2020, showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse confessed they will never answer this mystery. “We will answer any questions [about ‘Lost’] except for one, which is the outrigger, and that we will take to our graves,” Lindelof explained.
With that in mind, Lindelof admitted the show’s creative did, in fact, come up with an answer to this question. Nevertheless, he added, “Other people outside our writer’s room have seen the scene and been sworn to secrecy.” Sadly, those waiting to get an answer anytime soon will be disappointed. As Lindelof put it, only after he and Cuse die, and if forced to protect the idea that they actually planned an answer to the question all along, would those who have the secret script be permitted to release it “to protect our legacy.”
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