I think there’s this essential human desire to have a unified field theory. But there is no unified field theory for Lost, nor do we think there should be. Philosophically we don’t buy into that. The great mysteries of life fundamentally can’t be addressed. We just have to tell a good story and let the chips fall where they may. We don’t know whether the resolution between the two timelines is going to make people say, “Oh, that’s cool” or “Oh, fuck those guys, they belly-flopped at the end.” But the fact that we’re nervous about it and that we’re actually attempting it — that is what we had to do. We had to try to make the dive.

-Carlton Cuse

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Update

ABC’s send-off for “Lost” is starting to seem as long as a flight on Oceanic Airlines, not that its fans will mind. The network is extending the finale by half an hour, giving the producers two and a half hours in all, and delaying local newscasts that night, May 23. A total of seven and a half hours of “Lost” is planned that weekend, according to ABC’s schedule. First the network will rerun the two-hour pilot on May 22, at 8 p.m. Then on May 23, “Lost” takes over the schedule, starting with a two-hour look back at 7 p.m. The finale starts at 9. Then at 12:05 a.m., Jimmy Kimmel will host a special episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” titled “Aloha to ‘Lost,’ ” featuring alternative endings to the show and appearances by the producers.