The ‘Lost’ Finale: Character Deaths, a Secret Ending, and a Blank Page

Ecko is dead, and so, presumably, is Locke (though with his miraculous oneness with the island, who knows?). Charlie isn’t, but Desmond thinks he is. And the Others are coming, with bloodshed sure to be high. Tonight ABC airs its mammoth two-hour season finale of Lost, and despite the ups and downs and outright randomness of season three (like that fascinating Twilight Zone–ish episode that mercifully killed off useless characters Nikki and Pablo), we’re finally excited to see where this rocky ride goes. Last week we had the good fortune of running into New York stage actor Michael Emerson, who plays Benjamin, the leader of the Others, at a party. We pumped him for information about life on the set and what we can expect for tonight.

Lost recently showed a flashback of Benjamin’s birth. But not many people know that your real-life wife, actress Carrie Peterson, played your mom. How weird was that?
Totally weird. It was kooky and Freudian. She had actually come up with that idea months ago. She told me, “If I’m ever on Lost, I think I’d like to be your mom in a flashback.� I said, “Ha ha.� And I think we mentioned it a couple of times at cocktail parties within earshot of decision-making people and lo and behold it happened … And we may not have seen the last of her.

Have you bought a house in Hawaii yet?
Oh, no, I would never do that. My gypsy instincts always tell me that, you know, the next episode could be the last. Home is still New York City.

What can you tell me about what happens next?
The season finale is dark, full of bloodshed. It seems to have devolved into open warfare. There’s supernatural material. Lead players will meet their doom. And the finale has a secret last scene that even I have not read that apparently blows the lid off the sort of landscape of the story so far. I think it will be really strong, because the stuff that I shot was hair-raising. Then add to that the fact that there’s some amazing mystery thing at the end. When I got my script, it was a blank page.

What?
The final script, there’s a page for the last scene, but my page was blank. Everyone’s page was blank unless they’re in the scene.

Who got a page?
Two leads. Two of the favorites. There are only two speaking parts, but I can’t tell you who. —Jada Yuan