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Farmington man has inside scoop on “Lost” - but don't ask him what's next
Script writer won't tell even his own mother what's ahead
By SHAWNNA ROBINSON\Daily Journal Staff Writer
Oct 04, 2006 - 11:03:06 CDT
“Does the look they gave to one other after their capture seems to mean something? Or Is the big magnet just gone?”
“Will it be heard from again? Or are Will and his dad coming back?”
The answer to those questions could be given by Farmington native Gregg Nations, script coordinator for the show. He has worked as a writer on a number of television series, including “The District,” “Sister, Sister,” “Love Monkey,” “Pig Sty,” and “Nash Bridges.”
As a writer for “Nash Bridges,” Nations worked with Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Cuse and Lindelof later collaborated to write the pilot for “Lost,” which tells the story of plane crash survivors marooned on an island, which may (or may not) be deserted.
Nations watched closely, as did many others, the first season of the show. Prior to the start of the second season he was contacted by his former co-writers about the position of script coordinator. With the complexities in a show such as “Lost,” Nations is an extremely valuable asset. And to start off on the show he took about a month to create the documents needed.
“I was a fan of “Lost” to begin with, so I was up to speed on all of the first season episodes. However, watching the show as a fan and watching the show as a script coordinator are two different things. I went back and read every script and re-watched every episode. There had been no character bibles or island/flashback timelines created, so I created them, taking notes as I read the scripts and watched the episodes. I realized that we had a lot of characters and a lot of specifics about each character to track, so I created the bibles and timelines with that in mind,” he explained.
Working with a staff of ten writers, Nations is often “on-call” as they are putting together - or “breaking out” - the story. He said a script usually goes through two drafts before the final is submitted. Nations also then goes to work on getting clearance for any names, businesses or other props used in an episode.
With the large fan base of the program, Nations acknowledges the fans are very aware of each character and the story of who they are, both on the island and before the crash. While story ideas from the fans aren't normally taken, the network did listen to the fans when it came to scheduling the program for the upcoming season.
“During last season there would be one or two new episodes, then they would re-air some of the older episodes. This year the network will air six new episodes in a row, then go on hiatus until February. From then they will air the new shows until the end of the season,” explained Nations.
Nations was involved in a number of activities while growing up at Farmington High School. Journalism teacher Alma Lorch saw the combination of his interest becoming a starting point for his current career.
“He had training with the yearbook staff, newspaper staff and drama guild. He also wrote a number of creative stories,” she recalls. “I think the convergence of these all came together.”
His mom, Susie Thomas, still lives in Farmington. So does his sister, Amy, and her two children, Jacob and Alivia. His uncles , Tommy Thomas and Gene Thomas, live in Desloge and Park Hills, respectively. Nations joked that his job description can be quite confusing to anyone not familiar with the industry, even his family.
“My mom is always asking ‘now what is that you do again?'” he said.
She also contacts him at the end of each show with questions her son knows the answer to, but is sworn not to tell.
“My mom is a fan of the show. She watches every week and calls me after it's over. She usually starts with ‘Well, that was weird,' but then starts discussing her theories on what it all means, and what she thinks will happen next. I can't say anything, of course. I just say ‘hmmm ... interesting idea' and it drives her crazy,” he said.
As a special treat to his mother, Nations flew her to Hawaii - where the show is filmed - for the end of season wrap party and to see some of the locations used on the show.
“It was the first time either of us had been to Hawaii, and it was a lot of fun,” he recalled.
And just before the conclusion of last season the writers had a three-week mini-camp where they “broke the season arc and came up with many of the episode stories.”
“So they know where they are going for the season, they know how it's going to end, and they have most of the story ideas in mind,” he said.
Which leads back to the original questions posed to Nations about this next season. Nations provided the following answers.
“I would interpret the look between Jack and Kate at the end of the second season finale as more of a reassuring look than necessarily the look to set a plan in motion. I think Kate was simply scared and turned to Jack for reassurance, and Jack tried as best he could to give her an indication that everything will be OK.”
“Essentially, the ‘incident' with the magnetic anomaly has been corrected. That doesn't mean the unique electromagnetic qualities of the island are gone, just that the ‘incident' and its procedure to keep it in control are no longer an issue.
“Regarding Michael and Walt, where are they going? Will they make it off the island? Will we see them again? All good questions. Too bad you don't know anyone on the show you could ask. Oh, wait. Yeah ... um, you'll have to wait, watch and see.”
Reader Comments (2)The comments below are from readers and do not represent the views of the Daily Journal
Amused2bHere posted on Thursday, October 5th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
At least we know the unique proterties of the island are intact, so all this talk about the "healings" being reversed can be put to rest.
Or can they?
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losa posted on Thursday, October 5th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
the boys name is walt not will - nice research
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