Last week, LOST co-executive producer Damon Lindelof hinted in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that fans will more than likely be asking, “What did they mean by this?” after the show ends. Having just recently finishing shooting the finale, do you think fans will be satisfied?
Daniel Dae Kim: Given the nature of television it’s hard to please all the people all the time. But I will say I think the finale is true to Damon’s [Lindelof] vision of the show as he originally described it to me.
LOST still has a lot of questions to answer, should fans be prepared for a lot of them to be left up in the air?
I don’t think there will be a lot of questions left up in the air because I think quite frankly a lot of questions have been answered already. I think the writers have done a really good job of doling out answers with every episode. We know what the numbers mean, we know what the black smoke is, and there are significant answers to significant questions in the coming episodes as well.
Looking back on the six seasons, are you satisfied with Jin’s journey?
I am. As difficult as it was for Jin and Sun to be separated, I think it was a nice opportunity for the characters and the actors to play scenes with other actors. Because so much of their time on the show has been spent one on one — especially with Jin’s language barrier initially — it made the kind of interactions we had with each other very limited. I think now with the language barrier not as existent as it used to be and the fact that they were separated it has opened up possibilities and relationships that didn’t exist before. Overall, I am very satisfied with the growth and development of Jin. He maybe more than anyone on the island has changed from the pilot to the end.
An argument certainly could be made that the island has played an integral part in repairing Jin and Sun’s marriage. But the question that remains to be seen is do you think Jin has done enough to redeem himself in the eyes of the powers that be. Be it Jacob, or the island in itself?
I think by the end of the series that question will be answered definitively.
Despite having already lined up your next high-profile project (HAWAII FIVE-O) and a flourishing career prior (see: 24, ANGEL, ENTERPRISE), LOST is clearly one of those shows that may go down in history as one of television’s greatest. Is here a downside to being so closely associated with such an iconic television series?
Well you know that’s a complicated question. It’s never a good thing to be… it’s rarely a good think to be thought of as a one-hit wonder. But if you’re proud of that hit, it’s something that I will never be ashamed of. That said, anyone who knows my filmography knows that LOST is by far not the only thing I’ve ever done and I’m hoping that every project I do subsequently will leave its own mark. 