locations where millions of avid fans can obsess. >> the fan base is saying, when are you going to answer these mysteries? personally i started feeling hamstrung story-wise almost instantly, because we had to do 25 hours of "lost" in the first season. so we started communicating to abc, we're going to run out of flashback stories. >> call it, jack. >> you call it. >> and abc was adamant in saying, no, like the show is a hit show, people love the flashbacks, don't worry, you guys are great at it, just keep it up. >> you okay, freckles? >> at the beginning of the third season of the show, we had our characters locked in cages. and i think looking back on it now, damon and i are like, that's metaphorically how we felt, we felt we were locked in cages. >> around halfway through the third season, abc says, okay, we will let you end the show. we're like, yes, thank god.