"Lost" in thought: Reading between the lines

Since my second viewing experiment is on the shelf because I plan to watch the "pop-up" repeat each week, I'll try to find cool links to spur some excitement heading into new episodes. All I can say is that it's a great pick-me-up to know that on Thursday, "Lost" is not only back, but really at the top of its game.

Also, now that "Cane" might be officially axed, let's hope Nestor Carbonell (the ageless Richard Alpert) comes back with a vengeance. Or at least a beard.

Anyway, Entertainment Weekly just posted a great, in-depth interview with "Lost" executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. It's a five-pager, so we'll do a little Cliffs Notes version for anyone who doesn't have time to follow the preceding link because of, you know, work and stuff.

Definitely worth reading in its entirety, but here are some potential "conversation starters" in the comments section.

From writer Jeff Jensen: "If I had to sum up tonight's episode in one word, it would be 'Kate.' If I had to choose two, it would be 'Dharma bums.' Three words? They would be 'Deals with devils.'

From Lindelof and Cuse: "Nothing precludes (Ben) from being a member of the Oceanic 6 — other than he wasn't on the plane."

"By the end of the seventh episode, the audience will now know who the Oceanic 6 are.''

"There is no connective tissue. Sometimes a bracelet is just a bracelet. We just thought it would be a cool emotional touchstone for Sayid; Elsa's bracelet reminds him of Naomi. But some people interpreted that, ''Is there something more there?'' We might need to address that."

"We're not going to tell you that we're against bending the time/space continuum. We are very for it. Carlton and I are PRO time-space continuum bending! But we're ANTI-paradox. Paradox creates issues ... For example, the fifth episode of the season [airing next week] deals with time travel and operates in different time periods. It was a tough story to break. But we adhere to our rule: no paradox."

"We definitely have to show who was in the coffin. That's the primary super-structure of the season. As a result of that, certain thematic elements — the element of fate or supernatural elements as they relate to the monster and Jacob — are certainly in play but not as interesting to us this season as these questions: Why do some of the characters leave? How do they leave? What are the circumstances under which they leave? Why do some stay? Is it a choice? Is it an accident? Both?"

"The act of taking a plane, filling it with dead bodies and putting it at the bottom of the ocean connotes a group that is pretty freakin' powerful. You should be worried about the people involved in either scenario capable of doing something like that. "

"Episode eight delivers a huge bombshell when Boone, Charlie, Libby and Arzt are found to be alive and protecting a run-down amusement park on an undiscovered part of the island. They're all in tremendous health, but refuse to speak of the events following their supposed death on the island because of a mind-control device implanted by Ben. Locke concludes that the "Tunnel of Love" is actually a portal to another dimension, but before he can warn his group, Charles Widmore teleports onto the island and shoots him in the chest. Locke's soul leaves his body in the form of black mist and ominously utters the phrase, "Rosebud."

OK, I totally made that last one up ...

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com