Lost’s winter press tour

There’s much buzz around the Net about the Lost Winter Press Tour event and what executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had to say there. They screened the third episode of Season 5 for select members of the press and then held a Q&A session, during which some serious and not-so-serious questions were fielded. TV Guide has the best summary I’ve seen of what went down. A few highlights:

• Nestor Carbonell is contracted to the show through next year’s final season. After almost losing him permanently to last year’s short-lived CBS drama Cane, Darlton decided not to risk losing Carbonell’s Richard Alpert again, because Alpert plays a key role in the final two seasons.
• The show only gets more mythology-laden from here — and not just the mythology of the island, but the histories that have been built around each character. According to Darlton, “If the first episode of Lost that you ever see is the first episode of Season 5, you will not understand a majority of it.” Because of this, they’re not holding out any hope that the Emmys will reward them again in the future.
• Daniel Dae Kim is a series regular for Season 5. Jin is still a major part of the show, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s alive.