IN ABOUT 24 hours, we're going to get a fresh dose of "Lost," the hot ABC sci-fi series about the strange adventures of plane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island.
The previews for a new episode — after weeks of reruns — have been deliciously teased by ABC.
Whose body is being carried by three "Lost" regulars in the rolled-up blanket? Could it be Jack, who was in a gun tussle with Ethan?
Were the producers fulfilling their promise that one of the 14 main characters would get killed this season before the May finale?
TV watchers are being separated into two camps: Those who get "Lost" every week, and those who get lost just thinking about it.
"Lost" offers more twists and turns than a Sunday drive down Highway 1. So, to help out those watchers (or would-be watchers) who are seeking some guidance, here's a primer in time for the new episodes that start airing at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on ABC-Channel 7.
At least 46 people survived the horrific plane crash of Oceanic 815 that originated in Australia and ended on a tropical island. Each episode corresponds to one or two days on the island, so at the end of the season, they will have been stuck there for about a month.
Each survivor is linked in some way to the others, and at least three have killed people in their pre-island days.
This isn't "Survivor: Mystery Island," although the concept came from an ABC executive trying to cash in on CBS' hit reality series. The odd happenings on the island have some fans speculating that the survivors
are not on an island at all, but are instead stuck in purgatory to atone for their earlier sins. Others think the people are part of a mad scientist's petri dish.
Odd things happen on this island. A marauding polar bear pops up occasionally. And some sort of "monster" lurks in the treetops.
There's also a mysterious man named Ethan Rom, who wasn't on the plane's roster and kidnaps pregnant castaway Claire. When last we saw an original episode three weeks ago, Claire just popped out of the bushes, mussed but unharmed. Is she still pregnant? That question alone has dominated Web site discussions about the series.
In a recent interview with "Lost" producers Bryan Burk, Damon Lindelof and JJ Abrams, the trio said that Claire was still pregnant and promised "the monster" would be revealed before the end of this season. They did give us one clue: It isn't a dinosaur. We also got him to admit that this thing is bigger than a breadbox (much) and lives in the trees.
But other intrigues will remain.
"There is another mystery that will make the monster pale in comparison," Lindelof promises. "We walk a tightrope every day trying to reveal enough so that viewers don't feel like they are getting strung along, and not so much that they lose interest.
"It's like 'Jaws.' It was so much scarier when all you saw was the fin and the tail rather than the actual shark."
In fact, all the producers admit that when they read the message boards on the Web, they are shocked at how close viewers are to discovering the island's mysteries and where the characters are heading.
"Sometimes they are so spot on, we wonder if they have seen the scripts or know someone in the writers' room," Burk says.
"Then they stray so far off the mark, we know it's just a coincidence."
We do know a few things, however. We know that actor Greg Grunberg was asked to come back for the season finale. He was the pilot we saw getting ripped out of the cockpit and brutally killed by something we think is the monster.
Or was he killed?
In the recent Boone-centric episode, Boone tells Locke he's going to tell Shannon about a metal hatch they found on the jungle floor. Locke beans him and ties him up. Boone wakes up hearing Shannon scream. Eventually, he discovers "the monster" has killed her. Psych! It was just a dream sequence. Or was it?
At least we know we've seen the shadow of "the monster."
"Actually, we showed the shadow of the so-called monster during the (aforementioned) Boone episode," Burk says. "We were going to reveal it then, but because of the success of the show, we will put it off for a while.
