How long until the O6 return to Lost’s island?

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse sure are getting chatty these days. It is that time of the year — media coverage time — for the new season of Lost, and they’ve been making the rounds, dropping lots of hints about what to expect, but not giving away anything important, of course. After the jump, you’ll find the answer to one of the biggest questions fans have about Season 5 (hint: it’s in the title of this post), plus several other morsels.

Everyone wants to know how long it’s going to take for the Oceanic Six to get back to the island. Will it take the entire season? In a roundtable discussion captured by IF Magazine (via BuddyTV), Damon Lindelof gives the answer without actually spelling it out:

…if we were to spend the entire duration of season 5 with the Oceanic Six trying to get back to the island, we are fully aware that the audience would strangle us.

Well said, Damon. Does this mean we should look for the Oceanic Six to return around mid-season? I wouldn’t be surprised.

Another hot question on fans’ minds is what structure the show will take when it returns in January. Will the showrunners continue the use of flashbacks? What about flashforwards? Or will we see something in between? Or all of the above?! Carlton Cuse would only commit to the fact that they aren’t finished with flashbacks just yet. “There are still some cool flashbacks left to tell for our characters,” he told reporters.

A few other things revealed in IF Magazine’s article:

• More of Walt’s backstory will be filled in sometime in Season 5. Does this mean that Walt might be joining the Oceanic Six in returning to the island (and the show)? Hmm.
• As previously promised, Season 5 will contain the long-awaited flashbacks for Danielle Rousseau, even though the character is currently residing among the island’s rather high body count. Personally, I can’t wait for this; I love Rousseau, and still have warm fuzzy feelings for actress Mira Furlan from her days on Babylon 5.
• But unlike Walt and Rousseau, one character we probably won’t hear anymore about is Libby. Cuse says they feel that her story is “pretty much finished.” This is a reversal from prior statements from “Darlton” that they would one day venture into Libby’s past to explain why she was at the mental hospital with Hurley. They gotta address this unanswered question somehow, even if Libby doesn’t get an entire episode.
• In answering the perennial “what was that?” question about the Four-Toed Statue, Cuse revealed that there are many, many answers straight ahead. “As we roll into the end of season 5 and certainly in season 6 the show will definitely be much more in answer mode,” he said.

Is it possible for my anticipation for Season 5 to get any higher? If the producers keep dropping hints like these… YES!