Several weeks in advance of Comic-Con 2009, the annual mega-event where (among other things) Lost masterminds Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse end their self-imposed radio silence post-season finale, the powerhouse duo participated in a Q&A for fans in London over the weekend at the Curzon Cinema. A blogger named McLeron attended the event and has provided a complete transcript of all that was revealed.

There’s a lot to digest in the transcript, but here are the comments this blogger believes to be the most telling, along with my thoughts:

• Damon Lindelof: “You are married to your destiny, you can try to avoid it, but it will catch up to you.” I’m thinking this is going to be hugely important in Season 6. Perhaps the hydrogen bomb’s detonation caused some changes to the timeline, but ultimately will not be able to alter the destinies of the main characters.
• Lindelof shut down any possibilities for spin-offs, comic books, or any other continuations of the show once Season 6 ends, saying, “We feel that if we hold anything back for the final season of the show, it will be bad. People have come along this far, and they need a conclusion.” Bravo, Mr. L. A very wise man, you are.
• Lindelof reveals that celebrated comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan, who’s been on the Lost writing staff since Season 3, has “left for greener pastures.” Say what?! I hadn’t heard that. Did we know this already? Somebody help me out here, I’m seriously bummed over this.
• Filming on Season 6 begins Monday, August 24th.
• Regarding where the show’s major characters find themselves, at the beginning of Season 6, Lindelof would only cryptically say, “…everybody gets back together in one form or another, and we feel that Season 6 is a lot like Season 1 with its [feeling of] community.” Sounds like the whole gang is getting back together!

Entertainment Weekly reports that actor Mark Pellegrino, who was unveiled as Lost’s Jacob at the end of Season 5, is joining the cast of The CW’s Supernatural playing none other than Satan himself. (Hopefully he’s not being pigeonholed for playing rather spectral, non-human characters.)

If you’re wondering (and of course you are) if this means that Jacob’s time on Lost is over, and Jacob may really be dead after all… EW points out that Pellegrino’s status on Supernatural is as a recurring character, not a regular. So he should still have free time on his schedule in case some trips to Hawaii are requested of him…

Image: INF.

Okay, so we know that Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Maggie Grace (Shannon), and Ian Somerhalder (Boone) are all keen to return to Lost in its final season, and at least one of them has been in active talks with the show’s producers about that very possibility.

Now Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, the actor who famously played Mr. Eko — and then asked to be released from his contract long before his planned character arc was finished — says he wouldn’t mind going back to Lost. “To be able to give that rich character some completion would be nice,” he told TV Guide Magazine. Quite a change of heart.

But as TVG points out, the actor burned a lot of bridges with the show’s producers when he left it prematurely, forcing them to compensate by ending their long-term plans for his character. What do you think? Could a full-on reunion with Lost’s dearly departed be in the cards for Season 6? Or would Lost’s producers even consider bringing the actor back, after their difficult first experience?

Image: Zuma Press.

There’s been some speculation that Lost’s sixth and final season might tack on an extra hour beyond the contracted 18. Over the weekend, EW’s Michael Ausiello reported via Twitter that the rumors are true: Season 6 will be comprised of a total of 18 hours, thanks to a planned 2-hour premier and a 2-hour finale.

It’s the rumor that won’t die. Could that be because it’s true?

E! Online was tipped off on Tuesday by “a reliable spy” that actor Dominic Monaghan and Lost mastermind Damon Lindelof “had breakfast together this morning at a Fairfax district eatery in Los Angeles.” Suspicions running on overdrive, E! speculates that either the two of them were just having a friendly get-together, or maybe… they were discussing plans to return Charlie Pace to Lost in its upcoming final season.

What do you think? A load of wishful thinking? Or a genuine possibility?

IGN.com is reporting that the highly anticipated Lost panel at Comic-Con International 2009 has been set for Saturday, July 25th, at 11:AM in Hall H.

For those not in-the-know, the Lost panel at Comic-Con is the traditional time when executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse emerge from their self-imposed end-of-season media blackout, and speak publically for the very first time about the upcoming season. Since the upcoming season in question is Lost’s last one ever, saying that this year’s CCI Lost panel is going to be a big deal would be the understatement of the decade. Darlton always bring some surprises for CCI attendees, usually in the form of special videos, ARG-related stuff, and surprise guests. (Two years ago, Harold Perrineau appeared to promote his return for Season 4; last year, Matthew Fox showed up unexpectedly halfway through the panel.)

The fact that it’s taking place once again in Hall H is huge. Last year, Lost and Heroes became the first two TV shows to ever get to use the cavernous Hall H at Comic-Con, which holds up to 6,500 people, and the back-to-back panels for the two shows garnered standing-room-only crowds. Heroes won’t be holding a panel this year, but Lost’s crew has promised to bring “something special” to CCI.

If you’re planning to attend Comic-Con 2009 and hope to get into the Lost panel… As someone who’s been to Comic-Con the last four years in a row, take my advice and get there insanely early. Camping out the night before might even be worth considering. I’m not joking! Here’s a video shot by a friend of mine that shows just how ridiculously long the line was last year for those of us waiting to get in for the Heroes and Lost panels:

Image: Comic-Con logo Copyright 2009 ©Comic-Con International.

Death Ray Magazine has a brand new interview with Lost masterminds Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse in which they discuss the coming final season of the show. Much of what’s said in the interview is reiterations of bits we’ve heard before (”negotiating the end date of the show was the smartest thing we ever did,” etc.), but the duo offer a few hints as to what will be addressed, thematically, in the show’s final season.

Carlton Cuse: “…we will answer the questions that we feel are important and central to the show, as well as basically trying to tell redemption stories.”

Death Ray: Is the end of the show about the characters discovering what the purpose of life is?
Carlton Cuse: “It certainly is about them discovering what the purpose of their lives is. Ultimately it doesn’t matter if you were a doctor, a musician, or a torturer, now here on the island is the opportunity to erase the sins of your past… What exactly is [their] destiny?… That’s what the last season of the show will explore.”

Add this to something Lindelof said earlier in the interview: “…this idea of a hero’s journey. Traditionally that journey is a protagonist going on an adventure… They have this call to fulfill their destiny. Well, we’re doing that 14 times, for each and every character.” Sounds to me like Season 6 is going to be a year heavy on redemption and solidifying the show’s main characters as the mythological archetypes we always knew they were.

There are some crazy rumors flying around the Net this week that several (or possibly all!) of the deceased former passengers of Oceanic 815 could be returning to the show for its sixth and final season. Amid swirling bits about Charlie (aka actor Dominic Monaghan) and Shannon (Maggie Grace) possibly making respective comebacks, TV Guide throws fuel on the fire with word straight from actor Ian Somerhalder, who played Boone in the show’s first season, that his return is a very strong possibility.

Is this just actors’ wishful thinking? Or is there a time-has-been-rewritten-so-they’re-not-dead-anymore reunion in the works for all of the show’s stars of yesteryear? Hmm.

The final “LOST Untangled” for Season 5 has arrived, and somehow it manages to boil down everything that happened in the two-hour season finale, “The Incident,” to just five minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Enjoy, it’s the last one you’ll get until 2010…

Matthew Fox is currently in Monte Carlo for a television festival happening there, and during an interview, he’s provided some spoilery/teasery clues about what’s to come in Season 6. He doesn’t actually reveal any answers, but he drops some juicy hints about what he knows. The ODI provides the goods:

• Fox always knew that Jack and Locke would go head-to-head in Season 6, though he doesn’t know now if that means the real Locke or Jacob’s enemy in Locke’s form.
• The first scene of Season 6 will explain what happened when the Jughead hydrogen bomb exploded in 1977. Fox says that at first, it will be “both confusing and surprising” to the audience.
• About one third through Season 6, there will become one solidified timeline on the island, with no more flashbacks. (It’s uncertain here if he’s referring to some kind of joining of the 1977 and 2007 time periods, or an amalgamation of current history and the altered history that may have happened when Jughead blew.)
• He says that he is continually surprised at how “moving” the end of the show is going to be.