The other thing I wanted to mention is how much profanity (and ASSCAPS) these scripts have. (As do the Alias scripts, actually.) They can't swear on the show, so they pepper the scene directions with things like "Jack has NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON." "Claire is REALLY FUCKING SCARED." It's so funny.

You must let us know if they every come up with great turns of phrase like "eyefuck" and "schmucking the bait".

These sound like awesoome episodes. Thanks, jessica!

Yeah, thanks! I'm reading this at work and I had a hard time refraining from shrieking. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY WOULD PLAY WITH US AND ALMOST KILL CHARLIE. (well kill and revive, but still)

I'm assuming this photo is Jack and Kate finding Charlie's body in the tree, but the expression on his face is too too funny.

It would be a non-psycho explanation for that look, which I was unable to come up with prior to the kidnapping revelation.

Though I still like the idea of Jack being the one who's seriously disturbed.

Though I still like the idea of Jack being the one who's seriously disturbed.

Nah - too easy. You have to have someone you would never suspect that - bam! - reveals he/she is psycho.

I think a lot could be mined from everyone finding out that the Messiah figure they're all depending on is actually very undependable. Though the particulars of his second flashback episode make such a revelation extremely unlikely.

I just don't see Jack as a Messiah though. And goodness knows our 45 need a decent doctor - and Jack is trying.

I think Locke is perhaps the one looking for Messianic allegiance at this stage of the game. But it is hard to tell. I find the hints to "Watership Down" and "The Stand" to be very interesting because clearly they aren't going exactly that way, but so far I don't really see any reference to The Stand at all...

Unless, this "sickness" thing takes hold.

Woo! Spoilers! This article in Entertainment Weekly has some tidbits. Subscription is required after first page, so here is the text...

Here on the Hawaii set of ABC's hit drama Lost — that twisty mystery series about plane crash survivors fending for themselves on a South Pacific island inhabited by polar bears, a sadistic Frenchwoman, and unseen monsters — the cameras roll as Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Jack (Matthew Fox) stare at a mound of dirt marked with a wooden cross. ''Why didn't you just put him with the others when you burned the fuselage?'' asks Kate.

''Because I needed to bury him,'' explains Dr. Jack solemnly. The two pull out some makeshift shovels and begin exhuming the dead guy, a U.S. marshal who was bringing fugitive Kate to justice before disaster struck. See, this marshal carried a wallet. And that wallet contained a key. And that key opens an impenetrable briefcase. And the contents of that case are important enough for them to endure this hellish process, which involves gagging, maggots, and a startling betrayal that the island gods want to keep hush-hush for now.

Heebie-jeebie hypotheses and heady head-scratchers are the keys to Lost, and America doesn't seem to mind the game: The nebulous, foreboding drama -- evoking The Twilight Zone, Cast Away, and Lord of the Flies -- has fast become one of the year's most talked-about shows. In its Wednesday-at-8-p.m. slot, it has attracted 17.6 million viewers (impressive for an early-evening drama), making it the No. 2 new series of the season. And along with Desperate Housewives and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Lost is rescuing ABC from ratings purgatory -- and giving viewers the meatiest conspiracy-theory fodder since The X-Files . In short, not bad for a new show without CSI or Law & Order in its title.

Lost was first conceived in summer 2003 -- the original idea came from ABC's then entertainment chairman, Lloyd Braun, but was further developed by rising Hollywood hyphenate J.J. Abrams (Felicity, Alias) and Crossing Jordan writer-producer Damon Lindelof. The duo came up with conceits that would liberate Lost from its inherent limitations: extensive flashbacks that ventured all over the globe, and an ongoing mystery that may or may not involve a man-hunting monster.

But by the time their 25-page outline got the go-ahead, pilot season was well under way, so Abrams and Lindelof began furiously writing and casting. Originally the noble doc Jack was to be quickly killed off (potential guest star: Michael Keaton), but the producers decided that the stunt was too gimmicky, and stayed Jack's execution. Instead, Party of Five's Fox was tapped for this leading role. ''I knew that it was utterly original,'' says the actor. ''[There] was nothing like it on television, and I felt that all the ingredients were there for something really, really big.''

Meanwhile, a pan-demographic parade of actors auditioned from the completed portions of the script. Or not. ''If an actor would come in that we loved, but there was no part in the show for them, we said, 'F--- it. Let's write a character for that guy!''' says Lindelof, citing Jorge Garcia, who plays the plus-size jokester Hurley. Soon, a massive cast began to take shape, including druggie musician Charlie (The Lord of the Rings' Dominic Monaghan); scruffy malcontent Sawyer (Sabretooth's Josh Holloway); former Iraqi officer Sayid (Naveen Andrews of The English Patient); creepy wise man Locke (Abrams' staple player Terry O'Quinn, who appeared in Alias); very pregnant Aussie Claire (Emilie de Ravin); desperate housewife Sun (Yunjin Kim), whose domineering husband, Jin (24's Daniel Dae Kim), doesn't know she speaks English; and dad Michael (Oz's Harold Perrineau), who's seeking to bond with his young son, Walt (Malcolm David Kelley).

After a protracted search for leading lady Kate, the producers happened upon a tape of Canadian import Lilly, whose face was so fresh, she hadn't (continued...)

( continues...) uttered a speaking line in Hollywood yet. ''She was beautiful, but there was a goofy quality about her,'' recalls Abrams, ''so it didn't feel like she wasn't a human being.''

Visa issues nearly scotched this find; Lilly was cleared for work less than 24 hours before shooting her first scene. Not that she was sold right away: ''When I first read [the audition scenes], I was like, 'What? Gilligan's Island with 15 people? And what is the thing in the bushes?' When I read the full script, I started to go, 'Wait a minute -- these guys can write.' I'm not a sci-fi person. I'm not a big action-adventure person. I don't even own a TV. But I remember thinking 'Wow.'''

Lost premiered Sept. 22 with a gutsy two-parter that began at the site of a horrific plane wreck (whoa, that dude just got sucked into the engine!), featured a pilot being brutally killed by an off-camera creature, and ended with our veritable U.N. of survivors discovering a 16-year-old looped distress call indicating that they might not be alone. Despite having all the makings of a noble TV failure (glowing reviews, unusual premise), Lost drew 18.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched drama debut at 8 p.m. in five years (since NBC's Providence), and proving that a killer high-concept series can be king. ''Still, to this moment...I can't... it feels impossible,'' stutters Abrams, whose previous shows have teetered on the cusp of cancellation. ''I see the top 10 list and I see Lost is there and it looks like something that a friend would mock up just to hurt me.''

Cast members aren't sure what to make of the hubbub either -- specially because they've been marooned far away on Hawaii's North Shore since shooting began in July. (They've finished 13 of 23 episodes and will wrap in March.) ''The agents call up from L.A. and say, 'Here's how you did last night,''' says O'Quinn (Locke). ''I'll have to have the empirical evidence before I believe anything.'' And on that rare visit back to the mainland? ''I did take a trip to L.A. recently with Matthew, and we were in the airport and we had a few really bizarre looks from people hoping that we weren't going to get on their flight,'' says Monaghan (Charlie). ''It's definitely weird walking around airports now, because we are associated with bringing down a 747.''

They're also connected to a series that raises more questions than a philosopher on speed. Are they all dead? What's up with the black and white stones? Will Gilligan ever hook up with Mary Ann? (Oh, wait -- wrong island.) The query most often posed to the Lost bunch, though, is even more perplexing: What in the name of Mr. Rourke is that people-chomping creature tromping through the trees? ''It looks like a camera on a stick,'' quips O'Quinn, whose character is the only one who has seen The Thing. Even when it comes to their own backstories, the cast receives just the essential info. ''Which, by the way, could be a two-syllable word,'' says Ian Somerhalder, a.k.a. Boone, brother to spoiled babe Shannon (Maggie Grace). ''I've been waiting for over 100 days to find out what the hell I'm about. It's like J.J. and Damon are playing a chess game, we're the pieces, and they're just like, 'That was a great move! Check.''' Then again, certain cast members don't take nothing for an answer. Notes Grace: ''There's always an on-set writer and we can't resist. So we'll go out for drinks, wait till the wine kicks in, and go, 'Oh, hey, so about that monster...' But they don't usually bite.''

Considering those tantalizing TV mysteries that ultimately disappoint (damn you, Twin Peaks!), fans need to know: Are they getting strung along here on a creative high-wire act? While Lindelof promises that Lost isn't ''a big smoke-and-mirrors trick,'' Abrams acknowledges that they're still discovering the show for themselves. ''It's like using a Ouija board. You're telling this story, but you're like, 'Are you pushing it?' But we have a big-picture idea of (continued...)