[mousepod]

GD, I really hope you're right. Last week's EW article made me start to doubt (the emphasis is mine):

Lindelof and Cuse (who came aboard when co-creator J.J. Abrams left after Lost's seventh episode to direct Mission: Impossible III) began sussing out season 2 last spring by brainstorming the contents of the show's Pandora's box: the hatch, a quarantined bunker buried beneath the jungle. The producers always had some general ideas, but now they had specific names. Desmond. Alvar Hanso. Dr. Marvin Candle. The Dharma Initiative. And the button, a computer key that must be pushed every 108 minutes lest...something happen. ''When they pitched the button, my first reaction was 'No f---ing way!' And I mean that in a good way,'' says ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson, who denies rumors that the network mandated the hit series steer clear of the sci-fi side of the road. ''I'm constantly amazed by their imaginations.''
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Of course, another theory could explain why Lost is down about 200,000 viewers from last year (and it's not just because it now faces American Idol's results show): Some viewers may simply have reached ambiguity overload. Truth is, Lost has to be judicious about plot development. Lindelof and Cuse say they would love to write the drama knowing that it had an end point, ideally about five seasons. But Cuse believes the show can survive on character-driven redemption tales for years, and both he and Lindelof recognize that Lost must deliver the goods, however long it's on the air. ''The more I hear about disgruntled Americans who believe there never was an exit strategy for Iraq, the more I understand why they want to know that the story we're telling has a...well, an exit strategy,'' says Lindelof. ''If they can't get answers to mysteries in real life, they most definitely want answers on their TV sets on Wednesday nights. And they deserve them.''