War of the Worlds

Image credit: Lost: Mario Perez

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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.''

What those answers will be remains to be seen. Fox, at least, is willing to say what one of them won't be. ''Nobody is going to wake up on this show and mysteriously end up somewhere else.'' Promise? ''That's a promise.''

Told of Fox's pledge, Lindelof betrays a mischievous smirk. ''Well, then,'' he says, ''I guess we're going to have to do that.''

To read the cast and producers' reactions to five popular Lost theories, click here.