TV.com

(NOTE: some spoilers, mostly minor, inside--read at your own risk!)

San Diego, CA--In the room known as Ballroom 20 at the San Diego Convention Center, a packed house full of Losties sat patiently like cult followers awaiting their leader. The cult members are the hardcore fans of ABC's Lost, and their leaders are Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

The Lost panel on Thursday evening was the most anticipated television-related event at Comic-Con International 2007, and the plethora of Dharma Initiative T-shirts in the crowd made it clear that ABC's drama was still a powerhouse among the sci-fi community.

The opening clips (which looked like a special feature that could be included in a DVD set) recapped parts of the show, with the various actors, writers, and execs talking about the program. With each actor getting their shot on the four large screens in the room, cheers erupted. Emmy-nominee Michael Emerson (Ben), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), and Josh Holloway (Sawyer) got the biggest cheers (most regulars, like Matthew Fox, Terry O'Quinn, and Evangeline Lilly, weren't featured in the opening segment).

Carlton Cuse (wearing a Hanso Foundation t-shirt) and Damon Lindelof were announced shortly after, but with a few problems--their mics didn't work. No problem for the two charismatic TV producers, as they scooted to the podium before moving down the table to some working microphones.

They then showed a clip of the new Lost video game from Ubisoft. Lindelof called the scenes early renderings, but any Lost fan could easily make out the landmarks, which included the cave Jack found refuge in during season one, the crash site, and the interior of the hatch.

"I think no one is going to expect what they get out of the game. It will be a lot like the show," Lindelof said of the game, which will apparently feature side stories from the program. Talk of the game was very short-lived though, as the pair was eager to get on to talk about the show.

In order not to allow each other to divulge secrets or spoilers about the upcoming season or the overall story in general, bells--the kind you might find in a countryside inn when looking for service at a front desk--were placed in front of both speakers.

"We're drunk," Lindelof joked (well, maybe--it is Comic-Con, after all), indicating that they may have loose lips.

The idea behind the bells was quickly explained.

"If either of us feel the other person is giving away too much, he can ring the person out," said Cuse.

"Then that person has to shut up immediately," explained Lindelof.

To test the theory before the crowd, Cuse launched into a potentially spoiler-ific statement: "So if I said the monster was a security"--DING! Lindelof immediately rang the bell, and Cuse shut up, grinning.

The two then invited fans to ask questions, and a huge line formed right down the middle the room. Dozens of attendees literally got to their knees for their chance to talk to the two and have their Lost questions answered...or at least brought up before the only two people in the world who could answer them.

When asked about the prevailing violence in season three, Lindelof said, "I would argue that our guys [the survivors from the fuselage] were more violent to each other in season one, but they were so attractive, so it was like...more please? Can you take your shirt off? If the violence continues it will be done by catastrophically attractive people."

Then, to no one's surprise, the question of Michael Dawson's return was raised.

"Most of you probably saw that [ABC president] Steve McPherson said at the [Television Critics Association press tour] that Harold Perrineau would be back this season," said Cuse.

"This was kind of a bummer for us, because we obviously got spoiled," replied Lindelof. The two had originally planned to announce Michael's return during the panel.

Next up, the subject of more flash-forwards--a bomb dropped in the season finale of season three--was raised. "Will there be more?" asked the fan.

"The answer is yes," answered Cuse. "Let's talk a little more about this."

That statement immediately brought Lindelof's hands over his bell, ready to cut Cuse off at any time and raising laughter from the crowd. "Truth is the [next] season will feature flashbacks and flash-forwards."

"The question is how forward," said Lindelof.

The next fan wondered if Jack and Claire would ever discover they are brother and sister.

"I would say--", said Lindelof, before being immediately being cut off by a DING! from Cuse.

Next up came a question about the Dharma Initiative, to which Cuse said, "You may be learning more about Dharma sooner than you imagined."

"You mean sooner than February?" kidded Lindelof.

"How about 5:58," said Cuse, referring to a few minutes before the panel was due to end. The crowd gasped in unison.

"What's going to happen then?" said Cuse. Suddenly, both men rang their bells and laughed out loud.

Next it was reconfirmed that the Lost season three DVD would be released to the public on December 11.

The two producers then talked about the decision to flash forward at the end of season three. They say they had always wanted to do it, but couldn't until they knew that they had an end in sight. With the show announcing that it would end after three more years of 16 episodes each, they figured that it was now time to start the flash-forwards.

But they cautioned that it didn't mean the end. "What you saw with Kate and Jack [at the end of season three] is not the end of the show," said Cuse.

"There's this whole chapter of our story that takes place off the island," said Lindelof. "But we couldn't tell that story until we knew an end was coming. Come with us all the way to the end, and it won't be a waste of time."

The next fan really pressed Cuse and Lindelof for more questions about Michael. Accusing the two of holding back information and demanding that fans get the information they deserve, the woman elevated her voice and made the two on stage look very uncomfortable.

Just when the room began to think that security would have to intervene, a bell rang offstage.

The woman was of course a plant--something the Lost producers have been known to have at Comic-Con in the past--and a sense of relief washed over the crowd when it realized a special guest was about to walk the stage.

Harold Perrineau entered from the left in jeans and an ash-colored T-shirt, and the crowd went absolutely nuts. From here on out, it was a three-man panel.

The Lost writers had always planned to bring Michael back for season four, and Perrineau was in on the whole thing the entire time.

"I'm really, really excited to go back to Hawaii and hang out with my friends," said Perrineau, of getting back to work on Lost.

"We can confirm [Michael] isn't coming back just for a quick pop, he will be coming back as a series regular," said Lindelof. "We can't tell you when, but the way he does comes back is awesome."

The biggest surprise came at the end of the panel, when a never-before-seen black-and-white clip was shown to the crowd. It was another Dharma Initiative orientation video, spliced together. The same scientist featured in the previous training videos (who goes under different names) introduced himself as Edward Allowitz (editor's note: name cannot be confirmed, and yes, he could use his left arm) and began talking about "Orchid Station," or station six.

The man said the station was not actually a botanical research facility, and apologized for misleading the intended viewer but said it was all necessary to protect the viewer's family.

In traditional Lost fashion, the film was spliced together horribly, with frames between reels offering head-scratching clues such as backwards text (too fast to read) and...footage of someone riding a bicycle upside-down.

The big reveal in the clip occurred when the scientist held up a rabbit that was marked with a black "15" on its fur. After some shaking on the set and a bit of panic from the station employees, another rabbit appeared on the shelf...also marked with the same "15."

"Why is this tape still rolling?" said the man, pleading for the cameras to be turned off. This was footage no company wants people to see in its training video. A quick cut, and then the scientist begins a second take, introducing the orientation video. Fade to black.

Other highlights from the panel include:

--The premiere episode of season four is currently being written, and is currently untitled.

--Nestor Carbonell, who plays the ageless Richard Alpert, will be coming back. However, due to schedule conflicts with Carbonell's role in Cane, it is unclear how much he can be used.

--The body Hurley saw falling off a building in season one was not John Locke.

--Libby's story will be fleshed out, and the duo hinted that she may work for Dharma.

--Danielle Rousseau's backstory will intertwine with a major plotline next year. (As Lindelof began saying this, Cuse DING!ed him.)

--By the time the season premiere airs in February, the writers should be through episode 13 or 14. "We're going with a net," said Lindelof.