"Take it easy," one character says in the Jan. 28 "Lost" episode. "I can explain myself a little better."
Or maybe not. He's been leaping back and forth over a 50-year time continuum. That's not easy to explain.
"It is a big of a mine field to do time-travel," producer Carlton Cuse told us today. "But it's rewarding."
He's right on both counts. Watching this show -- when everything can change with a flash of light -- is hugely perplexing and hugely worth the trouble. I've seen the first three hours (9-11 p.m. Jan. 21, 9 p.m. Jan. 28) and I found them fascinating and fun ... even when I didn't understand them.
The alternative, said co-creator Damon Lindelof, was to continue in the kind of stalled-plot approach of the first half of season three. "It was trending toward a path of complete and utter suckiness."
So they changed, chose an end date (one more season after this one) and sped the plot up.
It's moving so fast now that your head might explode if you overthink things. "The people who like this show are the ones who just go along with the journey," Cuse said.
Try it that way. It's a REALLY fun trip.