Clarifications from the Producers

This week, Lost Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse put out their final podcast of the season (which you can hear in its entirety by clicking on the title of this post). In the podcast, they clarified a couple of things we have seen in recent weeks:

1) The island won't let Ben or Charles die at this stage in the game. When Ben told Widmore that they both know he couldn't kill the old man, this was another example of a phenomenon we've seen a few other times. In other words, when the island needs you to do something, it will protect you, even from yourself. Thus, just as Michael failed twice to kill himself, and was saved from execution by the timely jamming of Keamy's gun, and just as Jack's near-suicide was thwarted by the car crash that conveniently launched him into hero mode, so, too, are Ben and Charles prevented from killing each other. (Perhaps this is also why Ben is so willing to take so many beatings and put himself in harm's way so often).

2) Abaddon's employer is meant to be a mystery. We are also meant to wonder, based on the clear disconnect between his three appearances (science team recruiter; Oceanic attorney; orderly) just who Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick) is working for. Is it Ben or the Others? Is it Widmore? Is it someone we have not even met? The point is, at this time, we're not supposed to know...

Finally, I bring you a spoiler from E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos regarding an apparent cast member departure, which of course I will not post here. If you want to see what I'm talking about, head on over to the Spoilers blog by clicking here.

Until the end of Season 4 next week, Namaste.