Countdown to Lost

Two more weeks until Lost returns from its strike-induced hiatus. From the sound of things in this Entertainment Weekly article, it will jump-start right back into the excitement!

A snippit from the article:
The ensuing four installments will answer some of the season's biggest questions: How did the much-vaunted Oceanic 6 leave the Island? What happened to those left behind? Why is Sayid (Naveen Andrews) killing people for Ben in the future? And who's rotting inside that darn coffin? "It's big and epic," promises Matthew Fox (Jack). "Our first eight episodes, by design, were all set up for these episodes to come. That we're doing just five instead of eight means they're even more packed with plot. It's payoff time."

Also interesting, here's a teaser for the upcoming episode:
In addition to being a flash-forward adventure for globe-trotting Ben, in which his war with British billionaire Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) over control of the Island will intensify, episode 9 revisits a long-simmering subplot: Sayid's romance with Iraqi love Nadia (Andrea Gabriel). According to Lindelof, a new dimension of Smokey the monster's mercurial nature will also be revealed, per the Lost rule that "you learn something new about the monster whenever it appears." And Cuse says a major story line will begin for Claire (Emilie de Ravin), Aaron's Aussie mommy, who lost boyfriend Charlie in last year's finale: "Mysterious things are happening to Claire that set up the next few episodes — and the next few years, too."