TVSquad

ABC recently posted another Lost audio podcast for this week's episode, "The Constant." Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse reviewed the newest Lost episode as well as last week's "Eggtown," answered fan questions, and previewed "The Other Woman." Since they skipped a podcast last week, Lindelof and Cuse revealed much more information and dealt with more questions than an average podcast. Here's a recap:

• Due to the writers' strike, Lost's sixteen-episode season was cut to thirteen episodes. The storylines for the eight episodes intended for the second half of the season will be "compressed" into five episodes. The remaining three episodes will be added to the final two seasons of the show.

• The executive producers offered this explanation for the events of "The Constant": In 1996, Desmond suddenly traveled forward into his body in 2004. The people and the locations that were a part of his 2004 self were unfamiliar, which is why he couldn't remember Sayid at first.
• Lindelof and Cuse said that Lost differs from other film and TV approaches to time travel (Heroes, for example) in that there are no time paradoxes. Nothing that the characters do during time travel can change the future or the present. There is no alternate-reality version of Jack that exists in another dimension.
• Many fans have questions about "The Constant," particularly about how Penny's conversation with Desmond (about him calling eight years later) fits in with their meeting outside the stadium in "Live Together, Die Alone" (which occurred after the events of "The Constant"). Damon Lindelof advised fans to listen to Mrs. Hawking's explanation of course correction in "Flashes Before Your Eyes."
• We will find out if Juliet is one of the Oceanic Six within the first five minutes of next week's episode.
• "The Other Woman" will shed light on where the remaining Others are; Episode Eight will give us an even better idea of what they've been up to.
• Richard Alpert will appear again this season, but Cindy the flight attendant might not.
• In the "Eggtown" flash-forward, Jack said that eight people survived the crash, but two didn't make it. The identities of the two people who are supposed to have died before rescue is not significant.
• According to Damon Lindelof, there are certain "special places" on the planet that relate to the show's mysteries. Medenine, Tunisia, is one of them, and Ayer's Rock in Australia is another. The DHARMA polar bear was found in Tunisia in "Confirmed Dead," and Rose and Bernard went to a faith healer near Ayer's Rock in "S.O.S."
• Kate's flash-forward episode was called "Eggtown" because the plot focused on Kate's possible pregnancy and because Locke was fixing eggs for Ben at the beginning of the episode.
• In "Eggtown," Charlotte and Daniel were testing to see if the island affects memory. The 815 survivors are not experiencing memory loss. Carlton Cuse said that it's possible that Daniel sustained a head injury on the way to the island, and it's even more likely that he had a pre-existing condition before coming there.
• Daniel Faraday and Ana-Lucia's ex-boyfriend, Danny, are not the same person.

It's unlikely that there will be a podcast next week, but Cuse and Lindelof said that we will get one the week after that. Be sure to check here for another podcast recap!