TVSquad

Ah, product placement. It's a subject that's come up before. We have an award for it, and even as far back as those care free days of 2005, Karina was writing about the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild Of America protesting it. The telling quote from that piece, "Our writers are being told to perform the function of ad copywriter, but to disguise this as storytelling." And isn't that where most of us have always drawn the line in the sand? The placing of products into sets was kind of an understood cost of doing business, but having the writers change scripts to incorporate them was a whole other ball of (Turtle) wax. Unfortunately, those (Foster Farms) chickens have come home to roost.

"Welcome to the war." Ben Linus utters those words to John Locke in one of ABC's Lost promos, gun in hand. Since day one, Ben claimed that the freighter folks were going to kill everyone on the island. The show's three-hour finale is only a few weeks away. What do these last episodes of the season hold for the island residents? Can they hold their own against Widmore's team of scientists and thugs? Spoiler Warning: Some details from promos, interviews, and podcasts are mentioned.

Gallery: Lost Season Four

Earlier today, Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse held a teleconference with reporters and bloggers in anticipation of the show's return. They revealed, or at least hinted at, what we can expect in the season's final five episodes, elements of the season finale, and what they hope accomplish in upcoming seasons. Here's a recap:

• The title of the season finale is "There's No Place Like Home."
• When Lost returns, the show will follow Grey's Anatomy. Lindelof and Cuse aren't sure that the two dramas share an audience, but they are happy to share Thursdays with another successful show.

(S04E08) We're going into a five-week Lost hiatus, and I'm extremely thankful that this wasn't the season finale. "Meet Kevin Johnson" wasn't a bad episode, but I couldn't have waited until 2009 for a follow-up. This episode did have its moments. We learned more about the island's connection to its inhabitants, Michael's time on the mainland, and there was (at least) one death. That should keep us busy for the next month or so, right?

Gallery: Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson