Live blogging 'Lost': Team Darlton break their silence on season 5!

Follow along as I live blog the most anticipated session of press tour: The Q&A with Lost bosses Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse! As an added bonus, I’ll be sprinkling in mild spoilers about this season’s third episode, which ABC just screened for us as a precursor to the main event. Let’s get to it!

4:01 pm/EST: Team Darlton’s in the house taking our questions!

(Episode 3 spoiler: Someone gives birth in the opening minutes!)

4:02 pm: We will be seeing a “lot more” of Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert) this season. Also, Nestor does not wear eyeliner on the show, Darlton insists! Stop the presses!!

4:07 pm: When Cane was axed, Darlton immediately stepped in and “secured [Nestor's] services” until the end of Season 6.

4:11 pm: Are they concerned that all the time travel this season will leave viewers, ahem, lost? “Time travel has been in the show’s DNA from the beginning,” says Lindelof. “The audience is prepared to go on that journey with us.”

(Episode 3 spoiler: A male character poses this question to another male character: “I assume you’ve come back for the bomb.”)

4:14 pm: “Sawyer has a lot to do this year,” says Cuse. Adds Lindelof: “A lot of the focus was on the Oceanic Six last year… this year we tried to make up for lost time [with Sawyer]. Josh has been doing amazing work.”

4:17 pm: “As we get deeper into the season,” Cuse teases, “you’re going to learn a lot more about the island’s history.”

(Episode 3 spoiler: A male character makes this shocking declaration: “Because I am in love with the woman sitting next to me.”)

4:20 pm: The purpose of the four-toed statue is revealed: Cuse says it was there simply to illustrate the island’s long and rich history.

4:22 pm: “If the first episode of Lost you see is the premiere of season 5,” says Lindelof, “you most likely won’t understand the majority of it.”

4:24 pm: Lost currently has 14 series regulars, Lindelof reveals, adding that the rough economic climate has forced them to “kill off five” this season. (He’s kidding! I think!)

(Episode 3 spoiler: Someone — or something — called Jughead plays a pivotal role.)

4:28 pm: Cuse confirms that “you’ll definitely see Jin this season… He’s a series regular.”

4:29 pm: Although Claire has been benched this season, she will be back for season 6.

4:30 pm: Darlton chose to spread the last 48 episodes over three seasons, as opposed to just two. “That was our choice,” he says. “We calculated how many episodes” it would take to adequately tell the story of Lost.

(Episode 3 spoiler: Someone says, “You’re in my life now — you and Charlie.”)

4:31 pm: The session is brought to an end after only 25 minutes! Totally bogus! Just for that, I was going to bank this next episode 3 spoiler for Wednesday’s Ask Ausiello, but I’m giving it to you guys now: At the end of the episode, a significant character dies. I think.