Why The Lost writers keep the cast away

If J.J. Abrams is God in the Lost world, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are his disciples. They executive produce and write the show and are part of a select few with inside access to its secrets.

They know why there is a polar bear on an island in the middle of the Pacific, why a man who lived down a hatch believed he was saving the world by pushing a button - and who the "others" are.

Will they tell us? Of course not. Aside from the show's high production values, large cast and exotic Hawaiian locale, it's the mystery of the island and its inhabitants that keeps fans coming back each week.

Adding to the intrigue is a script peppered with conflicting ideologies (Jack, a man of science, v John, a man of faith), bizarre mythologies (the Dharma Initiative) and characters named after famous philosophers (Locke, Rousseau).

Themes of purgatory, psychological experiments and reality TV are popular theories posted by fans on the net to explain the survivors' odd circumstances. But the creative team won't say a word. Even the stars don't know what's coming up.

"It's a beautiful way to work," says Matthew Fox, who plays Jack. "As an actor you don't have to trick yourself if you only know as much as your character knows. So I look forward to the scripts like the audience looks forward to the episodes."

The secretive style has also been the bane of the show. Cuse and Lindelof admit that after series one they were forced to rethink how much was revealed in each episode.

"There was a lot of backlash at the end of the first year that we were just stalling and not satisfying people," says Lindelof. Which is why they see Lost as a finite series, and why they have tried to keep the pace moving in the second season.

They also say they know how the show will end.

"Whenever we do a story or we show the monster or we find the hatch, that all has to be consistent with what we know the ending to be," says Lindelof. "We have a goal that we are working towards."

Scripts are written like an architect designs a house, with the action built around predetermined outcomes. From the start, they knew Walt would be abducted at the end of season one. Season two's finale will reveal more of the characters' back stories.

Lindelof would hate the series to burn out like The X Files or Twin Peaks. But it's a catch-22. The higher the ratings, the longer fans will want the show to run.

Meanwhile, says Lindelof, sit back and enjoy the ride because it's all about context. "You would laugh us out of the room if we told you right now what happens in the final episode. But if you let us take you there, we think you'll find it's pretty cool."