Expect to see the repercussions of Ben's spinal surgery. "There is a period of not being at full power, and in any hierarchical organization, that is a period of danger," says Emerson. "That leaves a vacuum at the top, and other people may try to swoop in and occupy it." Carlton Cuse: We put a pin in the Michael and Walt story for the season, but by no means is it over. It would be very strange for the end of Michael and Walt to just send them off in that boat without any acknowledgment of what has happened. But if you look at the bigger picture of Lost, there's a circularity to the way that story is going to unfold in the overall mythology, and that is a long, planned approach. Yes, we'll get back to the Michael and Walt story, and it will be really compelling when we do. But that's most likely a year 4 story. Damon Lindelof: [The history of the Others is] definitely unfolding. We will begin to find out how certain members of the Others joined the Others. Episode 7 played as a surprise to some audience members that Juliet was not born on the island she came off the island and was recruited by the Others. So some of them were born there and some of them were recruited, but what they are there to do will be revealed before who put them there and why. Cuse: Given everything else we have to tell, [Libbys story] is going to be a mystery that's going to have to get answered in year 4. Lindelof: There's really one significant missing piece to Libby's story. We saw in the season finale last year that she met with Desmond, she gave him his boat, and we know that her husband died and then we know that subsequent to that, she spent some time in a mental institution, the same one as Hurley. The question the audience wants answered is, How did she get from A to B from Desmond to the mental institution? We know the answer to that question, but the only way to tell that story is through another character's flashback, and that character would have to be another character on the show who is not among the beach dwellers.
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