Lindelof and Cuse on when questions will be answered

Thanks for clicking through, Lostophiles...

As I teased on the main blog, below are some hints, and some of Lost's pending questions, and when we will (and won't) be getting answers. The source for this information is the interview posted to ew.com today between Jeff Jensen and Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

• There is no reason, per se, that Ben could not be one of the Oceanic Six. After all, he has multiple identities and detailed information on who was on that plane...
• Time travel will factor in to Lost; changing the future will not.
• By the end of the seventh episode (the last in the current string), we will know each member of the Oceanic Six.
• By the end of the fourth season, we will know why the Oceanic Six are the only ones who left, and why the other survivors did not.
• Also by the end of the fourth season, we will know who was in the coffin at Hoffs/ Drawler in the third season finale.
• The characters' relationship to the outside world once they've been on the island will be an important theme going forward.
• Jacob's cabin and smokey will factor in to the rest of the season, but will not be fully explained by the end of season 4.
• The skeletons from the first season ("Adam and Eve") will be explained, but not this year.
• The larger DHARMA Initiative mythos, including details about the purge, will be dealt with next season.
• The dos and don'ts of using the funky sat phones will be explained in episode 5.
• By the end of season 4, there will be two alternate explanations given as to what the fake Oceanic flight 815 found in the Sunda Trench really is. Both explanations will be supported by some evidence, but it will not be clear which explanation is correct.
• The "Find815" game was not "in canon," and the Maxwell Group is not part of the larger story. That said, the aspects of the game that did touch on "Confirmed Dead," i.e. that a salvage boat called Christiane I "found" flight 815 while searching for Black Rock, are part of the larger story. The producers also teased that finding Black Rock may not have been the only goal for the owners of Christiane I.
• Charlotte's name ("C.S. Lewis") is an important clue to her backstory.
• Do not expect to figure out this season how the polar bear ended up in Tunisia.
• Finally, do expect the orientation film from the Orchid station, which was released online this summer, to be relevant this season. In case you missed it when I posted it previously, here's that Orchid clip again...