The Tail Section

Along with the premiere date, today also brings the official cast list, meaning we now can confirm which cast members are official series regulars for the final year.

The season 6 cast is:
Naveen Andrews, Nestor Carbonell, Emilie de Ravin, Michael Emerson, Jeff Fahey, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Ken Leong, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O’Quinn and Ziuleikha Robinson

In case you forgot, that last woman plays Ilana from Ajira 316.

In other words, the final season has 14 series regulars, just like season 1. However, only 9 of them were around back then.

It also marks the first time Carbonell and Fahey (Richard and Frank) are series regulars, they were always listed as guest stars before.

What do I take away from this? Mostly that, with Carboell, O’Quinn, Fahey, Emerson, Robinson and Yunjin Kim all listed, we will probably still see them on the Island in 2007.

However, the return of de Ravin and the lack of Mitchell and many DHARMA folks suggests to me that all those theories about the bomb working and changing the future so Oceanic 815 lands safely are true.

But then how the heck are Locke and Sun still on the Island? I can’t explain it, except that we may be dealing with weird parallel universes.

ABC has finally confirmed when Lost will return, and it’s February 2. TUESDAY, February 2.

That’s right, the show is moving once again, this time to land Tuesdays. The February 2 premiere will feature a one-hour recap at 8pm followed by the two-hour premiere, “LAX,” at 9pm.

The next week, the show will settle in to its regular spot Tuesdays at 9pm. The move to Tuesday will most likely mean the show will be paired with V, another sci-fi show that just so happens to star Elizabeth Mitchell.

Damon Lindelof teased a few details about the final season of Lost:

- On what will be answered: “The questions that count will be answered, and the questions that fans don’t want answered won’t be answered, but I think what they’re looking for is a real sense of resolution, particularly on a character level. Who’s going to live? Who’s going to die? Who’s going to hook up with who? Why were they all brought here in the first place? Was it arbitrary? Is there meaning behind it?”

- On who’s returning to the show: “I do think it’s safe to say that that final season of the show in a lot of ways is a curtain call for all the actors who kind of made these iconic performances and we’re hoping that a lot of them come back for one final appearance.”

- On the possible explanation of what the smoke monster is: “If you do not see a dinosaur by the end of the season premiere of season six I think it will be safe to conclude that the monster is not a dinosaur. But that’s not to say that you won’t see one. I’m just saying you will know.”

Also, ABC has released a bigger version of the first official poster for season 6, and it reveals who the characters on top are. From left to right: Faraday, Boone, Miles, Ana Lucia, Charlotte, Lapidus, Shannon, Desmond, Mr. Eko, Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Locke’s back, Ben, Sayid, Libby, Sun, Jin, Claire, Hurley, Juliet, Charlie, Richard, Bernard, Rose, and that cute little dog, Vincent.

Shiela Kelley is joining the final season of Lost, EW’s Michael Ausiello reports. The former LA Law star joins in a recurring role as Kendall, an intelligent and sharp-witted beauty who commits corporate espionage and has to lie to get out of it.

Naveen Andrews is set to make a guest appearance on Law & Order: SVU. While details are being kept under wraps, TVGuide.com reports that he’ll shoot his episode, which is set to air in January 2010, next week.

But Lost is still shooting its last episodes at the moment, so the timing is pretty suspect - is Sayid done for the season? A rep clarifies that “not all cast members are in every episode,” and it’s possible that Sayid will be back for the latter part of season 6, but the possibility is still there.