'Lost' will finally find the answers — eventually

PASADENA, Calif. — "Lost" fans, prepare to be confused.

The sixth and final season begins Tuesday, and — as has been the case since the show premiered in September 2004 — there will be mysteries galore.

"The premiere is definitely like, 'What? Wait. Let me read that part again. What?' " said Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley. "There's some head-scratchers."

"I think I had to read it about three times before it actually made sense," said Emilie de Ravin, who returns as Claire. And Claire, when last we saw her, was dead. Or so we thought.

"Get ready to scratch your heads, America!" joked creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof.

More so than usual, the network and the producers have been tight-lipped about what's next. The final season premiere wasn't screened for critics, and there are indications that "spoilers" that are out there were planted to mislead the gullible.

We do know that the new season picks up right where the last

one ended. The nuclear bomb has been detonated, and either time has been reset to just before the original plane crash that launched the series — or it hasn't.

And in a way that will leave you scratching your head, apparently.

"But I think in such a great, thought-provoking way that it really draws you in more," de Ravin said.

The actors certainly seem enthused.

"I don't know of any other television show that's been able to give the audience what they've come to love and want to see and, at the same time, keep it dynamic for as long as they have," said Daniel Dae Kim (Jin).

"We're not bored yet, and we're in Season 6. That's unheard of for television actors," said Evangeline Lilly (Kate).

Yes, this is the season when we're promised answers to the mysteries that have swirled through the previous 104 episodes. All of this will end after 18 more hours — Tuesday's two-hour season premiere; 14 one-hour episodes; and a two-hour series finale scheduled to air in May.

The end, when it comes, will be what the producers envisioned when the show began. Sort of.

"I mean, we came up with the final image of the show a long time ago back when we were first plotting out the mythology in the first season," said executive producer Carlton Cuse. "And then we started adding elements to that as we went along."