Is it too late to start watching 'Lost'?

If you've never seen an episode of "Lost," is it too late to start watching as the final season begins?

Well, probably. There's so much plot and so much character development that it would be extremely difficult to figure out what's happening at this point.

But not impossible.

You could watch the previous 102 episodes, which have all been released on DVD. But that would take you a while.

Or you could tune in on Tuesday (7 p.m., Ch. 4) for an hourlong recap show that's a "summation of the (first) five seasons in 43 minutes, which is actually pretty remarkably well done," said executive producer Carlton Cuse. "That's one way to catch up."

Even if you're a regular viewer of the show, watching what amounts to an hourlong review might not be a bad idea. After all, the last episode of Season 5 aired 261 days before the first episode of Season 6.

"Also, in the final season, we are doing something different narratively which doesn't require sort of deep-and-vast knowledge for you to get," Cuse said.

What they're really hoping is that all the viewers who made Season 1 such a success will return for the final 18 hours. Even the viewers who drifted away over the years.

"We also just feel like the stories that we're telling this season kind of really do harken back to the first season of the show," Cuse said. "I think if you watched the first season of the show, that's probably the most important thing leading into the final season."

Some of you are no doubt planning to wait until Season 6 is released on DVD. The problem is that there will be so much publicity when the finale airs in May it will be impossible to avoid, so you'll know how it ends.

You've been warned.