Guys... listen...

We need to talk.

You may not like this, but I think we all need to come to terms with a certain reality.

Now, before you accuse me of blasphemy and stop reading, know this: I still think that it was the best show on television last season. I love Lost. I'm never going to stop loving Lost. But I don't think anyone would deny that the show suffered something of a sophomore slump. Let's face it: the second season was, overall, not as good as the first.

I mean, yes, it started off great, with the whole mystery of the hatch and all. And it finished strong what with Michael killing people and the electromagnets and all that. But you have to admit that the middle chunk was kinda, well, slow.

Maybe you disagree, and that's fine. I know it's sort of a big deal to think of the show in negative terms. Maybe you just need some time to digest it. In the end, though, I think it's better for both us and the show if we're honest with each other.

Why am I mentioning this now? It's not that I think we should start seeing other shows on Wednesdays. Hell, I love our Wednesdays together. I'm saying this now because I have reason to believe that it's only going to get better from here. What makes me say that? The Comic-Con panel.

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last few weeks, you probably heard something about a Lost panel at Comic-Con on July 22. And while the internet Lost fanbase has been buzzing about how the Q&A session — featuring executive producers Damon Lindelof (who did nearly all of the talking), Bryan Burk, Carlton Cuse, and actors Jorge Garcia and Daniel Dae Kim — was interrupted by the "star" of the online mystery game, Rachel Blake, what I found most interesting was the way the shows creators hinted at a return to the character-centric, adventure storytelling that made the first season such compelling entertainment. Throughout the entire Q&A (which you can listen to here) there was a subtext of change on the horizon. These guys knew that there was a bit of restlessness in the fanbase. They weren't going to be okay with it.

One of the many things that fascinates me about the show is the dialogue between the creative forces and the fans. Rather than lock themselves up in a Hollywood version of the ivory tower, the writers seem to keep in touch with audience reaction and respond to viewer feedback. Whether face-to-face by means of a Comic-Con Q&A session, or through the more informal podcasts, the series' head writers and executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse reveal themselves to be down-to-earth, fan-conscious writers. No other major network drama's creative team would put itself in a position where they could be confronted, as the CC Panel was, by someone asking about the show's less-than-stellar number of Emmy nominations, "Were you surprised? Because I wasn't."