'Lost': EW's Exclusive Jack and Kate Portrait Gallery

''What I've noticed is that the audience tends to root for the coupling that gets the most screen time — and right now, what they're seeing is Kate and Jack.''

''That's someone going, 'People love romance, so just turn the buttons and dial it up,''' complains Fox. ''Look, I understand that. But it has to be f---ing credible. Our world doesn't lend itself to conventional romance. Yearning? Yes. Desire? Yes. Passion? Yes. And when those things play out in the context of survival s--- that's gotta get done, where people's lives are f---ing at stake — that's cool. But romance? I haven't always bought it for Jack and Kate, and I haven't always bought it for Kate and Sawyer. The show's too intense for that.''

''[Episode 12 is] where we understand the decision Kate has made. There's so much more than meets the eye.''

''I've always believed part of what was destroying him was his lack of physical proximity to the Island,'' says Fox. ''He is fated to do something on the Island, and he has fought that with every fiber of his body, and in doing that, the Island is destroying him from afar. When he finds himself back in this place, he's wide-eyed and alert. He knows he's in the path of his own destiny.''

''I was a little worried about the start of the season, to be honest. It might sound terrible to say, but the mythology of this show eludes me. I am all about the characters and the interplay of the relationships and the angst of redemption and retribution — all those good nuggets. So, in my biased view, I've been running around telling the world: 'Be patient! It's just the first half of the season! We'll come back!'''

''It feels very different from what Lost has felt like in the past, but in a really good way,'' says the actor, sporting neatly parted hair and some dangling iPod earbuds. ''There will be many, many answers, lots of things from past seasons that left the audience thinking, 'That's never going to pay off' — but it does, in really cool ways that make you go 'Holy s---!' The season has a real feeling of things coming together, and it builds a groundswell of momentum for the end of the show.''

''You're either along for the ride and part of it, or you're not. And if you don't trust the writers, you might as well get off the boat.''

''I respect that [the writers] do things that could potentially alienate parts of their audience, because that means they are being true to their story and not being manipulated by outside pressure.''

''People will remember it the way they want to remember it,'' he says. ''What I will remember is that Lost was one of the most innovative, risk-taking, smartest shows ever. That's how I want to remember it. And I think it deserves that.''