the known number of episodes this season is a little confusing, i thought 23-24 like normal then they're saying 16 then 13 and 3 will be played somewhere else then it was cut to 8 then back up to 13 or 16 then they say theres 48 new episodes from beginning of season 4 till the end of the final season, this is all a little confusing and im a big fan of lost, but one thing iv'e known for sure since the beginning is that there are only going to be 6 seasons, i also found out that the final episode of the final season will be somwhere in 2010 (that i read from a xbox 360 magazine reviewing the game, that is out near the end of this month)

for those who still can't understand like me and would like a go at figuring it out themselves check out this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series)#Future_seasons_and_end_date

good luck figuring it out, but honestly i think the writers strike srewed it up a little but has to be said the quality of the show hasn't changed one bit or if so better