Although a rep for Lilly told E! Online that the rumors were "absolutely false," the site's Kristin Dos Santos still went the extra distance and talked to Lilly, who said,

I am very happy on Lost and have no reason to look anywhere else for a home.

(Emphasis E!'s.)

Maybe I'm just used to the twists and turns of Lost itself, but I can't quite feel as if we're not getting the full story here. Is something going to happen to Kate that will give her enough time to guest on other shows next season, a la Claire's disappearance this season, perhaps...?

Lost: Evangeline Lilly Is Keeping Her Job (Yay!) [E! Online]

Zap2It's Korbi Ghosh says she's heard Lost star Evangeline Lilly is busy auditioning for TV pilots... for shows starting next fall. And supposedly Lilly's agent has been telling people she'll be available. Lilly's agent told EW and E! Online that it's not true, but Ghosh stands by her sources. And ABC has declined to comment.

I have a hard time believing this rumor, since the show's unlikely to kill off Kate a year early, or otherwise remove her from the narrative. And presumably Lilly is locked into a contract for the rest of the show's run, so she can't just leave the show early on her own initiative. But you never know. What would the Skaters and Jaters do, other than maybe join those of us who are shipping Sawyer and Juliet?

Despite the writers' best efforts, they are amongst the least compelling characters in the show. Other characters can keep telling us how great a leader Jack is as much as they want, we just don't see it - He lacks the charisma of Locke, Sawyer or Ben (Hell, even Hurley is more charismatic), and almost every decision he makes comes accompanied by petulant grumpiness or months of angst. Kate, meanwhile, may be the object of Sawyer and Jack's affections, but apparently that's because they both share a taste for self-indulgent whiny women who say that they're bad-ass but never quite seem convincing when trying to be bad-ass. Both of them should really start paying more attention to Juliet, if you ask me.

Neither character seems tied to any of the core mysteries of the show. Yes, yes, I know; they're both part of the Oceanic Six. But nonetheless, just because they got off the island and want to go back doesn't make them that special (After all, we've got four other characters in the same position), and neither Jack nor Kate have the connection with the island that Ben or Locke seem to (Although Jack comes close, with his father's ghost... but that storyline could continue with Claire), nor the connection to the numbers that Hurley has, or even the time-traveling love story of Desmond and Penny. What exactly do you lose, storywise, if you lose Jack and Kate?

Just because they're part of the Oceanic Six doesn't mean that the island can't get them. Lindelof and Cuse love to do the unexpected, and what could be more unexpected than the island proving how powerful it is by killing off two of the show's stars as soon as they get back there? There's your fifth season finale right there, gentlemen.

It's a familiar story - Actors on popular TV shows start asking for more money, thinking that they're more important than the show itself. But what Fox and Lilly need to remember is that, just because you've been the stars of the show so far doesn't mean anything on Lost. Just ask Michael, Charlie, Mr. Ecko or Ana Lucia, in case you don't believe me.

'Lost' stars in renegotiation talks [Hollywood Reporter]

I've been living in Hawaii for three and a half years now and it's not really paradise anymore. Throwing snowballs on a mountain top is now my idea of paradise. I enjoy getting off the island. It's a beautiful place and my kids are happy there and it's been a good place for us to be for the past three years... but it's not a place we're gonna stay after Lost is finished.