Cusick spills 'Lost' clues on Desmond, flashbacks, more

Thanks to Kelly for the following.
Flashbacks are so … in the past. ABC's Lost (tonight, 9 p.m. ET/PT) is now all about flash-forwards. But then there is Desmond, whose scenes tonight are something else entirely. Henry Ian Cusick, 40, previews tonight's episode with USA TODAY.

Q: So is Desmond's episode tonight a flash-forward or flashback?
A: It's, uh … to be honest, it's neither. It's more in line with those time-travel flashes before his eyes. A lot of people either love the time-travel element or hate it.

Q: The last time we saw Desmond, he and Sayid were being taken by helicopter to the freighter, but it had been taking an unusually long time to arrive. What's up with that?
A: There's a reason for that, and you'll find that out in this episode. And you'll find out why it's so difficult to get to the island.

Q: With whom do we see Desmond interact?
A: You will see (Desmond's love) Penny and her father, Charles Widmore. You will also see Desmond back in the military. And you'll also meet a whole new bunch of guys on the freighter, who have been a whole lot of fun to work with.

Q: What was it like for you and Naveen Andrews (Sayid) working on that freighter out in the middle of the ocean?
A: We filmed off Barber's Point (the west coast of Oahu) — about 10 to 15 minutes offshore. Once you're there, you're stuck on the boat, so we all had to find places to sleep and hide to be out of the shots. We had days and days being on that freighter and had a few night shoots as well. Because Naveen and I are both from the U.K., we had a lot of things to talk about — like characters from crappy old TV shows from our childhoods.

Q: We are learning one by one who make up the Oceanic Six, so far revealed to be Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Kate and maybe (the show's not confirming) baby Aaron. Since Desmond was never on Flight 815, can we assume he does not turn out to be one of the six?
A: That's what all of us were trying to figure out when we were receiving the scripts. I think it suddenly dawned on us that you had to be an original passenger on the plane that went down to be an Oceanic Six.

Q: So tell us. Who is Ben's man on the freighter?
A: You find out, but not for a few episodes.

Source: USA Today