Television's most-complicated mystery returned Wednesday night.

ABC's "Lost" has driven away many viewers with dragged-out plots. Other viewers cannot get enough of the show's strange island and the plane-crash passengers stranded there.

Should you stay, or should you gofi Here are 10 things -- spoiler alert -- to remember about "Lost" this season:

1. You won't have to suffer through repeats. ABC will present six episodes in the fall, then will offer the 16 others starting in February.

2. This season will concentrate on the Others, the mysterious band that kidnapped Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) in last season's finale.

3. Kate will decide whether she wants Jack or Sawyer. An ABC synopsis suggests that Sawyer has the edge. Bummer.

4. Jack will have other options. ABC says of Jack: "Romance looms on the horizon as Jack's interests veer toward a mysterious new woman." She'll fit right in on "Lost."

5. At least three newcomers join the show. They are Elizabeth Mitchell; Kiele Sanchez; and Rodrigo Santoro.

6. Some life-and-death answers come quickly. The series will reveal what happened to Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) after the hatch imploded.

7. "Lost" won't lose track of the personal dramas. You'll learn more about the pregnancy of Sun (Yunjin Kim). Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) will struggle to stay clean.

8. Expect familiar faces to return. Michael (Harold Perrineau), that dastardly traitor, and his son, Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), will reappear.

9. The major mysteries remain. What of that electromagnetic light showfi The phone call in the outside worldfi

10. Can the show recapture the buzz it had in its first seasonfi That's the biggest mystery of all. "Lost" is still a great show, but the next-day water-cooler conversations fell off in the second season.

Hal Boedeker

The Orlando Sentinel