Promo Pics for Season 5

We all knew the “Lost” cast had to be some kind of gorgeous to make blood, sweat and general jungle grime look really, really good.

But damn, once those crazy island kids shower and put on some new clothes, they’re the sexiest castaways ever.

What the heck am I talking about? Well, even though “Lost” won’t be back for another six months, ABC just released a gallery of new photos of the individual actors. And in addition to shots in their usual island garb of jeans and T-shirts, there’s a second set of them all glammed up.

I mean, Kate, Sun and Juliet are seriously va-va-voom. Sawyer and Sayid are more smokin’ than usual. Even Hurley and Ben clean up impressively.

But there’s a lot more going on with these pictures than just looking at the pretty people. (Although that’s fun, too: I’m considering using the one of Jin as my screensaver.)

Now, seriously, what do these photos say about the upcoming Season 5? Because as any Lost-phile knows, there’s always hidden messages in anything the show puts out there.

Remember last year’s poster of the island’s reflection in the ocean? Sharp-eyed fans noticed that the image wasn’t of the island, but of a city skyline—hinting at Season 4’s main story arc of the Oceanic Six going home.

So what could a photo of Claire dressed in black mean for upcoming episodes? Are the producers acknowledging that she is indeed dead—or undead, kind of like Christian?

Here’s another one to ponder: Why is there a new picture of Michael? Why is actor Harold Perrineau listed with the other series regulars?

Michael obviously died in the finale’s freighter explosion—and it would seem that Perrineau’s rant about how the handling of his death had racist implications wouldn’t exactly encourage the producers to bring him back. Was it all an elaborate ruse to throw us off track?

Click through to check out the rest of the cast photos—and start wondering how they figure into the “Lost” world…

NAVEEN ANDREWS (Sayid)

HENRY IAN CUSICK (Desmond)

EMILIE de RAVIN (Claire)

MICHAEL EMERSON (Ben)

MATTHEW FOX (Jack)

JORGE GARCIA (Hurley)

DANIEL DAE KIM (Jin)

YUNJIN KIM (Sun)

EVANGELINE LILLY (Kate)

ELIZABETH MITCHELL (Juliet)

TERRY O’QUINN (Locke)

HAROLD PERRINEAU (Michael)

(Photos courtesy of ABC)

Source: http://remote.lohudblogs.com/2008/08/05/lost-cast-bringing-sexy-back-next-season/#more-6383