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Which of those did they answer last night?

Calling me a moron is just a tad unfounded. When did I say this season has never answered questions? Can you quote it? My last post said that yesterday's episode answered none of the questions it claimed it was going to answer in the preview. And it didn't. So why am I a moron?

they know the ending now but they were stalling for the past few seasons, and as the mysteries of this season bifurcate there's still many unresolved ones (libby's plot for example was truncated as she was offed for sympathy) and the numbers, etc. etc. I'm not saying that they can't do it, but **** I'm honestly expecting nothing more than a deus ex machina.

Actually no, Darlton has said a script for the overall arc has existed since Season 2.

and you believe the script remained stagnant for that entire duration?

Yes.

characters like Nikki and Paulo were killed off due to fan reception. this is a small example, but if you research all the stuff, hell even the non-canon lost files, there's plenty of evidence suggesting the story has never been set in stone.

As I said before - anything in the middle is fair game. The Arc of the story, ie the general premise, backstory, universe and setting (which includes what we refferr to as "the end"), is already written. So it doesn't matter if Whats-his-face is introduced and Whats-her-name gets killed off, the characters and most of the situations are merely driving elements to the arc, and how we observe the story.

can you link me to an interview please?

I've heard it on one of the podcasts, but for the life of me can't remember which season and going through the transcripts is a bit of a pain. From what I remember it was along the lines of the entire mythos had been developed by the early part of the third season. I've got a little piece of an interview to support it.

Entire interview here.

Criticizing the writers for not planning everything in advance is stupid, what writer actually does that anyway?

Seriously, when you're gonna write a story, especially one that spans 6 seasons of a tv show, are you gonna plan ahead EVERYTHING?

Of course not, that overcomplicates the writing process and it can stifle creativity, a lot of writers come up with the best ideas AFTER they have started writing. It's good to come up with a plan from the beginning but tossing away better ideas that come your way later on is not an effective writing strategy.