Well, Entertainment Weekly caught up with him right after that discussion hit the net and tried to clarify what he was feeling. He backpedals a bit and seemed sorry for the way he reacted.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You expressed displeasure with the way your story line ended, calling it “not cool.” Do you feel bitter about what happened?
HAROLD PERRINEAU: I wouldn’t say I’m bitter. I’m just like the fans, and I got excited when Michael was coming back. I thought it was really significant when Michael dropped those people off with the Others; I thought he was going to have something just as significant when he came back. I was disappointed that he didn’t. He didn’t get to make amends with those people. And nobody got to see [him try to neutralize the bomb]. Walt didn’t get to see it. Jin got to see it, but wasn’t necessarily so mad at him. And Desmond, who Michael didn’t know at all, was there. I was disappointed more than anything, like the fans were disappointed. Like I think the fans were disappointed.

You were quoted as saying that the loss of Michael meant that Walt “winds up being another fatherless child, [and] it plays into a really big, weird stereotype.” Did you voice that concern to the producers?
There’s not been any conversation about that. That was just my point-of-view in an interview. This is nothing that I’ve ever talked to the writers about, or I think is necessarily anything I should talk to them about. Their job is to make the story work. My feelings about the social implications are my feelings. My feelings don’t determine what the storyline is.

Do you feel that there is something fundamentally problematic with that plot, or is that just an observation?
It’s just an observation. Michael’s a black character and I’m a black person, so I have feelings based on it. I can’t really separate those two things — my race and my country and all that stuff. How it plays out in the story, I don’t know, because I don’t know how the rest of the story is going to play out. I accept that this is what [the producers] need to happen for something else to happen later.

Do you regret going public with your feelings?
I should probably think more before I say things. I should especially think before I say anything racial, because I recognize that when you make a racial comment it polarizes people. That was never the intention. It’s like, “No, no, no, don’t choose sides. I’m just telling you this is what I think. Everybody stay on whatever side you’re on; this is my point-of-view.” I should think about those things, and then unfortunately what happens is I just start to talk — like I’m doing now, I should probably shut up. [laughs]

The race card he played is unfortunate. While there is obvious racism and prejudice everywhere these days, I have a hard time believing that killing off Michael, and leaving his son fatherless, had anything to do with race at all.

Lost is notorious for killing off characters. Heck, all you have to do is get caught for drunk driving in real life, and you’re off the show.

I will concede though that a lot of characters come to some sort of absolution before they die. And while Harold seems to not think that happened because of Walt, Michael DID save the boat from the bomb for awhile, and redeemed himself for his betrayal back on the Island.

On some level, he did get a hero’s death.
Totally. In some sense he did. It wouldn’t be what I would have done. What I was wishing for was something, and that could be my actor pride too: “It should have been bigger!’ [laughs]

I just don’t get why this one death is causing such grief. I think Perrineau must have just really, REALLY loved being on the show and is utterly bummed out to not be coming back.  Of course, we’ve seen Charlie this year…

My surprise in all this really boils down to one thing: You work as a cast member on the show Lost…there is a great chance you wont make it to the end.

Read the entire article ( a lot more questions) over on Entertainment Weekly.

It appears that at least Michael did.

Actor Harold Perrineau, who plays Michael, wasn’t very thrilled with the fact that his character died without ever having a reunion with his son Walt.

Here is an interview that TV Guide did with Perrineau, found via Seattle PI:

Shortly after he wrapped filming, an emotional Perrineau — who made a much-hyped return to the series in March after leaving in Season 2 — called to chat about his explosive second exit, the mad dash home to be with pregnant wife Brittany and why he feels the lack of a Michael-Walt reunion was “not cool.”

TV Guide: Did you know Michael was being killed off when you returned?
Harold Perrineau: I had no idea. It’s like, what the hell? I came back for that?

TV Guide: You’re laughing as you say that, but you don’t sound particularly pleased.
Perrineau: I’m disappointed, mostly because I wanted Michael and Walt to have a happy ending. I was hoping Michael would get it together and actually want to be a father to his kid and try to figure out a way to get back [home]. But this is [the producers'] story. If I were writing it, I would write it differently.

TV Guide: So when did you get the news?
Perrineau: [Lindelof and fellow executive producer Carlton Cuse] called before the finale scripts were out. They said they weren’t going to continue with Michael.

TV Guide: And what did you say to that?
Perrineau: At this point, I’ve been on the island, off the island, back on the island — so I just went, “Oh, ok.” [Laughs] This is their show and they know what they can or cannot write. I thought it was disappointing and a waste to come back, only to get beat up a few times and then killed. I felt like it was sort of pandering to some fans who wanted to see Michael punished because he betrayed people.

TV Guide: Are you referring to when he shot and killed Ana Lucia and Libby in Season 2?
Perrineau: Exactly. I honestly feel like Michael’s death served a really weird bloodlust for the fans.

TV Guide: Were you disappointed Michael and Walt didn’t reconnect before your character died?
Perrineau: Listen, if I’m being really candid, there are all these questions about how they respond to black people on the show. Sayid gets to meet Nadia again, and Desmond and Penny hook up again, but a little black boy and his father hooking up, that wasn’t interesting? Instead, Walt just winds up being another fatherless child. It plays into a really big, weird stereotype and, being a black person myself, that wasn’t so interesting. [Responds Cuse: "We pride ourselves on having a very racially diverse cast. It's painful when any actor's storyline ends on the show. Harold is a fantastic actor whose presence added enormously to Lost."]

TV Guide: Take me back to your last day of shooting.
Perrineau: My last day was kind of hectic. [Production] was trying to get me out because, at the time, my wife was a centimeter dilated.

TV Guide: Was she in labor at the hospital when you got back to L.A.?
Perrineau: No, I got home and then for another week, the baby would not come! We were like, “Seriously, dude, I was in Hawaii rushing like a madman!â€? I was talking to the baby, my wife was walking around, practically hiking, but the baby just would not come out! [Laughs] So we went to the hospital a week later and induced. A beautiful little girl came on May 7. Wynter Aria — I thought it was a nice name. It’s poetic, and she’s a little poetry in our life.

TV Guide: Let’s talk highlights. Surely, you had some positive experiences on Lost.
Perrineau: Doing the job in Hawaii was cool. Getting to meet and work with [co-creator] JJ Abrams was very cool. The day we found out the show [premiered] so well [in 2004] was an amazing day. We were all so hopeful and excited. The first season was one of my best years as a working actor. Not to say there weren’t tough times, but I loved the first season. And that one of my best friends, Dan [Dae Kim, who plays Jin], and I got to do pretty much the whole finale together.

TV Guide: Dead characters have a way of returning to the show. Would you be open to that?
Perrineau: I’d love to go back and work with people I really like working with, but I would have to know what was happening [story-wise] before I showed up again. Because this [last] storyline, I full-on feel, “No, that’s not cool.’”

TV Guide: What’s next for you?
Perrineau: This movie I did with Stephen Dorff called Felon is probably coming out at the end of the summer. And I’m in talks for a couple different films.

TV Guide: Any final thoughts?
Perrineau: Just that I hope the show continues to thrill people. I’m sorry to have to go, but I’ll see you in another incarnation. I’ll re-create myself because that’s what I do. That part of leaving is pretty cool.

Today is like Christmas for us Losties.

The two-hour season finale airs tonight and as has always been the case, I’m sure we’re in store for some mind-blowing events.

But the biggest one may be the final answer to the puzzle that has plagued us all year:

Who the frak is in the coffin?

It’s really a tough call. The clues make it difficult. Kate says “Why would I go to the funeral?”, but Jack felt like he should at least stop by. He also rests his hand on the coffin in a sign of slight affection.

Is it one of the Oceanic 6? Somehow, I don’t think so. Which makes me believe it’s either Ben or Michael.

Michael at least returned home without fanfare earlier, so if he does return again, no one would know who he was probably.

And Ben got off the Island too, but wouldn’t people know who he was if he was found dead?

I am having a tough time figuring it out, but I’m going to just go with Michael. It fits the best I think.

So now…what about you guys? Who do YOU think is in the coffin?

Guess correctly and I’ll slap a little congrats to you in tomorrow’s recap! Let the guessing games begin!