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4 8 15 16 23 42 Lost Season 6 The Final Chapter
http://www.lostseason6.com/ ^

Posted on 02/02/2010 8:22:27 AM PST by Lucky9teen


Lost Season 6 Episode List
Episode 1: LAX
Episode 2: LAX (2)
Episode 3: What Kate Does
Episode 4: The Substitute
Episode 5: Lighthouse
Episode 6: Sundown
Episode 7: Dr. Linus
Episode 8: Recon
Episode 9: Ab Aeterno
Episode 10: The Package
Episode 11: Happily Ever After
Episode 12: Everybody Loves Hugo


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 4815162342; abc; abrams; carltoncuse; cuse; damonlindelof; finalechapter; jeffreylieber; jjabrams; lieber; lindelof; lost
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To: brytlea

There have been a lot of Christian overtones in this series. Not sure about how accurate the theology is, though. :)


321 posted on 03/24/2010 9:19:38 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce

Yeah I have noticed them along the way, but this to me really stood out. And yes, I think their theology is generally skewed. But that’s pretty common, isn’t it.


322 posted on 03/24/2010 9:24:22 AM PDT by brytlea (Jesus loves me, this I know.)
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To: brytlea
as I understand God, and our human existance, is that we have free will, and its the testing of that free will that determines are fate....

Surely God knows what is going to happen....but HE doesn't interfere..HE allows everything to unfold...if HE interfered, we wouldn't have free will now would we..

..and that is what Jacob was saying....not that I believe Jacob is God...but he might play the role of an angel like character...

323 posted on 03/24/2010 9:52:27 AM PDT by cherry
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To: cherry

Well, that is one Christian belief, but certainly not the only one. However, I’m not sure that Christian belief in general is that people are good and not bad. Otherwise, why did we need Jesus to come save us? Couldn’t we just have been good?


324 posted on 03/24/2010 9:55:30 AM PDT by brytlea (Jesus loves me, this I know.)
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To: InvisibleChurch
When Jacob sat down next to Blackie did any one think Wiley Coyote and Sam Sheepdog?

Uh...funny you should ask because yes I did. That was the first thought that went through my mind.

325 posted on 03/24/2010 10:02:17 AM PDT by NELSON111
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To: ShadowAce

Lost’s theology is spot-on because it is their’s. It’s obviously a mixture of different beliefs though it seems to be trending toward Christianity. Last night’s episode was a HUGE leap in helping us understand where this is going. It looks like ranks are starting to close and tighten up. I don’t think this is going to end up like M.A.S.H.


326 posted on 03/24/2010 10:11:56 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch (1 birth, 2 deaths; 2 births, 1 death)
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To: Lucky9teen
WOW!!!
327 posted on 03/24/2010 7:21:20 PM PDT by Dajjal (Obama is an Ericksonian NLP hypnotist.)
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To: ßuddaßudd; acad1228; Anitius Severinus Boethius; Anti-MSM; babyfreep; BallyBill; BelegStrongbow; .

RECAP TIME!!!



Devil On Your Shoulder: "Ab Aeterno" - Recap by Robz888
Posted by DarkUFO at 3/24/2010 04:31:00 PM View Comments
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Ah, at long last, Richard Alpert's back story via flashback! Based on the polls, I agree with the overwhelming majority of fans who voted this one of the greatest episodes of Lost ever.


While the scenes between Richard, Jacob and the Man in Black stand out as particularly excellent, I was also thoroughly enchanted by the earlier parts of Richard's flashback. It's been too long since we've had a flashback depicting how a certain character came to the island. That used to be half the fun of Lost, and I'm very glad - relieved, even - that we were able to take this journey with Richard before the end.

I've always respected Nestor Carbonell's acting on Lost, but this episode moved him much closer to the top acting tier. Richard's vulnerability, confusion, loneliness and devotion to his faith were believable only because the actor was believable.

In fact, one of the only the negative things I have to say about this episode is that it makes a lot of the others seem weak by comparison. I think I would much rather have flashbacks (or more flashbacks) for Richard, Ilana, Frank, Charles Widmore, Miles and Ben than spend anymore time in the Alternate Timeline (ATL). I enjoy much of the ATL, and wouldn't mind it except that there are too few hours of Lost left, and so much worthy flashback material still remains. Well, ultimately we'll have to reserve judgment on the ATL until we learn how it truly fits in with the Main Timeline (MTL).

But, anyway, back to "Ab Aeterno". Having read some of the comments on the DarkUFO poll, I'm gathering that many of you interpreted this episode as concrete proof that Jacob is the good entity and the Man in Black is the evil one. I beg to differ. Both are capable of good and evil, of forgiveness and condemnation, of violence and mercy. And both manipulate others for their own ends. The "good" people are those who have the courage and determination to follow them, not because they believe Jacob and the Man in Black are gods, but in order to protect their loved ones.


TIME TO TALK, MR. ALPERT

When the episode begins, Jack, Hurley, Ilana, Ben, Frank, Miles and Richard are having a fireside chat. Ilana explains that Jacob came to see her when she was in the hospital (why she was there is still a mystery, though) and asked for her help. He says something to the effect of "this is what you've been training for," which raised all sorts of interesting questions about the relationship between Ilana and Jacob. She mentioned in "Dr. Linus" that she viewed him as a sort of father, but he seems to view her as his personal soldier. Maybe it's just me, but I think Jacob only pretends to care about individual people so that he can manipulate them. His track record certainly isn't any better than the Man in Black.

In any case, Ilana's mission is to bring the six remaining candidates to the Temple and ask Richard for further instructions. But with the Temple destroyed and only two and a half candidates on hand, she figures it's time for Richard to do some explaining, anyway. And then, Richard begins an entire hour of phenomenal acting with a disarming, desperate laugh.


Richard doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know anything, according to Ben. But he does let them all know that the island isn't what they think it is. Richard reminded me of Desmond here (and in another key place in the episode, in just a bit), at the Beach Camp in "Live Together, Die Alone". Remember when, drunk and frustrated, Desmond explained that the island was a snow globe and the rest of the world was gone? In desperate times, certain characters come to believe very funny things about the island.

Richard doesn't mean "hell" in the figurative sense. The island is literally hell, and everyone is dead. This is what one entity has told him, at least. But at the moment, this is the entity he believes. So Richard sets off to join the Man in Black - cue flashback.

But first... Hurley is talking in Spanish to a ghost! I was guessing Ana Lucia - which is so stupid, why am I always expecting Ana Lucia? - but since we find out who it was later, there's little point discussing it.

I WANT TO BE YOUR CANARY

(The above title is a reference to one of my all-time favorite video games, by the way. Can anyone name it?)

And so we go back. Not ALL the way back - not to ancient Egypt - but back to the Canary Islands in 1867. As it turns out, the Canary Islands actually have a connection to ancient Egypt. It's tenuous, but it's there. The Canary Islands are named after 'canaari', which means, in Latin, "the ones who worship dogs." Apparently, the indigenous people worshiped dogs as their gods. The other most famous dog-worshipers are in fact the ancient Egyptians, whose god of the afterlife, Anubis (pictured in the hieroglyphics under the Temple wall where Ben encounters the Smoke Monster), is associated with dogs. Historians don't know whether the people of the Canary Islands were in contact with the Egyptians, though ancient Greek texts establish that the Greeks knew of them.

Richard comes home one day to find his wife very sick, and hurries to fetch the doctor. He carries with him his wife's cross, which he hopes to sell in exchange for the doctor's services. Unfortunately, the doctor tells him the cross is "worthless", a not so subtle jab at the idea of religion being ultimately worthwhile for Richard. But Richard won't take no for an answer, and frantically, violently demands that the man help his wife. When the doctor still refuses, he pushes and accidentally kills the man in a VERY similar manner as Desmond accidentally killing Kelvin Inman. The looks on their faces were so similar - they both were thinking, "I just killed the one person I needed most."

Richard steals the medicine and takes it home to his wife, Isabella, but he's too late. He mourns her death and is arrested for murder. In prison, he reads his Bible and continues learning English. The passage he was reading from the Gospel of Luke, by the way, concerns Jesus rejecting the Devil's temptations, which is obviously relevant to the episode.

The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the Canary Islands were Roman Catholic in the 19th century, so Richard's spirituality makes sense. While nearly all forms of Christianity (most all religions, probably) have significant views on hell, the Roman Catholic position on hell is different from other branches of Christianity in a few important ways. Most relevant here is that God's forgiveness - which is what saves one's soul from hell - needs to be granted through an intermediary. In many other Christian sects, a person is sent to heaven or hell based on what's in their heart, on "faith alone". But Roman Catholics, at least until recent times, had to be absolved by priests in order to have their sins cleansed, and absolution was granted only if the person was truly sorry and if they made up for their mistakes by doing good works.

It is not enough for Richard to be sorry. He must do good works, too, and as his priest tells him, he has no time for that, as he is going to be hanged the following day. Of course, Richard is eventually saved from this fate in exchange for committing to 140 years of Jacob's work. As far as Catholic theology is concerned, Richard has more than made up for his sin by now. (Most of us Catholics can usually be absolved in return for saying a couple Hail Marys, or something.)


Just before his execution, an Englishman named Jonas Whitfield offers Richard a chance to live in exchange for his servitude, a deal that Richard gladly accepts. S0 he sets sail with the Black Rock under the leadership of Magnus Hanso, bound for the new world.

Let's do a little fact-checking here. As many of you pointed out in the comments on the episode poll, America wasn't exactly "new" in the 1860s. However, that's not conclusive enough for me to definitively rule out America as the Black Rock's destination. I think it likely that Richard was referring to America when he mentioned wanting to start a family with Isabella in the "new world". A huge number of people from the Canary Islands emigrated to South America during the mid-to-late 19th century, to places like Venezuela. With so many of his countrymen leaving, Richard could have easily wanted to go there.

But I don't know if Jonas Whitfield was referring to America when he mentioned the "new world". It's 1867, the Civil War has just ended and slavery is illegal in the United States. As for South America, it's possible that varying degrees of indentured servitude were still taking place, so Hanso could have been heading there to sell his captives. I do want to mention another possibility, however. Australia is very much still a "new world" in the 1860s. Gold had been discovered in the 50s, and certain Australian colonies were experiencing gold rushes. I couldn't find out whether Australia had indentured servitude at the time, but it was still partly a prison colony for the British, so it seems plausible to me that Hanso was headed to Australia to get rich working his slaves in the mines.

This would of course also explain how the Black Rock crashed on an island we know to be in the middle of the Pacific (if you sailed from the Canary Islands to America, you wouldn't cross the Pacific, but you would if your destination was Australia). This also links Richard's journey, thematically speaking, to the Oceanic 815 survivors.

IN HELL WITH THE DEVIL

Many people complained that the Black Rock destroying the statue didn't make sense - a giant stone structure should shred a wooden boat, not vice verse. I think you're correct, but I liked this twist so much anyway that I can forgive it.


Richard's on-island experience is awful from the very beginning. His buddy and fellow captive remarks that God saved them, only to be ruthlessly murdered by Jonas Whitfield moments later, as if a reply rang out, "No, God did not save you."

Richard is saved by the Smoke Monster, which kills all the other survivors and leaves Richard chained inside the ship without food or water. He tries to break free but can't. He's nearly attacked by a boar. Days go by. He must be thinking that his predicament is truly a fate worse than death.

And then, his wife appears to him and informs him, very matter-of-fact, that they are in hell. She tries to help Richard out of the chains, but can't, and instead is forced to flee from the Smoke Monster, which may or may not have gotten her.

I'm fairly certain that this apparition of Isabella wasn't really her (the one at the end of the episode, now that probably was). The Man in Black probably appeared in her form in order to foment the idea in Richard's mind that the island was hell and the Devil was Richard's enemy.


Eventually, he does appear in what seems to be his regular form, the black-shirted man. And, like he eventually will do for Sawyer, Sayid, Claire and Kate, he presents Richard with the thing he most desires - the keys that will unlock his chains. "It's good to see you out of those chains," he remarks, after extracting a promise that Richard will help him.

Outside, a hearty meal awaits Richard. I know I frequently mention parallels with Stephen King's The Stand, but this was another jump-out-at-you one. MINOR PLOT REVEAL FOR THE STAND: In the wake of the flu epidemic that kills pretty much everybody in the world of The Stand, one of the lone survivors is a man named Lloyd, who's locked up in prison. Since everyone else is dead, he slowly starves to death in his cell, until "the Man in Black", called Randall Flagg in this novel, appears to him and offers him freedom and a delicious meal in exchange for his service. This deal that Richard keeps getting is very similar to Flagg's deal with Lloyd. Lloyd becomes Flagg's right-hand man, in much the way that perhaps Richard would have become MIB's right-hand man had he decided to stay with him.

MIB confesses to being the Smoke Monster, confirms that the island is hell and says that the Devil has Richard's wife. He presents Richard with a dagger and instructs him to go to the statue and kill him without letting him speak. These were of course the exact same instructions that Dogen gave Sayid in "Sundown". It may have even been the same dagger. But unlike Dogen, it seemed that MIB thought, or at least hoped, that Richard had a chance at succeeding.


Since MIB seems to be a generally honest, though manipulative, entity, I'm not sure, "this is hell and Jacob is the Devil" was actually an outright lie. From MIB's perspective, the island is hell. It's his eternal prison. And Jacob, his prison keeper, is the Devil, a devil that has robbed MIB of his humanity and identity. This speech played right into the Esau and Jacob theories, as Esau stole Jacob's birth right and inheritance by tricking him with a bowl of soup. "He can be very persuasive," MIB warns. That's certainly coming from someone who was once fooled by Jacob, and now regrets it.

THIS ISN'T HELL AND YOU AREN'T DEAD

Presenting the other side of the story - sort of - was Jacob, who beats up Richard and knocks away the knife. It's interesting that Richard actively resisted death here, whereas in "The Incident" he accepted Ben's assault as if he had no choice. I wonder why he prevented Richard from killing him, but not Ben. "Because he knew he was beaten," was Flocke's explanation.

Jacob drags Richard into the water and dunks him thrice to prove he isn't dead and the island isn't hell. In such a manner, Richard is baptized into Jacob's religion of "protect the island, keep MIB at bay." Jacob explains that MIB is a malevolent force that must be contained, and the island is what prevents MIB from unleashing havoc upon the world. Jacob brings people to the island in order to demonstrate that people can choose to do good - that their free will can lead them in such a direction. It's implied that he's been disappointed so far.

Richard asks why Jacob doesn't just tell them what to do himself. He's a Catholic, remember, so he's used to intermediaries assigning tasks. Jacob then invites Richard to become his intermediary, communicating instructions to future island inhabitants. Interestingly enough, Jacob rewards Richard by giving him something he almost certainly does not want - eternal life. This was totally a con: Jacob made Richard think that was what he wanted and tricked him into accepting it. Unwittingly, Richard promises to assist Jacob as a protector of the island.


JUST LET ME LEAVE

Richard returns to the Man in Black, who immediately knows that all did not go according to plan. Richard gives him a white stone - probably a symbolic game token in the game being played the two entities. MIB then tells him that if he ever changes his mind, he might still be able to kill the Devil and see his wife. But Richard has resigned himself to the task he's been given, to the hope of salvation at the end of a very long term of servitude, and he buries his wife's necklace. Did Richard pass the test - as Jesus Christ did in Luke's Gospel - of being tempted by the Devil? Or did he fall for the Devil's persuasion, as MIB says he did?

In person, the Man in Black begs Jacob to just let him leave the island. Jacob retorts that as long as he lives, MIB will never leave. And Jacob is the good guy? He could be, but he could easily be the bad guy. Maybe Jacob loses his power if MIB leaves the island, and whereas MIB only wants to be free, Jacob is obsessed with the religion he has built up around himself, and must hold onto his power. If MIB is malevolence incarnate, as the pro-Jacob forces claim, how was he once human? He wasn't always this way, then.

As I've said before, I'm inclined to believe that Jacob and the Man in Black are simply different entities with some differing philosophies but many of the same operating procedures. Both are expert con men, both murder or allow murders to take place, both have lied to the people who were following them, etc. There are faith and science, destiny and free will questions built up around both of these characters. But good and evil? If anything, MIB is the more sympathetic one, based on the fragments of his history we've learned. And for that matter, Jacob's philosophy seems flawed. He doesn't want to tell people what to do, but telling Richard to tell people is almost exactly the same thing.

Not that the Man in Black is necessarily Mr. Free Will all the time. When he gives people the choice between obeying him and dying, it's not really much of a choice. My point is only that far from Jacob being good and MIB being bad, it's just as likely that both have good and bad in them. Think of the role they play in this episode, as the little angel and the little devil sitting on Richard's right and left shoulders, just like in all those great cartoon shows. But whenever an angel and a devil appear on a character's shoulders in other media, isn't the point usually that both the angel and the devil are misleading the character for their own ends, and that the character would be better off telling both of them to take a hike?


As a parting gift, Jacob hands the MID a corked bottle of wine. Has there ever been a better metaphor for the island. It is indeed "The Fork in the Outlet".

CLOSE YOUR EYES

Back in the present, Richard arrives at the spot where he first rejected the Man in Black, 140 years ago. He digs up his wife's cross and shouts that he has changed his mind. But it's Hurley, not MIB, who arrives first. Hurley then puts his ghost powers to very good use and facilitates a heartbreaking conversation between Richard and Isabella, akin to the famous phone call of "The Constant". In many ways, Hurley acts as an intermediary here, transmitting the message of absolution to Richard, who has suffered enough and must forgive himself for all that happened.

But there's something else Richard needs to do, too, according to Isabella on behalf of Hurley - he must stop the Man in Black from leaving, or "we all go to hell."

In the distance, Flocke watches the exchange, clearly displeased that Richard will not be joining him after all.


THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

So where does all this leave us? We have Jacob. We have the Man in Black. Hopefully they'll be getting their own centric episodes soon. Learning more about MIB's childhood will likely shed some light on how we are supposed to interpret his character.

As for the deeply religious undertones in this episode, I don't think the island is actually hell in the Catholic or religious sense. It's a hell for those who want to leave, who have lost loved ones or suffered greatly during their time there. But it's also a place where miracles happen, where people are given second chances, can be healed of their pains, both physical and otherwise, where scientific research can be conducted. Hell is a matter of interpretation. After all, in another tale named Lost - Paradise Lost, that is - John Milton's Devil declares "Tis better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven."

My point is only that the island doesn't, and probably never will, fit nicely into an easy explanation like "it's hell." Rather, the island is and will always be a fork in the outlet, a cork in the wine bottle - a point in time and space at the hub of an enormous amount of energy, power, goodness, evil, etc. And those on the island can, at times, harness those qualities, those "unique geological properties of the island", as Pierre Chang called them.

I'll end this recap with one final connection between Lost and the Canary Islands. Over the course of the Canary Islands' history, people claimed to have seen a vanishing and reappearing eighth island. So there you go, the number 8, and a mysterious island. Oh, and the Canary Islands were the location of a famous plane crash in 1977, the year of the Incident in the Lost universe. Thanks to Lostpedia for the info.

Thanks for reading, see you next week.

- Robby "Robz888"

328 posted on 03/25/2010 1:00:59 PM PDT by Lucky9teen (Watch out for the term SOCIAL JUSTICE! It only equals MARXISM and GOV'T CONTROL!)
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To: Lucky9teen
Wow, just #&@^ing WOW. Things I Noticed: "Ab Aeterno" by Vozzek69
Posted by DarkUFO at 3/24/2010 04:52:00 PM View Comments
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Illana Cleans Up Pretty Damned Good

There's one small problem with Jacob healing Illana in that hospital, and it involves him not touching her. From what we've seen so far, Jacob's touch has been required to manipulate or bring about change, and by the end of this episode we even watched him physically bestow his gift upon Richard. In the Illana scene however, we've known since The Incident that Jacob wore gloves. This seemed an obvious precaution against him touching her, even by accident.

So how did Illana get healed? We don't see it, but I don't think the healing is the important part. Maybe Jacob left Illana untouched because he needed her unmanipulated. Maybe he needed her pure and unbiased so that - in his own words - she could decide for herself what was right and wrong. Perhaps the very act of marking his playing pieces has invalidated their decision-making process, voiding them out as examples for Jacob's argument that people can change? If so, it would make the characters he hasn't touched yet a lot more important in the future.


Did You Rewatch Richard's Laugh About Twelve Times? Me Too.

Back "where it all began", everyone's playing a rousing, firelight game of What Do We Do Next? Illana steps up to the plate, quoting Jacob and pointing to Richard as somehow being the key. Here we have a character who, especially recently, seemed to be completely in the dark about what's been going on. Richard's been clueless since Jacob got stabbed... yet once again, we see someone who has some sort of hidden knowledge or purpose that not even they themselves know about. Just as it would seem that Richard is indeed "he who will save us all", he laughs mockingly and walks off into the jungle night.

We can't really blame Richard here. By now he's in the same boat as Ben: a guy who's played by Jacob's rulebook all his life (and then some), only to find out there never was a plan. Jacob's communication skills have traditionally sucked, and perhaps later in this episode we find out why. After his brief conversation with Richard on the beach, it seemed like Jacob learned something important: that the very act of illumination or explanation might be influencing the decisions his subjects make. Direct interference has been inadvertently corrupting the point he's been trying to make, marking the whole experiment null and void. This may be why everyone else is dead, and nothing has so far has worked to prove the dark man wrong.

Want to go a step further? Richard's own conversation with him is what exactly made Jacob realize the need for an impartial go-between. Jacob creates Richard's job because, after realizing Richard's point, he recognizes the necessity of giving orders without handing out answers. Alpert essentially creates his own position. In that respect, Richard becomes the cause of his own suffering. He wanders the island for the next 150 years as an ancient adviser with very little real knowledge to share, he himself nothing more than a middle man kept in the dark about most things.


As Long As We're Going Back To The Beginning, We May As Well Mention Death/Hell/Purgatory Again

Before Richard stomps off, we get a reveal so big it can't possibly be true: yes, everyone IS dead. Yes, everyone IS in hell... or Purgatory... or wherever it is that souls need to go to reconcile their past lives before moving on. Our main characters receive this news with the same impassivity as the rest of us, knowing it's too far fetched to be the one big answer. As snugly as that puzzle piece would fit right into LOST, after five and a half seasons it's just not something we can accept at this point.

So no, I don't think everyone is dead. I don't think everyone's in hell. I will however, say this: the way Richard looked specifically at Jack when he said "You're dead"? I happen to think that was tremendously important. If anyone did die during the plane crash, maybe it was Jack. Maybe that's why he woke up so far removed from 815's wreckage. Maybe that's also why his tattoo says "He walks among us (i.e. 'the living'), but is not one of us". Maybe that's what Achara saw in him back in Thailand that scared the shit out of her. So maybe, just maybe, when Richard said that Jack is dead, he hit the nail right on the head... without even really knowing it.

Where's Ji... Er, Oh, I Mean 'He Meant Locke'

Looks like Sun got a new line this episode. Together she and Ben catch Jack up to speed on John Locke's resurrection and newfound badassedness, but Jack doesn't seem all that surprised. The typical S6 reaction to this level of news is about the same as finding a polar bear in the jungle during season one. "Really? Whoa. That's strange." Not sure anything would phase new Jack at this point anyway.


Same Rain, Different Island

We've been waiting a long, long time for Richard's backstory, and I'm thrilled to say it didn't disappoint. What made it all the better though, was an absolutely incredible performance by Nestor Carbonell. Galloping through thunderstorms, the humble way Ricardo bowed his head as he tried to buy medicine for his sick wife instantly opened our hearts to him. If there were Easter eggs or hidden meaning during these Canary Island scenes, I totally and happily missed out on them.

Turns out there's a lot more to Richard than immortality and guyliner - there's a hardworking, loving husband. Desperate to save Isabella, Richard is willing to do anything and everything... and this is unfortunately where LOST has taken advantage of many of our best characters. As viewers, we know Ricardo never meant to kill the town doctor in the puffy shirt and mutton-chop sideburns. But in terms of the island? That one hasty act requires seemingly endless penance.

Again, I can't say enough about how amazing Nestor Carbonell was in this episode. Watching Richard's life spiral to the ground in such a short time span was heartbreaking. The writers made us watch angrily as the doctor threw Isabella's pendant to the floor, followed immediately by the overly righteous priest clipping his dead wife's bible. The symbolism in that scene was a little more obvious: Richard in white, the priest in black, along with the offer of food... right away it reminded me of the opening of The Incident. The priest tells Richard he can't be absolved for murder because he hasn't done proper penance, and unfortunately for him, there's just not enough time. Later on Richard would ask Jacob for that time, driven mostly out of the fear of dying and going to hell.
Strong hands and English lessons end up saving Ricardo's life, but they're also responsible for placing him on the island. Magnus Hanso ends up physically owning Richard, and it was interesting that the writers went out of their way to tell us that. Seeing Hanso himself would've been cool, but keeping him a mystery was equally so. I guess they needed Whitfield as the evil throwaway character - the proverbial pilot who gets sucked through the cockpit upon arrival on the island.


I Hope Those Waves Didn't Ruin Jacob's Tapestry

At long last, we finally got to see the Black Rock's ultra-dramatic arrival on the island. Waves cresting as high as the 4-toed statue's head plunge it deep into the jungle, crashing it through the statue in the process. This takes place, as is so often the case throughout LOST, during a spectacular thunderstorm. More important than that though, it also takes place at night.

For this reason, maybe the ship we saw during The Incident wasn't the Black Rock at all, but some other ship containing another crew of poor random souls. The weather isn't the only thing that points to this fact - Jacob and the Dark man both wear shorter, cleaner-cropped hair than they did when they were first introduced last season. It's like they were powdery-fresh from the nearest barber shop, shaved necks and everything.

And if Jacob brought the Black Rock to the island, maybe the dark man caused the wreck. Perhaps he's even responsible for the storm, too. We already know the MIB protests new people being brought to the island, so it would make sense that he'd try to sink or destroy the ship. In a vengeful way, it even makes sense that he'd ram the prow of the Black Rock right into Jacob's statue... almost as if saying "You want it? HERE!" and shoving the vessel down Jacob's throat. These two characters definitely revel in sending messages to each other, as indicated later on when Richard brings the dark man a white rock on Jacob's behalf.


People In The 19th Century Sure Were Sword-Happy Dicks

"They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt..." Damn, Whitfield proved every one of these things within 15 minutes of arriving on the island. Maybe this is why the smoke monster showed up so quickly, dropping the hammer right down on the Black's Rock's crew. None of the officers here were Jacob-type material, or at least none of them contained qualities that could prove his point. This allowed fast, hard judgment on the part of the dark man.

If it seemed the middle part of this episode dragged a bit, that's because it did. Yet in hindsight, it was necessary for us to see Richard get broken down to his absolute lowest point. This was a slow process, starting with the rainwater being just of reach as Richard is dying of thirst. Still determined to live, he pries a nail from the floorboard to chip away at his bonds.

That's where the man in black comes in again. The first time he scanned Richard as the smoke monster, to draw from his memories. This time he arrives in the form of a boar, to knock the nail from Richard's hand. As Richard realizes he's lost any real chance for escape, his despair runs even deeper. Again, the dark man leaves him to wallow in that desperation for a while longer, bringing him to a weaker and weaker state.

Then, in one of the dirtiest of all known tricks, the MIB shows up as Isabella. After giving him false hope, she runs from Richard's clinging grasp only to be crushed by the smoke monster. This destroys any last trace of fight, or even will to live, within Ricardo. And as he lays there utterly and completely broken, that's when the man in black finally moves to recruit him - first touching him on the shoulder.

He goes on letting Richard think they're in hell, mainly because it serves his purpose but also because the MIB is indeed trapped in his own personal hell. He also doesn't waste any time in getting to his point, convincing Richard he'll need to "kill the devil". The way the dark man gets Richard to agree to do anything he asks is almost like cheating; although still giving him a choice, he's been closely and directly influencing Richard's environment for several days now.

One cool thing we get confirmation on: the dark man can manifest himself based upon other people's memories. We've seen hints that this was possible during The Cost of Living, when he appeared as ghosts of the drug dealers Mr. Eko had killed with his machete. Up until that point we'd only seen the dark man use physical bodies he'd accessed while on the island: Christian Shephard, Yemi, and later on Alex. But just as he plucked those ghosts from Eko's past after scanning him, the dark man was able to take Isabella's form after scanning Richard. His abilities to take the shape of people are limited only to what he knows and sees.

Are You Done Eating? Cool, Because I Need You To Stab Someone For Me

For the second straight episode, the dark man fully admits to being the smoke monster. This blunt truth is actually detrimental to the story he's cooking up - believing it was the monster who killed his wife, Richard nearly balks at hearing the news. The MIB quickly backtracks, letting Richard know it was the devil that swiped Isabella and not him, hastily correcting what was almost too revealing a mistake.

The fact is, the MIB really can't help himself here. We learn that he holds Jacob responsible for stealing his form, and therefore his humanity. He can't even mask his anger long enough to lie. It's also obvious by now that the character being played by Titus Welliver probably isn't the original incarnation of the man who became the smoke monster, but likely just another human form he's taken for the time being.

Sometime, long ago, something happened between him and Jacob that ended with the dark man losing his physical form. The black smoke is all that's really left of the man he once was, and this is why he refuses to deny or lie about being the monster. To betray that one true image would be to deny all that's left of him, and the dark man is too proud to do so... even when lying his ass off and creating a story where Jacob is the devil who took Richard's wife.

It was also cool to see Dogen's dagger again. Apparently it works the same on Jacob as it does on the MIB, which is yet another nod toward the theory that these characters are nothing but two halves of one whole being. Jacob got the name, identity, and original human form... the dark man got the kickass smoke powers and ability to manifest himself as other people. They're as opposite as black and white can get, yet still cut from the same mold.

Technically, the MIB isn't really lying when he tells Richard he has the ability to let him "see his wife" again. What Richard doesn't realize is that the MIB's promise doesn't truly involve giving Isabella back to him. Again, the dark man has stuck around long enough to offer the one thing Richard wants more than anything else. His recruitment process involves promises that, so far, it seems he'll be unable to keep.

Jacob - Gentle Pacifist, But Not Afraid To Open The Occasional Can of Whoop-Ass

Opposite the MIB's approach, Jacob's beatdown of Richard was more physical than mental. It's not until he drags him into the churning surf that Richard finally realizes he's not dead or in hell at all. This baptism marks the beginning of Jacob's recruitment (and the beginning of Ricardo's new life), as he sits Richard down to explain who and what the dark man is. He also gives us an all-important glimpse into the island's exact purpose.

In every sense we're looking at Pandora's box. Jacob is the lock that keeps it closed, and the man in black represents the malevolence and evil trapped inside. Jacob describes the island as a cork, keeping that evil from spreading into the world. As long as Jacob lives, the man in black can't escape the island. The game these two characters play is an internal struggle for control: the dark man seeks release, and Jacob wants to keep things exactly where they are.

This would seem to go against Jacob's assertion that progress is being made. On the contrary however, Jacob is actively seeking to prove his point. He flat out explains LOST's most basic principal as his own philosophy: people need to do good or bad by their own choice. If he has to interfere or influence them in any way, his point is disproved and therefore meaningless. Over and over he's tried, and over and over he's failed, ending in the deaths of all those people he's brought to the island.

It's here that Richard points out the flaw in Jacob's logic: just because he's not influencing the people who come to the island, it doesn't mean the dark man isn't corrupting them himself. If you watch as Jacob first encounters Richard he actually seems frustrated that he's already been reached, or even touched, by the man in black. At this point Jacob realizes the need to protect his subjects from such outside influence, and that's where Richard's job as adviser comes in. Through the use of obscure lists and direction, Jacob's people can help those who arrive on the island's shores make their own choices without directly interfering in those choices themselves. That, in essence, is the crux of LOST.

One other thing about Pandora's box: although it contained a whole host of really bad stuff, it also contained something else: hope. Lessons of hope and faith have been drilled hard all throughout LOST, amongst the rest of the island's chaos.

Unlike the dark man, Jacob doesn't promise Richard his wife back, telling him simply "I can't do that". This seems out of place; according to Dogen, Jacob promised to restore his son's life in return for service on the island. Did Dogen really encounter Jacob, or did he unknowingly meet with the man in black? We'll probably never know, but it does seem an inconsistency. We also know that the MIB is willing to lie - especially about Jacob - to get people to follow him and do what he wants.

On The Spanish Speaking Side of That Coin...

By the same token, we can't completely absolve Jacob of outside interference either. Throughout the show, we've seen ghostly appearances by people who we know to be dead. Here, Richard's wife Isabella shows up to speak to him for the first time in a century and a half... using Hurley as an otherworldly, Spanish-speaking go-between.

Make no mistake about it: Richard was seconds away from joining team Flocke. Hugo arrived in the nick of time to turn Richard around, preventing the dark man from gaining a valuable recruit. The biggest question however, becomes this: did we really see Isabella speaking to her husband? Or did we see Jacob's own version of Isabella, strategically placed there to sway Richard back to his own team?

Manipulation goes both ways. It wouldn't be all too surprising to find out that Jacob is interfering here, in a much more direct manner. Then again, why wouldn't Jacob appear to Richard as Isabella himself? Why would he take a silent and invisible form of Richard's wife, and then use Hurley to speak to him? Either Jacob is playing that same middle-man game again, or we really are seeing Isabella here. The way she spoke to him it certainly sounded like Richard's wife, and she even knew to tell him to close his eyes.

I half expected Richard to open his eyes and see his wife here, which would've been really cool. Watching it again, I think maybe he actually did feel her. Overall, the whole thing seemed pretty real to me. I don't think Jacob was bullshitting or manipulating... I tend to think what we saw was genuine. There's certainly evidence for both sides of this argument, but that's my gut feeling.

Leave The Dagger, Take The Rock

Back in 1867, Jacob sends Ricardo back to the dark man with a message - sans dagger, of course. Yet instead of demonstrating anger, the man in black is understanding and even apologetic towards Richard. He obviously does this in order to leave the door open for future recruitment. He's already invested some time and energy into winning this playing piece, and he knows he's promised Richard something that Jacob never will: the ability to be reunited with his wife again.

In time, after much more frustration, the dark man realizes Richard will eventually arrive at another low point in his life. When that time happens, he wants Richard to remember his offer. He gives Richard back his wife's golden pendant and crucifix as a physical reminder of that promise, enabling him to change his mind at any time.

The Man In Black... Not That Big a Drinker

In a mirror image of The Incident's beach scene, Jacob approaches the man in black for a sit-down meeting. Everything we've learned about these two characters is solidified here, including their roles. There's no deception, no reason to lie, and no one else around to impress. In short, we can accept the very frank discussion they have here as a straight-up, real-deal representation of exactly what's going on.

Jacob can apparently be killed, and he knows it. His presence is the only thing keeping the man in black from leaving the island. This puts Jacob in the position of eternal guardian, a role he seems content enough with. It's also a role that can be transferred to or inherited by someone else, should the man in black succeed in killing his arch-nemesis. Jacob reminds him of this, as if to point out the futility of killing him.

We also see that Jacob's mention of candidates predates the crash of Flight 815. This means he knows in advance that he's going to die, and has been busy planning ahead by preparing a successor. The dark man has been equally busy destroying Jacob's potential candidates - if not physically, by at least corrupting them enough that they're no longer suitable to inherit Jacob's job. As The Others would put it, they're no longer one of the "good" ones.

It's unclear whether the dark man can actually be killed, or if he himself represents the evil and maleovelence Jacob spoke of to Richard. The mission Sayid sent Dogen on seemed to infer that he could actually be destroyed, but I'm not entirely sold on that. I tend to think the man in black isn't evil himself, but that instead he represents a dereliction of duty. Maybe he and Jacob are both required to keep the cork sealed - black and white together - and the dark man is finally sick of babysitting the island.

Just as the Swan hatch acted as a cork for unlimited magnetic energies, the island acts as a cork to keep corruption and wickedness at bay. This explains why Ms. Hawking (and probably Charles Widmore) understand the gloomy ramifications should the island fail to contain this wellspring of darkness. In fact, it might even explain Widmore's return to the island: he's always fancied himself as Jacob's replacement. I could totally see Widmore's fanatical devotion lending him a sense of entitlement to Jacob's position, with the very desire for that power corrupting him and disqualifying him from assuming the role. All other explanations for Widmore's motives don't seem to make any sense, at least not right now.

The Shape of Things To Come

Ab Aeterno not only lived up to the hype, I think it surpassed expectations. Richard's story was beautifully told, almost straight through, without the constant distraction of flashing back to island events. We got very big answers to long-standing mysteries, and we learned tons of new information regarding the rivalry between Jacob and the man in black. We also learned what the island is, metaphorically speaking.

Shit is winding down, and answers are finally here. Drink them in, and let's wait for the next inevitable step: Jacob and MIB's backstory. LOST can't end until we've seen that beginning.


329 posted on 03/25/2010 1:02:04 PM PDT by Lucky9teen (Watch out for the term SOCIAL JUSTICE! It only equals MARXISM and GOV'T CONTROL!)
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To: Lucky9teen

I don’t know. I think these “reviewers” see way too much in a simple t.v. program.


330 posted on 03/25/2010 1:40:17 PM PDT by carton253 (Ask me about Throw Away the Scabbard - a Civil War alternate history.)
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To: carton253

They always catch something we missed. Jacob did trick Richard into something he did not really want. Richard wanted his wife, if not her then absolution of sins, if not that then he was too scared to die and go to hell.


331 posted on 03/25/2010 3:29:36 PM PDT by omega4179 (Pelosi: We Must Pass Obamacare So Artists Can Quit Their Day Jobs)
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To: omega4179

Who’s this “we?” Have a great day.


332 posted on 03/25/2010 3:34:57 PM PDT by carton253 (Ask me about Throw Away the Scabbard - a Civil War alternate history.)
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To: Lucky9teen

I think it wasn’t a sudden illness his wife had, IMO it was TB or ‘consumption’ since she was coughing up blood?

One of my all time favorite Lost episodes as well. I’ve always liked Richard’s character, glad they expanded on it. Kind of sad and bittersweet.


333 posted on 03/25/2010 5:17:41 PM PDT by pillut48 ("Stand now. Stand together. Stand for what is right."-Gov.Sarah Palin, "Going Rogue")
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To: pillut48

“Consumption”.

I wonder what happened to MIB’s form or body and how he lost the ability to change shape when he became Locke.


334 posted on 03/25/2010 5:26:50 PM PDT by omega4179 (Pelosi: We Must Pass Obamacare So Artists Can Quit Their Day Jobs)
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To: Dajjal; Lucky9teen; ßuddaßudd; acad1228; Anitius Severinus Boethius; Anti-MSM; babyfreep; ...

I have a prediction on the finale.... Richard will be a hero and die in a heroic fashion, and will finally be reunited with his beloved wife, all witnessed by Hurley of course. :)


335 posted on 03/25/2010 9:24:41 PM PDT by diamond6 (Pray the Rosary to defeat Obamacare!!)
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To: omega4179

Flocke/FauxLocke can still change into the black smoke creature, can’t he?

Anyone else feeling the “Job” theme where God and Satan were walking around talking about Job? Reminds me of that. Even my 9 y/o picked up on some things, when Jacob was talking to Richard and Richard asked him, why don’t you MAKE the people act good? And Jacob said, I gave them free will (paraphrasing) and they choose how they will behave. Maya says, hey, that’s what God does for us!

Wonder if there will be some sort of Christian resolution to all of this when the finale comes?


336 posted on 03/25/2010 9:28:48 PM PDT by pillut48 ("Stand now. Stand together. Stand for what is right."-Gov.Sarah Palin, "Going Rogue")
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To: omega4179

I think he is stuck because Jacob is dead.


337 posted on 03/26/2010 5:48:32 AM PDT by mom4kittys (If velvet could sing, it would sound like Josh Groban)
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To: pillut48; Lucky9teen

Vozekk said he thinks Richard is “he who will save us all”. I don’t understand why?


338 posted on 03/26/2010 7:09:35 AM PDT by diamond6 (Pray the Rosary to defeat Obamacare!!)
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To: diamond6

Naaahh, I think it will be Locke (the real one)


339 posted on 03/26/2010 11:14:59 AM PDT by mom4kittys (If velvet could sing, it would sound like Josh Groban)
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To: pillut48

Not taking anything away from the actor’s terrific performance, but I couldn’t help thinking of Manuel in Fawlty Towers.


340 posted on 03/26/2010 3:03:44 PM PDT by Fudd Fan (WELKOME TO THE U.S.S.A.)
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