Ab Aeterno

Tonight, at long last, LOST fans spent an entire hour with one of the most mysterious and elusive characters on the Island: Richard Alpert. Was it worth the wait? I think so... but it's amazing what a difference a season or two can make, character-wise.

Back in Seasons 2, 3, 4, I would've guessed that Richard, sexy Mr. Eyelash, was some all-knowing, magical or mythological being. But we've seen his very real humanity showing through lately, as we've learned that he doesn't really know that much, and in fact may be one of the most manipulated characters of all. Jack was right (and how often do I say that?), Richard's desperation and panic have driven him to the point of insanity. And tonight, we learned why.

Richard's Story
Richard, or Ricardo, has been suffering for a very, very long time. Going back to 1867, in fact, when his beloved wife Isabella died in their home in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Desperate to save her, he accidentally killed the pompous, not-so-compassionate doctor, ending up in prison sentenced to death. But, his attempts to teach himself English in Isabella's memory catch the attention of a pompous, not-so-compassionate priest, and he ends up being sold to an Englishman - Mr. Whitfield - and becoming a slave to none other than Magnus Hanso.

So, anyone who had bets out there that Richard was a slave on the Black Rock, collect your booty now. :-)

Once again proving that fools are enslaved to time and geography, a ship leaving the Canary Islands bound for the New World somehow skips the Atlantic and ends up crashing on our dear Craphole Island in the Pacific. And, a nice little tidbit, the ship manages to crash into the statue on its way aground and knock that sucker into pieces. So, don't ever say Damon and Carlton don't give us answers!

After the grieving, beaten, and starved Richard suffers through his wife's death, prison, and being chained, his real trouble actually begins on the Island. And here's the part where it gets confusing.... because just like poor Richard, I just don't know who to trust! I'm not surprised he thinks they're all stuck in hell.

Enter.... Jacob and the Man in Black.

In our second real "visit" with these two dominant forces on the Island, we had several things confirmed or repeated, with nice callbacks to previous episodes... and I *think* we should still assume that Jacob is good and the MIB is bad. But, would I be surprised if it turns out to be the other way? Not at all. In fact, there were a few times I thought it might happen tonight...

To recap, in their own (or close to their own) words:

"It's good to see you out of those chains." The MIB did free Richard, and this explains how he knew instantly who's walking around in John Locke's body now. But there must be a whole lot of history between them in the intervening 140 years to inspire that look of pure terror on Richard's face when he realizes who it is.

"I'm afraid there's only one way to escape from hell. You're going to have to kill the devil." - MIB. And thus begins MIB's manipulation of Richard to kill Jacob, which plays out almost exactly as it did between Dogen and Sayid to kill the MIB himself, with the same instructions to stab his opponent but not let him utter a word. Interesting.

"The devil betrayed me. He took my body, my humanity." - MIB. Hmmm.... I have a new guess here. What if Jacob is the reason that the MIB became Smokey? If Jacob somehow trapped him in this existence, on this Island? That would certainly explain why he's so pissed, and why he wants to kill him so badly to get off the Island.

Well, the MIB got Richard all riled up about this "devil" character, even telling him that his (dead) wife was in danger and the only way to get her back safe is to kill Jacob. So, that's what Richard sets out to do. Color me surprised when Jacob turned out to be less than the friendly, touchy-feely Zen master we've seen over the last few years. He attacked Richard first, asked questions later. So who really is a good guy? Are they just a bad guy and his captor???

Richard: "Are you the devil?" Jacob: "My name is Jacob. I'm the one that brought your ship to this Island." And Jacob again explains the age-old debate they have, that the MIB believes all people are naturally corruptable and that Jacob keeps bringing new people to prove him wrong. Then, with the wine bottle as a handy prop, he explained that his purpose is to keep the evil from spreading to the rest of the world. He sure does seem to imply that the MIB is that evil... easy to believe a smoke monster is the Big Bad, right? But, I'm still not entirely convinced!

Thus, Richard agrees to work for Jacob, to serve has his representative to the new recruits on the Island, helping tip the scales in Jacob's favor in this argument over free will, destiny, and the fate of the Island. And in return? R: "I never want to die, I want to live forever." J: "Now that, I can do." Jacob can't give him absolution, or his beloved wife back, so he agrees to immortality as a way to avoid what he's sure will be his future condemned to hell.

So Richard chose his side, a long, long time ago. But the MIB, who gave him back his wife's cross, said he would always be the alternative. "If you ever change your mind, and I mea ever, my offer still stands."

And, Jacob and the MIB met again for their own version of Island trash talk, paraphrased:
MIB: Just let me leave.
J: As long as I'm alive, you're not going anywhere.
MIB: Then I'll kill you.
J: Someone will take my place.
MIB: I'll kill them too.

Back to the Future
And so here we are, with Richard disillusioned and believing everything Jacob has said is a lie. He's ready to switch sides, to join Flocke. When.... who should step in?

HURLEY! The man who can see ghosts... who's having an honest-to-goodness conversation with Richard's long-dead wife Isabella. His dearly departed clearly pushes him back into the anti-MIB camp, saying "You have to stop him from leaving the Island, because if you don't, we all go to hell."

So, what have we learned?

- Richard Alpert has had a really rough, sad life. And needs to shave about 8 times a day.

- Jacob and the MIB have been playing this chess game with Island recruits for a very long time, and they both have stepped in and tried to manipulate the outcomes.

- Smokey has been around a long time too - and seems to be part of the reason why the MIB is so hell-bent on killing Jacob.

- If we can believe that Isabella is Isabella and not just another manifestation of the 2 main characters, then the MIB is the bad guy to be defeated.

- If a candidate steps up to take Jacob's place, Flocke is going to try to kill him/her.

- I really want to learn Spanish again, cuz it would be cool to be bilingual.

What else??? My head is still spinning, cuz I just am not sure about Jacob and the MIB, but we've got to get answers soon, right????

Richard Alpert Image source.

Jacob/MIB Image Source.