We see an extension of the Jacob/Ilana scene from the hospital but see Jacob telling her to protect the six remaining candidates and to find “Ricardus”. So group Ilana is sitting on the beach and she asks Richard what to do next. Confused and distressed, he rants about how the island isn’t what it looks like, but is actually hell and they’re all dead, before storming off. Someone’s moody. Everyone is shocked, and Ilana tries to go after him. In the mean time, Hurley is talking to some dead person in Spanish. Ben realizes that Richard is going after UnLocke, and thus begins the look back at poor Richard Alpert’s life.
Richard and his wife Isabella are living in the Canary Islands in 1867. She is very sick and in need of medical care. Before he runs to find a doctor, she gives him her cross. Ricardus finds the doctor, who refuses to give him the expensive medicine for his cross. A fight breaks out that ends with Richard killing the doctor accidentally (reminded me of the fight between Desmond and Kelvin Inman). Ricardus takes the medicine and runs to his wife, only to find her dead. Sucks for him! Sucks even worse because he is arrested and thrown in jail. A priest at the jail hears Richard’s sincere apology but refuses to accept it and says he will be hung for his offense. What a nice guy, that priest. However, Richard catches a break. When asked if he speaks English, he replies he is learning because he was planning to go to the new world with his wife. Instead of being hung, they put him on the Black Rock as a prisoner. The boat plods through a terrible storm, eventually flying high on a wave and destroying the Statue of Taweret. The boat ends up inland (mystery solved). What’s interesting is that in “the Incident” episode, the boat sails towards the island on a clear, sunny day.
Richard and the remaining prisoners scream frantically for help, which isn’t a good move, as one of the crew members comes down and kills them. As he is about to kill Richard, the sound of Smokie is heard as he arrives and kills the remaining Black Rock crew but spares a praying Ricardus. Later, in his weary state, Richard sees Isabella, who tells him the “devil” is coming and they are dead and in hell. She runs upstairs and is presumably caught by Smokie. The next day, the original Man in Black returns and frees Richard, whom he makes promise to follow anything he says (much like his manipulation of Ben using Alex and Locke). MIB reveals himself as the smoke but says the devil is actually a man named Jacob. Two interesting things that the Man in Black reiterates is his desire to “be free”, and the line we heard in the season premiere (“It’s good to see you out of those chains”). Another familiar sound to LOST fans is the MIB telling Richard that he must stab Jacob through the heart before he can speak, and he is very persuasive, completely mirroring Dogen’s exchange with Sayid. Also, it looks like he gives Richard the same dagger Dogen gave Sayid. Significant? What’s significant is that Jacob kicks Richard’s ass. Richard believes he’s dead, but Jacob takes him to the water and dunks him in three times, showing him that he’s alive and symbolically giving him a baptism. He does mention the man wearing a black shirt and reveals that his wife was the smoke monster.
During their conversation, Jacob confirms he brought the ship to the island and demonstrates the island’s properties using a bottle of wine. He says evil (wine) is swirling around, wanting to get out, but a cork (the island) is needed to keep evil from escaping and spreading to the outside world. The MIB believes every person is corruptable and will sin for the right price, and Jacob is trying to prove him wrong. Jacob doesn’t interfere and lets people die because he wants them to figure things out the difference between good and evil on their own. He offers Richard the job as an “intermediary” between Jacob and the people he brings. Richard asks for his wife back and an absolving of his sins but Jacob instead grants him eternal life. Jacob gives Richard a white rock to give the MIB, symbolizing Richard choosing good over evil and Jacob’s victory, but Smokie says if he ever changes his mind, the offer stands. Richard buries his wife’s cross.
We pick up back in 2007 with Richard digging up the cross and screaming that he’s changed his mind. Instead of UnLocke, Hurley appears and reveals he was talking to Isabella, who is standing right next to him. Richard can’t see her, but Hurley tells him that she says his English is beautiful. She tells him to close his eyes and says that it wasn’t his fault she died and he’s suffered enough and they are already together. As one final task, she says he must kill the Man in Black, or they are all going to hell! But guess who is watching from far away... UnLocke!
The episode ends in 1867 where the MIB is sitting alone until Jacob joins him. Jacob says the Man in Black can’t leave until he’s dead, which is why he wants Jacob dead. Jacob gives him the bottle of wine to “pass the time”, which The Man in Black symbolically breaks, hoping for his own escape. Does it symbolize breaking the rules? Maybe...
The Smoke Monster and Jacob fought to recruit Richard which makes me think he a greater importance than we’ve been led to believe. We found out how he got eternal life. We find out that the MIB can manifest as bodies not dead on the island, like he did with Isabella and we now can guess that he did with Ben’s mother in order to try and get both Richard and Ben on his side. I believe he can do that by looking into people and using their memories. In this episode, he stares down Ricardus and surrounds him but doesn’t harm him. In past episodes, he “scans” Locke and Mr. Eko. We learn about Jacob’s motives and the island, which serves as a prison for Smokie. The thinking is, if evil escapes, it will spread across the earth and start corrupting people, but if it’s contained on the island it does minimal harm. Jacob acts like the God of the island in that he brings people there but doesn’t interefere with their lives, instead letting them make their own choices. In terms of the Man in Black, he is reaching out to all of Jacob’s candidates because that is the only way he can leave (Sun next episode). There is so much more to talk about, but if I go on any longer, my head might explode. Cheers LOST fans.
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/jacoblostmain.jpg?1269430768
"DUDE?! Do you see what you did to my house?? I've been living here for like a million years you bastard!"
No comments:
Post a Comment