745 replies to this topic

[AimingforYoko]

Richard Alpert faces a difficult choice.

Wow, they literally went biblical on our ass.
Stephen King fans: When MIB freed Richard from the Black Rock, weren't you put in mind of Randall Flagg freeing Lloyd from prison in The Stand?

[over30patheticgroupie]

Poor Richard. I want him to reunite with his wife.

That was some understanding priest Richard had. Nothing like condemning him to hell. hmmmm.....

So is the island HELL? When Darlton said it wasn't purgatory was it just a technicality?

Be careful what you ask for Richard, you will end up living forever.

WHOA, his wife sent Hurley and he has to stop the man in black.

[cycat]

LIKE HELL THAT'S NOT EYELINER!!!

Even if I didn't love Richard before, that hysterical little giggle that erupted when everyone turned to him? Oh, Richard, you had me at hola.

Holy crap, sucks to be him, though, huh? That was, hands down, the most harrowing episode of Lost ever, and Richard is far and away the most tragic figure in the show's whole mythology. Jeez. Nestor Carbonell completely broke my heart, and it was totally worth waiting all this time for them to give him something meaty to do. More of him on my TV, please -- he and Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson should never be without work.

Another Lost spinoff, please: an hour of Spanish-speaking, bearded, horseback-riding Richard doing...well, pretty much anything at all, actually. That's THREE spinoff shows, ABC! Don't disappoint us.

But so much for my hopes of Richard being an ancient Egyptian. :( Interesting to see that MIB has been trying to get someone to kill Jacob for a while, now. Also interesting that he gave Richard the same instructions that Dogen gave to Sayid...hmmmm.

And Jacob has mellowed somewhat in the past 200 years, apparently.

Oh, and the Black Rock busted up The Statue!

(edited because it matters where commas go!)

Edited by cycat, Mar 23, 2010 @ 9:09 PM.

[aquarian1]

So, we spent 45 minutes "learning" that Richard came on the Black Rock and has met both Smokey and Jacob. Um yeah. Didn't we already know that?

Although I must say the directions to kill either Smokey or Jacob being the same is quite interesting. Kill them before they talk.

So, it's really all one big pissing match? Jacob is "bringing people here", ruining their lives, just to prove Smokey wrong. And, the island is just a giant pandora's box? Okay... And Smokey represents "original sin" and Jacob represents "tabula rasa"?


when Sun told Jack and Hurley they were candidates as possible replacements for Jacob and Illana confirmed, why did none of them say "What? Why would I want to do that?" Especially Sun I'd expect her to be all "No thanks, I just want to find Jin and go home to our daughter."

Edited by aquarian1, Mar 23, 2010 @ 9:08 PM.

[ginnny]

So was Smokey in Capt Hanso's body?

[ReadIshmael]

When MIB freed Richard from the Black Rock, weren't you put in mind of Randall Flagg freeing Lloyd from prison in The Stand?

Totally!

This was fantastic. I had no idea that Nestor Carbonell could so completely carry an episode. Just riveting and hugely revealing stuff this week.

[jmz]

Um yeah, that was f'ing awesome.

[shadymc]

Now that was a mindfuck! I was crying at the end. By the way, anyone else finding Titus Welliver kinda sexy? No? o.k.

More Jacob and MIB please.

[ChiJeff]

When the Man In Black first appeared my initial reaction was "What the hell is Richard Hatch doing here?"

[jjeich]

Why are there three other threads on this epi?

[AngryBudgie]

I don't think he was using Hanso's body because he was on the beach with Jacob in the Incident when they were watching a ship on the horizon. Though it could be a different ship entirely as the Black Rock approached the island under....less calm circumstances.

Edited by AngryBudgie, Mar 23, 2010 @ 9:09 PM.

[TheRabbi]

That was absolutely amazing. One of the top 2 or 3 Lost episodes ever.

[pirouette]

That. Was. AWESOME!!!!!

What symbolism with the bottle of wine at the end! And awesome reveal about the statue. Nestor Carbonell is a fantastic actor, as are the actors that play Jacob and the man in black. And the increasing significance of Hurley is proving to be very interesting.

I am speechless. I can't believe this show is over in exactly two months...

[PadmeSkywalker]

So sad. Poor Richard.

Did anyone else find it strange that he stopped Richard from killing him but he didn't do anything to stop Ben? Also he told Richard that no one entered the inside of the food without him inviting them in? Makes me think that he wanted Ben to kill him a la Obi-Wan Kenobi "Strike me down and I shall become more powerful", or Aslan in the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia.

[Pvt Hitch]

That was a great hour of television, and a great ten minutes of Lost.

Nestor Carbonell is awesome. And boy can he ride a horse!

So, what did we learn, children? Not a thing. ~sigh~

[Jujyfruit]

I feel like more happened tonight than in the rest of the season combined despite this episode being mostly flashback. I was disappointed to see that the statue was destroyed by the Black Rock crashing into it. Somehow I expected a more interesting explanation. Now we just need to know who built it and why. I suppose the island could be Hell, just maybe Hell isn't what you might expect it to be, what with living people coming and going. But I'm still not 100% sold on this idea of MIB = Devil. It felt like Richard was being played by two con men who were each out for their own personal gain.

[jjeich]

Did anyone else find it strange that he stopped Richard from killing him but he didn't do anything to stop Ben?

I wonder if it was because he knew his replacement was already on the Island? And it was time to hand over the torch, so to speak?

[PadmeSkywalker]

"Did anyone else find it strange that he stopped Richard from killing him but he didn't do anything to stop Ben?


I wonder if it was because he knew his replacement was already on the Island? And it was time to hand over the torch, so to speak?"

My husband said the same thing. That the candidates weren't on the island the first time.

Edited by PadmeSkywalker, Mar 23, 2010 @ 9:13 PM.

[ubiquitousanvil]

So a giant stone statue gets taken out by a wooden ship? Isn't that a bit like paper beating scissors?

Nestor Carbonell was great tonight, though. What a heartbreaking story Richard's has turned out to be.

[SQgal86]

I REALLY liked this episode. Richard is such a great character and Nestor Carbonell does an awesome job portraying him.

With this eppy I really feel like things are starting to make a bit more sense and I have a better handle on what the hell is going on with Jacob and MIB.

I do wish they would give MIB a name though. It's getting ridiculous watching people bend over backwards to avoid saying his name. I mean, what's the point?

[tze]

So . . . why exactly does the Man in Black keep telling people's he's the Smoke Monster? Especially people who have seen Smokey's rampages? It just seems so damn counterproductive.

[Bavct]

That was fucking awesome.

I'm all for an Isabella/Richard spin-off.

Both the MIB and Jacob suck, but the MIB is sexy in any time.

Hurleybella should have kissed Richard.

I have so many thoughts about how this is going to end, but I can't even put it into words.

Cork -hm.

[AimingforYoko]

So Jacob pretty much has two jobs: Keeping MIB on the island to save the world and find his replacement. As Hurley would say, "That job pretty much sucks, dude."

[cycat]

I do wish they would give MIB a name though. It's getting ridiculous watching people bend over backwards to avoid saying his name. I mean, what's the point?

OMG, he's Voldemort! :O

[Sister Magpie]

I'm always hesitant to give my own thoughts or theories on what was going on but...I thought all the talk of heaven and hell was just for Richard's benefit, because he believed it. And I thought it was at least ambiguous whether or not it was Isabella who gave that information about the Man in Black. It could have been Jacob telling Hurley to just make sure he got the message.

So it looks like the whole "the island is a stopper of evil" is the button pushing all over again. Do you just believe it and act as if it's true, or take a chance and treat it like a regular island and see what happens?

[Rinaldo]

So, we spent 45 minutes "learning" that Richard came on the Black Rock and has met both Smokey and Jacob. Um yeah. Didn't we already know that?

Well, we also learned quite a lot of detail about Richard's past and exactly why he's there and what his deal is. That's not nothing.

That was exceedingly bad Catholic doctrine the priest told Ricardo. But then, that was a very bad priest. A lot of lies were told to Ricardo, in fact.

(*God always accepts genuine repentance, though if you haven't fit your penance into your lifetime, then you'll have to spend a longer time in Purgatory working it off. That's the doctrine anyway.)

[Pvt Hitch]

I caught that the Bible page Richard was reading said 4:37, but I didn't catch the book. Anybody?

Oh, and we did learn that Richard was a killer too.

[Ben]

That was pretty awesome, all right. For one thing, I've been waiting to see Titus Welliver as the Man in Black again. Not that I don't love Terry O'Quinn, but we had to have the definitive article again. Also, I found Hurley's confrontation with Richard and his wife at the end all sorts of touching.

One thing I'm wondering. I'm not Catholic, but I did go to Catholic school. I remember learning that absolution depends on true repentance. Despite only killing by accident, Richard was repentant for what he had done, but the priest condemned him to Hell anyway. Obviously this priest was corrupt and on the take from Widmore's ancestors. I'm just wondering how much theological cover he had.

[Amulet]

I caught that the Bible page Richard was reading said 4:37, but I didn't catch the book. Anybody?

Luke.

[Energiya Buran]

I loved that Richard seemed to hear or know what Isabella was saying; Hurley stopped translating. I knew he was talking to her on the beach!

Very sneaky of the MiB to try and convince Richard that Jacob was the Devil. Yup, that Devil sure IS convincing. Once he got Richard to agree to do whatever he said to get out of the chains, I had that feeling he was making a deal with the Devil.

Oh, and cute little butterfly fluttering in the Black Rock...rebirth, etc. symbolism.