Making Up For Lost Time

Sorry it took me a whole week to write up the latest Lost, "Ab Aeterno," but at least I got it in before the next episode. Also, I taped over the hour (yes, I still use videotape) so I'm doing this from memory.

Anyway, it was quite an episode. Fans have been waiting a long time to find out about Richard, and they finally got answers. But only so many--we see his origin, but not the first century of his work on the Island, for instance. I guess catching him from the 50s on gives a good idea of how he works.

This episode was different from any other this season. So far every week has offered a flash-sideways that showed us some Lostie in the alta-world. Furthermore, this season has been a funhouse mirror version of the first season, where we learn all about who the main characters are. "Ab Aeterno" was an old-fashioned flashback that spent almost all its time with Richard. We've seen episodes like this before, but they're rare on Lost.

On the other hand, this was more like a first-season episode than any other. Back then, we'd watch every week to learn not only what the past of the character was like, but how this characters ended up on the island. Well, we got that with Richard. It's just that he got to the island much earlier than anyone else.

It's been an interesting season for Richard. Up till now, he was the most self-assured, mysterious character around. Now he's been cut loose, losing his faith and being very, very afraid. When we see into his past, turns out he was originally just another mug, fearful and in trouble. His beloved Isabella is dying, and he'll do anything to save her. (I though Jacob might come in here with one of his deals.)

Before we continue, let me cut back just a second. How do we get to this flashback? First, we see more of Jacob's meeting with Ilana. She's going to protect the candidates (even though she doesn't know why or what they're for). Like her mission to protect Jacob, she does a rotten job. She forces Sayid onto the plane, but before they land, most of the candidates have disappeared.

Anyway, she's got to ask Richard what to do next, but he's not in the mood to answer questions. I thought he might have calmed down after meeting Jack (who's even crazier) but now he runs off. He figures he's in hell and might as well join the other side.

That's when the flashback kicks in, and it takes almost all the rest of the show.

Back at Ricardo's story, he tries to get a doctor to save his wife (would that really have worked back then?) but accidentally kills him when he won't help. His wife dies and he's thrown in jail, set to be executed. We keep waiting for Jacob to show up, but all we get is a corrupt priest. Because Richard can speak English, he gets signed up for a trip--in chains--on Magnus Hanso's boat. I thought we might start to learn something about the Hanso clan, but we got nothing. The show better do something soon, they're running out of time.

We know where the good ship Black Rock will end up, but last we saw, it was on the horizon of the Island, during daylight in calm waters, as Jacob and MIB watched its approached. But as Richard watches from below, it's a dark and stormy night. Someone claims to have seen the devil. Is that the Statue, or Jacob, or MIB, or just his imagination? The ship is flung well into to Island, destroying the Statue (but not the ship). Was this a regular storm, or Smokezilla, or something else?

Note, by the way, we don't see the direct landing. Just like Jack (twice) has appeared on the island, Richard is suddenly there and isn't quite sure how.

From the dialogue at the end of last season, you might figure the shipmates would come out, start a camp, be corrupted by MIB, and kill each other. But MIB isn't so patient. Smokey kills almost everyone, but looks at Richard and sees possibilities. Then he appears as Isabella, or the real (dead) Izzy appears, and tells Richard they're in hell. (Lost has some fun with the island-as-hell idea, but I don't think we're supposed to take it seriously.) Then Smokey appears as the MIB (we knew he was coming if we saw the credits) and he explains he's the good guy, Jacob stole his body and is holding him on this horrible island. But (echoing Dogen), if Richard will just stab the guy in the heart before he says anything, he'll be killed and they can escape with Isabella. MIB does seem to believe what he's saying, and it's also pretty clear he can't kill Jacob (why? can't kill his own body?).


So Richard goes to the Statue and confronts Jacob. But this isn't the peaceful Jacob we've gotten to know. Someone so calm he allows Ben to stab him repeatedly. This is a kick-ass Jacob. He sees someone who means him harm and takes him out. Then he harshly explains the facts of "life" to Richard by baptizing him in the ocean a few times until Richard begs for mercy.

Then they have a calmer discussion. MIB warned that Jacob's a silver-tongued devil. He explains the Island bottles up the evil that is the MIB and Jacob is on the island to hold him there. He brings people to the island to help him, and disprove MIB's dark view of the world, but he refuses to tell them what to do: if they're merely automatons, doing what's "right" doesn't count.

He can't bring back Isabella--the afterlife apparently isn't his domain--but he has enough power to keep Richard alive forever. It sounded good at the time, but Richard will later call it a curse. Anyway, Richard agrees to be Jacob's intermediary. (Some go-between. The people we see who lead the Others seem to do a pretty damn poor job of it. Do any of them get to meet Jacob in person? Actually, when you think about it, Jacob isn't that great at picking helpers. But then, MIB has been even weaker at recruiting.)

Ricardo returns to MIB, who sees Jacob has beaten him again, but says the offer is still open. He gives Isabella's cross to Richard, who buries it. Cut to the present, and Richard is coming back to find the cross (I thought stuff didn't stay buried on this island) and take MIB up on his offer (though he wasn't in the mood for it several episodes ago, even after Flocke threatened him of the dire consequences of turning him down). But as a surprise, and a pretty touching scene, instead of Flocke showing up to pick up his latest recruit, Hurley, who was muttering in Spanish to a ghost earlier, shows up. He's been talking to Isabella. (If movies teach us anything, it's don't talk to the dead, or all they'll do is ask for favors.)

She is reunited, through Hurley, with her old love. She convinces Richard to return to Jacob. As Flocke watches on from far away.

One more flashback. Jacob and MIB have another talk, and it's clear they're both pretty determined to have their way. Though, when MIB smashes the wine bottle that Jacob has used to represent the island he's holed up in, it makes you think MIB isn't just planning on catching the latest plane out, but has big plans for the Island as a going-away present.

LOST

Lotta fascinating stuff about Richard, but I was surprised how much time they spent pre-Island. I figured his story would be about what he did on the Island, but it must have been halfway over before we got there.

We have to fill in the rest. Since Richard devoted his life (and then some) to serving Jacob, he certainly must have believed in the guy, even though Jacob was notoriously tight-lipped about his goals. I guess he wanted free choice. Ben notes Richard doesn't know much about the Island (he's one to talk) and, like so many Others, was, I guess, just pleased to be part of something bigger. At first he just wants to see his wife again, but he's able to all but forget her for over a century before the big return.

I think the fans liked this one. It reminded me more than anything of a Desmond episode, especially "The Constant." Unlike the Losties, and even Ben and Juliet and the Freighter Folk, Desmond was always off in his corner, doing his own thing. Shows that concentrate on him seem removed from the main action, and so did "Ab Aeterno." And it also had the story of lost loves reunited. It worked surprisingly well since we didn't even know Isabella, or even Ricardo, before this episode.