SPOILERS AHEAD
FINALLY we get to see Richard’s back story. As a lot of people thought, he did come over on the Black Rock as a slave. What I didn’t expect at all was that the Black Rock was what smashed the statue to pieces. It sure didn’t take long for ol’ Smokey to show up, but then I guess if you’re trapped on an island, you’ll look around for anything new and different.
Up until now I’d suspected that Jacob’s power was of life and death over people. Life for Richard, since he never aged, and that was confirmed tonight. Death, since a lot of dead people roam around on that island. Although, I suppose that’s not strictly Jacob’s doing. Anyway what we saw tonight showed that his powers extend further than I suspected.
Some random thoughts and observations:
- Ab Aeterno – Since the beginning of time
- The Isabella we saw on the ship with Richard was not really Isabella; it was the Man in Black. That might have been obvious to most of you, but I thought I’d point that out anyway. But that was who Hurley was talking to when he was asked about it at the beach.
- Did Richard’s “I changed my mind” actually do anything? In other words, by saying those words, did he jump sides, even though he’s going to help out Hurley and the gang? I sure hope not. I think Isabella’s words are the thing that are going to carry Richard through to the end.
- When the Man in Black was talking to Richard, he alluded to the fact that he’d been trapped on the island. This is still in line with my theory that a normal human being was transformed (somehow) into the vessel that’s holding “evil”. It’s likely that the Man in Black went looking for that power in the first place, not realizing that by accepting it, he would be trapped on the island. I really think this is how Widmore is going to end up.
- Man, Jacob had quite a temper, eh? He really beat the snot out of Richard on that beach.
- Did you notice that both times people who’ve been instructed to not let them speak before knifing them (“or it will be too late”), that both Sayid and Richard did exactly that? Sayid let UnLocke speak, and Richard let Jacob speak.
- I liked Jacob’s explanation using that wine bottle.
- Something I’ve been wondering since the last episode: Can The Man in Black go to Hydra island? Can he even go in the water?
- All in all, a good episode. I’m a little surprised it went on as long as it did, since there was a lot less action than I expected, but a nice long episode of LOST is just fine with me.
What did you think?