WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE LATEST EPISODE OF LOST.
After the jump: Mini-recap, questions, theories, and predictions!
This week on Lost, a few hundred years ago, a hot young Latino named Richard (or should I say Riccardus?) accidentally killed a doctor while trying to get medicine for his dying wife, Isabella. Not only did the doctor die, but his wife died too! He got thrown in prison and then sold as a slave to some guy who was sailing the Black Rock!!! As we all know the Black Rock crashed on the island (but not before taking that big statue with it!). After the crash, Richard would have been killed with the other slaves by the ship’s captain, but Smokey came in and killed the captain first! And then he played some tricks on Richard, making him think Isabella was alive – but of course this was just to mess with Richard’s mind and try to convince him that Jacob = The Devil! Smokey told Richard that he was in Hell, and if he killed Jacob, he’d get to leave and be reunited with his wife!
But since Jacob was apparently all-powerful, he convinced Richard that Smokey was really the bad guy, and explained that his hobby was bringing new people to the island in order to prove that they could be good if he just gave them a chance. Even though they always turned to the Dark Side in the end, Jacob said he’d keep trying. He said Richard should stay here on the island as his assistant to help with his Good vs. Evil experiment, and he made him immortal to boot! So Richard joined Team Jacob and the rest is history. But now that Jacob’s dead, Richard thought maybe he’d join Smokey after all! Good thing the ghost of his dead wife (speaking through Hurley, of course) warned him not to, or else apparently we’re all going to Hell!
*slow clap*
So people like Doc Jensen et. al are going to tear every single bit of info out of this episode and write very eloquent novel-length recaps about it. While I might be thinking all those thoughts I just kind of like to ask some questions and ponder them at my leisure :D
Questions:
1. Ilana had been training to protect the candidates – why did Jacob choose her? She doesn’t seem very prepared haha.
2. So Smokey asked Richard to kill Jacob with the knife and warned him about speaking to him, the same way Dogen asked Sayid to kill Smokey! WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Are Jacob and Smokey equals? How come it’s too late once they speak? And how come Ben had no problem killing Jacob with a regular knife, even after he spoke to him?
3. Hurley said if the Man in Black gets off the island “We all go to hell.” Did he mean the people on the island will go to hell, or that it will cause hell on earth? Will everyone on the planet become evil zombies like Sayid and Claire?
4. How did Jacob and Smokey get there in the first place? Did Jacob capture and trap him or what?? Is Smokey like a genie trapped in a bottle? And the island is the cork?? Is the island itself special, or is it special because Jacob is there?
5. Smokey told Richard that Jacob took his body – what was that all about? Smokey keeps insisting he was once a man (with a mom no less!) so what the hell??
6. When Jacob touched Richard, he made him immortal. Then how come Richard thought someone else could kill him? Jacob touched all the candidates, but they’re not immortal as far as we know (Kate and Sawyer aged after he touched them!) – did he give any of them special powers??
7. How come Smokey can’t kill Jacob himself?? And if Smokey’s really evil incarnate then how come he judges people so…fairly? Did he go around judging people to see who’d be capable of killing Jacob? Is that why he let Ben live back when Ben went to the Temple to be “judged?”
8. Where does Widmore fit into all of this?
9. Is it possible Jacob wasn’t only trying to contain the Man in Black, but SAVE him in a Jack Shephard-esque way?
10. Is Jacob God? I never really believed that theory, I always thought of him as being something more…metaphorical, but this is getting nuts. Jacob brings people before him to test their free will against temptation/sin? Is this Eden?? Are the Adam and Eve in the caves ACTUALLY ADAM AND EVE? lol
11. What about Christian’s role in all of this? What’s his deal, anyway? It seems like he’s Smokey’s messenger the way Richard was Jacob’s. He appeared to Locke at the Donkey Wheel, he lured Claire away from Aaron, he let Michael blow up the freighter. If Jack is Jacob’s replacement it would make sense for him to have to face off with his daddy dearest in the end, no?
Thoughts:
– THIS EPISODE WAS AMAZING. WELL WRITTEN, WELL ACTED, WELL EDITED, WELL EVERYTHING-ED. FREAKING LOVED IT.
– Remember last week on Little House Michael Landon said the ones we love never really leave us once they die? RIGHT ON, ISABELLA.
– Jacob dunking Richard in the ocean = Baptism!! Hey-yo!
– Richard’s entire story was so well done and heartbreaking and AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I CAN’T GET OVER HOW AWESOME THIS WAS.
– So the Black Rock crashed into the statue and broke it!!! It’s like a Lost NERDGASM!!!!! AGH!!!!
– Maybe it’s not that Jacob needed ONE replacement, maybe he needs all 6 candidates to replace him! They could each have a part to play.
– So Smokey found Richard inside the ship, checked out his brain while in smoke form, saw that he’d respond to Isabella, and then showed up as her, right? Right.
– Nestor Carbonell was amazing. AMAZING!!!
– I loved Jacob giving the white rock to Smokey. I know it’s the one that was on the scale, but what does it mean? I want in on that inside joke.
– So I guess now we know why Smokey was “very disappointed” in Richard haha!
I’m sure I’ll be adding more as I think of it. God that was so awesome.
I just have to say that just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love Richard more…I TOTALLY DO. Emo Richard BROKE MY HEART. I LUFF HIM SO MUCH.
Amazing, right? (As was your recap.)
Re: Question 8 – I think MIB was just bullsh*tting about the body thing, just as he did when he said that the island was hell and Jacob was the devil. JMO.
: ) P
This episode was my absolute favorite of Season 6. Absolutely amazing, and pretty much about 95% Richard! I LOVE HIM NOW. I LOVE HIM.
Ok, now I know I’m a little rusty on my Lost history but wasn’t the entire statue intact in 1954? Or am I just stupid? I’d rather be stupid. Please tell me I’m stupid?
God I loved this episode, I swear Nestor Carbonell deserves an Emmy for it.
Amazing episode. If they can only be killed with that special dagger, without speaking, how did Ben manage to kill Jacob with a normal knife and after a conversation?
There is no such thing as Jacob, only the man in black when he’s drunk.
Richard should have been able to reach the nail with his feet.
Contrary to popular belief the Black Rock was not the ship seen on last season’s finale.
How was Widmore able to buy the Black Rock logbook, how did it get off the island?
Click to see Ack Waterfall Sandwich!
http://baconpie.wordpress.com/
Umm, just pointing out that when Ricardo was trapped in the black rock and it rained but he just could not reach the drops of water, all he had to do is pull off his rags to absorb the rain and then he would have felt better and all you girls who dig mascara boy would have had some potential really hot nudity happening. Excellent episode. Looove you so much Ack! ♥
I’m probably in the minority but I’m not a big fan of all the fancy mythology of the island. Good vs evil, smoke monster, Jacob, magical mirrors, etc etc…it makes me tired. And if that stuff is so important, why did we have to deal with the Dharma initiative for like four seasons? What’s their role in all this?
Baconpie agreed, no crap! That was another bit of lame, you know he could have grabbed the nail with is furry little toes.
@Teleholic – the only time we have seen the statue intact is S5 part 1 finale with Jacob and MiB. Every other time it was broken. You are incorrect, but not stupid.
I am so happy about this episode, I can barely keep it together.
@Cee The Dharma Initiative was a means to an end! To know about Jacob we needed to know about Ben, which connected up the Dharma and the Hostiles…etc etc.
I understand your plight, you sound like my mom. She doesn’t care about any of the mythology, but then again I don’t know if I’d have kept watching all this time if I didn’t like that part of the show haha it’s so huge!
DISAPPOINTED IN THE LACK OF RICHARD IN SILLY HATS but thrilled with everything else. I kind of wonder if there is more at work than Jacob and the Man in Black suggested, but they just interpreted it through a Judeo-Christian lens (because honestly I think Lost is going to be a little more complex than the whole heaven/hell/devil/angel kind of breakdown).
@John You are a genius. Added that above.
Just wanted to tell you Ack that I would read you over Doc Jensen any day of the week. Twice as insightful and 100x more readable.
And, Jacob spoke to Ben first! So is Jacob really ~gone?
@Wifi LOL silly hats!! That was a missed opportunity, Lost writers.
I’m with you on the Judeo-Christian thing. I always knew there were religious overtones, but with all the Yin-Yang stuff I thought it would be symbolic and not so…specific. There’s got to be an atheist somewhere on that writing staff haha.
1)Because she was having a relatively good day and he wanted to ruin it.
2)I think they are equal in their power over others. And it’s that power that they use when they speak. Whether just their voices do it or that when they talk they “con” you is up for grabs. Those knives are special knives like the ones in The Omen. You have to use those to kill them because they’re not real people, like the anti-christ.
3)Hell on earth for everyone, even Justin Bieber.
4)That ones up for grabs. I’m thinking someone tricked them into it too.
5)He was a person with a mom who was changed into black smoke. I had a crazy theory about ancient magic and a sorceress mom.
6)Richard isn’t necessarily immortal. He just doesn’t age. If MIB and Jacob can be killed then how could they grant real immortality?
7)All along on LOST people have been trying to get other people to kill people for them. My guess is that killing is the unforgivable sin. So as long as you don’t do it, you’re okay. So MIB is probably “able” to kill Jacob, but he doesn’t want to be “damned”. So he’s not evil incarnate, really.
8)Widmore wants the island because he’s an entrepreneur and wants to use it for clean energy to make a gazillion bucks. :)
@Nancy Aw why thank you! I love Doc Jensen and his dissertations on Lost, but at this late stage in the game I’d rather just ask questions and not try too hard to figure out the answers. We’ll get the answers soon enough!
Hey! where did 9 & 10 come from? LOL
9)No
10)No. Jacob is like God’s Comptroller. I mean you can’t kill God, for Christ’s sake. :)
@Antoinette LOL I’m not lying when I say I add stuff!!
Did you notice the guy who owned the ship was named Hanso?
totally heard that the ship was owned by Hanso, had to rewind to make sure….how am I gonna be able to sleep now
So uh…what was that Captain’s name? Thought I heard something, not sure.
3. Hurley said if the Man in Black gets off the island “We all go to hell.†Did he mean the people on the island will go to hell, or that it will cause hell on earth? Will everyone on the planet become evil zombies like Sayid and Claire?
Hurley’s quoting Isabella, a Spanish Catholic from the 19th century. Take her thoughts about hell w/a grain of salt.
10. Is Jacob God? I never really believed that theory, I always thought of him as being something more…metaphorical, but this is getting nuts. Jacob brings people before him to test their free will against temptation/sin? Is this Eden?? Are the Adam and Eve in the caves ACTUALLY ADAM AND EVE? lol
No, Jacob’s not God & Smokey’s not the devil. I laying odds that Lindelof, et. al. will never explain them other than embodiments of human concepts (kinda like Neil Gaiman’s “The Endless”.)
As for Jacob bringing people to the island to ultimately die because he doesn’t intervene, that annoyed the hell out of me. C’mon Lost writers–give me something to convince me that Jacob isn’t just being a d!ck.
@ cee says:March 23, 2010 at 10:44 pm
You are the reason that Pop-up Lost exists at 8pm. Congrats.
[…] you guys? What if Lost totally sucks now? If this parade of bitterness is getting you down, Ack has a much sunnier viewpoint and raises some excellent questions that I didn’t have the energy to […]
Ack, I read em all, from Zap2it to EW, and while I enjoy em all, you’re is DEFINITELY the one I look foward to the most!
Shout out to Monica G who told me about your site!
About Ilana (Lucia LMFAO)I DO think she well prepared. And I think she showed that with her treatment of Ben. Her allowing him to join Team Jacob showed ME that she’s the best person for the job. I couldnt imagine Jack, Sawyer, Kate, etc being so forgiving. I think Ilana may not have all the info, but she embodies what Jacob himself stands for.
Also, Jack is my fav (*ducks*)
So the island itself is the cork holding in the Merlot of evil? And Jacob, it follows, is the physical manifestation/personification of the island. If the person is chosen to replace Jacob by forgoing their past and making right/righteous decisions in the face of adversity and evil, I think it’s clear who is going to be the candidate that succeeds to the island foot/throne. Hurley.
I am amazed at the writers (why I am still surprised that they are soooo amazing!) and their ability to make be weep for Richard and Isabella after seeing their relationship for all of 40 minutes. I audibly sobbed for their pain, mostly for Richard, and the acting. The Acting, is what sold it.
I am going to dream Richard dreams tonight.
AWESOME episode and recap!
I just thought about the parallel universe and how the island is at the bottom of the ocean. What if the “cork” fell into the “bottle”? Is the alternate reality going to be filled with EVIL?!
As with all of Paris Hilton’s conquests, my mind has been (over)blown.
2. I think that Jacob and Smokey ARE equals in a good v. evil thing, although I’m still really hesitant to look at it as God v. Devil (and this is coming from a Christian :P it just doesn’t feel right to have this whole thing boil down to God versus the Devil like something out of a Stephen King novel…no offense, Stephen King). And I think that it’s too late when they speak because once they’ve spoken, you’re already too interested in hearing what they’re going to say, not what you were meant to do. Ben was able to kill Jacob because he wasn’t interested in what Jacob had to say, he hated him.
7. I think Smokey can’t kill Jacob because they’re equal. I doubt Jacob could kill Smokey either (if he wanted to, although it seems he doesn’t…). However, I am still a little unsure about that because Jacob does seem to have more power over Smokey, otherwise why would Smokey be trapped BECAUSE of Jacob. Until recently, I had believed that Smokey was trapped WITH Jacob, except that Jacob actually wanted to be there and Smokey didn’t, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Sooo…yeah, I’m kind of going in circles with this one.
10. Even IF they’re going to go with a Christian approach to this, I don’t think Jacob is God. I’d think he’s an angel or something, but I dunno, maybe God is the kind of mad professor type who likes to play out weird experiments and giggle eccentrically while the Devil just shakes his head and asks to no longer be a part of this.
BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111111111ONEONEONEONEONEONEONEONE!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111111111111ONEONEONEONEONEONEONEONE
ooops, sorry for the horizontal scroll!!!!
Arrrggg don’t mention sideways world! I’m having enough trouble understanding this one. In sideways world the island sunk and yet the outside world survived. So something must have happened to sideways Smoky.
The island is a cork in the wine bottle of the world and Smoky wants a corkscrew? Jacob seemed surprised that Smoky was plotting against him. Is this when Jacob hatched his counter plot and that was the plan he talked to Jacob about? We know the island itself is a container for different kinds of energies (electromagnetic energy and exotic matter) that could be catastrophic if released. Now we have to add Smoky as another dangerous form of energy. The island exits outside of space-time and moves around the world. It has consciousness too, personified by the young boy (I think). Who else could that boy be yet neither Jacob or the MIB seemed to give him a thought tonight.
What is the frakking island??? I was sitting on the end of my seat when Richard started to talk about it and then he said they were all dead and in hell just like Anthony Cooper said! HUH? I am going to have to watch this one again before I can even think about what is going on. I need to hear that discussion between Jacob and Richard a few more times.
Poor Richard, he has lost his faith and I was really sure he was going to defect to Team Smocke. But it was Hurley to the rescue again! He’s making a habit of that.
The Temple looks to me to be Sumarian so I wonder if these four guys -Jacob, MIB, Richard and the blond boy- aren’t living out some Suramian myth about the world. But no matter what people think this was one hell of an episode. If I hear one person call it filler, I’m going to kill them.
@NJValkyrie, hey, I’m not an idiot, thanks very much. I understand what’s going on, and I appreciate it, but it’s just not my favourite part. I always prefer character-motivated plotlines in any TV show or movie. This is probably why I’m not a sci-fi fan.
@John Jacob didn’t speak and he stopped Richard, I think Smokey was lying and so was Dogen. Jacob is a body that can be knifed and Smokey can’t be killed with a knife, he didn’t even try to stop Sayid physically. Notice Jacob didn’t even try to stop Ben like he did with Richard because as we found out through Miles he thought Ben wouldn’t really go through with it.
Sooooo many thoughts today! I am going to be totally f’ing useless at work this morning, because last night’s ep is all I can think about. :)
1. If Ilana’s so “important” to Jacob’s cause, I do wonder if we’ll have any more of her background shown, other than her all bandaged and bloodied in that hospital bed with Jacob pleading for her help. How’d she get those injuries, anyway – courtesy of Smokey? Since Ilana says Jacob was “like a father” to her, I’m guessing he’s been in the picture since her childhood or thereabouts.
2. I think Smokey says that (“don’t let him talk first “) just because he KNOWS Jacob can be very persuasive. Hell, I was on Team Smokey last week, and I think Jacob talked me back onto HIS team last night already! :)
3. I think if MIB/Smokey gets off the island, it’d cause hell on earth. Going with my theory (well, one of them!) that Smokey = Lucifer (the fallen archangel), then the other archangels could be Michael = Jacob, and Gabriel = Richard, Gabriel being the “messenger.” Raphael was considered a healer – actually, since the island ITSELF heals people….well, there you go. :)
I think there are something like eight archangels, although the ones that are discussed the most, are the three I mentioned above. Michael’s (Jacob’s?) power was always greater than Lucifer’s (MIB?), which is how he banished him to earth after trying to usurp God. I am rambling on and on, I know, but I’m getting all dorked up over this show. LOL
@JS – Teleholic is actually correct. In one of the time flashes, the LOSTies who were traveling through time looked up and saw the full statue standing. I can’t remember exactly which time period it was in, but Teleholic could be right that it was 1954. I certainly don’t think they ever flashed as far back as 1867, which is when the Black Rock supposedly destroyed the statue according to last night’s ep. Continuity error?
Did anybody else wonder if Richard’s manscara got washed off when Jacob was dunking him?
To some of the comments above about Ben’s ability to kill Jacob–I think it was because they went inside Jacob’s home. There’s something special about that place. He told Richard that no one went in there unless he invited them. Also, Miles told Ben that Jacob was hoping he was wrong about Ben right up until the moment he was stabbed, not that he didn’t believe Ben would kill him.
I also enjoyed this episode. It was unusual that we had a linear flashback instead of jumping back and forth between past and present (and future).
@Jess When the group flashed back in time and saw the statue still standing, I got the impression it was CENTURIES in the past. The vegetation and landscape were different and Juliet said something like this was a “long time ago.” Then Miles looked up at the statue and said something like “Yeah, a REAL long time ago.”
@Jess – If I remember correctly, in the S5 finale when the Losties saw the statue, the Island jumped again almost immediately. There was only one glimpse and then it was gone, so it very well could have been 1867 (or before).
I don’t have a lot to add to this but this episode was so freaking amazing! Best of season 6 so far! I ship Isabella/Richard so hard now, that was so sad, I litterally teared up like 3 times. And Nestor was so awesome in this episode, can we split the emmy four ways? Michael Emerson, Terry O’Quinn, Nestor Carbonell, and Josh Holloway ftw
2. I do think that Smokey and Jacob are equals. One represents good, the other evil and they are both balanced (hence the scale in the cliff cave). As for which one is which I have no idea. I was starting to think Jacob was the evil one but after this episode I have no freaking clue
3. I believe she meant he will cause hell on earth. I mean a whirrling black cloud of smoke coming to our cities, we don’t stand a chance.
10. I don’t believe that theory either. I think it’s more like representatives of God and Satan.
“Jacob dunking Richard in the ocean = Baptism!! Hey-yo!”
I thought it was more of a waterboarding than a Baptism :-)
But seriously, i LOVED Nestor Carbonell in this episode, even though he had kind of a shaggy, wolfman thing going on, the Spanish dialog was muy caliente.
I think Christian was actually Smokey. He can’t take on any other form now that he’s assumed the identity of… a… candidate???
I see this as some kind of “Come to the island, see what it was like to be Job”. That is until Smokey eats your fruit loops. Does Smokey consume them or just drag them underground like he tried with Locke???
So Jacob and MIB are the dichotomy free will vs. the evil in our hearts already??? Smokey, though, does seem to “infect” people with madness and violence and vengance… Are they so sure he’s not loose already??? I guess if Claire and Sayid are the example of what team smokey is then yes I would say DO NOT LET IT OFF THE ISLAND!
I wonder just how many people Jacob has brought to the island to prove to Smokey that people aren’t bad at heart?
OMG in my previous post how did pass up the opportunity to say that the story was told in (guy)linear fashion?
Morning Ack
OMG afhasjfhajfh!!111!!!!!
This episode by far the BEST this season! Here is my theories to some of your questions (which are great questions to ask by the way!)
1. I think she has been prepared the best that she could. I don’t think all the training in the world could have prepared her for a Zombie Sayid Attack (I mean the world will go to hell if he gets off it! haha)It also seems like her training/plan is very dependent on Richard guiding them to the next step of the process to replace Jacob.
2. It think it is pretty clear at this point that yes Jacob and the MIB are equals maybe even brothers in some way shape or form. It’s tough to say one is clearly good and one is evil due to actions by both Jacob and MIB, but I think Jacob for the most part is good and MIB is evil. I think the reason you want to kill them before they speak is because in a way I think of it in a way like the mythological creature known as a Siren. The sound of the voice could lure sailors to their deaths. In this case by speaking they can tempt you to do what they want and not what you sent out to do also by offering you riches aka Isabella or eternal life that can usually seal the deal. As for the knife, if there is something special about it we haven’t seen it yet. As we know Jacob was killed by just a knife nothing special.
3. I’ll use Jacob’s example of the bottle of wine and the cork to answer this question (Remember I could be wrong here) The island is a cork (or prison) that keeps the MIB from escaping (how we don’t know yet) Seeming how he wants to escape I would imagine the world would be in a lot of trouble if he did escape hence the we (the world) will all go to hell.
4. I guess we will find out more about that in the upcoming episode Across the Sea (Jacob/MIB story)
5. That I haven’t thought of…
6. Remember everyone else he touched they never asked for immortal life. I think his touch was a way of choosing them to be his candidates. His touch most likely can do more then one thing. As for the special powers that part remains unknown. But by touching them he tugged on the strings on fate to get them on the island.
7. Again there must be some kind of rule or power in place to prevent this from happening. Thats why he wanted Richard to kill Jacob and later Ben. I suppose we will find out more come later episodes.
8. As far as I see it for our buddy Widmore is the wild card here. He seems to know enough about how to combat smokey (sonic fences being put up) At the same time I don’t think he has ever met Jacob or has any loyality towards him. I think he is representing his own agenda right now. That could change later, but right now I see him as just his own side right now.
9. Well it might be possible that while imprisoned on the island Jacob might be trying to show the MIB that people are good and by doing that maybe the MIB would change his ways thus SAVING him. But it seems like that might take a lot of time and work since he wants to kill Jacob and anyone else who takes over for him.
10. Is Jacob God? I don’t know if I’d go that far in saying that yet. He couldn’t raise Isabella from the dead and couldn’t prevent Richard from going to hell.
11. Christian has been kind of quiet hasn’t he? I’m guessing sooner or later he will pop up.
Love the site, fairly new to it.
In the questions section
7. I think this theory is pretty good. Makes sense for Eko as well. When he initially scanned him, we see the memories in the smoke and given what we know about Eko killing someone would not be out of character.
Are Jacob and Smokey equals? How come it’s too late once they speak? And how come Ben had no problem killing Jacob with a regular knife, even after he spoke to him? – YEEESSSS thank you, I totally yelled that question to my hubby on the couch last night!
RICHARD LOOKED LIKE JESUS. Was I the only one who caught that?
Possibly my favorite episode ever. Richard’s pastor-minister guy(/dad?) is a jerk.
OMG CAPTAIN MAGNUS HANSO!
Ben is becoming awesome as the jaded snarky everyman. Everything he said at the top of this ep made me LOL. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s not exactly Locke.”
I refuse to believe this boils down to anything as simple as god v. the devil or the island being hell. I don’t think a single ideology is at the bottom of this at all.
I had assumed that Christian was a form someone was taking on. I don’t know why, but I don’t think it’s Christian Shepard himself.