Ab Aeterno

Ab Aeterno (From the Beginning of Time)

Thank Jacob that was a HUGE improvement from last week! The show REDEEMED itself in my EYE. Do you like that little bit of Lost/Biblical humor? I crack myself up . . .
Hold on for the ride . . . this is gonna be a long post, I think!


What We Now Know About Richard/Ricardo/Ricardus:

1. Richard lived in 1867 in the Canary Islands, El Socorro to be exact. He had a lovely wife named Isabella who died from consumption (aka tuberculosis). She was a woman of faith (as was Ricardo?), but was willing to give up her symbol of faith to try to help her husband try to help her (it’s just a symbol, after all?).

2. Oh, shit, he killed the doctor. And for nothing!

3. TWIBS: Richard reads from the Bible Luke 4. We can read clearly on the screen, "NO prophet is accepted into his own county.” Luke 4 is one of the chapters of the Gospel recounting a number of important events in Jesus’ life before the crucifixion: the temptation of Jesus by the Devil in the desert, the rejection of Jesus in Nazareth (his hometown), and the exorcism of a man possessed by the Devil.

Is Ricardo then a prophet? It seems to foreshadow his encounter with MIB (who needs a name – soon!), role as advisor to Jacob, as well as highlight his rejection by his own people. However, what do you think the exorcism bit my be highlighting/foreshadowing?

Richard’s trials also made me think of Job . . .

There’s also the bit where Richard is “baptized” (or drowned) . . . (which is a lot like what Dogen did to Sayid, btw). Jacob also shares communion with him.

So if Richard the “son” of Jacob? Or is he a prophet?

BTW, other faiths, particularly Islam see Jesus as a prophet. I don’t think Jacob represents Christianity, per se, but I do think there is a Jesus connection, no doubt.



4. “I’m on a boat!” -- Mr. Whitfield informs Richard (once he reveals he can, indeed, speak English) that he is now the property of Magnus Hanso, and he will be going to the New World. To the new world as what? Is this a plot to start a new brand of slaves? South American slaves?

Also, remember that the descendants of Magnus Hanso started the Hanso Foundation, which begat the Dharma Initiative (which kind of explains why Richard thought they should be destroyed).

5. Richard’s shipmate cries out, "I see the devil." Statue. Was the ship headed there to begin with? Jacob later tells Richard that he brought him there. The statue is actually the Goddess Tawaret (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taweret) who is the Egyptian goddess of fertility . . . is that why no one can have babies?

6. Smokey kills almost everyone, but saves Richard. Why? Because he is a “candidate”? Obviously, he thinks Richard can kill Jacob, but why? Because he will let the malevolence consume him?

7. Did anyone else notice the butterfly? Do you think that was maybe Jacob?

8. HOLY CRAP MOMENT-- Boar eating the dude! That is freakin nasty! But the boar is afraid of him.

9. Initially touched, but not by Jacob. By MIB! "A friend." "In hell?" "Yes, I'm afraid you are." Trying to trick Rich into killing Jacob, too. Richie doesn't fall for it? What makes Richard less susceptible than Sayid was? He, like Sayid, has lost a loved one. Like Sayid, he has “killed” for others.

10. "It's good to see you out of those chains." What Flocke said when he ran into him. Gave him the same information that Dogen gave Sayid about killing Flocke. MIB admits to being the black smoke, but denies that he killed Isabella. Insists that Jacob is the devil; says that Jacob stole his humanity.

11. Baptism/Communion – Thoughts?

12. Confirms that all the dead people that appear are actually Smokey.

13. WHAT IS THE ISLAND?: If we can trust what he says, Jacob brought the ship to the island. Island is the cork keeping the darkness where it belongs. MIB believes that it is in our "Nature to sin.” MIB I bring them here to prove him wrong."

14. Jacob also explains why he doesn’t save people/guide people. "I wanted them to help themselves. Meaningless if I have to step in." FATE V FREE WILL, my friends! It is all about choice!

15. Asks Richard if he would like to be his disciple . . .

16. Can't absolve him of his sins but can give him eternal life? Hmmm . . .

17. MIB and Jacob are kinda funny.


Islandland --

1. Ricardo knows what to do; who the candidates are! Make him spill, Hurley, make him spill!
2. OFF TOPIC BUT MAKING ME CRAZY: Is it possible that Hurley is the new Jacob traveling the Alternaworld? He is so Zen in Alternaworld and he seems to be helping those he encounters . . . whatcha think?

3. Do you think Hurley is lying about the “other thing” Isabella said? Do you think he is just trying to get Richard to do the “right” thing?

Ok, so more and more, I am thinking that Alternaworld reflects the choice each Lostie makes – malevolence or benevolence ($20 vocab). You can take MIB’s offer, and you will get what you want, but it will be not exactly as you wish (ie – Sayid wants Nadia alive but then he cannot be with her. He is also doomed to repeat his mistakes). Or, you can choose to do the right thing, and you will reap the benefits (Kharma? . . . Dharma? . . .) I also think the show is a mashup of many religious traditions. The overarching message, though, is that you can choose who you are! And if even one person chooses the path of Jacob, the path of doing the right thing, then he is right and mankind is not inherently evil!

Ok, I can’t think anymore!

Namaste,
LLL

**MIB= Man in Black (the name for Flocke when he is not in Locke’s body); TWIBS= This Week in Bible Studies