• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Lost 6x09: "Ab Aeterno"

Grade the episode...


  • Total voters
    95
Average

Sure we learn Richard's past, but the whole Hurley lines that every is going nuts over wasn't that OMFG!
 
Not sure what to make of that episode. Did seem to give a lot info but I'm jsut not sure what to make of it.
 
So, the Island is a cork, and keeps the "evil" from spreading. Jacob is like God and the MIB like the Devil. Interesting analogies. I still want to learn actually what they are though, cause Jacob said he wasn't able to bring back Richard's wife, only give him eternal life. Can't wait to find out more.

Overall, "Excellent" episode that really did answer quite a bit, and I'm shocked how much we learned about Richard. This Richard episode did not disappoint! I really don't have any questions left about Richard, everything was answered tonight. Even how the statue got destroyed. And we even got more info about what the Island's purpose is.
 
That was an old-school, flashback-only episode, and the only one so far to not show anything from the sideways universe.

Excellent, very well done by Mr. Eyeliner...
flamingjester4fj.gif
 
Above Average.

The first 45 minutes were a little disappointing but the last 15 were excellent. We finally get some answers and the situation is a compelling one. Knockou performance by the guy who plays Richard.

Cool bit with Smokey going after the crew of the Black Rock. I was pretty convinced that the Captain killed the prisoners because he wanted to eat them.

Jacob might not be evil but he's still a douche.
 
I've made my decision. I will call the man in black Sam Mendes this week. I'm also grading this 'above average'. There were no huge revelations, just a bit of fleshing out of what we already knew or have been discussing for a while now...

- Jacob is the island's protector.

- There is a battle between two people going on.

- Jacob is keeping Sam Mendes from getting off the island.

- Sam Mendes wants to kill Jacob, but has to use someone else to do it.

- Richard was a slave on a ship.

- Jacob made Richard immortal and there doesn't seem to be anything grand behind that. It was just a spur of the moment wish that was granted.

- I liked what Jacob said about the island being like a cork that keeps evil in, but I think we already speculated on that as well.

- Richard is an intermediary between Jacob and the people on the island.

What little we did get was interesting, but minor...

- The statue was smashed by the Black Rock.

- The ship we saw at the beginning of "The Incident" wasn't the Black Rock. Guess that was just one of many ships brought to the island.

- The island was in the Atlantic Ocean in the 19th century. Yes, the island moves!

It was still nice to see a Lost "period piece" though. It was something different. And this has to be mentioned... Nestor Carbonell did a phenomenal job playing a simple peasant and a slave. Incredible.

I also have one question... How did the Black Rock get so far inland? The deluge couldn't have been that big. It was like the ship was either placed there or the island rose out of somewhere to meet it.

Sam Mendes
 
Fo all of those who say, "finally, some answers" what answers did we get?

Superficial ones maybe, like, a giant wave carried The Black Rock into the middle of the island and oh, by the way, it hit the giant statue on its way in????? WTF

Yes i guess the speculation can end about whether or not Richard was a slave or ancient egyptian, but this really felt hollow on the answer side. Suddenly, Jacob is keeping Evil bottled up on the island? And MIB is sup to either be the evil or represents the evil?? Yet, he was once human at one time and from the way he talks Jacob has the power to let him go?

Ugh, I'm about tired of this show. The writers dont know how to write or tell a story(first 47 minutes dragged ass) and are just making shit up as they go along or worse, stealing from fan speculation.
 
Man I wish we could have a second Richard episode showing him leading the Others in the Dharma era, interactions with Ben, the decision of the Purge, etc. Still they basically explained the origin and purpose of the Island here, something I didn't think they'd reveal until the final episode; "God" created the Island as a prison to keep the "Devil" away from humanity and Jacob is his jailer, bringing people to the Island to try and prove to him that mankind is redeemable and thus rehabilitate him. Cool.
 
Still they basically explained the origin and purpose of the Island here, something I didn't think they'd reveal until the final episode; "God" created the Island as a prison to keep the "Devil" away from humanity and Jacob is his jailer, bringing people to the Island to try and prove to him that mankind is redeemable and thus rehabilitate him. Cool.


really? :wtf:
 
Excellent episode.

We got a lot of pretty good answers about what the underlying conflict behind all this is, pretty much all of Richard's relevant back-story, what the island is (sorta), why it's important, what the stakes are, who's good and who's bad, if the candidates really are there to replace Jacob, a sense of where the final episodes are going to head....if you really think about what they revealed tonight and the implications behind what was revealed, they really revealed a lot........it's definitely a game changer that sets up the end game very nicely and Nestor knocks this one out of the park with his performance.

Edit: Other things it covered

How the statue got destroyed
How the black rock got there
More about how Hanso fits into this
That MIB leaving the island is very bad

In fact, I feel like for the very first time I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on what the story is. Sure, there are details about we have yet to know like how the island was created, how Jacob/Esau(MIB) came to be on the island and what exactly will be unleashed if the MIB leaves the island and what death/dead people have to do with the island but overall I feel pretty satisfied.
 
Last edited:
Excellent

I'm getting Book of Job vibes here. Could it be that all these people were brought to the island for the express purpose of proving the Devil a liar. That no matter what trials and hardships they go through, they still remain faithful? This would imply that as a reward, if they pass, they are given a second chance at a good life (just like Job). Therefore uncovering the purpose of the Flash-Sideways.
 
Have to say the first half kind of dragged. He was chained up in that hold for far too long. And we didn't learn much new info we hadn't already guessed. Best part of the episode was Carbonell's performance. He's a much better actor then I had him pegged for.
 
That episode just made pretty much everything else on broadcast TV look like amateur hour being played by a bunch of kindergarteners. :eek:

Impressive outing from Nestor Carbonell. I haven't seen him in anything else, but he showed some major acting chops here. I'm also glad they kept the focus on Richard's origin story and didn't shift back and forth through the past and present. I didn't find myself missing our Losties at all because I was so engrossed in seeing his story unfold.

There was PLENTY revealed in this episode too. I'm not sure how anyone can complain about not getting "answers" with a straight face. :wtf: Maybe those people would be happier with a show like Law & Order or CSI in which every single question is neatly wrapped up at the end of every episode, but I'd rather have a fantastic story with most of the key questions being answered by the time this is all over.
 
Unbelievably great episode. Everything I hoped it would be and more.

Answered a number of questions and explained the purpose of the island (a prison for the MIB) which makes sense if you think about it. How it's somewhat easy to get to the island but extremely difficult to get out.

There were parts of Richard's story that remind me of the movie The Fountain but in a good way and not in an annoying rip-off kind of way.

I find it very interesting that the Man in the Black tried to make Richard kill Jacob the same way he did with Ben many years later. I also find it interesting what Jacob said about him having the will to let people enter his chamber beneath the statue foot and keep out those he didn't want to let in. If that's true, that means he willingly let Ben and the Man in the Black enter into his chamber in the Season 5 finale when he could have just kept them from getting inside. Maybe he did it because like Miles said, he was hoping he was wrong about Ben. Whatever the case, it does make you think.

And once again, the Man in the Black fails to turn another character onto his side. Good for you, Richard!:bolian:
 
Still they basically explained the origin and purpose of the Island here, something I didn't think they'd reveal until the final episode; "God" created the Island as a prison to keep the "Devil" away from humanity and Jacob is his jailer, bringing people to the Island to try and prove to him that mankind is redeemable and thus rehabilitate him. Cool.


really? :wtf:

I swear, some people have to have things spelled out directly and literally for them, they can't figure things out themselves. All the information is there to figure it out, if the wine bottle analogy didn't make that clear for you, I don't think anything will in this show, cause that's as clear as they've ever made the purpose of the island in this show.

Mr Light is right, so far that is exactly what it sounds like is happening, and the fact he put "God" and "Devil" in quotes is to say that no, they aren't literally God and the Devil, but they are playing those roles, and the question still remains exactly what they are. They are "super human" at the least.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top