For at least one week, there was no worrying about the flash-sideways, its implications, or any of the other characters. "Ab Aeterno" felt like a reprieve from everything going on, telling a straight story which revealed answers to many large questions and continued the mystery of Jacob and the Man in Black with minor clarifications. Structurally, it was the most different episode on the season and possibly the series. With only two flashes during the entire episode, a huge chunk of the episode was dedicated to telling the story of Richard, a character shrouded in mystery for most of the series, but as we saw in "Dr. Linus," also a character wallowing in past grief.
After a brief introduction by Ilana recounting Jacob telling her that Richard would know what to do and the revelation by Richard that they are in Hell, the story begins on Tenerife, Canary Islands (the place Walt mentioned during his disturbing speech in the Breaking Bad season premiere) in 1867. Richard is now Ricardo, a simple man with a very modest cottage. He returns home to his sick wife and vows to bring help. His wife, Isabella hands him her cross as payment to the doctor. Already, I'm way into the story. Nestor Carbonell was incredible in his authenticity and anguish.
Riding through the pouring rain, Richard arrives at the doctor's house at the dead of night. The doctor, unwilling to ride in the rain, offers to give him medicine--but for a price. Richard's meager living doesn't afford him much, and despite giving him the cross, the doctor tosses it to the ground. Needing the medicine, Richard struggles with the doctor, and in the process, kills him accidentally. He takes the medicine and rides off. Upon his return, Richard finds Isabella dead, and soon thereafter is brought to jail.
He asked the priest for absolution, but there is no redemption for him, or at least for someone with no stature. He is condemned to hanging the next day. An opportunity arises when an Englishman comes looking for an English speaker. Richard jumps on the chance and becomes the property of Magnus Hanso, interestingly, the great grandfather of Alvar Hanso, the founder of the Hanso Foundation.
They set sail, and in a huge storm, Richard peers out into the ocean only to see the Devil, the stature of Tawaret. The Black Rock slams into it, destroying the top portion and answering the question of what happened to it. Richard awakes only to find himself chained to the ship. An officer arrives and starts stabbing people because they'll die anyways. He doesn't make much sense which makes me wonder if he had the disease? Probably not, since the Smoke Monster swoops down and kills everyone, leaving Richard alone and still chained. Isabella shows up to save him from the Devil. They hear sounds of the approaching Smoke Monster and Isabella runs off. Presumably she is killed or taken somewhere.
A man enters the ship and it's none other than the Man in Black played by Titus Welliver. That's where the episode starts becoming interesting. MiB conveniently has a key, and the manipulation begins. He tells Richard he must kill the Devil by stabbing him in the chest, echoing Dogen's words in "Sundown." MiB paints Jacob as the bad guy, and Richard, having being saved by this seemingly nice man who wants to be free, goes along. Richard approaches the foot of the statue, knife drawn, and is immediately taken down by Jacob who isn't Zen-like as we've previously seen him. To show Richard they are not in Hell, he dunks Richard into the ocean several times. I wonder if the writers decided to make Jacob seem like the Devil because he is Lucifer on Supernatural. It seemed like a big coincidence.
Finally, Jacob tells Richard what everything is about. It's his version of the truth, but I'll take it. Using a bottle of wine as an example, Jacob flips it over to show the cork keeping the wine from exiting the bottle. The island severs a similar purpose, keeping Hell/win/MiB from reaching the rest of the world. MiB thinks everyone is corruptible because it is their nature to sin, and Jacob brings people to the island to prove him wrong. The answer doesn't seem complete, but it scratches the surface of whatever battle has been waging between Jacob and MiB. We learn how Richard became immortal and ageless. Jacob offers him a job as an intermediary, and in return, Richard asks for his wife back and then for his sins to be absolves so he won't go to Hell, both tasks that Jacob cannot grant. His last request, the power to never die, is granted. Richard goes back into the jungle with Richard's white rock to MiB who leaves the door open for Richard to return to him. He also has Isabella's cross which Richard buries.
We go back to the present where Richard is digging up the cross and saying out loud that he changes his mind. Hurley arrives to Richard's dismay with a message from Isabella. They have a final, beautiful scene together where they reaffirm their love for each other. Hurley has one final message: Richard must prevent MiB from leaving the island or they all go to Hell. We know Hurley can see dead people, but could Jacob be playing a trick on both Hurley and Richard by pretending to be Isabella?
The episode ends on a slightly tacky note. Jacob comes to MiB and they talk for a while. It appears that this was the start of the 120+ year battle which ended with MiB killing Jacob. Jacob gives the bottle of wine to MiB who flips it over and smashes it. Along with the slow down and the obvious reference to him escaping the island, the ending wasn't strong at all.
I have an idea about MiB and the Swan. It's random, but hear me out. The Swan was designed to discharge excess electromagnetic thingies and keep it from exploding. In a way, it is similar to the island and MiB. It keeps MiB from leaving. Is there a relationship like the electromagnetism as a physical manifestation of MiB's darkness?
The episode makes you wonder what the series would be like if there were no flashing of any sort. The episode worked brilliantly to spin a tale of love and redemption that spanned across time. "Ab Aeterno" will be a Lost episode that will be remembered. The writers proved themselves to be capable of writing an interesting plot without too many fantasy elements, so I think a similar show without the flashes could have worked almost as well. Enough with the speculation. "Ab Aeterno" was amazing and my favorite episode of the season.
Score: 9.8/10
