Ive always loved Richards character however in this epi we see all of the mystery gone and Richard becomes a quivering mess when faced with the MIB. What struck me was when the MIB revealed the ' candidate' info and Richard had no idea what he was talking about and appeared to not know much at all. Was Richard just going along with Jacobs plans without knowing why? or do you think he was playing dumb?
Also, the MIB must have done something v bad to get a reaction from Richard like the one we saw in this epi!
I love Richard as well, but I do think that his story will be a lot different than certainly I have imagined (which isn't necessarily a bad thing btw!). The fact that he was floored by the possibility of time-travel when he met Locke in the 50s, and that he wasn't able to see through that Smocke wasn't actually Locke until he saw the DEAD Locke... and now him not knowing about candidates (unless he's faking like you say)... It all points to him being a deputy of some kind, just not as well-informed as many of us presumed! I'm still dying to see his backstory!
I too find it curious why Richard is OK with not knowing. My first reaction is that it part of this game they are playing. Jacob can't tell his followers the whole deal. It's just one of the rules. MIB uses this against him twice at least with Ben and now with Richard, like he knows Jacob can't tell them anything.
It has an obvious parallel to religion vs. science in the real world. With religious you often don't get much in the way of proof and many people believe that that is what makes faith so much stronger. Believing in something you don't know all the reasons for and even without real evidence. That Kierkegard leap of faith everyone is talking about. Jacob obviously represents religion in this sense.
MIB is all science. Seducing Richard and Sawyer with sweet sweet answers. Richard knows enough to know that he doesn't want any part of his evil answers. The answers might even ruin the whole mystique of the Jacob religion, much like the facts of science do with most major religions.
Anybody else feel this parallel very strongly in this scene?
I think there is a loyalty with Richard when it comes to Jacob based on something we haven't seen. Remember when Flocke came out of the statue, he said to Richard, "Looks like you finally got out of those chains". As if Richard was possibly a slave in a reality where Jacob and MiB were just normal humans and maybe Jacob freed Richard. Possibly Egyptian...possibly Roman (use of Latin and the name they called Richard "Ricardus")
I think he is important, just not in the way we initially thought he was. He is an important piece to Jacob's puzzle, but he is not important in the sense that he dictates and knows about everything on the Island as we once suspected.
Right up front, I install the caveat, especially to myself, that the 2-16-10 Lost episode may be a big fake-out; but I’m hoping not.
Human psychology, myth, folklore and religious foundations are laden with the common denominator of human inferiority when measured against some template of Excellence.
This can be expressed as disobedience [apples & Eden]; theft [Prometheus]; curse [original sin, witchcraft]; shame of physicality, mortality and proximity to animals.
Lost, according to this last episode, is all about Man, wrenched from his/her accustomed comfort zone; tossed into an alien circumstance in which survival instincts are far more important than social masques and sophisticated impression-making. The trauma is like an x-ray of the soul held up in graphic detail foe the self to observe …. And very probably broadcast for others to see.
Richard Alpert is presented as the caged bird, accustomed now to his assigned role and impervious to whatever self-reliance and individual freedom had to be sacrificed as the price. His wings have been allowed to grow fully; he has been shown the open cage door, perhaps placed near an open window. However, he will venture no further than a climb to the top of his cage, now a safe perch. Alpert is a metaphor for the Others. The Others are not evil beings. They are xenophobic to the point of paranoia, because they have been trained that way. Even if [F]Locke is Richard’s pathway to freedom, he won’t venture beyond his comfort zone.
Sawyer is the hero on his arduous journey to realize his potential. If he ever wants to achieve that potential, he must find his way home [like the Army recruitment ad: Be all that you can be!]
I can’t pretend to account for [F]Locke’s essence; but there is a basic humanity within the character, even when he’sat his worst. The black and white division of alliances cannot be perceived as realistic [or without fault]: I cannot attribute evil to [F]Locke because Alpert will never go with him; or because Ilana seems aligned against him. [F]Locke is “trapped;” so he is not at the peak of the pecking order, probablyclose, though.
Trapped suggests to me that [F]Locke is a jinni, as in the 1940 movie The Thief of Baghdad [or I Dream of Jeannie, for that matter] trapped in a bottle or lamp. He is trapped in the Island’s “bubble” and can’t be free.
My money is on the young blond kid being young Jacob; and both he and [F]Locke share a similar essence and background, Jacob presently having the upper hand according to the rules.
Right up front, I install the caveat, especially to myself, that the 2-16-10 Lost episode may be a big fake-out; but I’m hoping not.
Human psychology, myth, folklore and religious foundations are laden with the common denominator of human inferiority when measured against some template of Excellence.
This can be expressed as disobedience [apples & Eden]; theft [Prometheus]; curse [original sin, witchcraft]; shame of physicality, mortality and proximity to animals.
Lost, according to this last episode, is all about Man, wrenched from his/her accustomed comfort zone; tossed into an alien circumstance in which survival instincts are far more important than social masques and sophisticated impression-making. The trauma is like an x-ray of the soul held up in graphic detail foe the self to observe …. And very probably broadcast for others to see.
Richard Alpert is presented as the caged bird, accustomed now to his assigned role and impervious to whatever self-reliance and individual freedom had to be sacrificed as the price. His wings have been allowed to grow fully; he has been shown the open cage door, perhaps placed near an open window. However, he will venture no further than a climb to the top of his cage, now a safe perch. Alpert is a metaphor for the Others. The Others are not evil beings. They are xenophobic to the point of paranoia, because they have been trained that way. Even if [F]Locke is Richard’s pathway to freedom, he won’t venture beyond his comfort zone.
Sawyer is the hero on his arduous journey to realize his potential. If he ever wants to achieve that potential, he must find his way home [like the Army recruitment ad: Be all that you can be!]
I can’t pretend to account for [F]Locke’s essence; but there is a basic humanity within the character, even when he’sat his worst. The black and white division of alliances cannot be perceived as realistic [or without fault]: I cannot attribute evil to [F]Locke because Alpert will never go with him; or because Ilana seems aligned against him. [F]Locke is “trapped;” so he is not at the peak of the pecking order, probablyclose, though.
Trapped suggests to me that [F]Locke is a jinni, as in the 1940 movie The Thief of Baghdad [or I Dream of Jeannie, for that matter] trapped in a bottle or lamp. He is trapped in the Island’s “bubble” and can’t be free.
My money is on the young blond kid being young Jacob; and both he and [F]Locke share a similar essence and background, Jacob presently having the upper hand according to the rules.
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