Ab Aeterno
Encyclopedia
"Ab Aeterno" is the ninth television episode of the American Broadcasting Company
's sixth season
of the serial drama television series Lost
and 112th episode overall. The episode aired on March 23, 2010. The episode was written by producer Melinda Hsu Taylor
and co-producer Greggory Nations
and directed by Tucker Gates
. The episode is centered on Richard Alpert
and is the first episode in season six to return to the old traditional flashback
and to not show a "flash-sideways". Despite Alpert being the centric character, centric flashbacks are also shown for Ilana Verdansky
and The Man in Black (furthermore, Jacob plays large roles in all three characters' backstories).
In an extended flashback, after the death of his wife, Richard Alpert
(Nestor Carbonell
) arrives on the island as a slave on the Black Rock in the 19th century. He then encounters the Man in Black
(Titus Welliver
) and Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
), both of whom offer him different deals in exchange for his allegiance.
The title is Latin
for "from eternity", a phrase used to mean "since the beginning" or "for long ages"; this references the agelessness granted to Richard by Jacob as a reward for his service. "Ab Aeterno" was watched by 9 million American viewers and received critical acclaim by critics and audiences alike.
) is visited by Jacob in a Russian hospital, where he tells her to protect his remaining candidates (this continues from her flashback in "The Incident
"). Following the events of the episode "Dr. Linus
", Ilana explains to the group of survivors at the beach that Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
), Sun Kwon
(Yunjin Kim) and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
) are candidates to replace Jacob, the man in charge of the island, who has recently been murdered. When asked what to do next, she says that Richard Alpert
(Nestor Carbonell
) knows. Richard, who has become suicidal since Jacob's death, says he does not know and leaves the camp.
In a flashback from 1867, Richard Alpert, known as Ricardo, lives in Tenerife
with his dying wife, Isabella (Mirelly Taylor). He travels to a doctor in order to obtain medicine, but the doctor refuses Ricardo's meager payment, and Ricardo accidentally kills the man when they struggle over the medicine. Ricardo returns home to find that his wife has died, and he is subsequently arrested for murdering the doctor. In prison, he is visited by a priest, who, after learning that Ricardo has been learning English in preparation for beginning a new life in the New World
, tells him that he cannot be forgiven and will be hanged. The priest, however, accepts a bribe and allows Ricardo to be taken as a slave to the New World
aboard the Black Rock. The ship is caught in a violent storm and a tsunami sweeps it inshore onto the mysterious Island, first crashing through the (presumably already quite weakened) statue of Taweret and smashing it to pieces.
The next day, the Smoke Monster kills everyone onboard except Ricardo. As he works to free himself, a vision of his wife appears and tells him that they are in Hell. She is then apparently killed by the Monster. After six grueling days, the Man in Black
, who unbeknownst to Ricardo is the human form of the monster, frees Ricardo from his shackles, and tells Ricardo that he must kill Jacob, whom he refers to as the devil, in order to get his wife back and leave the island. Ricardo attempts to kill Jacob, but is easily outmaneuvered.
Jacob explains the function of the island, using a wine bottle as an analogy: the island acts as a cork that "is the only thing keeping the darkness [literally the wine, metaphorically some unknown embodiment of evil, perhaps even the Man in Black] where it belongs." Without the "cork", the darkness would escape and spread. As the Man in Black sees it, people are inherently evil, while Jacob believes they are inherently good. To this end, Jacob brings people to the island, so that they may disprove the Man in Black; however, he does not believe in telling people what to do, since this would negate their free will to choose good. When Ricardo points out that the Man in Black will corrupt them as he himself was corrupted, Jacob suggests that Ricardo become his representative to the people he brings to the Island. In return, Jacob will offer him a reward of his choice. He eventually grants Ricardo immortality, after Ricardo reacts to Jacob's inability to bring back his dead wife, or absolve him of his sins. Ricardo returns to the Man in Black, who states that his offer is still open should Ricardo change his mind. He gives Ricardo the cross necklace that Isabella gave him just before she died, and Ricardo buries it on the island.
Back to 2007, Richard visits the site where he has buried his wife's necklace on the island, shouting that he has changed his mind and wishes to join the Man in Black; “Does the offer still stand?” Instead, Hurley arrives and, using his ability to communicate with the dead, acts as an intermediary
between Richard and his wife Isabella. She explains that Richard must stop the Man in Black from leaving the island, or else "we all go to Hell." The Man in Black, in the form of John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
), is shown to be watching them from a distance.
In another flashback, Jacob visits the Man in Black and tells him that he will never let him leave the island. The Man in Black insists he'll kill Jacob some day, but Jacob retorts that another will just take his place; the former responds that he will simply kill them too. Jacob then gives him the aforementioned corked wine bottle, which the Man in Black breaks by smashing it against a log.
gave the episode a score of 93 out of 100, indicating "Universal Acclaim". The score was up on the previous week's score of 76, making the episode tied for the highest-reviewed episode of the season, along with "Happily Ever After
". IGN
's Chris Carbot highly praised the episode, stating "the overall story of Lost benefits immensely from the clarity that this week’s episode provides." Overall, he gave the episode a score of 9.8. Todd VanDerWerff of Los Angeles Times
gave the episode a perfect score, calling it "awesome" and "another all-timer for the show." Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune
also praised the episode, stating "what was great about "Ab [Aeterno]" is that it showed us a story about one imperfect, well-intentioned man caught up in this terrible struggle." Steven Kurutz of The Wall Street Journal
deemed it as one of the best hours of TV, "Richard’s story was so dramatic that I found it totally compelling. Tonight’s show both told a self-contained story and worked within the larger framework of the show by illuminating the power struggle between Jacob and Smokey."
Critics also praised Nestor Carbonell's performance as Richard. Alan Sepinwell of Star Ledger stated "for three-plus seasons, Richard's been the serene, all-knowing man of mystery, and Carbonell was superb at showing both a cracked, suicidal Richard who has decided he actually knows nothing, and then at showing the very human man he was before Jacob made him immortal." Chris Carbot called Carbonell's performance "outstanding." James Poniewozik of Time
thought Carbonell "made Richard into another character, showing us the decent, desperate, heartbroken man who would be transformed over 140 years as Jacob's ambassador on the Island."
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's sixth season
Lost (season 6)
The sixth and final season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing in the United States and Canada on February 2, 2010. The sixth-season premiere was the first to climb in the ratings year-over-year since the second season, drawing 12.1 million viewers. The season...
of the serial drama television series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
and 112th episode overall. The episode aired on March 23, 2010. The episode was written by producer Melinda Hsu Taylor
Melinda Hsu Taylor
Melinda Hsu Taylor is an American television writer and producer. She has worked in both capacities on the series Lost. She was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for best drama series for her work on the fifth season of Lost, as well as a 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for the series'...
and co-producer Greggory Nations
Greggory Nations
Greggory "Gregg" Nations is an American television writer and script coordinator. He wrote several episodes for The District and Nash Bridges with Carlton Cuse. Nations joined the production crew of Lost, and created the show's Bible after re-reading the scripts and creating a timeline...
and directed by Tucker Gates
Tucker Gates
Tucker Gates is an American television director and producer. He has directed several episodes of the J. J. Abrams shows, Alias and Lost, including the very last episode of Alias...
. The episode is centered on Richard Alpert
Richard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
and is the first episode in season six to return to the old traditional flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
and to not show a "flash-sideways". Despite Alpert being the centric character, centric flashbacks are also shown for Ilana Verdansky
Ilana Verdansky
Ilana Verdansky is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Zuleikha Robinson. Ilana is introduced in the sixth episode of the fifth season of Lost as an officer boarding Ajira Airways Flight 316, with Sayid in her custody...
and The Man in Black (furthermore, Jacob plays large roles in all three characters' backstories).
In an extended flashback, after the death of his wife, Richard Alpert
Richard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
(Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Gastón Carbonell is an American actor, known for portraying Richard Alpert in ABC's drama Lost and Mayor Anthony Garcia in the film The Dark Knight...
) arrives on the island as a slave on the Black Rock in the 19th century. He then encounters the Man in Black
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
(Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring roles on the television shows Deadwood, Lost, Sons of Anarchy and The Good Wife...
) and Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
Mark Pellegrino
Mark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
), both of whom offer him different deals in exchange for his allegiance.
The title is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "from eternity", a phrase used to mean "since the beginning" or "for long ages"; this references the agelessness granted to Richard by Jacob as a reward for his service. "Ab Aeterno" was watched by 9 million American viewers and received critical acclaim by critics and audiences alike.
Plot
Prior to her arrival on the island in 2007, Ilana (Zuleikha RobinsonZuleikha Robinson
Zuleikha Robinson is an English actress, raised in Thailand and Malaysia by a Burmese-Indian mother and an English father. She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, and best known for playing Ilana in the ABC show Lost.In 2006, she played a Bengali character called...
) is visited by Jacob in a Russian hospital, where he tells her to protect his remaining candidates (this continues from her flashback in "The Incident
The Incident (Lost)
"The Incident" is the season finale of the fifth season of ABC's Lost, consisting of its 16th and 17th episodes. Both parts of "The Incident", the show's 102nd and 103rd episodes overall, aired on May 13, 2009 on ABC in the United States. The episode was written by executive producers/showrunners...
"). Following the events of the episode "Dr. Linus
Dr. Linus
"Dr. Linus" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of ABC's drama television series Lost. It is the 110th episode overall. The episode was written by executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by actor Mario Van Peebles...
", Ilana explains to the group of survivors at the beach that Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
), Sun Kwon
Sun Kwon
Sun-Hwa Kwon better known simply as "Sun", is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Yunjin Kim.-Prior to the crash:...
(Yunjin Kim) and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) are candidates to replace Jacob, the man in charge of the island, who has recently been murdered. When asked what to do next, she says that Richard Alpert
Richard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
(Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Gastón Carbonell is an American actor, known for portraying Richard Alpert in ABC's drama Lost and Mayor Anthony Garcia in the film The Dark Knight...
) knows. Richard, who has become suicidal since Jacob's death, says he does not know and leaves the camp.
In a flashback from 1867, Richard Alpert, known as Ricardo, lives in Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
with his dying wife, Isabella (Mirelly Taylor). He travels to a doctor in order to obtain medicine, but the doctor refuses Ricardo's meager payment, and Ricardo accidentally kills the man when they struggle over the medicine. Ricardo returns home to find that his wife has died, and he is subsequently arrested for murdering the doctor. In prison, he is visited by a priest, who, after learning that Ricardo has been learning English in preparation for beginning a new life in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, tells him that he cannot be forgiven and will be hanged. The priest, however, accepts a bribe and allows Ricardo to be taken as a slave to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
aboard the Black Rock. The ship is caught in a violent storm and a tsunami sweeps it inshore onto the mysterious Island, first crashing through the (presumably already quite weakened) statue of Taweret and smashing it to pieces.
The next day, the Smoke Monster kills everyone onboard except Ricardo. As he works to free himself, a vision of his wife appears and tells him that they are in Hell. She is then apparently killed by the Monster. After six grueling days, the Man in Black
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
, who unbeknownst to Ricardo is the human form of the monster, frees Ricardo from his shackles, and tells Ricardo that he must kill Jacob, whom he refers to as the devil, in order to get his wife back and leave the island. Ricardo attempts to kill Jacob, but is easily outmaneuvered.
Jacob explains the function of the island, using a wine bottle as an analogy: the island acts as a cork that "is the only thing keeping the darkness [literally the wine, metaphorically some unknown embodiment of evil, perhaps even the Man in Black] where it belongs." Without the "cork", the darkness would escape and spread. As the Man in Black sees it, people are inherently evil, while Jacob believes they are inherently good. To this end, Jacob brings people to the island, so that they may disprove the Man in Black; however, he does not believe in telling people what to do, since this would negate their free will to choose good. When Ricardo points out that the Man in Black will corrupt them as he himself was corrupted, Jacob suggests that Ricardo become his representative to the people he brings to the Island. In return, Jacob will offer him a reward of his choice. He eventually grants Ricardo immortality, after Ricardo reacts to Jacob's inability to bring back his dead wife, or absolve him of his sins. Ricardo returns to the Man in Black, who states that his offer is still open should Ricardo change his mind. He gives Ricardo the cross necklace that Isabella gave him just before she died, and Ricardo buries it on the island.
Back to 2007, Richard visits the site where he has buried his wife's necklace on the island, shouting that he has changed his mind and wishes to join the Man in Black; “Does the offer still stand?” Instead, Hurley arrives and, using his ability to communicate with the dead, acts as an intermediary
Intermediary
An intermediary is a third party that offers intermediation services between two trading parties. The intermediary acts as a conduit for goods or services offered by a supplier to a consumer...
between Richard and his wife Isabella. She explains that Richard must stop the Man in Black from leaving the island, or else "we all go to Hell." The Man in Black, in the form of John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
), is shown to be watching them from a distance.
In another flashback, Jacob visits the Man in Black and tells him that he will never let him leave the island. The Man in Black insists he'll kill Jacob some day, but Jacob retorts that another will just take his place; the former responds that he will simply kill them too. Jacob then gives him the aforementioned corked wine bottle, which the Man in Black breaks by smashing it against a log.
Reception
"Ab Aeterno" was met with critical acclaim. Review aggregate website MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the episode a score of 93 out of 100, indicating "Universal Acclaim". The score was up on the previous week's score of 76, making the episode tied for the highest-reviewed episode of the season, along with "Happily Ever After
Happily Ever After (Lost)
"Happily Ever After" is the 11th television episode of the American Broadcasting Company's sixth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 114th episode overall. The episode was aired on April 6, 2010 on ABC in the United States. The episode was written by showrunners and executive...
". IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Chris Carbot highly praised the episode, stating "the overall story of Lost benefits immensely from the clarity that this week’s episode provides." Overall, he gave the episode a score of 9.8. Todd VanDerWerff of Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
gave the episode a perfect score, calling it "awesome" and "another all-timer for the show." Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
also praised the episode, stating "what was great about "Ab [Aeterno]" is that it showed us a story about one imperfect, well-intentioned man caught up in this terrible struggle." Steven Kurutz of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
deemed it as one of the best hours of TV, "Richard’s story was so dramatic that I found it totally compelling. Tonight’s show both told a self-contained story and worked within the larger framework of the show by illuminating the power struggle between Jacob and Smokey."
Critics also praised Nestor Carbonell's performance as Richard. Alan Sepinwell of Star Ledger stated "for three-plus seasons, Richard's been the serene, all-knowing man of mystery, and Carbonell was superb at showing both a cracked, suicidal Richard who has decided he actually knows nothing, and then at showing the very human man he was before Jacob made him immortal." Chris Carbot called Carbonell's performance "outstanding." James Poniewozik of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
thought Carbonell "made Richard into another character, showing us the decent, desperate, heartbroken man who would be transformed over 140 years as Jacob's ambassador on the Island."