We finally learn the secrets behind Lost's most mysterious character, Richard Alpert. Nestor Carbonell is fantastic, speaking mostly Spanish throughout the entire episode. We finally see his personal back-story, involving his wife Isabella and his enslavement, and also two very important questions are answered: How does Richard never age and what is his connection to Jacob? Even more interesting is how we see more into the rivalry between Jacob and The Man in Black. Also, we finally learn what brought The Black Rock to the Island (if you haven't figured it out yet) and what destroyed the Egyptian Statue. It reaches a bit of a slow point about halfway through when Richard is chained inside of the ship, alone, for about fifteen minutes of the episode's run-time but otherwise this is the moment that Lost fans have been waiting for. Especially in a fairly lackluster season, this is Lost at its finest.
Review of Ab Aeterno
