Lost Episode 6.09 Ab Aeterno

At the beach camp, Ilana tells Jack, Hurley, Sun, Ben, Miles and Lapidus about her visit from Jacob in the Russian hospital. Like the scene in the season five finale, Jacob asks for Ilana's help, and now we get the full scene. Jacob tells her there are six people she needs to protect. These people are the remaining candidates. And even though she was badly burned during training, Jacob reaches over and touches her face, helping the burns heal and Ilana get better. Jacob tells her to find the six candidates and take them to the Temple. Once she gets there, she should ask Ricardus what to do next.

Richard sits in the shadows listening to Ilana's story and starts to laugh. He has no idea what to do next. He was just trying to kill himself -- does it sound like he has a plan? Jacob lied to Ilana. Everything he's ever said has been a lie, and it's time they stop listening to him and start listening to someone else. Richard then tells them something more unsettling -- that they're all dead. Every single one of the them. They're dead, and they're in hell.

Richard then walks into the jungle. The group doesn't know what to do. Ilana wants to go after him, but Jack thinks Richard has lost his mind. Who'd he mean when he said they have to start listening to someone else? Sun tells him Richard meant Locke. Jack is confused. Locke is dead. Ben explains that he's not exactly Locke. Then Jack sees Hurley having a conversation with someone, but there's nobody else there. He thinks Hurley is talking to Jacob and marches over, asking what Jacob is saying. Hurley tells him it isn't Jacob and that who he's talking to has nothing to do with Jack. Ben tells Ilana that going after Richard is a waste of time. Richard doesn't know anything. Ilana asks how Ben can be so sure, and Ben says he's known Richard since he was twelve. Lapidus asks if they met when they were kids? Ben says no. He was a kid but Richard looked exactly like he does now. Lapidus is confused -- is Ben saying the guy doesn't age? Ben says yes, and Lapidus asks how'd that happen?

WHOOOSH to Tenerife, Canary Islands in 1867. Richard rides a horse up to a peasant cottage at the edge of a field. Desperately worried, he runs inside to his wife, Isabella. She's sick and coughing up blood. They speak in Spanish, and Isabella calls him Ricardo. He kisses her and realizes she's burning up. He's going to get the doctor. Isabella tries to ease his worry and says she's all right. He empties a jar and takes their pitiful savings. Isabella also gives him her gold cross. Alpert takes it and prays it'll be enough.

He rides through the night and the rain to reach the doctor's house. Alpert barges in asking for help, but the doctor seems more concerned that Alpert is dripping water on his floor. He begs for help, and the doctor says the medicine is expensive. Alpert gives the doctor all his money, and the doctor scoffs. Is that all the money he has? He hands over Isabella's gold cross and says that's everything. The doctor throws the cross on the ground saying it's worthless. Alpert becomes angry. He retrieves the cross and then tries to grab the medicine from the doctor's hands. They struggle over it, and the doctor slips in the water Alpert is dripping. He hits his head on the table as he falls to the floor, and a pool of blood blooms from under his head. Alpert stares in horror. The doctor's servant enters and sees the body on the floor. Alpert realizes he has the medicine and bolts.

He rides back to his cottage, but when he arrives, he discovers Isabella has died during the night. Behind him, Alpert can hear men pounding on the door. He is arrested and thrown in jail. He's visited by a priest, Father Suarez, to hear his confession. Alpert says he is sorry for killing the man but it was an accident. He was trying to save his wife. He begs for God's forgiveness, but Father Suarez refuses. He cannot grant absolution for murder. And Alpert doesn't have time for penance because they're going to hang him the next morning. The devil now awaits Alpert in hell. But the next day, as Alpert is dragged out to what he thinks is his death, he finds himself being inspected by an Englishman, Jonas Whitfield. He asks if Alpert can speak English, and Alpert says yes. Whitfield asks what kind of work Alpert did, and he says he worked in the fields. Whitfield throws Father Suarez a bag of coins and says that Alpert is now the property of Captain Magnus Hanso. Whitfield hopes Alpert doesn't get seasick.

Cut to the Black Rock during a violent storm at sea. Alpert is manacled in the hold with other prisoners. He asks Ignacio next to him if he can see anything. Ignacio looks out a hole and can see an island -- but then he sees the Taweret statue and screams! The island is guarded by a devil! Suddenly the entire ship is lifted up in a violent surge and the prisoners are flung to the ends of their chains at the moment of impact --

Alpert regains consciousness, hearing the moans of the remaining prisoners who are alive. Alpert sees that Ignacio is also alive, and Ignacio says God spared some of them. Above, they hear the voices of Whitfield and a British officer. Alpert and Ignacio shout out for help. Whitfield comes down into the hold, unsheathes his sword -- and starts stabbing the remaining prisoners, killing them! Whitfield explains they have been shipwrecked in the middle of a jungle, they have no fresh water and limited supplies. If he freed them, it would only be a matter of time before they tried to kill him. Ignacio begs for his life, but Whitfield plunges his sword deep into his gut. Whitfield turns his attention to Alpert, who reaches for Isabella's cross only to discover that it's no longer around his neck -- when they hear a strange TIKKA TIKKA TIKKA sound outside. Then MWWRROOOAARRR! The ship shakes as the roar bellows through. The remaining crewmen outside scream as something attacks them. Alpert and Whitfield can only see the terrifying play of sunlight and shadows of the men running, falling, being dragged and slammed against the hull -- and then it's over. An eerie silence descends. Whitfield calls for a report when WHOOSH! The smoke monster yanks him out of the hold. Whitfield screams and then THUNK... doesn't.

Alpert struggles with all his might to get loose, and then the smoke monster billows into the hold. It sinuously curls through the air, gathering and towering in front of Alpert. Then FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! Alpert's face is lit up by the bright flashes. Alpert closes his eyes, expecting death any moment... and then the monster is gone.

The next day it rains, but Alpert is just out of reach and can't get any water. Alpert manages to loosen a nail from the floorboards. A smile crosses his face as he formulates his plan. He scrapes away the wood around the bolt that's holding his manacles to the wall. He's dug a decent-sized trough all around the plate and yanks with a ferocious tug! The plate pulls out halfway from the wall. With the extra inches, Alpert is able to finally stretch out and lick up a small puddle of rain off the floor. Later, Alpert is asleep and he's near death. He wakes up as he hears rutting noises. He looks over and sees a wild boar eating one of the corpses. Alpert holds the nail as a weapon. The boar charges, and Alpert thrusts at it. The boar runs off, but Alpert drops the nail! It's just out of reach, and Alpert begins to weep.

Later, he hears a woman's voice calling out. The woman comes into the hold, and it's hard for Alpert to see her. As she comes closer, Alpert sees that it's Isabella! They fall into each others arms overwhelmed with joy. But Alpert is confused -- how is she here? Isabella says they're dead. Both of them, and Alpert is in hell. She has to save him before the devil comes back. She looked into his eyes, and all she saw was evil. Has Alpert seen him? Alpert shakes his head and says yes, he thinks he has. She has to get him out of there -- and then they hear the TIKKA TIKKA TIKKA sound. Alpert tells her to run, but she won't go without him. He tells her to leave now, and she does. But once outside she starts to scream. Alpert tugs on his chains, yelling out to leave her alone, and her screams suddenly stop. Alpert cries out for her, but there is no reply.

The next night a man enters and studies Alpert. He reaches down and gives Alpert a drink of water. Alpert looks up and sees a man dressed in black. He asks who he is, and the Man in Black says a friend. Alpert asks if he is in hell, and the Man in Black says yes. Did he see Alpert's wife? She was here but then the black smoke came and she ran. The Man in Black says that means he has her. Alpert asks who, and the Man says Alpert knows who. Alpert needs to save her and asks for help. Of course the Man in Black will help as long as Alpert will help him. Alpert will do anything the Man asks. He promises. The Man in Black uses a key he found on one of the dead men outside and unlocks Alpert's manacles. He says it's good to see him out of those chains. He helps Alpert up, telling him he's going to need his strength if he's going to escape from hell. And to do that, Alpert is going to have to kill the devil.

The Man in Black leads Alpert to a stone bench where he has food waiting. A small tree sapling stands behind the bench. Alpert needs to walk west to the ocean, and there he'll see the remains of a statue. Alpert's ship smashed through it on its way inland. The statue is where he'll find the devil. He gives Alpert a dagger and says he has to be quick. Alpert will only have one chance. He can't hesitate. If he lets the devil speak, it'll be too late. Alpert asks how he can kill black smoke with a dagger, but the Man in Black says he's the black smoke. Alpert's eyes go wide -- his wife was running from him! The Man in Black says no, she was running from the devil. He saw him take her, but he couldn't stop him. The devil has Alpert's wife, and the only way to see her again is to kill him.

Alpert walks to the remains of the statue with the dagger. He sees the door in the base of the statue is open and starts towards it -- when WHAM! He's blindsided. Jacob slams into him and begins punching Alpert in the face. We've never seen Jacob like this before -- he's angry. When he sees the dagger, he asks Alpert who gave it to him. Alpert says he wants his wife back. Jacob asks if she came with him on the ship, and Alpert says no. She's dead. Jacob realizes what's going on and asks if Alpert met a man in the jungle dressed in black. Alpert nods and says the man told him that Jacob is the devil, and the only way he'll see Isabella again is if he kills Jacob. Jacob tells him that wasn't his wife and Alpert isn't dead. Alpert doesn't believe Jacob and insists he's dead and in hell. Jacob drags Alpert to the ocean and holds him under the waves. Alpert struggles, telling him to stop. Jacob asks why, and Alpert says he wants to live. Jacob does stop and says that's the first sensible thing Alpert has said.

At a fire, Alpert sits wrapped in a blanket, warming himself. Jacob comes out of the statue with a bottle of wine. Alpert asks what's inside the statue, and Jacob says no one goes in unless he invites them. Alpert asks if Jacob is the devil, and Jacob says no. He explains who he is and that he brought Alpert's ship to the island. Jacob says to think of the wine as what he would call "hell." There are other words for it, too. Malevolence. Evil. Darkness. And it's there swirling around in the bottle unable to get out. Because if it did, it would spread. Now think of the cork as the island, and it's the only thing keeping hell where it belongs. The Man who sent Alpert to kill Jacob believes any person can be corrupted because it's their nature to sin. So Jacob brings people to the island to prove him wrong. When they get here, their past doesn't matter. The island washes away their sins, and they get a second chance. But the Man has killed everyone that's come. Alpert asks if Jacob brought them there, then why didn't he help them? Jacob says because he wants them to help themselves, to know the differences between right and wrong without him telling them. Alpert says if he doesn't step in, then the Man in Black will. Jacob nods, and then gets an idea. He looks at Alpert and asks if he wants a job. If Jacob doesn't want to step in, maybe Alpert can do it for him. He can be Jacob's representative, an intermediary between Jacob and the people he brings to the island. Alpert asks what he'll get in return -- he wants his wife back. Jacob says he can't do that. Alpert asks if he can absolve him of his sins so he doesn't go to hell, but Jacob can't do that either. Then Alpert says he never wants to die. He wants to live forever. Jacob reaches out and touches Alpert and says that he can do.

Alpert returns to the stone bench. The Man in Black is waiting there, and he's not happy. Alpert hands him a white stone and says Jacob told him to give it to him. The Man in Black tells Alpert he'll never be with his wife again. He knows how convincing Jacob can be, but if Alpert ever changes his mind, his offer still stands. He then says he has something for Alpert. He found in the ship. The Man tosses Alpert a gold cross and leaves. Exhausted and frayed to the bone, Alpert sinks to his knees and digs a small hole near the bench. He buries the cross and says good-bye to Isabella. He begins covering up the cross with dirt as --

WHOOOSH to the island present day. Alpert is at the same spot digging up the dirt, only the sapling is now a full-grown, massive tree. He finds the cross and kisses it. He stands and yells that he's changed his mind. He was wrong. He asks if the offer still stands. Alpert hears rustling and turns. Hurley comes out of the jungle and asks, what offer? Alpert is angry Hurley followed him, but Hurley says Alpert's wife sent him. She wants to know why he buried the cross. Alpert asks how Hurley knows, and he says because she just told him. Isabella saw him dig it up. She's standing right next to Alpert. And although Alpert can't see her, Hurley can. Isabella says Alpert doesn't believe him, and Hurley says it sometimes takes people a while. She asks that Alpert close his eyes. Hurley will tell him everything Isabella says. Isabella tells Alpert that it wasn't his fault she died. As much as he wanted to save her, it was her time. He's suffered enough. Alpert says he misses her and would do anything for them to be together again. She says they already are together. She kisses him and then is gone. Alpert thanks Hurley, but Hurley says she said one more thing. She said they have to stop the Man in Black from leaving the island. If they don't, they'll all go to hell.

WHOOOSH to Jacob and the Man in Black high atop a hill looking over a valley. Jacob points out that the Man tried to kill him. The Man in Black asks if Jacob wants an apology. Jacob says no, he was just wondering why. The Man says he wants to leave, just let him leave. Jacob says as long as he's alive, the Man in Black is not going anywhere. Then the Man says he will kill Jacob. Jacob says if he does, someone else will take his place. The Man will have to kill that person, too. Jacob gives him the wine bottle and says it's something for him to pass the time. The Man in Black says he'll be seeing Jacob... sooner than he thinks -- and smashes the bottle into pieces.