So, I’m a little torn on this episode. Perhaps the greatest episode (according to reviews) this season is the one that I hyped up more than I should have. We got a lot of answers, and a lot of Richard’s backstory, but what we got so little of, which is what I anticipated are island answers. We only really learned two things about the island in this episode. One, how the Black Rock came to be on the island and two, how the statue came crashing down. For all of Richard’s time on the island, we really don’t get much of his time working under Jacob. This episode is pretty much from his time off the island up until he is recruited by Jacob. And that’s where my disappointment really lies. We got to know Richard, but it’s not the Richard I wanted to know.

But despite all that, it was a fairly good episode (as I’m told). We learned a lot more about the MIB and Jacob who are again struggling for power. In this case, Richard is the prize and Jacob won out. After all, do you really want to join someone who wants you to kill a man?

I did forget to mention, though probably because this answer was less definitive than the ones I’ve already mentioned, but the island was revealed to be a cork. Jacob described it as wine in a wine bottle. Trapped is the wine, or evil, and the cork, the island, is what’s stopping the release. But I’ve come to question just how “evil” MIB is. He wants to kill Jacob, sure, but he has his reason. Jacob won’t let him go home, to somewhere off the island, but as long as Jacob is alive, he isn’t allowed to. And we’re led to believe that Jacob is the one that took away his body, so if he is this pure evil, Jacob seems to be the one that has created him.

That’s not to say that Jacob is necessarily evil. Together, both Jacob and MIB seem to be pretty chummy, despite the urge to one up each other.

But nothing can really be theorized while there are so many variables left unsolved. Who was the kid that MIB saw? A higher power? Who set these rules up that said MIB can’t kill Jacob? Is MIB telling the truth? Is Jacob telling the truth? Why can’t MIB leave the island? What is stopping him from doing so?

All this and more…on LOST.

Oh, and I decided not to spend more time recapping old episodes. But I will say that the episode Dr. Linus was AMAZING, with Michael Emerson giving an incredible performance as Ben.