S6E9 RECAP

L: Lo! - - - the whole Richard back story was very good, but the most interesting event was Richard's proclamation to the cast on the beach that they were all dead, and the island is not what it seems, that is Hell.

O: Obnoxious - - - the rules shifting more than shape shifting Smokey. MIB tells Richard that Jacob is the devil who stole his body. But then again, MIB has the form of a body. MIB can turn into Smokey, read people's minds, then apparently project memories as ghosts, that can be seen and heard by some, but not all of the characters. Whether those ghosts are MIB, or parts of MIB, or whether MIB can be multiple ghosts at the same time, is the confusing part of the storybook rules. Then again, ghost Jacob is "dead" but he is running around as a ghost Jacob visible only to a few people.

S: Story line - - - throughout the series, the concept of death has been hammered again and again; and even though TPTB proclaimed the plane crash did not throw the main characters into purgatory, it is clear that Jacob is bringing souls to the island for a final judgment like the ancient Egyptians believed in a journey through the underworld before a final weighing of one's heart. Richard's description and Jacob's bottle confirmation of the island's purpose means that yes, the Island is part of the underworld and the main characters souls are being reconstituted (like MIB and Jacob's appearances) and tried in the after life. The final solution to uncorking MIB is probably a paradox which cannot be solved, thereby trapping the Smoke monster and his guardian on the island forever.

T: Time line - - - Richard's story confirmed that he was on the Black Rock, and it was transported to the island in 1867. We would have thought that the back story could have gone deeper in time to explain the ancient carvings, but Jacob passed it off as his bringing souls to the island for a long time. From the beginning of time it appears.