Richard, It was so nice to actually learn about him! I Love how both Ben and Richard have been redeemed! And we know what the Island is! I knew from a spoiler a while ago that the Island was referred to as a cork, but it was actual nice to hear it! Nestor Carbonell did amazing in this episode! I’m really looking forward to episode 15, Which has no cast regulars in it. I Can’t wait!

Richard's crime back in 1867 reminded me a lot of Jean Valjean's original crime in Les Mis - stealing bread for the starving - in that he was desperate to save his dying wife and the doctor's death was unintentional. We find out the "chains" referred to earlier were literal, as he was sold as a slave and was to have been transported to the New World on the Black Rock.

We find out how the statue was damaged - by the Black Rock itself, driven by high winds and waves into the interior of the island. (We still don't know the origins of the statue).

The Monster spares Richard and the 'old' MIB frees him in exchange for agreeing to kill 'the devil' at the statue - Jacob. The same restriction - don't let him speak - is applied here as was applied by Dogen to Sayid with MIB/Flocke earlier this season.

MIB repeats his plea to be released, to go home. But (according to Jacob at least), the island is a 'cork' holding in evil - presumably MIB.

(I'd heard rumors about the island being officially described as a 4-letter word with one vowel and other such teasers, but hadn't guessed it would be a cork).

Jacob grants Richard immortality because the latter fears eternal condemnation for the accidental homicide - though it means never seeing his beloved Isabella again. This explains his change of heart and desire to die in the modern island timeline. The conversation with Hurley, Richard, and Isabella at the end was a touching resolution to this.

a major point was the discussion of 'science vs faith' and how it related to pressing the button in the hatch every 108 minutes to 'save the world.' Eventually we learn that the button really was important, and that the island (or at least the Swan Station) acted as a sort of 'safety hatch' to release the electromagnetic buildup - in essence, a cork, though a different one caused by the Incident.

referred to the Smoke Monster as a 'security device,' implying (to me at least), it was to protect the island (since that was Ben's proclaimed mission as well). Now we know that it was acting only in its own interest, as Flocke told Sawyer (in this season's "The Lighthouse") that "it's just an island and doesn't need protecting." In a way, it's Jacob that's the security device, in that it's his mission to protect the island.

"LA X," we are introduced to an alternate reality in which the H-bomb in the season 5 finale had the intended purpose of preventing the crash of Flight 815. A brief shot of the island at the bottom of the ocean is seen. Where is the MIB in this reality, and is the island acting as a cork in that universe as well?

"The Howling Man," in which a man comes upon an old monastery whose monks are imprisoning "the devil." Of course, the guest can't resist visiting the prisoner, who pleads with him for release because he's just another man the crazy monks have locked up. Later, the guest asks the monks how there can be evil in the world if the devil's locked up; they reply to the effect that evil is reduced compared to if he ran free - in so many words, they're acting as a cork. This strikes me as a very similar idea to MIB's impassioned pleas for release because he just wants to get home, and Jacob's observation that the island is a cork keeping evil at bay.

Seems to me, there are three possible answers:
1) Smokey is telling the truth, it's Jacob who is the Bad Guy.
2)Jacob is telling the truth, it's Smokey who is the Bad Guy
3)Both of them are the Bad Guy and want the other killed, it's not about anything else except killing eachother...

I'm kind of inclined to believe either the first or last answers Jacob seems like too good of a good guy...I'm reminded of Frodo's (I think it's Frodo's?) quote in FOTR where he says in answer to whether or not Strider is a good guy something like "If he were of the enemy, he'd look fairer and smell fouler". Or the last answer, because they obviously can't kill eachother, and are simply trying to get other people to do it for them. (Sayid, Richard, Ben who succeded, and I suspect that wine Jacob gave Smokey was poisioned)...

I was so immersed, I didn't even notice until the end bit with Hurley that it had practically all been a flashback! I agree with you 7chronicles, Nestor Carbonell was pretty darn good (and he sounded pretty good speaking Spanish ). His story made sense, you know? I'm glad he seemed to be back on team beach at the end though - when he was all 'this is hell, we're all dead' at the beginning, I thought 'well, that's it. Lost has been answered. I wonder how they're going to end it?' I imagine only Lost could give me a line like that and have me not question it at all (even if it turned out not to be true. Or did it? mwah ha ha ha)!

Also - I'm with you Valiant_Lucy, Jacob is too good - there's definitely more to that story. But then Smokey seems far too earnest to be completely sincere. Thank heavens for an explanation for their presence on the island. ish. I loved the wine bottle analogy. It seemed very Jacobesque, probably because it was Jacob telling it no doubt! All that aside, I really enjoy the Jacob/Smokey interaction, you can tell Smokey really truly can't stand to be around him a moment longer.

The actor playing Smokey, and Terry O'Quin, who plays Locke/Flocke, are absolutly AMAZING. My brother and I were noticing how their mannerisims where just IDENTICAL. Everything, from the way Smokey would crinkle his eyes, tilt his head, smile, whatever, was EXACTLY how Flocke did it!

war.

Island - It was good to see Jin again. It seems Sawyer must have left Jacob's cave and joined him in Claire's jungle hut. Smokey and his recruits return to base camp.

LA X - Sawyer is on a con-job that seems remarkably similar to the one we see in his first flashback in Season 1. He plays the part of an undercover cop. He and Miles are cop buddies. It's good to see they have camaraderie in the alternate timeline.

Island - Kate meets the 'squirrel baby'. Locke tries to boost the morale of his group. They don't seem to realise that he and Smokey are one and the same. Interesting. Sawyer seems to not have chosen a side yet, he's on his own side.

LA X - Sawyer looks for Anthony Cooper, just like in the Island reality. Sawyer is single and Miles has a girlfriend (I wonder who?). He sets Sawyer up with a friend of his dad's (who?)

Island - 'Locke' takes Sawyer aside and tells him that he's Smokey. Does he confide in him or is he forced to tell the truth? Watch 'Locke's expression when he says this. He seems uncertain, like he's filtering through different memories. Smokey asks Sawyer to go to Hydra Island on a recon mission to find any Ajira Airway survivors and report back to him, so they can leave the Island on the plane.

LA X - Sawyer is set up with Charlotte! Wow. She sees through his lies. They have 'relations' and then she finds Sawyer's secret family history file. Sawyer is furious and kicks her out.

Island - On Hydra Island, Sawyer revisits the bear cages from Season 3 and finds Kate's dress there, the one she wore while digging the plane runway.
Back at Smokey's camp, Sayid seems void of feeling. I don't know if he's a zombie but he's not all there. Claire attacks Kate and tries to kill her but Locke breaks up the fight and reprimands Claire.
Sawyer finds the Ajira plane, abandoned. Nearby he finds a large pile of dead bodies, the Ajira ex-survivors. He encounters a strange woman and chases her.

LA X - At the police station we see Liam Pace, Charlie's brother. Miles calls out Sawyer. He realises he didn't go to Palm Springs but instead to Australia, on board the Oceanic 815. Sawyer is furious and punches the mirror - perhaps hinting at a future condemnation in this reality? - mirrors reveal the truth and he doesn't like what he sees there. I find it interesting how, in this reality, no one seems to fall for his lies.

Island - The woman Sawyer finds is Zoe, a so-called survivor of the Ajira flight. I'm suspicious. She asks Sawyer lots of questions, some involving rather probing questions about his situation and that of the remaining survivors. She says she dragged all the bodies out of the sun, but I don't think so. She'd need a lot of strength and it would take some time to do so. My thoughts are that Smokey killed them.
Smokey sits down with Kate and tells her that he led Claire to believe that Aaron was with the Others, so that she had something to keep her going - hate (as opposed to love, which would've had the same drive but been more beneficial). Smokey offers Kate his hand to help her to her feet. Notice she doesn't accept it? I think this indicates that Kate hasn't chosen a side yet. If she took his hand, that would indicate she was willing to be helped by him. And I don't think she is.
Zoe reveals that she been lying the whole time. She's someone else. She has armed men stationed in the bushes and they capture Sawyer.
Smokey reveals to Kate that he's worried for Aaron because he has a crazy mum. He says he had a disturbed mum too and that he has some 'growing pains' because of it. It’s interesting how he’s one of the few on the show to have mummy issues and not daddy issues. Maybe Smokey is the reason that women can’t have babies on the Island? Again, he seems uncertain with what he’s saying, like he doesn’t want to reveal it. Maybe Dogen's special dagger really did do something when Sayid stabbed him with it? Maybe the dagger forced him to tell the truth and this will lead to Smokey's downfall? This season, I think we’ll continue to see scenes where Smokey tries to recruit Jacob’s candidates and takes them aside to talk to them. Each time he’s sneaky and offers them their hearts desire, if only they do X, Y, Z. It’s very much like the moments in the Bible when Satan tempts Jesus Christ during his 40 days in the desert.
Sawyer sees men putting up transportable versions of the sonic fence pylons, presumably to keep Smokey out.

LA X - Sawyer offers a huge sunflower to Charlotte, just as he offers one to Juliet in Season 5.

Island - Sawyer is escorted onto a submarine. He's taken past a locked room. What does it house? A super weapon/tool? Or a person? Maybe Aaron? He meets Charles Widmore, who says, 'it's sad really, how little you know.' Is he talking to Sawyer or us? Sawyer doesn't shake Widmore's hand. He's not on anyone's side. He finally makes a deal with him and Widmore initiates a handshake, they shake. Sawyer's terms.
Claire apologies to Kate for attacking her. But is she for real? I thought she was going for Kate's rifle when she hugged her.
Sawyer returns and fills Smokey in on the details. I think Sawyer is pulling a long-con on both parties.

LA X - Sawyer reveals his past to Miles. Encounters Kate as a runaway. Silly me. This was so obvious but I thought the runaway was going to be Charlie!

Island - Kate is on the outside, looking in. Sawyer vows to let the two parties fight it out and leave the Island with Kate, in the submarine.

people are so ready to write off Jacob as the bad guy. Sure he's a little manipulative, but not nearly so much as the MIB. And he hasn't murdered anyone. I think he's sincere in trying to prove MIB wrong that people are basically evil (though as Christians we know this to be true anyway (that people are born sinners I mean)). When does someone become "too good"? I don't think he's "too good." I mean, just a little while ago ya'll were saying how manipulative he is. Is that "too good"?

If there's going to be someone bad, there has to be someone good. The white/black symbolism seems to point out pretty clearly which is which. I don't think the writers of LOST would switch up such a universal truth: white is good, black is bad. It would be way, way too complicated, as people seem to be determined to make LOST. Really, my dad and I are finding that it's not as complicated as people are making it, lol. At least not at the moment. We could get this huge twist at the end that none of us were expecting, but for the meantime I'm taking what we know so far and apply it to my theories and I'm concluding that MIB is definitely the bad guy here. Whether or not Jacob is "good" is still debatable, but he's definitely not as bad as MIB.

Is he the lesser of two evils? Maybe, or maybe he's not evil at all. I don't think enough people are giving him the benefit of the doubt.

And there's Hurley too. Do you think Hurley would follow someone he wasn't sure is evil or not?

She said that you can be pretty sure who the bad guy is by who lies. So far we haven't had any indication that Jacob has lied to anyone. However, we know for a fact that MIB/Flocke has lied. To more than one person. Also, as I've mentioned before, MIB is the one doing all the killing. Jacob hasn't killed anyone.

Also, doesn't the bad guy always say that he's the good guy?

And MIB promised Ricardo anything he wanted (can anyone say: temptation?), whereas Jacob admitted that he couldn't bring Isabella back, or grant salvation.

Jacob is the good guy - at least in the context of this show - and that MIB represents evil. The lesser of 2 evils may be a good way to say it. I'm not sure either represents an absolute good or evil; MIB, as the Smoke Monster, has killed lots of people while Jacob has manipulated peoples' lives and brought them to the island, and "they're all dead" now.

I've seen discussions elsewhere about Jacob or Richard being Christ-figures (Richard was 'baptized' in the last episode; Jacob manipulates destiny in the sense that God is the Master of history, etc). I'm not sure how deep a comparison the writers intend, but it's an interesting thought. There are problems with pushing that analogy too far - Jacob seems kind of weak for a God-figure, needing help to keep evil in check. This seems to smack of dualism - a sort of Yin and Yang - between good and evil, a concept most orthodox Christians would reject.

Speaking of theology, Ryan makes a good point above: it's MIB (not Jacob) who points out the corruptible sin nature of man - a doctrine most Christians accept in one form or another.

The 'cork' nature of the island brings up a couple questions too: if evil personified (Satan, in Christian terms) is indeed trapped on the island, why is there still evil in the outside world? That Twilight Zone episode I mentioned earlier dealt with a similar question, pointing out (in so may words) that the explanation lies in the sin nature of man - that once corrupted, sin follows if there's no redemption. And the implication is, bad as the world might be, it would be a lot worse if the imprisoned evil were to escape. Jacob has implied this latter warning as well.

Lastly, regarding the flash-sideways reality, it's been observed that those siding with Jacob in the island reality seem to be better off in the alternate universe (Sawyer's a cop, not a con man; Miles is a cop and not a part-time medium, etc) while those who side with MIB are worse off (Sayid's true love is now his sister-in-law; Kate (who may still be undecided on the island) is once again on the run from Mars).

Boone.