This episode was epic!  y con mucho Espanol! It begins with an extended scene of the one we saw with Ilana and Jacob in the last season finale. This time, Jacob asks Ilana to protect the candidates.

Then everybody on the island gets caught up on what the candidates are and Ilana says that Jacob told her that Richard would know what to do. Richard gives out a funny laugh and says that he has no clue what to do. He says that everyone on the island is dead and that they are in Hell. He suggests that they start listening to someone other than Jacob, meaning the man in black.

Ilana still believes that Richard knows what to do and decides to follow him. Hurley speaks Spanish with a dead person, and it’s not Jacob. Ben and Jack think Richard knows nothing as he says. Ben says he has known Alpert since he was twelve and that he is still the same age. And with that the episode is set-up.

Now a flashback in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, 1867. Alpert has long hair and is riding his horse home to see his wife, Isabella. She’s not feeling so hot, well actually I guess she is because she has a fever. But, she’s ill, ok? She is coughing up blood. Richard gathers the little money that he does have and says he will go to the doctor. She gives him her golden cross necklace and says to give it to the doctor.

When he gets to the doctor he’s eating an fancy dinner and he says that he is not going to go all the way to see her because it is too far. He says he has medicine that will help. It’s expensive and Ricard doesn’t have enough money. He won’t take the necklace. Ricard accidentally kills him and rides off with the medicine.

The medicine is a white powder that makes me think of Jacob’s ashes, the ash surrounding Jacob’s cabin, and the bottle full of white stuff that were among the items Richard took to young Locke to test him and see if he was a candidate for Jacob. That scene in the season 4 episode, Cabin Fever makes a lot more sense after this episode.

When Alpert returns Isabella is already dead.

In the next scene, Alpert is in prison for killing the doctor and he is visited by Father Suarez. He finds out that Alpert is trying to learn English by reading the Bible. That must be difficult. He was reading Luke Chapter 4, verse 37, which takes place after Jesus returned from being tempted in the dessert. He goes to the Temple in Nazareth. Verse 31-37 talks about Jesus driving an evil spirit out of a man. Perhaps this is alluding to the man in black in Locke’s body? Maybe Locke can be saved. Alpert says that he and his wife wanted to travel to the New World to start a family and then he gives his confession, but he says he can’t be forgiven and that the only way he could would be repentance. But, it was too late for that because he was going to be hung and then go to see the devil in Hell. He’s not a very nice guy and he spits a lot.

When Alpert is taken out of his cell the next morning he meets Jonas Whitfield. He asks if he can speak English, he says nothing so he sends him to be hanged and then he says he speaks English. Whitfield says that Alpert is now the property of Mangus Hanso and we see the Black Rock in action!

It’s rather rough on the boat. One of the slaves has a peek hole and can see the island and the Tawaret statue. he says it is the devil and that it guards the island. A huge wave causes The Black Rock to crash right into the head of Tawaret and now we know how it was demolished and we know why The Black Rock is in the center of the island.

The captain goes below deck and goes on a killing rampage because he doesn’t have enough food or water for them and they would probably end up trying to kill him if he didn’t kill them. Alpert gets saved by Smokey though. Smokey does that thing he does where it looks like he is scanning someone.

Alpert is tuck in his chains for a while, he tries to pick his way with a nail, but a wild boar hits it out of reach. Hmmm, ok. Alpert sees his wife. She tells him that they are both dead and in Hell and that she is trying to save him from the devil. She has a line that is quite similar to one Locke said in season one. He said “I have looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw was beautiful. But she says, “I looked in his eyes and all I saw was evil.” Maybe Locke was evil all along, from the very beginning. Smokey comes and Alpert tells her to run so she runs right into the smoke monster and screams. The man in black comes to Alpert in his old from. he says he is dead and that he wasn’t on the ship. He says that he didn’t see Isabella and that someone must have taken her. He sets Alpert free after he promises to follow him. And then the man in balck says, “It’s good to see you out of those chains.” Just as he did in the season premiere when he met Alpert in Locke form in the season premiere:

I think he is speaking of the metaphorical chains of Jacob’ power over Alpert in that case.

The man in black tells Alpert that he has to kill the devil. And, I think, wow Smokey is a tricky jerk! He’s getting Alpert to believe this whole Hell thing so that he will kill Jacob.

Alpert and Smokey some yummy wild hog and discuss murder. Hell tells Alpert that the devil lives in the statue and he give him what looks to be the same dagger that Doogan gave to Sayid in “Sundown” when he asks him to kill the man in black.

He tells Alpert the same thing that Doogan told Sayid in that episode when he gave him the dagger: “If he speaks it will already be too late.” He says he is very persuasive. The man in black tells him that he is the black smoke, but the devil stole his wife.

Alpert approaches the ruins of the Egyptian goddess yielding a magical dagger with much determination to kill the devil. (I enjoyed writing that last sentence.) Jacob sneaks up on him and gets his magic dagger.

Alpert tells Jacob that the man-in-black told him that they are in Hell. Jacob then tries to prove to Alpert that he is dead by almost drowning him four times. This is obviously Jacob baptizing Alpert. This makes Alpert change his mind.

Jacob says that no-one goes into his foot-statue unless he invites them. He says he is not the devil, but isn’t that just what the devil would say? He says that he brought the ship to the island. He uses a bottle of wine to describe the island. The wine represents evil and the cork on the bottle is the island.

It keeps evil from spreading and keeping it where it belongs. He says that the man-in-black (Who we still don’t have a real name for after being in the last ten episodes, unfortunately.) believes that evil in human nature and Jacob brings people to the island to prove him wrong. He then starts to sound a lot like God, he says that people’s pasts don’t matter when they come to the island. Which is similar to how God forgives people of their pasts. He says that it is meaningless if he tells the people to do anything and that it defeats the purpose. Alpert says that the man in black (satan)  has no problem with stepping in. Jacob (God) says that Alpert can be his go-between (Jesus). Alpert certainly has the Jesus look in this episode. Alpert asks Jacob to bring his wife back and he says he can’t. So, he asks Jacob to forgive his sins and I thought for sure since Jacob seems like God in this scenario, he would, but he didn’t. Then he says he wants to live forever. And that is the story of how Richard Alpert became ageless, boys and girls. He is still alive to this very day.

Alpert returns to the man in black and he gives him a white rock from Jacob. This must be the same one from the caves in “The Substitute”. The man in black says, “You let him talk to you, didn’t you?” He says that if Alpert goes with Jacob, he will never be with his wife again. He says he understands that Jacob can be convincing and he tells that his offer stands no matter what. He gives Alpert his wife’s necklace which he buries under a bench.

Then we see the older Alpert, or I guess I should say the more experienced Alpert. The one that is in the storyline that we perceive to be the “main” storyline, you know what I mean. He digs up the necklace that he just buried hundreds of years ago. He says that he changed his mind and asks if the offer still stands.

Hurley comes out of the jungle and says that Isabella sent him. He says that she is standing right next to him and they have a strange moment together that is quite touching, but he can’t see her. It’s sad. She keeps coming back, and she finally leaves. She says they are always together. 😥

Hurley says that Isabella said that Alpert has to stop the man in black from leaving the island, because if he doesn’t they will “all go to Hell.” So, let me sum up what has happened in this episode: Alpert believes the man in black when he says that the island is Hell, then he changes his mind and believes Jacob who says that the man in black is evil and trying to prove that everyone is evil, the Alpert believes that Jacob was wrong so he decides to go back to the man in black’s side and now his wife’s ghost is telling him that everyone will go to Hell if they follow the man in black. What a roller coaster!

But, there is one scene left after we see FLocke standing a distance away from Hurley and Alpert.

It’s another man in black / Jacob discussion like the opening of the season 5 finale. The man in black says that he wants to kill him to get off the island. Jacob says that he will be replaced by someone. And the man in black says he will kill them too. Jacob hands the man in black the bottle of wine “to pass the time.” Jacob leaves the man in black alone so he can smash the bottle, letting the evil spread freely.

Amazing episode!!!