Lost.. getting sillier and sillier with every next episode.. But, I saw this week's episode the other day.. And I think its my favorite episode of Lost so far..
It showed the back-story of Richard, and explains how he got to the island and is immortal.. It answered the question of why there is a ship stranded in the jungle in the middle of the island.. I felt the story of Richard was very compelling, and the overall episode was intense and satisfying.. For the first time in a long time I felt like Lost has held up to its hype..
The actor playing Richard has acted very well, and you can really feel for him.. The way that he has portrayed his character's repentance of accidentally killing the doctor is very, for a lack of a good word, authentic.. He confesses to the Padre, and asks for forgiveness.. And the Padre bluntly refuses and reciprocates with a very cold "No." Its really shocking to hear that.. Richard breaks down when he hears that, and you actually feel really bad for him then.. Also his torturous time clad in chains on the ship, and then trying to free himself from them is very human.
His love for his wife is so very genuine and
doesnt feel cliche for even a single moment. And it is not surprising when questioned what is one thing he really wants, to which his response, without losing a heart-beat, is that he would like his wife back from the dead.
The start and end of the episode is very cleanly joined. You see him heading over to the "Black Monster's" team at the start of the episode. And his back-story then very artfully explains his decision... He has been alive for about 150 years now.. and all this time he was working for "Jacob". But now that Jacob is dead, Richard's life so far seems very pointless to himself, which is but natural and sort of makes sense.
Overall, I felt this episode was very good quality viewing material. It was very dramatic, and within the parameters of the show - very realistic and
uncontrived. The characterization of Richard, who was so-far someone who had some idea about whats going on, was shown in a very vulnerable shade, and the depiction was very classy. His story-line felt very real as opposed to some of the others which felt somewhat haywire and not pertaining to the story..
Even if you dont have an idea about Lost, or have lost your Lost (I dont blame you) I would definitely recommend this episode for the classy depiction of a simple, god-fearing man, and the tribulations he has to go through. If nothing else, then just really good acting.
Overall a thumbs-up from me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab_Aeterno
