LOST ‘Ab Aeterno’ Review

So, I just got done watching Lost “Ab Aeterno”. WHEW! Soon, there’s no more Lost to look forward to. And that is sad because Lost does amazing storytelling within its episodes. Perhaps none written as well as this amazing episode, which was built up with anticipation over five previous seasons about the mysterious, never-aging Richard Alpert. It’s kind of like we had the longest teaser for “Ab Aeterno” ever. Was it worth the wait? Yes.

What does “Ab Aeterno” even mean?
It means “since the beginning of time”. Talk about an appropriate title for a Richard-centric episode, huh? Women everywhere want his secrets, because it’s better than Botox. As someone who has begun to say “IS THAT A WRINKLE?” (Don’t worry, none of them have been real wrinkles yet) I finally understand that impulse. But was Richard drinking from the fountain of youth? No.

Total satisfaction?
Okay, I understand that people are SOSOSO glad to finally know more about Richard. And I also know that people love hypothesizing awesome theories. My problem with Lost is that they leave us hanging for so long that by the time they finally deliver an answer I almost don’t care, OR I’ve heard so many other great theories that how it plays out on the show doesn’t live up to them. Which isn’t me trying to insult the writers, it’s me saying that there are a hell of a lot of creative people out there. AndMaybeTheyShouldWriteTheShowYeaDammit.

The Devil lies.
There were a few OMG moments were we almost thought we had it all wrong. Was Jacob actually the bad one? But no, it’s as we always thought. Should it come as a surprise that the devil lies? Methinks not. But in most episodes prior to this people have been interested by the fact that The Man in Black (well, Locke) was always telling the truth whereas Jacob was all “I can’t tell you why, just do it!”. But in this episode, the MIB definitely told some lies (such as, Jacob’s the devil). So, ha!

The Mystery of the Island
Real quick? It’s like the Hellmouth (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) all contained on an island. Jacob is there for some reason, but while he’s there he brings people there to try to prove to the MIB that people can be good. He’s trying to make sure that the MIB doesn’t escape, too.

Stop the Flashbacks?
I’ve been so anti-flashbacks now that we have so little time left. Well, we’re not getting flashbacks this season so much as the sideways stuff. This episode was great with the flashbacks, and I realized why we need them. I think that flashbacks are important to show us things that influenced the entire show, but I’m not a fan of the sideways flashes. Of course, you could argue that the sideways flashes show people’s true nature which is something Jacob is trying to show on the island. So I guess it’s kind of relevant, even if it’s not what we want to watch.