![](\"https:\/\/images4.wikia.nocookie.net\/lost\/images\/3\/3f\/RichardAlpertTNPLH1.jpg\")
<\/a>Once they regain consciousness in the middle of the jungle, the other slaves besides Richard are killed by an officer afraid they might kill him given a chance. Then the smoke monster appears, the officers are killed, and the smoke monster looks at Richard, and presumably reads his memories of his dead wife. She then appears to him, only to seem to be taken by the black smoke. But presumably she simply turned back into black smoke. The man in black then appears, and says that they are in hell, and that there is only one way for them to escape, and only one way Richard will see his wife again: he is going to have to kill the devil.<\/p>\nApparently this was the first time that the man in black tried to kill Jacob \u2013 and Jacob will later express surprise that he didn\u2019t see it coming. Also intriguing is the man in black\u2019s claim that the devil took his body, his humanity. Is that a total lie, or is there some truth to it?<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s attempt to kill Jacob is unsuccessful. Jacob treats him surprisingly roughly, but persuades Richard that this isn\u2019t hell. He compares the island to a cork<\/em> that is keeping the evil and malevolence in the bottle so that it cannot spread. He also says that the man in black believes that humans are inherently corruptible and it is in their very nature to sin, and Jacob keeps bringing people to the island to try to prove him wrong. But Jacob himself doesn\u2019t like to step in \u2013 he considers it the whole point that for people to be good, it cannot simply be that they are told what to do. Richard is appointed as his representative.<\/p>\n Jacob offers Richard a gift. Richard asks for his wife to be returned to life, and Jacob says he cannot do that. Richard then asks for absolution for his sins so that he won\u2019t go to hell, and Jacob says he cannot do that either. Then Richard says that, in that case, he never wants to die, and Jacob says that that is something he can <\/em>do. <\/p>\n In a scene towards the end of the episode, Hurley helps Isabella, Richard\u2019s late wife, communicate with him. I think that the goodness or otherwise of both sides is still at least somewhat ambivalent, but one test makes things clear: the Hurleyometer senses that Jacob is the one to follow, and I think that Hurley\u2019s simple goodness is probably a good guide as to where this is going. Hurley\u2019s final message from Isabella is to stop the man in black, or we\u2019ll all end up in hell.<\/p>\n The religious symbolism and concepts were very prominent in this episode. The only other thing I\u2019ll add is that either the\u00a0ship we saw in the season 5 finale wasn\u2019t the Black Rock, or the weather changes quickly there. Of course, we\u2019ve seen instances in which the temporal displacement of the island had a similar effect. But it would be simpler if it were a different boat.<\/p>\n What did you think about this episode? <\/p>\n