6x09 Ab Aeterno: Recap

2007

Ilana was tasked by Jacob to protect the six remaining “candidates”.  Jacob gave her a list of names when he visited her in the hospital.  She explains this to Lapidus, Sun, Jack and Hurley as they sit around the campfire.  She’s supposed to ask Richard what to do next.  Hurley is seemingly talking to himself in Spanish.  Richard is angry, doesn’t know what to do, runs off to join FLocke.  Reaches the bench where he buried his wife’s necklace, digs it up, and calls for Locke.  Hurley comes out, helps Richard communicate with his wife, she tells him it’s not his fault she died, they have a moment.  Richard feels better, until Hurley gives him one last message from his wife: You have to kill the devil.

1867

Ricardo (Richard) lives in the Canary Islands with his wife Isabella.  He speaks Spanish and rides horses.  Isabella is very ill with consumption, Ricardo promises to save her, takes what little money they have for the doctor.  Isabella insists he take her necklace as well.  Ricardo rides through the rain to see the doctor, who refuses to ride back in the rain to see Isabella.  He offers costly medicine, but says Ricardo doesn’t have enough, calling Isabella’s necklace worthless and throwing it on the floor.  Ricardo wrestles with the doctor in anger and despair, and throws him against the table, killing him.  With the medicine in hand, he rides back to Isabella, but he is too late.  He is arrested and imprisoned.  

A priest comes to visit Ricardo to hear is confession, but denies him absolution of his sins and says he will be going to hell because there is no time before his hanging to do proper penance.  It is also revealed Richard has been learning to speak English.  Later, the priest returns and takes Ricardo to a man running a slave ship to the New World.  The ship is the Black Rock, and the captain is Mangus Hanso.  They encounter a storm, and are blown onto the island, smashing the statue of Tawaret in the process.  

In the jungle, Ricardo and the others awaken to commotion above.  They call for help as they are chained to the walls.  The man who bought Ricardo comes down below and begins killing off the slaves, but before he can kill Ricardo, Smokey shows up.  Smokey kills everyone, scans Ricardo, and allows him to live.  After much time alone, chained to the ship, the person that appears to be Isabella appears to him, trying to help him escape.  They hear the smoke monster, and Ricardo asks her to run.  He hears Isabella scream above the ship where the smoke monster is.  Some time later, MIB brings water to Ricardo and offers to free him in return for doing whatever he asks of him.

MIB wants Ricardo to kill Jacob, gives him a fancy knife, says not to let him speak first.  Ricardo treks off, finds the statue, but gets sucker-punched by Jacob.  Jacob kicks his ass for awhile, takes the knife away.  Dunks him in the water a few times to prove this isn’t Hell and Ricardo is not dead.  Jacob touches Ricardo and allows him to live forever (so he won’t go to Hell).  Jacob explains the island is a cork, keeping MIB and Hell bottled up, the way a cork keeps wine in a bottle.

Jacob is angry MIB tried to have him killed.  Gives him a corked bottle of wine, MIB smashes the glass bottom.