Ab Aeterno

Season 6, Episode 9, Aired
EDIT

Episode Summary

Richard Alpert faces a difficult choice.
9.6
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Superb
1,443 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate It

Watch Online

Netflix
Subscription
Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
Hulu Plus
Subscription
Amazon Prime
Free Trial/Subsc...

Episode Clips

See All

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Fan Episode Reviews (59)

See All

  • Can't undersant on how you have so many doubts on who's the bad guy question! the "Man in black" and Jacob are both bad Guys.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Erebus69, Nov 22, 2011 Report Abuse
    I got to say that i cant understand why you ppl have so much doubt on who's the bad Guy question!!!!
    1- White Rock vs Black rock, In all the beliefs the black is always the evil and the white allways represents good.

    2- Second and in my opinion the most obvious, the "Man in Black" Kills ppl, inocent ppl! Jacob never interferes! The ritters are shouting... the "man in black" is a bad guy! Now, why did i said A bad guy and not THE bad guy?

    Because one might say that Jacob is also bad. How?
    Jacob is responsable for all the crashes on the island, and those same crashes kills ppl on the process. So you can reach to the conclusion that Jacob also kills ppl, and there for Jacob is also a bad guy.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    11 2

  • Does the offer still stand???!!!!

    7.8
    "Good"
    By thefanof, Sep 22, 2011 Report Abuse
    In tonight's episode we learned that Richard Alpert was actually a cast member of Roots way back when and that Hurley is auditioning to replace Jennifer Love Hewitt on Ghost Whisperer. A lot of people were excited about this episode, but to me it was just okay. The first 30 minutes were pretty boring, but the last half definitely answered some questions (finally) and was very entertaining. Jacob and Richard may not have been original cast members but you actually got the sense that what the two of them were doing was premeditated and that the writers are not simply making things up as they go along.

    I am still waiting for that classic episode though.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    2 60

  • Incredible Ep!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By rridder, Sep 20, 2011 Report Abuse
    What an incredible episode. This was one i was hoping and waiting for for a long time. Finaly we got some answers from all the mystery going on on the island. Richard is one of my favo characters together with Benjamin Linus. His acting was great in this ep with a lot of emotions his with his wife and Jacob.

    I can realy feel there is big qlimax coming up. A battle between keeping the smoke on and of the island. And the selected ones have to make sure this will happen. Also the scene in the end where Lock is looking from a distance at Richard. One word GREAT!moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    5 0

  • Enjoyable but this show isn't what it was back in the earlier seasons...

    7.5
    "Good"
    By stewie1423, Jun 20, 2011 Report Abuse
    I loved the first season when it was just a plane crash on a mysterious island. Now everything has gotten totally out of hand and confusing. There's now another island...the main one has moved...the black smoke has possessed Locke and everything is crazy.

    Anyway...this was an interesting episode which told us about Richard and it gave us a few answers. How he got there, why he doesn't age and the whole black rock boat thing. It was satisfying to see these things unfold but I still can't help but feel too lost with Lost.
    It was emotional and well done...but I think the writers may have dug themselves into a hole which they can't escape from.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 8

  • Ricardos ! ..

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Yasser-24, Mar 14, 2011 Report Abuse
    Richard = PERFECTION ! ..

    It's IN the Top 5 episode of Lost History . it's Have everything you ever wont it in Lost .

    it's a an Acting phenomenal = Oscars not an Emmy Crap !.

    Note : if this show wont one an Emmy ill Never ever watch the Emmy , so far Lost deliver there best season after 1 and 5 . it's Has Answers ( Richard Past , Black Rock , The Giant foot , MIN & Jacob Game , Hurly seein dead people etc ) ..

    it's has emotional as far as it's could be done , Tears and Tears in just short 10 sec that you will never forget about ! . * Most Important line ever : Jacob tells Richard that he brings people here to the island to prove him wrong. AND when they get here, their past doesn't matter.

    at Last [ "You wanna know a secret Jack... You're dead... We're all dead... and this.. all this.. its not what you think it is.. we're not on an island.. we never were.. we're in hell. ] !

    10/10 ..moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    2 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • The white rock that the Man in Black is holding in the last scene is small, round and polished. This is not what the stone looked like when Richard handed it to the Man in Black. Edit
    • In the scene where Jacob is talking to Ilana, it is the same scene as the one in "The Incident Part 1" with a bit added on. In the new part of the scene, Ilana's bandages are in a different position. Edit
    • In the Official Lost Podcast of March 24, 2010, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse confirmed that the ship approaching the island under bright, sunny skies in "The Incident, Part 1" is in fact the Black Rock. According to them, shortly after Jacob and the Man in Black's conversation, a storm suddenly formed and threw the Black Rock inland. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • This episode received an Emmy nomination in 2010 for Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-Camera Series. Edit
    • Sonya Masinovsky appears as the Russian nurse in archive footage. According to Jorge Garcia and Nestor Carbonell in Garcia's Geronimo Jack's Beard podcast, Masinovsky filmed new footage, but it was cut. Edit
    • This is the fifth episode where most, but not all of the episode is a flash back. The other ones being season 2's "The Other 48 Days", season 3's "Flashes Before Your Eyes", season 4's "Meet Kevin Johnson" and season 5's "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham". Edit

  • Quotes

    • Help by adding quotes to this episode. Add quotes

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Stephen King's The Stand: In the Official Lost Podcast of March 24, 2010, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse reported that the scene where the Man in Black releases Richard is a reference to this work, specifically, part of the novel where the Man in Black relases criminal Lloyd Henreid from being trapped in a jail cell. The Man in Black makes Lloyd promise to do exactly what he says. Edit
    • Pugio: the Man in Black's knife is a Roman pugio. On the sheath there is a depiction of the Roman she-wolf suckling Remus and Romulus, twin founders of Rome. Edit
    • This episode greatly alludes to classic literature and mythology. The ongoing contest of a man's inclination to good or evil is an allusion to Goethe's "Faust"; the limbo in purgatory is an allusion to Alighieri's "Divine Comedy"; and the "devil" statue that reels in ships on the island is a reference to Scylla and Charybdis from "The Odyssey". Edit

Show Forums

See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Lost Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 6 Episodes

See All
Ep 17
The End (1)
Ep 16
What They Died For
Ep 15
Across The Sea
Ep 14
The Candidate
Ep 13
The Last Recruit
Ep 12
Everybody Loves Hugo
Ep 11
Happily Ever After
Ep 10
The Package
Ep 9
Ab Aeterno
Ep 8
Recon
Ep 7
Dr. Linus
Ep 6
Sundown
Ep 5
Lighthouse
Ep 4
The Substitute
Ep 3
What Kate Does
Ep 2
LA X (Part 2)
Ep 1
LA X (Part 1)

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
BROWSE | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use