I’d like to present a seemingly random chain of events and show how we can relate “The first murder” to the chemical-electric thought processes of the human brain and Daniel Faraday’s namesake:

The first murder, according to the Bible, was committed by Adam and Eve’s son Cain. The victim was his brother Abel. This was a premeditated crime brought on by avarice. Some say this was the moment that evil was let loose on the world. Logically then, Evil was a concept that mankind had not yet encountered. Up to that point man was happy with his/her close connection to god, the earth, family, etc. This was a new concept for man. It was a new thought.

Thoughts are electrochemical responses to stimuli in our brains and bodies. Another way to say it is; thoughts are energy. So, when that first murder was committed, a new energy was created or accessed for the first time by a man. In this way, one could theorize that, by thinking about evil we sort of create it. We feed it by giving it the energy of our thoughts.

You think of a wonderful thought!

Now lets go a little crazier.

I really enjoyed the whole “Cork in the bottle” analogy, and I’d like to take this whole thought is electric energy idea and add to it. Lets say for a moment that MIB/ Flocke/ Smokey is an ancient deity and embodiment of EVILLLLLL!!!!!! He is an abstract concept with sentience that has but one purpose, to do EVILLLLLLLL!!!!! He is an idea, and he got out once. He got out and let a teeny tiny part of himself loose in the world corrupting mankind forever. That small part was the idea for ‘murder.’

I bet he just wants to join the E.L.E.

So, if he is a self-aware idea, then it is safe to say that he is a pure energy being. This energy is pure and concentrated and he can/ will invade our minds and infect us, like a disease, like what is wrong with Claire and Sayid…..? Hmmm? I’m just making this up as I go along, and even I’m surprised by that revelation.

What if the actual Smokey creature, when freed from his island prison, was able to infect billions of people? What if the whole world was suddenly irreparably EVIL?!

This freight train of an idea leads straight towards a problem though. How do you trap an Evil Energy being on an island?!

“Easy” I say. You build a humongous Faraday Cage of course!

From Wikipedia:

Michael Faraday, FRS (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist (or natural philosopher, in the terminology of the time) who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.

And…

Faraday built two devices to produce what he called electromagnetic rotation: a continuous circular motion from the circular magnetic force around a wire and a wire extending into a pool of mercury with a magnet placed inside would rotate around the magnet if supplied with current from a chemical battery. The latter device is known as a homopolar motor. These experiments and inventions form the foundation of modern electromagnetic technology.– hmmmmm?

And the cage:

A Faraday cage, or Faraday shield, is an enclosure formed by conducting material or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static electric fields.

Also…

The metal layers are grounded to dissipate any electric currents generated from the external electromagnetic fields and thus block a large amount of the electromagnetic interference.

Faraday Cage

So, the cage would dissipate any energy that touched it to keep the items within safe from any outer energy. It stands to reason that it would keep energy ‘out’ or ‘in.’ Perhaps it could keep an evil energy creature trapped on an island?

And…

Note that the reception of external radio signals, a form of electromagnetic radiation, through an antenna within a cage can be severely reduced or even totally blocked by the cage itself. – Like the French transmission being kept from transmitting off the island.

So I’ll sum up. If the island is a Faraday Cage containing a murderous sentient Idea in an eternal prison so it can’t infect the human race with pure evil, then maybe I’m onto something here.

My brain is tired.

Let me know if any of this makes any sense. I think I went a little mad with this one.

Some thoughts about “Ab Aeterno.”

Sitting around a fire was a perfect setting for a good old ghost story involving a loved one’s death, a murder, a shipwreck, the personification of evil tempting you to murder the personification of good, and a tragic wish.

The transition from Richard trudging through the darkness of the jungle to his 1860’s feverish full gallop perfectly set the tone for the episode and let us, the audience, know that we were in for some amazing wide-screen spectacular television.

We always new there was something special about Richard. He has been a mediator, a supervisor, a messenger, and some would even say he is the “word of god”, or at least the god of the island, Jacob. He was one of the Others-in-charge that we saw back in the mainland, cryptically looking for recruits to bring back to the island. He tested children by offering them a knife or a compass forty some odd years ago. He seems to appear at will from the island’s secret embrace. Even with all of these amazing feats, Richard always seems oddly human with all his foibles, failings, and concerns. He’s just been this guy that ages really well and has a fondness for eyeliner. This episode gave Richard something that he desperately needed, a depth of character and motivation.

Richard, then known as Ricardo, spent his life attempting to rise above his social station, which is that of a farmer/ laborer. He was teaching himself English in hopes of traveling to the new world with his wife. A moment of passion later, and Ricardo is a murderer and soon a widower. Faced with death by hanging, he begs a Padre for penance. The Padre informs him that he should prepare to meet with the devil. Fate (or Jacob) has other plans though. Richard is pulled by Jacob’s invisible hand of fate to the island to act as a pawn in a cosmic game to prove a point about mankind.

After encountering both sides controlling this cosmic board game, he is offered the chance to get ‘anything in the world.” Since, his first two choices (reuniting with his wife and absolution for his sins) were not in the cards, Ricardo’s third choice was a tragic impetuous option, “Then I do not want to die.” This poor shattered man would live forever, because a small minded Padre told him to prepare to meet the devil.

This episode was able to convincingly and organically transform Richard, one of the Island’s most enigmatic MacGuffins, into one of the most richly colorful characters.

Quick sidebar:

Hugo seems to be getting some terrific on-the-job training. He has embraced his position as an intermediary between the living and the dead. Does this make him the most viable candidate to replace Jabob as the protector of the cork that is the island? No. In my opinion it qualifies him to replace Richard as the mouthpiece of the protector. Richard has earned his peace many many times over, and I hope he gets it. Unfortunately that means he’ll have to die.

Speaking of Sidebars, what happened to the Sideways universe in Ab Aeterno? I suppose we saw it, because the past of both universes is the same, so Richard would have the same story in either universe.

Hope to get a “Lil’ Ben” out tomorrow!

Enjoy Episode 10, “The Package” tomorrow!