The group splits up, some go with Richard & the rest with Hurley

At the flaming wreckage of the Black Rock, Richard is preparing to go to the Dharma barracks to get grenades and other explosives. Jack wants Richard to slow down and Hurley pipes up saying that they should go talk to Locke. He says that Jacob is there now and told him that is what they should do. Richard wants proof that Jacob is there and tells Hurley to ask Jacob what the island is. Hurley tells Richard that he has nothing to prove to him. Richard says that he's lying because Jacob never tells them what to do.

Richard says that he's going to destroy the plane and asks who is coming with him. Ben and Miles both choose to go with him while Frank, Sun and Jack decide to stick with Hurley. As Richard's group leaves, Hurley looks panicked about his own plan.

It's certainly worth nothing that all of the candidates stuck with Hurley, which may not bode well for Richard's group.

Hurley blows up the Black Rock + Ben ponders Ilana's death

As the beach camp gang make their way across the island towards the Black Rock, Ben ponders Ilana's death. He says that she was handpicked by Jacob and trained to protect the candidates. He continues saying shortly after she told the candidate who they were, the island was done with her and she died. He says he wonders what will happen the rest of them once the island is finished with them.

As the group reaches the Black Rock, Richard notices that Hurley is missing. Suddenly they hear him screaming "Run!" and "Go!" as he runs away from the Black Rock which is destroyed in a massive explosion. Everyone is thrown to the ground as pieces of the ship rain down around them.

Richard screams at Hurley asking him why he did that and Hurley simply says that he was protecting the group. Richard says that now they're all dead and walks off.

Miles goes to Hurley and asks him why he blew up the Black Rock. Hurley tells him that Michael told him to and that people come to him and yell at him after they die. When Miles questions whether he always does what the dead people say, and Hurley replies "Dead people are more reliable than alive people."

Well, that's likely the last we'll be seeing of the Black Rock, at least in the present. We've been there a lot this season, so it will be nice to move on.

The man in black releases Richard from his chains

As Richard lies passed out on the floor of the Black Rock, the man in black enters the ship (he is in the form we saw him in "The Incident" talking to Jacob). He touches Richard on the shoulder, which causes him to wake up shocked.

The man in black gives Richard some water and Richard asks him he is in hell. The man in black says that they are in hell and that he's been on the island long before the Black Rock crashed there.

Richard asks about his wife and the man in black says that "he" must have her, implying Jacob. He says that he'll help Richard and set him free from the chains as long as he agrees to do anything he asks. Richard agrees to the deal.

After releasing him from the chains, the man in black says "It's good to see you out of those chains," the same thing he said to Richard as Locke in "LA X." Then he says that if they are going to escape from hell (the island), they'll have to kill the devil (Jacob).

So how long before the Black Rock crashed did the man in black become trapped on the island and is this his original human form? It seems that even in the 1800s, he was still a master manipulator.

The smoke monster kills Whitfield & other officers but spares Richard

The Black Rock is sitting in the jungle during the day. Richard and Ignacio wake up and hear the officers above. One says that Captain Hanso is dead. They call up to the deck for help and Jonas Whitfield comes down.

Instead of helping them, Whitfield kills three of the surviving slaves, including Ignacio. He says that only five officers have survived and they have limited supplies and fresh water. As he's about to kill Richard, Whitfield says that if he doesn't kill him, it'll only be a matter of time before Richard kills him.

Suddenly, we hear the familiar sound of the smoke monster, who ravages the officers on deck. In burst through the ship and grabs Whitfield before slowly sliding back into the ship. It creeps up to Richard and does it's little flashing snapshots, much like it did to Juliet in the season 3 episode "Left Behind." When Richard opens his eyes, he finds that the smoke monster has silently disappeared.

So why at this point does the smoke monster kill everyone but Richard, but in the future, it seems to let a lot more people live? Is it because Jacob's plan and the rules involved have yet to completely evolve, or was Richard specially selected by Jacob for a purpose?

The Black Rock crashes into Taweret statue on the island

The Black Rock is tossed about in the ocean by a nasty storm. Richard and another slave passenger named Ignacio are struggling to avoid being tossed about themselves. Ignacio looks through a hole in the ship and sees the island. Then he also sees the statue of Taweret (the four-toed statue) which he says is the devil that is guarding the island. Richard cowers in a corner, clutching the gold cross as a giant wave propels the Black Rock into the head of the statue.

So we finally learn how exactly Richard came to be on the island and why only the foot of the statue was left, all in one short scene. Truly awesome.

Richard wants to die, Jack lights dynamite at Black Rock

On their trek across the island, Hurley quizzes Richard asking if he's time traveling, a cyborg or a vampire, to each of which Richard answers no. They then approach the Black Rock instead of the temple and Richard tells them that everyone at the temple was dead, but their friends were not there. He then tells Hurley not to believe anything Jacob told him.

Richard approaches the Black Rock, telling them that he's going inside to die. Once inside, Richard examines some empty chains and tells Jack that he hasn't been back to the Black Rock since he was first there, implying what many have thought, that he was a slave on the ship. He opens a crate of dynamite ignoring Hurley's emphatic warnings and tells them that he can't kill himself because Jacob touched him which was supposed to be a gift, but was really a curse. Richard slams a stick of dynamite down and nothing happens.

Richard says that he devoted his life to Jacob who told him he had a plan which he would one day reveal and that he would be a part of. Now that Jacob's dead, Richard says that his entire life had no purpose and that if someone else lights the fuse, then he can die. Jack lights the fuse but then sticks around for a chat.

Richard tells Jack that he should go or he's going to die, but Jack tells him that he thinks that won't happen. Jack tells him about what he and Hurley experienced at the lighthouse and that Jacob has been watching him since he was a small child. Jack says that if Jacob went to all the trouble to watch him and bring him to the island, that he's not going to let him die there. Jack closes his eyes as the spark approaches the dynamite and then it goes out at the last moment. Jack smiles and asks Richard if he wants to try another stick.

Richard now seems convinced to follow Jack and asks what they should do next. Jack says they'll go back to where they started, which is the beach camp.

So there are a few lofty answers here. We now know what Jacob's touch means and essentially that Richard was a slave on the Black Rock. The touch explains why Michael couldn't kill himself in season 4, but when did Jacob touch him?

Jacob and his nemesis discuss the Black Rock, a good look at the four-toed statue [UPDATE: Taweret]

Jacob leaves the four-toed statue chamber to check his wicker fish trap and then cooks a fish he finds in it on a rock. As he sits on the beach eating it, he looks out at the Black Rock sailing in the distance. A man in a dark tunic walks up behind Jacob and asks if he can join him. Jacob asks him if he wants some fish and the man says he already ate.

Here's the transcript of their intriguing conversation.

Jacob: I take it you're here cause of the ship.
Jacob's enemy: I am. How did they find the island?
Jacob: You'll have to ask them when they get here.
Jacob's enemy: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?
Jacob: You are wrong.
Jacob's enemy: Am I? They come. Fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
Jacob: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, is just progress.
Jacob's enemy: You have any idea how badly I want to kill you?
Jacob: Yes.
Jacob's enemy: One of these days, sooner or later, I'm going to find a loophole my friend.
Jacob: Well when you do I'll be right here.
Jacob's enemy: Always nice talking to you Jacob.
Jacob: Nice talking to you too.

As the other man gets up and leaves, the camera pans up to give us a complete look at the four-toed statue, except for a direct view of the front. There is still some speculation about what mythological creature the statue is supposed to represent.

[UPDATE: According to a re-cap of the episode released by ABC, the statue is the goddess Taweret. I guess everyone can stop speculating now. Taweret was a patron of childbirth and a protector of women and children. Her husband was Apep, the ancient spirit of evil. Click each of their names to learn more about them.]

So. Jacob seems to be the one that brings people to the island. Does that mean that Oceanic 815 was brought there by him and not Desmond not pushing the button in the Swan station? Why can't Jacob's mysterious friend/enemy kill Jacob? Jacob seems to think that with every group of people that come to the island, progress is made. The question is, what is Jacob making progress towards? What is his goal in the end? And one more. Who is the other man? With the contrasting white and black attire, does Jacob represent good and the other man evil? There could be a million other questions asked about this scene, but I'll leave the discussion to you.

Inside Charles Widmore's penthouse - the confrontation

Ben confronts Charles Widmore in his penthouse and there is a heated exchange. Widmore is now keeping a bottle of MacCutcheon scotch whiskey next to his bed since "the nightmares started." We first saw MacCutcheon in "Flashes Before Your Eyes," both in Widmore's office as well as on the island when Charlie, Desmond and Hurley are singing and drinking around the fire.

In the last screen, you can see the painting of the Black Rock that Widmore won in an auction in "The Constant" [see this post]. It's on the wall in the top left corner.

Ben informs Widmore of his plan to kill Penny as revenge for Alex's death in the scene. Will Sayid be told to kill Penny? Why does Widmore say that Ben took all he has from him? This scene poses a million questions.

The Black Rock ledger auction

Mr. Charles Widmore bids on the ledger of the first mate from the Black Rock at Southfield's and wins it. We see a painting of the Black Rock along with the ledger by the ledger.

In the Find 815 game, Oscar Talbot mentions that his employers had the ledger. Talbot worked for a division of the Widmore Corporation.

Return to the Black Rock

Locke returns to the Black Rock with Sawyer where he's keeping Anthony Cooper/Tom Sawyer/etc, etc. We first saw the Black Rock in "Exodus" in season one.


Here's the remains of one of the slaves on the ship.