Viewer Mail #2: The Ageless Richard Alpert

Today's Viewer Mail post is for Ricki, my next door neighbor, giver of beer, gracious provider of backyard runs for my dog and inquisitive Dharma Blog reader. So Maggie and I shall answer the question that haunts her consistently. And that question is...

Is Richard human? Why doesn't he age? This is driving me nuts!

Shit.

Way to pick the hardest question ever, neighbor. But Maggie and I are ready to tackle it. In fact, we spent a whole hour on iChat discussing this very issue. The following is a transcript of that conversation - complete with a Sunday School lesson and a trip to ancient Egypt - which we hope will shed some light on the issue. Please forgive our occasional bouts of ridiculousness throughout the conversation.

Maggie
Aloha.

Charlie
Let's flesh out this Walk Like a Richard theory.

Maggie
Great idea. I think it might suck. But - at the same time - it was sort of a light bulb moment. Here goes:

I have spent a lot of time during the last week thinking about the Lost/Egypt connection. Like many people, I quickly made the assumption after the statue reveal (in combination with the hieroglyphics we’ve seen all over the place on the island…and Richard’s eyeliner) last week that Egyptians played a role (at some point) in either the establishment or preservation of the island. However, what if it is the other way around? Instead of “Is Richard Egyptian (does he look like an Egyptian)?” should we be asking, "Do Egyptians look like Richard?"

Charlie
So you're implying that Richard and the Island are at the heart of civilization? You have also mentioned that since the Island's exit hole is Tunisia, then the Island could've populated civilization as we know it (in Egypt). Am I correct?

Because if I am, then you are awesome. And insane.

Maggie
Ha! Well, think about it...

If our island has always existed…and the powers/qualities that is has have always been there (including the escape portal that leads to Tunisia), what if the early inhabitants (and I’m talking really early…generations and generations ago) of the island departed the island through the portal and populated Africa…and, in turn, all of humanity? At this point, it looks like you can only get a one-way ticket to Tunisia – there has been no proof (or indication) that you can get a return trip to the island. Instead, you have take a submarine/boat/plane through the specific (and ever-changing) time fold in order to return to the island.

But we've seen a lot of other Egyptian references on the show...not just Richard's eyeliner or the statue.

1. Hieroglyphics on the Hatch countdown timer, on the Temple, and down by the donkey wheel.

2. When Locke visited Hurley in Santa Rosa, Hurley was drawing a picture of the Great Sphinx.

3. Paul, Amy's now-dead husband, was wearing an Ankh. In addition to being a word that appears to be missing a vowel, an ankh is hieroglyphic that represents "life."

4. Oh, also there were hieroglyphs on Ben's secret door.

Charlie
Maggie. Dare I say, you are talking like an Egyptian.

Let me put it another way for you, my dear constant: Say the Island is indeed the source of civilization. In Christianity, it is believed that the Garden of Eden was the source of all mankind. And think back to Season 1 when Jack took everyone to live in the caves. What did they find there? Two mysterious skeletons, that were mega-old. And what did they call them? Adam. And. Eve. That would be a not-so-subtle tip of the hat to your theory.

Additionally...
The skeletons were holding one black stone and one white stone. This black/white symbolism has pervaded the show since day 1.

Are the writers implying that these originators of humanity struggled with the same kind of ambiguous moral delineations that our Oceanic survivors are struggling with to this day?

And/or, are they making a commentary on the nature of good and evil? Classically, Eve is painted as the original sinner. Maybe by planting black and white stones on the skeletons, they're telling us that both Adam and Eve were good and bad - that the concept of sin and evil is not so, well, black and white.

Maggie
I think you're absolutely onto something here.

Charlie
This is why we're friends.

Maggie
And constants.

Black and white are used to represent contrast in the show - from the title page of the show, to the Dharma logos, to the chess/backgammon pieces, to the very stones you're talking about.
A little bit of research this morning taught me that Black and White also had very serious symbolism in Ancient Egypt.

Charlie
Do go on.

Maggie
Black symbolized fertility, new life, and resurrection. White was the color of purity, sacredness, cleanliness, and simplicity.
The one stickler here with the Adam/Eve, white/black, sin/purity theory will be the clothing that Adam and Eve were wearing.
As you'll recall, there were still remnants of their clothes when they were found by Jack back in House of the Rising Sun.

Charlie
Yes, yes indeed. But would those caves have acted as a partial entombment, helping to preserve them?

Maggie
Definitely the caves helped preserve the clothes - but Jack guesstimated that they died between 40 - 50 years ago, based on the deterioration.
This brings us back to the question of time passing on the island -- if Jack's time window is correct, these people died between 1954 and 1964.
This is interesting to note since we have time traveled to 1954 already (in Jughead). So, make your own theories on that one, but it could be that we met Adam and Eve during that episode...

But let's go back to the question of Richard -- ageless boy wonder or dead-as-a-doornail?

Charlie
Ageless boy wonder! Ageless boy wonder!

Maggie
Let the record state that I don't think he is dead either. Remember when Ben said "You still remember birthdays, don't you, Richard?"

Okay - there are a few options about where he came from. My Egyptian theory of the day says he is from...well...I guess he is formed from dust. And is the original of all originals. If this is true...we are the descendants of one hot Adam.

Charlie
Classy.

Maggie
But seriously. What do you think about the Trinity idea? 3 in 1 -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Father = Jacob.
Son = Richard.
Holy Spirit = Smokey?

Charlie
Hmm. I'd buy 2 of 3. But I think Locke is the Son.

Maggie
Okay so Holy Spirit = Jacob, Son = Locke, Father = Richard?

Charlie
No, Father = Jacob. Son = Locke. Holy Spirit = Smokey.
I mean just look at Locke’s entire journey. If heaven/paradise is the Island (and according to Locke, it's something that amounts to that), then, ahem, "God (Jacob) so loved the world (or feared its demise) that he gave his one and only son (Locke), that whoever believes in him (Richard, Jack, more) shall not perish but have eternal life."

Eternal life! In this case, Richard being a believer in the power of this entire ritualistic Island society may be the cause of his agelessness.

But Locke's journey to the mainland mirrored Jesus' on-earth time (if my Sunday school lessons aren't too long forgotten). He came, he tried to convince, but didn't do so by being pushy (I mean, weren't you struck by how passive he seemed about things when people didn't want to believe him) and he had to sacrifice himself in order to atone for the sins (disbelief) of other people.

Maggie
Whoah, Charlie. Put down your Bible.

Charlie
I actually Googled "John 3:16.” There's a first time for everything.

Maggie
Yeah, I could definitely go for that theory. Absolutely. So based on that, Richard is the faithful believer.

Charlie
You’re the Sunday School teacher, who would that make Richard?
Paul? Peter? Phil?
Was there a Phil?

Maggie
There was an apostle named Philip. Maybe he went by Phil. IDK.

But if John is Jesus...and the island is heaven...and the U.S. mainland (and then some) is "earth"... Richard would be, kinda, St. Peter.

Charlie
Ahh, the gatekeeper?

Maggie
Well, eventually he became the gatekeeper. He started as a fisherman. Who was one of the first to follow Jesus. Or, believe enough to follow Jesus. He's like the super disciple. If the disciples were a club, he was the President.

Charlie
Did he have a gavel? Was there a pancake feed?
Sorry.

Maggie
Yeah, there was a pancake feed. But instead of serving pancakes, they served fish.

Charlie
Gotcha.

Maggie
After the resurrection, Peter was the first person Jesus appeared to. I mean, I think Richard is Peter in your analogy. The only weird part is the three denials thing. You know - where Peter denied Jesus three time before his death.

Actually - HOLD UP

HOLD UP

Okay. There WERE three denials!
(1) When Locke was born
(2) When he visited 5 year old Locke
(3) Teenager Locke!
Ahhh!
All three times, Richard did not believe that Locke was the chosen one!

Charlie
Oh MAN! Good one!

Maggie
OMG!

Charlie
OMJacob!

Maggie
OMHeck!

Charlie
Man, gooooood one. You just nailed that.

Maggie
Thanks.

Charlie
Okay, so biblically analogous character relationships aside, why can't Richard age?

Maggie
Okay, so after Peter died, he was made a Saint. And his heavenly job (no recession up there at the time) was to guard the gate. So, in a sense, he has been frozen in time -- ageless, if you will -- with the task of guarding the gates of heaven. I mean - it isn't a great analogy.

Charlie
It works for me.

Maggie
But, in the sense that his (Richard's) role is to protect heaven (i.e. the island), it definitely could work.

Charlie
So is LOST's end game a gigantic biblical analogy? Or is it a reinterpretation of the bible story? OR. Are they pitching it as the literal explanation of Christianity? That Locke really is Jesus, etc.

Maggie
What if the Temple was built over Richard's burial place, a la St. Peter's Basillica in Rome?

Charlie
Could be. I think the places, structures and locations all have a lot that need examining. Funny, we've gone from Richard the Egyptian demigod to Richard the St. Peter in like 45 minutes.

Maggie
Yeah, I'm not surprised. We're intense like that. Well, I think that the Christianity aspect of it is undeniable. I don't think it is the only explanation, though.

But whoa: in addition to Locke, there were 12 main survivors of the crash.
Hello, 12 disciples.
When
is
your
pancake
feed
?

Charlie
12? Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Charlie, Sun, Jin. That's 8.

Maggie
Michael, Walt, Boone, Shannon.

Charlie
Boone, Shannon, Claire, Michael.

Maggie
Damn!

Charlie
Damn!

Maggie
Okay, well. I thought wrong.

Charlie
Is Michael Judas? We could probably do a whole separate post comparing each survivor to a disciple.

Maggie
But seriously - both explicit and implicit Christianity references are freaking everywhere.

Charlie
And Nikki and Paolo are thieves in the temple!

So let's wrap up here:
Richard Alpert. Ageless. Explanations:
1. He is the overseer of the creation and propagation of civilization, dating back to ancient Egypt.
2. He is St. Peter, a gatekeeper to the Island paradise, with strong ties to Christ (Locke), God (Jacob), Adam and Eve (Adam and Eve) and The Holy Spirit (Smokey).
3. Botox.

Maggie
Right.
And the things-we-know-are-out-there-but-we-have-no-idea:
1. Aaron
2. Walt
I mean, we know they are important. But we don't know why.

Charlie
Indeed. Good talk!

Maggie
Great!



(And....scene).

That's what we think. How about you? You buying the whole Richard-as-St. Peter thing? What about the Egyptian angle? Or do you have an entirely different (and less whacked out) theory about Richard? Ricki, I hope this helps answer your question, or at least gives you some things to think about. If not, I suppose I do owe you and the hubby a beer.

Until tomorrow!

Namaste.
Charlie