Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A+ | 1411 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Is Richard Alpert... Myth-taken?
By Cindy McLennan | Season 6 | Episode 9 | Aired on 2010.03.23
Fun Aside from Wikipedia: "In Robert Graves' historical novel, Hercules, My Shipmate, Graves appears to claim that Tantalus was a member of an invading Greek tribe who was condemned to his torment in Tartarus for refusing to reject his patriarchal deities in favor of a local version of Ashtoreth."
Later, Richard frees the nail and sets to work on detaching his chains from the ship, but it's all to no avail. Later still, as Richard sleeps, we hear a boar snuffling off camera. Richard wakes to find it feasting on the corpses of his fellow prisoners. What a pig! When it notices Richard, it charges at him. Richard defends himself with... the nail. Yeah. The boar laughs so hard it has to run out of the ship. And Richard? He drops the nail -- just out of reach.
Later still, Richard hears a woman's voice. He turns to find Isabella -- a vision (or a vision) in white. She tells her husband that they're both dead and in Hell. "I'm here to save you before he comes back." Who? El Diablo. As Isabella struggles to free Richard, she says, "I looked in his eyes and all I saw was evil." Richard thinks he's seen the devil, too. When the ticka ticka rattle clank starts up, Richard orders a reluctant Isabella to run. He finally convinces her, but once outside, she screams and it sounds like she gets taken by Smokey. A heartbroken Richard collapses in a sobbing heap. Twice he's failed her.
Even later still, Esau/the Man-In-Black (Titus Welliver) shows up with a lantern, a pitcher of water and cups, and touches Richard, who wakes with a start. When Esau tells Richard he's a friend, Richard asks if he's in Hell. Esau lies says, "I'm afraid you are." Richard: "You were not on the ship." Esau: "I was here long before your ship." Richard asks if Esau has seen Isabella. "The black smoke came and she ran." Esau: "And she hasn't come back.... That probably means he has her." When Richard asks who, Esau says, "I think you know who." Soon, Esau presents keys to Richard's manacles, and says he'll release him, if Richard will promise to help him -- if he'll promise to do anything Esau asks. Once he freed, Richard collapses as he thanks Esau, who says, "Of course, my friend." And then: "It's good to see you out of those chains," (just like Faucke). He gets Richard on his feet and brings him out of the ship, as he tells him he's going to need his strength if he's going to escape. When Richard's all escape, Esau says, "That's right. I'm afraid there's only one way to escape from Hell. You're going to have to kill the devil." Dun.