Lost!

[innerSpaceman]

Sorry, where did the script say that? I must have missed it. You're welcome to your interpretation.

Mine is, of course, my own. But I based it on Nestor's performance at that moment. That's how I saw it.


Yeah, he had a fear of hell. But seeing as he seemed convinced what he thought was hell for a while really was not, I have a hard time believing fear of hell was paramount in his mind at the moment.

His first two choices were things the episode clearly established were deep desires. Live Forever never came up once before Richard asked for it kinda despondently when his real wishes were stymied.


Either way, he obviously got a bum deal. They must not have had tv or radio or books or such in 1837, because everyone knows you should never wish to live forever. Poor stupid Ricardo.



In any event, and I'll leave this to more die-hard Lost experts - but just what has Richard been doing to fulfill his job to intervene against the influence of MIB during his ensuing eternity on the Island?

[SzczerbiakManiac]

The priest in the jail told Ricardo he did not have enough time to serve penance for his crime. It seems logical/plausible to me that Ricardo would choose to live forever so he would not go to Hell and have the time to pay for his ultimate sin.

Speaking of that smokin' hot immortal, why was he called Ricardus <sp?> if his original name was Ricardo? Isn't Ricardus the Latin version of Richard? I realize he's Latino, but that's really not the same thing.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by SzczerbiakManiac

why was he called Ricardus <sp?> if his original name was Ricardo? Isn't Ricardus the Latin version of Richard? I realize he's Latino, but that's really not the same thing.

I may have figured this out. I remember Juliet speaking Latin. She said The Others used it as a secret language or something like that. Perhaps they got to know him as "Ricardus" whilst speaking Latin and it just stuck?

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Yeah, he had a fear of hell. But seeing as he seemed convinced what he thought was hell for a while really was not, I have a hard time believing fear of hell was paramount in his mind at the moment.

The three wishes were exactly in order and tied in directly with what happened earlier in the episode.

Wish 1...Wants wife back/kills for medicine.

Wish 2...Wants to avoid hell/asks priest to forgive his sins.

Wish 3...Wants to live forever/priest told him he didn't have time to make up for his sins.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by SzczerbiakManiac

Speaking of that smokin' hot immortal, why was he called Ricardus <sp?> if his original name was Ricardo? Isn't Ricardus the Latin version of Richard? I realize he's Latino, but that's really not the same thing.

Fine. Now I can't stop thinking of him as Ricky Ricardus.

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

The three wishes were exactly in order and tied in directly with what happened earlier in the episode.

Wish 1...Wants wife back/kills for medicine.

Wish 2...Wants to avoid hell/asks priest to forgive his sins.

Wish 3...Wants to live forever/priest told him he didn't have time to make up for his sins.

Well, he specifically advised he didn't have time because they were hanging him in the morning. The corollary that you must live forever to have the time if a few hours is not enough does not compute and I can't accept such a leap of illogic as a motivation for Ricky Ricardus.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Well, he specifically advised he didn't have time because they were hanging him in the morning. The corollary that you must live forever to have the time if a few hours is not enough does not compute and I can't accept such a leap of illogic as a motivation for Ricky Ricardus.

With so many more important questions un-answered by this show I am not going to fall into wondering what Richards "real" motivation for living forever is......the answer was given last night(weak though it may have been); that question will not be re-visited so one has to either accept it(and I do) or not accept it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Sorry, where did the script say that? I must have missed it. You're welcome to your interpretation.

From memory, so no exact quotes but the exchange was...

Ricardo: Can you bring my wife back?
Jacob: No can do.
Ricardo: Can you absolve me of my sins so I don't got to Hell?
Jacob: That's a negative
Ricardo: Then I want to live forever.

I'm 99% sure that last one IS an exact quote, the "then" being the key. He realized what dying meant - not seeing his wife, and going to hell. Without a way out of that, living forever was a better choice than death, even as he knew that living forever would be its own torture.