Will Richard Alpert be one of Lost’s Unsolved Mysteries?
Does the news that Nestor Carbonell has joined the cast of CBS’s Cane mean we will be seeing less Richard Alpert in season four of Lost? A lot of fans are concerned that is exactly was Carbonell’s new job means, but in reality that is probably not the case.
Lost has had many guest stars since it began that were floating full time gigs elsewhere. Julie Bowen is a prime example. One thing that has yet to be determined is even when it will be appropriate to see Alpert again.
The last time we saw him, Ben was ordering Alpert to continue on to ‘the temple.’ It seems to me that ‘the temple’ is probably going to be this seasons version of a hatch. Mark this down as pure speculation, but I don’t think that we are going to see ‘the temple’ until later into the fourth season. There had to be a very important reason behind the Other’s exodus to the mysterious ruins (?) and even though Lost is in answer mode, I wouldn’t expect the big important reveals to come early on.
Even if it were the case, there is no reason why Carbonell could not fit some Lost filming in at will. With the new approach to Lost’s production, they could conceivably have all of Alpert’s scenes planned out ahead and film them in one chunk.
Until we hear other-wise, keep your concern meters on low when it comes to Alpert pulling a Houdini from Lost’s mysteries.
Well DocArzt,
personally I would LOVE our season opener to include a Black Rock flashback with Magnus Hanso, Richard Alpert, and others that revelaed: their African gold mining/slaves, a “Fountain of Youth” Island tale by a seedy character in a local Papau pub, their secretly coded manifest, sailing east rather than their planned west, struggles in a vicious storm, and their crashing onton our island far from shore … much could follow - RichPundit
Comment by RichPundit — July 12, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Doc,
I don’t want to sound cynical, but this isn’t going to end well. I trust the Lost writers to take us to the end of our journey, but not everything is in their control. Nestor Carbonell may have decided to leave. Still, it wouldn’t make sense for Nestor to leave Lost and star in this weak pilot for “Cane”. Unless they paid him tons of cash…but why would they? He’s certainly not an ad seller like David Caruso!
So it must be because of the writers. If he’s no longer on the show because of the writers, that must mean…he’s going to be killed off.
I hope to hell I’m wrong.
Comment by Higdon — July 12, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
Are we sure that anyone else can see Richard on the Island? How do we know that he is even in physical form on the island?
Could the ability to see Richard on the island be symptomatic of the disease that killed the crew of Daniel’s research team? Do the deaths of her research team (1988) correspond with the Purge?
The point, there may be a built in out for the character.
Comment by TabulaRasa — July 12, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
I think I remember reading in an interview somewhere them saying that we would learn more about the four-toed statue in season four, so the temple sort of echoes that. They must be connected.
Comment by Wasp Jerky — July 12, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
I agree with Wasp, I think that the 4-toed statue (already mentioned to be big in S4) is related to the temple since that seems to be the main focus of the up coming season. I think the idea that the 4-toed statue represents evolution, the stage in human evolution that is. Remember how they were saying something about ‘people with gifts’ at one point or another…maybe that was part of all this…the search for the next stage?? Totally random, sorry for rambling.
Comment by Derek — July 12, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
It’s a shame when this happens, if it means the writers have to change plots or aren’t able to use the character as they intended. I wonder if Ana Lucia would’ve been killed off if the actor playing her didn’t get a DUI?
Comment by TheSlasher — July 12, 2007 @ 11:44 pm
I trust the Lost writers to take us to the end of our journey, but not everything is in their control. Nestor Carbonell may have decided to leave.
He’s always been credited as a guest star. So how can he “leave” a show he’s never joined? Many of LOST’s actors have never been contracted season regulars, so I highly doubt his potentially being on another show would make it impossible for him to put in a few days’ shooting for various episodes of LOST.
Comment by Giovani — July 13, 2007 @ 1:31 am
I don’t think that Richard can simply never appear again. They have created too much of a mystique around this character. Of course, they can always have him appear in the first episode or two and then kill him off. But hopefully not!
Like TabulaRasa’s suggestion that not everyone may be able to see him…that he may be a manifestation of those that believe in the island’s powers.
Comment by Carmela — July 13, 2007 @ 6:14 am
I hope they don’t just leave this one, trying to figure out why alpert appears the same age in the flash backs was one of the biggest mysteries of S3,we had the cable revealed to us,ok that still leaves one or two others,
ok they could reveal it another way but they’ve made the guy to central
Comment by nickk — July 13, 2007 @ 7:58 am
DocArzt’s comment above is interesting: ” ” … Ben was ordering Alpert to continue on to ‘the temple.’ It seems to me that ‘the temple’ is probably going to be this seasons version of a hatch. … “.
I had always thought of the Temple as being ancient ruins connected to 4-Toe, and located at the center of our Island’s power. Perhaps this is true, but also perhaps a large community Dharma station called “The Temple” was built there - RichPundit
Comment by RichPundit — July 14, 2007 @ 5:26 am