For real.

It just kills me how he never ages!!!

He Must Have some really good Botox and a great Plastic surgeron

Must be the eyeliner he has on. Good stuff.

I just think its funny that, based on the timeline, for all we know the 'alpert' baby Locke knew was the father of the 'alpert' we all know and love... Also kinda begs the question.. he's working for a science group (Mittelos), does that mean that perhaps THEY had the island first, then DHARMA took it rendering them outcasts (hostiles), then they took it back?

OH well... .maybe The Alperts can be a spin-off, where it's just a show of clones throughout human history... :P
100%
also, perhaps the reason the Others know so much about everyone is that they've followed all of them throughout part or all of their lives?? Kinda creepy though...

Someone in the watching live thread suggested that he might just be time traveling. I actually think this makes the most sense, seeing as we have had no real indication that the island stops aging, and plenty that it allows time travel.

But Ben made that comment... You do remember birthdays; don't you Richard?

Also, interesting was the Dali Lama like test given to John... which one of these things was already yours? Obviously the book was meant to be his.

Maybe when you travel through time you never age... ;)

Someone in the watching live thread suggested that he might just be time traveling. I actually think this makes the most sense, seeing as we have had no real indication that the island stops aging, and plenty that it allows time travel.This was my husbands theory as well. I'm not sold on it though.

Alpert is so clutch.

I don't know if this is important but
In one of the podcasts Damon and Carlton said the Dharma Shark was born in 1803 and mentioned something about the barings you come to the island on being important.
Granted this could have been a joke but the barings used to come to and from the island are important, Dr. Ray's body travelled back in time, when Desmond and Sayid went to the freighter there was a time displacement. So perhaps whenever Richard first came to the island he floated in a baring which exposed him to properties which stopped his aging process.

Personally I'm hoping for an ageless Richard that can't die until he completes his mission of finding "the one" more than the time-tripping Alpert theory.

doesnt it seem fishy tho that the two people who show up in different facets of 'time' (aka Richard and Dr.Marvin Candle/Wick-whatever) always look the same age regardless of what year or locale the scene is in?

and it leads me to this question ----

wasnt part of this season supposed to do with cloning? remember that teaser on the season 3 dvds about the 'orchid' dharma station? with the bunnies?? it completely alluded to the idea of cloning, or at least dharma having the abilities to test cloning technology....and who better to test it on in humans than two of their most trusted employees?

just a thought

I love Richard Alpert! This was such a surprise (no hint in the preview), his appearance this episode that I screamed out-loud in ageless jubilation.

I don't think that Richard is time-traveling because although we have (apparently) seen the consciousness of Desmond traveling through time, I have not yet seen any evidence that would lead me to believe that Richard could be so easily traveling with his physical body through time. I just do not see how it would work, because the places and time periods he is seen in are so diverse and he always appears to show up at the right time. I do not know how the others (or whoever else richard works or worked with) could have known exactly where and when (and why?) to send Richard back in time. It just wouldn't make a lot of sense, unless Richard was omniscient, which he is obviously not. I think Richard not aging is much more likely and fits with the story better. We already know the Island has healing abilities, so why not the ability to sustain life (or resurrect it?...christian?) for abnormal amounts of time. Also, I don't think Richard is 'ageless', I just think that he ages very slowly. I think that Richard's slowed aging could either be something he was naturally born with, or something that resulted from his being on or traveling to and from the island.

Another possibility that I don't really like could have something to do with the bunny replicating itself in the orchid station. Perhaps Richard can somehow be in multiple places at once, or even in multiple time periods at once. I don't really know how this would work out though.

I didn't think that Richard was time traveling, but then I thought back to that very non-vintage bag he had with him when he went to visit Locke when he was 5 yrs old. It looked like a laptop bag or a leather messenger bag, certainly not something you would have seen in the late 50's/early 60's. And he also had a leather messenger type bag on the island when he gave Locke Sawyer's file (he took it out of that bag). I don't think it was prop error either, since the scene, otherwise, was done so meticulously as far as how things would have looked during that time period.

I think Richard is one of the (immortal) natives or that the island has given him his greatest wish, immortality. One of the Atlantis-Mu-Lemuria myths that comes from China speaks of an ancient Island civilization whose people could fly, and were immortal. And don't forget, Ben's Dharma teacher told of an ancient volcanic eruption on the Island that adds to that particular myth.

I really like lauraroni's theory with the bunnies/cloning. Maybe they're cloning these people AND sending them through time to check up on people like Locke & Juliet at various points in they're lives. Lauraroni you just might be onto something!!

He's our clue that the Locke flashbacks aren't taking place at the times they would have to be if they were really with Locke in them, so they must be fake.

If it's a matter of science, I would say Locke is like Ben in that they are like rabbits with different numbers.

Even though Alpert is talking reincarnation (theology) he runs Mittlelos/Lost Time Labs (science). Reminds me of Hanso's speech again..."create with science the __<missing clip>__ , and when the numbers to the Valenzetti Equation have changed, then we will know that we have found the one true way."

Well the numbers haven't changed, so they haven't found the one true way.

I think Richard is one of the (immortal) natives or that the island has given him his greatest wish, immortality. One of the Atlantis-Mu-Lemuria myths that comes from China speaks of an ancient Island civilization whose people could fly, and were immortal. And don't forget, Ben's Dharma teacher told of an ancient volcanic eruption on the Island that adds to that particular myth.

I am right there with you. I have a list of clues I have been keeping since season 1 that support that they are on the ancient island of Lemuria (aka Land of Mu or the motherland). Richard could be from this ancient civilization...

I don't think that Richard is time-traveling because although we have (apparently) seen the consciousness of Desmond traveling through time, I have not yet seen any evidence that would lead me to believe that Richard could be so easily traveling with his physical body through time. I just do not see how it would work, because the places and time periods he is seen in are so diverse and he always appears to show up at the right time. I do not know how the others (or whoever else richard works or worked with) could have known exactly where and when (and why?) to send Richard back in time. It just wouldn't make a lot of sense, unless Richard was omniscient, which he is obviously not. I think Richard not aging is much more likely and fits with the story better. We already know the Island has healing abilities, so why not the ability to sustain life (or resurrect it?...christian?) for abnormal amounts of time. Also, I don't think Richard is 'ageless', I just think that he ages very slowly. I think that Richard's slowed aging could either be something he was naturally born with, or something that resulted from his being on or traveling to and from the island.

Another possibility that I don't really like could have something to do with the bunny replicating itself in the orchid station. Perhaps Richard can somehow be in multiple places at once, or even in multiple time periods at once. I don't really know how this would work out though.

I agree with this. In The Lost Experience it was revealed that The Hanso Foundation had a Life Extension project involving an orangutan who is/was at least 105 years old. This was Hanso in 2006 and most probably at a time when they didn't have a presence on the island. One of the Dharma stations could have been to research the life extension properties of the island in order to reproduce them in any human. Much like I think The Orchid was trying to harness certain effects the island has.

He's like Keanu Reeves, the man never ages. Go look for yourself!

He's like Keanu Reeves, the man never ages. Go look for yourself!

Haha! Oh Keanu ages, go (re)watch Bill & Ted's sometime compared to now, he's definitely a bit more grizzled.

But Ben made that comment... You do remember birthdays; don't you Richard?

Is it possible that Richard has been present at every "special" person's birthday? Maybe we'll go back to Ben's birth and find out that he was hanging out behind a tree or something.....

For real.

Well,.........he's hot.:hypocrit:

Is it possible that Richard has been present at every "special" person's birthday? Maybe we'll go back to Ben's birth and find out that he was hanging out behind a tree or something.....

Well technically we weren't shown that he was at Locke's birth, he showed up the day that John was finally healthy enough to leave the incubator... which could have been weeks or months later, considering the extreme nature of his premature birth.

Maybe "You remember birthdays don't you?" was a sly dig. A nod to say 'I know the extent of your involvement with John' sort of thing. Ben may have known Richard no longer had his back.

If Richard can time-hop, what we'd call continuity doesn't much mean a damn. Either a life extended Rich was really present at Locke's birth first time around, followed the kid's progress and did the Panchen/Dalai test, or he did the space-time shuffle going back from some point in their future to see John was placed with the correct family and produced the outcome he wanted.

<-- doesn't much trust Tricky Dicky :biggrin: according to something I read researching Matthew, the birds in one of Jesus' parables represent Satan's destroying faith in God.

There are framed pics of birds on the wall behind him in little John's house.

Maybe "You remember birthdays don't you?" was a sly dig. A nod to say 'I know the extent of your involvement with John' sort of thing. Ben may have known Richard no longer had his back.


I don't interpret that quote as being directly related to Locke, but rather meant to be taken as "you don't want people to find out what I know about you, do you?"