Hi! I'm Dr. Alpert, part-time Mittelos Bio-Science and also freaky island native

[see you in the next life]

Would anyone care to speculate on how Dr. Alpert can be an island native and over-thrower of the D.H.A.R.M.A. initiative and also be a scientist off-island working for the Mittelos Bio-Science Laboratories? Was he born on the island and truly a native, leaving the island only later to be invoved with Mittelos OR did he come to the island as a Mittelos employee and was he lying/faking as a native of the island?


Does it seem more and more like there may have been competing interests for the unusual properties of the island?


Could there be a war of sorts between Widmore (affiliated with Mittelos) and Hanso Foundation...that resulted in the elimination of the D.H.A.R.M.A. Initiative.

I just found Alperts whole scene odd last night.


Thoughts?

[ILoveEko]

I always figured Mittelos was just a front to get people to come to the island. I mean, Juliet had said before she left with them that no one in the medical profession had even heard of them before, didn't she?

[rvturnage]

I agree...I thought Richard was a native. Mittelos was the Brain-child of Ben to get new people onto the island. Obviously Richard hasn't aged like Ben over the years, so there's something freaky going on. I wonder if the natives of the island somehow don't age after reaching maturity...

[see you in the next life]

So,


Ben spends most of his life on the island.

At some point, he manages to organize Mittelos (off the island) as a front and puts Alpert, an island native, in charge of recruitment.

I wonder if Alpert was born on the island?

I wonder if the island natives know anything about 4-toes statues?

I wonder if Jacob was a result of DHARMA/island native interactions OR if Jacob is simply a product of the island?

If the latter, I wonder why the natives don't have better insight into Jacob----that is, why none of the natives have ever spoken to or simply seen Jacob?

[Boogieman]

Well we know that Mittelos in an anagram for "Time Lost". Who better to start it an drecruit for it than Mr. Time Lost, I'm not aging one bit, Richard.

[LPU]

At this point I lean towards the no such thing as island natives theory. They certainly wanted Ben and the Dharmites to believe that's what they were, but I'd guess that they were a certain force, faction, whatever you want to call it in opposition to Dharma. And Ben didn't recruit them, they recruited Ben. They are conning the con man and have been since day 1.

[Dude Im Lost]

ill tell ya what....id like to see richard with no shoes on....have we ever really played close attention to the feet during the first 2 seasons.....wonder how many toes are on those feet

[ObviouslyNotWorking]

If Ben did organize Mittelos to recruit people to the island, then where is all the money to perform these operations coming from?

[Dharma For One]

Would anyone care to speculate on how Dr. Alpert can be an island native and over-thrower of the D.H.A.R.M.A. initiative and also be a scientist off-island working for the Mittelos Bio-Science Laboratories? Was he born on the island and truly a native, leaving the island only later to be invoved with Mittelos OR did he come to the island as a Mittelos employee and was he lying/faking as a native of the island?


Does it seem more and more like there may have been competing interests for the unusual properties of the island?


Could there be a war of sorts between Widmore (affiliated with Mittelos) and Hanso Foundation...that resulted in the elimination of the D.H.A.R.M.A. Initiative.

I just found Alperts whole scene odd last night.


Thoughts?This could be wrong, but, what we're seeing is that the 'natives' are really disenfranchised Dharma employees, who have been fired and banished to outside of the sonic perimeter. The relationship of Widmore to the Others and the front organization, Mittelos, is interesting. You could be right at hinting at private competing interests on the Island: Hanso/Dharma vs. Widmore/Others.

I agree...I thought Richard was a native. Mittelos was the Brain-child of Ben to get new people onto the island. Obviously Richard hasn't aged like Ben over the years, so there's something freaky going on. I wonder if the natives of the island somehow don't age after reaching maturity...I think that Richard not ageing is because they decided to use the same actor for Richard in Ben's childhood fb. That's so that we could identify the man Ben talked to in the jungle as Richard.

[ILoveEko]

If Ben did organize Mittelos to recruit people to the island, then where is all the money to perform these operations coming from?Good point.

But, they ARE still receiving food drops, etc.

Could they be keeping up appearances (hence still using Dharma stations, their work clothes, etc.) so as to keep Dharma supplying them?

[STEVE_HOLT]

Well we know that Mittelos in an anagram for "Time Lost". Who better to start it an drecruit for it than Mr. Time Lost, I'm not aging one bit, Richard.

I thought it was very telling when ben told richard it was his birthday, and then very coily said "you remember birthdays, don't you Richard?" Seems to me this was clear foreshadowing by TPTB.

However, Something is clearly missing from the equation when we speak of Richard being head recruiter off the island. Where does the funding come from? I doubt dharma would fund such an extensive off island research/recruitment of folks without serious knowledge of the goings on with the island.

It seemed the initial recruitment was very faaar ouut Hippy-esque :Hippy: ! That wouldn't lend itself to a need for hardcore conspiracy oriented recruitment, that we saw when garnering Juliette. So what was the transition from point A to B, and why would Dharma go for it?

As an aside if Roger was that pissed about life on the island, why didn't he ever ask to leave? Hell I'm sure he could have gotten a nice job at a box company or a Mr. Cluck's chicken shack! Are we to just believe that no one could leave the island even back then? :rolleyez:

[DharmaUdonNoodles]

It could also simply be that the Hostiles AREN'T the natives, that is just what the lower ranks in the Dharma group are told. No one wants it to get out that there might be people who were formerly a part of Dharma who are fighting against it (people would want to know why). Much easier to say "oh, those crazy island hillbillies, just stupid people really..so hide when I tell you too!"

Also, we never saw what happened between when Ben's dad refused to be janitor & grabbed Ben & said "we are leaving"...and when we then see Ben in a classroom. Clearly Ben's dad was either convinced to stay or forced. Did Ben witness it?

[audiofreak]

Good point.

But, they ARE still receiving food drops, etc.

Could they be keeping up appearances (hence still using Dharma stations, their work clothes, etc.) so as to keep Dharma supplying them?

But wouldnt Dharma want results of the work? or to speak with people in charge at some point?
They wouldnt just keep dropping food for years without some kind of reviews of the work done

Also related to this topic. Who is covering up the plane crash?
If only Bens people know of the Island and the plane, who would have the resources to cover it up back in the real world?
If Ben did somehow manage to fund that Mittelos Bio Science front is one thing, being able to perform a cover up on that scale is something else

It doesnt add up.. Either that or Dharma or some big organization\government know of the crash and covered it up. which would mean they know whats happening on the Island

hmmm

[nautx99]

Richard Alpert is an anagram for "trap rare child" e.g., ben, walt, other children they took

[rvturnage]

I think that Richard not ageing is because they decided to use the same actor for Richard in Ben's childhood fb. That's so that we could identify the man Ben talked to in the jungle as Richard.

That's crazy. Even if he was supposed to "play younger", as Michael Emmerson did with Ben in later flashbacks, being in the scene with Ben as a pre-teen/early teen, would be silly. By now he'd be old and gray. Even if he was in his early 20's in the scene with Ben, he'd be in his 50s today. Does Richard look in his 50's when he is telling Locke about Ben wanting to humiliate him? He was shown as the same age then, when Ben was a young kid, as now, when Ben is in his 40's. Which means he doesn't age at the same rate, if at all.

[Lawboy]

Let's not forget that one of the Dharma projects was Life Extension. And per TLE, Thomas Mittelwerk broke off from Dharma. Mittelos founder, anyone? Seems a turf war is brewing, and Ben is being played by Alpert hardcore. Ben is stuck in the middle, but I think he understands the politics and chooses to survive, which is why he shot Locke. Ben is the ultimate politician who knows how hte wind is blowing and shifts first before anyone else to save his own hide. But why Alpert needs him now is beyond me.

[rvturnage]

TLE takes place in 2006, not 2004 like action on the TV show.

[Lawboy]

TLE takes place in 2006, not 2004 like action on the TV show.
That is true, but it is island mythology backstory. Mittelwerk had been schemeing a while. Don't see why this can't be part of it. I mean, Mittelos? Has to be a connection.

[see you in the next life]

That's crazy. Even if he was supposed to "play younger", as Michael Emmerson did with Ben in later flashbacks, being in the scene with Ben as a pre-teen/early teen, would be silly. By now he'd be old and gray. Even if he was in his early 20's in the scene with Ben, he'd be in his 50s today. Does Richard look in his 50's when he is telling Locke about Ben wanting to humiliate him? He was shown as the same age then, when Ben was a young kid, as now, when Ben is in his 40's. Which means he doesn't age at the same rate, if at all.


agreed 100%.

If they wanted us to know it was Richard, he could have simply said "my name is Richard. It might be possible for you to come with us.....but you are going to have to be patient."

[see you in the next life]

TLE takes place in 2006, not 2004 like action on the TV show.


yes, that was the thing that MOST annoyed me about TLE.....the poor acting by the Rachel character would be next.

everything else I loved.

[SwaveDave]

Clones have been a topic in the past. Could Richard be a clone of the man Ben met as a child?

[Nevrast]

There's something very strange going on with Richard and the fact that he seems to be a subordinate to Ben right now is even stranger. He is definitely his own agent to some degree, but for some reason looks to Ben as a leader... most likely because of the whole seeing Jacob thing. Perhaps Richard will go to save Locke after he realizes that Ben has done something to him... he seemed to be helpful before with giving Locke the folder, which I now think was him acting on his own rather than Ben telling him to, as evidenced by Ben tonight say "Richard? Why would Richard know?" Ben seems to be very defensive about Richard and somewhat hostile in his interactions with him.

Oh, and then there's the fact that Richard doesn't seem to get old, just gets his hair cut.

[redwithpurpleflashes]

There's something very strange going on with Richard and the fact that he seems to be a subordinate to Ben right now is even stranger. He is definitely his own agent to some degree, but for some reason looks to Ben as a leader... most likely because of the whole seeing Jacob thing.

I don't think it's that odd. There are a lot of stories of "the chosen one", or the messiah. Think Return of the King, everybody recognizes him as the king. I think Locke is there to take over though.

[bigdaddyt98]

I don't think it's that odd. There are a lot of stories of "the chosen one", or the messiah. Think Return of the King, everybody recognizes him as the king. I think Locke is there to take over though.

I agree with Locke eventually taking over and that might be what has Ben freaked out. Think about it, Ben has had control over these people for a long time. Now it`s all falling apart. He feels threatened by Locke, not only for being the "chosen one" but because Jacob actually spoke to Locke. I think that Jacob speaking to Locke is what really freaked out Ben.

[fenshysa]

Maybe Alpert is a robot...

It would allow the possibility to end the season with Locke tearfully lowering him into a giant vat of molten steel as he sadly laments "Now I know why humans cry". :nanabobo:

[Dharma For One]

That's crazy. Even if he was supposed to "play younger", as Michael Emmerson did with Ben in later flashbacks, being in the scene with Ben as a pre-teen/early teen, would be silly.Obviously, in order to show Richard as ageless, you would need to use the actor who plays Richard. So, my 'crazy' point still applies. I could reply that some people simply do not age at the same rate as the general population. They lead healthier lifestyles and have better genes, just like me. Like my photo?

Let's not forget that one of the Dharma projects was Life Extension. And per TLE, Thomas Mittelwerk broke off from Dharma. Mittelos founder, anyone?
But, I won't go there because you make a good point about the Life Extension project. Also, the TLE spoiler info. Thanks you wild and crazy guys!

[Mapilio]

One point: When "young Richard" meets young Ben in the jungle, he is impressed with the fact Ben could see his dead mother. So, the interest in Ben (by Richard) might com from Ben`s ability.

That might be the reason why Ben can see Jacob.

[*Saint*]

One point: When "young Richard" meets young Ben in the jungle, he is impressed with the fact Ben could see his dead mother. So, the interest in Ben (by Richard) might com from Ben`s ability.

That might be the reason why Ben can see Jacob.

So Jacob is dead?

[Millions]

We are totally getting an Alpert flashback next season.

[*Saint*]

We are totally getting an Alpert flashback next season.

I hope so!!!

All I have to say is it's been a long way for him since "Suddenly Susan!!!"

[Hodgepodge]

Moving to the newly created Nestor Carbonell - Richard Alpert forum for continued discussion.

[Waltisthekey]

Dharma for one How can you be so stupid. I think the lost writers and producers will have enough sense to hire a different actor to play Richard when he met younger Ben. Even though people might hvae healthier lifestyles, that does not necessarily mean that the aging process slows down. Let's say current Ben is in his 40's then Richard face remain the same for 30+ years. Thjat is impossible no matter what your lifestyle is.

[LiquidIce]

Richard may not be aging now but clearly at one point he was—he doesn't look like a young guy. He looks like he's in his 40s. I think the implication is that he wasn't born on the island but landed there long ago & stopped aging when he connected with it. I got the strong feeling that he & Jacob (who wears 18th century dress) were originally crewmembers from the Black Rock.

He's seen what being the "chosen one" did to Jacob & has no desire to end up that way so he's happy to let Ben or Locke be chosen instead.

I think the whole immortality/no babies thing and the overall redemption theme of the show are going to come together. Maybe the island shifts people into a sort of pseudo-angelic state. Remember—angels live forever but can't bear children.