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Parody Alert! This article's subject matter is parodical and non-canon in nature (but distinct from hoax and serious fanon material) This material is generally fan-created, but occasionally from official or commercial sources. |
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"Wrestling With Angels" is a fake episode of Lost that has become a highly popular in-joke on the Broadcast TV forum of gaming website GameFAQs. While most members dispute the "events" that will allegedly occur in the episode, the unanimously agreed-upon detail is that the episode is Richard-centric.
Origin[]
Richard Alpert's mysterious backstory will be explained.
Richard Alpert's popularity[]
Richard Alpert has long been a popular character on the Broadcast TV board and other Lost forums. Reasons for his popularity include his calm and collected demeanor, the mysteries surrounding his identity and history, and his sarcastic attitude (one quote from "Because You Left", "it points north, John," has become highly popular). Richard scenes that are often spoofed or parodied include his viewing of Locke's birth in "Cabin Fever", shooting Keamy in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2", giving Locke the compass in "Because You Left", and strolling into the Barracks and sticking a torch in the ground in "LaFleur".
Richard's popularity waned somewhat at the end of season 5, as it was slowly revealed that Richard knew less about the island than was previously thought, culminating in the revelation that the Man in Black had duped him into thinking Locke was special. Richard's beating at the hands of the Man in Black in "LA X, Part 2" represented another small drop in his popularity among forumgoers. However, the majority continue to proliferate Richard jokes, often incorporating these seeming setbacks as part of Richard's "master plan" for the island.
The joke is born[]
In February 2009, a user posted a topic claiming to know the titles of all remaining episodes of season 5. While the majority were correct, some were not, immediately disproving the user's post. Of the various titles, the season 5 finale was allegedly titled "Wrestling With Angels" and would feature flashbacks from Richard Alpert. DarkUFO confirmed "Wrestling With Angels" and the other titles posted by the user as hoaxes. However, as Richard is an extremely popular character on the forum (usually elevated to an exaggerated status like that of Chuck Norris), many users continued to proliferate the joke episode, and it quickly caught on. Some users will incorrectly cite a March 2009 joke topic filled with nonsensical season 6 episode titles as the origin of this episode. However, said topic did originate "The Toolbox," a fake Frank Lapidus-centric episode stemming from a comment made by Martin Keamy in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2" ("How'd he get the toolbox?").
Forum users regularly create topics discussing the imaginary and often exaggerated events that will apparently happen in the episode. These sometimes take the form of post-episode topics where users act as though "Wrestling With Angels" just aired and they are discussing the events that occured. The forum's weekly Lost episode rating topic features a chart of all episodes and their ratings; "Wrestling With Angels" is included on the chart as a season 7 episode with a rating of 10/10, making it the highest rated "episode" of Lost on the forum. However, most users agree that "Wrestling With Angels" will be the final "episode" of the show, airing as part of season 6 in May 2010.
The title refers to the Biblical myth of Jacob wrestling an angel.
"Ab Aeterno" and current status[]
As of season 6, the "Wrestling With Angels" meme is still strong on the Broadcast TV forum, despite several hits to Richard's popularity at the end of season 5. Many continue to pretend the "episode" will air as the series finale in May 2010.
On March 23, 2010, the first Richard-centric episode, "Ab Aeterno", finally aired. The episode featured lengthy and revealing flashbacks about Richard and his relationship with Jacob and the Man in Black. Reception to the episode was highly positive, even on the Broadcast TV board, where huge and unrealistic expectations had been set by the "Wrestling With Angels" meme. Many attempted to find parallels between the fake episode and the real events portrayed.
Plot[]
Opening scene[]
Fight scene: Richard vs the Others[]
Plot points[]
The Monster will allegedly play a large part in the "episode."
Because the episode is not real, no one can unanimously agree on what will happen in the episode. However, some details appear more frequently than others when users discuss the "episode":
- A lesbian sex scene between Kate and Juliet. Sometimes, other female characters like Claire are mentioned as taking part in the scene. Sawyer is often said to either watch, video tape, or participate in the scene.
- The eruption of the volcano, with Richard often diving into the volcano or hang gliding over it.
- A battle between Richard and Jacob (as "illustrated" in the infobox image), which is often mentioned as taking place inside the volcano as it erupts.
- A battle between Richard and the Monster. The Monster is sometimes included as an ally of Richard instead of an enemy.
- After events revealed in "The Incident, Part 2" and "LA X, Part 2", most topics have Richard fighting the Monster.
- Explanations will be provided for many, if not all, of the major mysteries on the show, including the Monster, Richard's agelessness, and Jacob.
- Jacob descending from Heaven completely naked.
- Rose and Bernard are almost always mentioned as taking part in the episode's events.
- The return of past characters, including a zombie Nikki and Paulo, is a common theme in the episode.
- Vincent is usually said to participate heavily in the episode, and has the ability to talk. Users will often claim that Vincent possesses powers like transforming into Jacob, the Monster, or another character.
- Richard's origins are variously explained as being a member of the Black Rock, an ancient Egyptian, or the first human being on Earth.
- Frank Lapidus and Martin Keamy are often said to take part in the episode's events. Both characters are popular on the forum due to their banter in the final episodes of season 4.
- The "Jackface" phenomenon being explained as a secret plot element.
- A common theme is the idea that Richard is secretly the father of one, many, or all of the characters.
- Richard's "eyeliner" is often claimed to be relevant to the plot of the episode.
- Richard bringing the four-toed statue to life and having it throw the Jughead bomb into the sky before it explodes.
- Charles Widmore riding the Jughead bomb in a Dr. Strangelove-style scene.
- Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse being revealed as actual characters on the show.
- The episode is sometimes said to be four parts airing on the same night, making it a four-hour episode.
Comparisons with "Ab Aeterno"[]
- Richard is brought to the island on the Black Rock, as he is often stated as doing in "Wrestling With Angels."
- The four toed statue is destroyed by the ship Richard is on. In "Wrestling With Angels" topics, Richard's battles with Jacob or other entities are often blamed for the destruction of the statue.
- Richard's agelessness is explained.
- Richard literally wrestles with and battles Jacob after being told to kill him by the Man in Black.
Official ABC materials[]
A major initiative was started on the forum to mass-submit "Wrestling With Angels" to ABC.com as a potential contender in Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's contest to name the final scene of the season 5 finale. The title was not ultimately accepted as a contender.
Another initiative undertaken by users is the inclusion of a comment about the episode any time they submit a question to the Official Lost Podcast in hopes that it will be mentioned "on-air" by the producers. Hope that this could occur rose after Dinasaur head on lost, a Lostpedia forum in-joke, was mentioned by the pair on an episode of Matt Mitovich's TV Guide show.
A presumably unrelated coincidence occurs in Lost Slapdown episode 6, where Nestor Carbonell says he "wrestled in high school" as Damon Lindelof explains the Man in Black's ability to knock Richard out in three hits.
In Richard's real flashback episode, "Ab Aeterno", he briefly wrestles with and battles Jacob.