That business of Ricardo galloping home to Isabella only to turn around and gallop off to the doctor was really dumb. If he was galloping home because he had just learned she was ill, why wasn't he surprised to find her so when he entered the house? Who told him? And, if someone was concerned enough to send for him, wouldn't that same person probably have arranged for someone to care for her or done so him/herself? If no one sent for him and he already knew she was sick, what the hell was he doing so far away from home that he had to gallop like a demon to get back there? The whole sequence was obviously just an excuse to show off Nestor Carbonell's riding talent.
And here's another thing: Richard started off as Ricardo in 1897 (I think that was the date), so what's with all the Ricardus business? Just a red herring? It certainly made me think he was more than just a touch over a century old.
Finally, what makes the smoke monster so evil, I ask you? It's scary, sure. And mysterious. But in the early seasons it came off as more of an avenging angel than a manifestation of evil. And Jacob, that smug turd, backed the fake Others, who did some pretty unsavory shit, whereas the SM scared the bejesus out of them. (Although there was that summoning business last season that I don't remember much about--were the Others behind that?) And what about those guys in the temple? They thought nothing of torturing Sayid. I just don't buy this Jacob = good, SM = evil malarkey. And the idea that the island is plugging the entrance to Hell is too hokey for words. Shades of hellmouths and The Sentinel.
All in all, this final season of Lost is merely confirming my long-held belief that in the sci fi/fantasy/horror genre (and often enough elsewhere as well) in general mystery is better. Once it is explained, it becomes run-of-the-mill, leaving one faintly embarrassed that one found it intriguing in the first place.
