How R************ Works (Spoilers for Newcomers to the show, don't click unless you're caught up)

A friendly public service announcement regarding reincarnation, because I keep seeing this come up.

If Person A is the reincarnation of Person B, then Person B generally needs to be dead first.

That's the whole gimmick.

Reincarnation is:

a) person dies, followed by b) soul moves on, followed by c) person is reborn.

Not:

a) person X alive, person Y alive, followed by b) person Y is the reincarnation of person X.

So, no, Acosta is not the reincarnation of Abby. To find out why, you can refer to the chart above.

Once you've done that, I can further illustrate:

Abby was alive. Acosta was also alive.

These events occurred simultaneously.

When Acosta was born:

Abby was alive, so therefore Abby had not yet died. Since Abby had not yet died, Abby's soul had not yet moved on. Since Abby's soul had not yet moved on, Abby's soul could not have been reborn. Therefore, Acosta cannot be Abby's reincarnation.

Ethan is also not the reincarnation of the Man in Yellow.

I hope this makes sense.