Lost Reviews and News

Last week we crawled inside the head of Locke. This week, Jack is our character of note.

So what did we learn about the good (or not so good?) doctor? Here's a breakdown:

In the opening sequence we see a 10- or 11-year-old Jack facing a dilemma: Should he help his friend fight off two bullies or should he stay on the ground and let the pummeling continue? Jack opts for the hero route, but his heroic deed falls a bit short. "You should have stayed down, Jack" is the last thing he hears before taking a fist straight to the noggin'.

I could be reaching here, but that sentence -- "You should have stayed down, Jack" -- could also extend to the very first sequence in the pilot episode. When we first meet Jack, he's gaining consciousness on the jungle floor. He soon bolts into action and promptly saves scores of people, but had he stayed down (metaphorically that is), he may have found comfort in being part of the crowd rather than assuming a leadership position. Yeah. I know. It's a reach.

But going along with this leadership thing, let the record show that episode 5 is when Jack finally runs from responsibility. Boone (who fancies himself an alpha male) questions Jack's role as de facto head of the castaway clan, but Jack doesn't fight back. In fact, he walks away. Granted, it's not as dramatic as a "You can't handle the leadership!" speech, but it's a key character development nonetheless. Why? Because now that Jack has questioned his role, he can begin defining it.

Sorry. I had a Yoda moment there. Let's talk about what Jack actually did this week.

• He saves Boone from a wicked rip tide.

• In saving Boone, he opts not to save one of those random castaways we've never met. The unknown survivor drowns. Jack is racked with guilt.

• The guilt gives way to extended flashbacks that reveal Jack's big-time Daddy issues. Daddy is a successful surgeon with a nasty drinking habit. Jack, it appears, is following in his father's footsteps in more ways than one. But there's a key difference between the two. Jack has a heroic make-up (he'd better have one -- he's been doing an awful lot of hero stuff lately), but his dad takes the path of least heroic resistance. Somehow, Daddy doesn't realize -- or want to realize -- that his son has strength. "You don't have what it takes," Daddy tells his young son. Damn you, Daddy.

  But anyway. These Daddy issues are the reason why Jack is stuck on the island. In a set of adult Jack flashbacks we learn that his dad took off on a wicked binge in Sydney and Jack's mom guilted him into pursuing his wayward father. Jack at first says he "can't" go after his father. His mother shoots back: "'I can't?' You don't get to say 'I can't.' Not after what you did!"

  WHAT DID YOU DO JACK?!

• In the present day, Jack's Daddy problems are manifesting themselves as hallucinations. Remember the suit-wearing man Jack sees at the end of "Walkabout"? That's Daddy! It gets weirder because Daddy is very clearly dead. A flashback shows Jack identifying his father in a Sydney morgue and then later making a desperate plea with an airline attendant to let him bring his dead Daddy home.

  Back on the island, Jack sets out on a jungle journey to confront his hallucination. His rush through the brush eventually leads him to an undiscovered section of the plane, and it just so happens there's a shiny wooden coffin sitting amidst the rubble ... and that coffin is empty. Jack proceeds to exorcise his demons by beating the snot out of that coffin with a big metal pole.

  So here's what all of this is supposed to lead us to:

  We're supposed to think Daddy was once in that coffin. Now he's not.

  And ...

  -- We're supposed to believe that Jack's hallucination might not be a hallucination at all.

  Remember, I said supposed to believe. In the flashback sequence with the airport attendant, we never actually see the attendant acquiesce. That coffin could have been empty all along, or it could have been packed up with someone other than Daddy. The plot thickens.

• We'd all better get used to the sound of ice cubes clinking in a glass. This audible was first introduced when Jack was on the plane (he sloshed ice around in his martini glass). It's also his father's defining noise. This episode's first Jack flashback is chock full of ice clinking and the noise later serves as the catalyst for the final leg of Jack's jungle journey. That journey leads him to the empty coffin and, perhaps more importantly, the island's fresh water supply. Hmmm.

• Jack's last name is Shepherd. Shepherd of castaways, perhaps?

The real clincher is that after all this, Sawyer sidles up to Boone and asks him how it feels to be the new Island Enemy No. 1.

Yup. It was a bad week for Boone.

One final Boone note: During his chest-thumping session with Jack, Boone illustrates his leadership skills by screaming: "You're not the only one who knows what to do around here. I run a business!" Great. We've got an "Apprentice" reject on our hands.

In other Charlie news, he and Claire appeared to share a brief "moment." Or maybe it's just the heat stroke.

He's also shown an aptitude for nicknames. He dubs Shannon "Sticks" (for her bird legs) and Kate "Freckles" (presumably because she has freckles).

Sidenote: I'm convinced Sawyer is the evil sibling of Wooderson from "Dazed and Confused." He's got the exact same cadence. It's only a matter of time before he starts spouting lines like: "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age."

In this episode destiny takes a pause for the cause -- and that cause is the Jack Mental Stability Fund. Locke happens to be in the right place at the right time to save Jack from dropping off a cliff (literally and figuratively). He plays the Obi-Wan role, telling Jack that his hallucinations could be much more than mere mind tricks; Jack may be chasing his own white rabbit (episode title alert!). He also points out that despite Jack's claim of "not being a leader," the other survivors all treat him like one. Chew on that, Jack.

And finally, Locke dropped two telling quotes:

1. "What if everything that happened here happened for a reason?"

2. "I looked into the eye of this island and what I saw was beautiful."

• The survivors have been on the island for six days.

• There are 46 survivors (the 47th drowned at the beginning of the episode).

• The monster did not make an appearance despite Jack and Locke's ample time in the jungle.

• Hurley did not use the word "Dude." He's still annoying.

That's it for now. Be sure to drop by our "Lost" Forum for stimulating conversation and conjecture.