Episode Analysis of 1.05 "White Rabbit"

WARNING: If you have not already seen all of LOST, please DO NOT READ THIS.

My LOST re-watch and episode analysis will include major details from the entirety that is LOST, and will be written with the perspective of having seen everything already. You will be SPOILED if you read any further. It is far better if you learn the story of LOST for yourself, as it is meant to be seen. Trust me on this, and don't say that I didn't warn you first. Seriously. Stop it. Now. Go watch it.

To read my original post on this episode, please refer to White Rabbit.

This episode was written by Christian Taylor, and directed by Kevin Hooks. It originally aired on October 20th, 2004.

This is a Jack Shephard flashback-centric episode.

In a flashback, the eye of a young Jack Shephard opens. He lies on the ground, while an older boy stands over him. The older boy tells him to stay down, and he won't get his ass kicked, while Jack watches another kid, who appears to be his friend, get beaten up against a fence, as he looks at Jack for help. Jack, being the hero and all, doesn't stay down, but makes a crazy Jack face and decides to get up and help. He then gets punched in the face, as promise for doing so. I thank the kid who did it.

On the Island, Jack sits on the beach, looking out at the ocean in thought, while Charlie runs over, calling for Jack's help.

CHARLIE: [off camera] "Jack, Jack!"

[Shot of Jack on the beach laying down, but looking out to sea.]

CHARLIE: [off camera at first] "Jack. Hey, Jack. There's someone out there. You gotta—the current's—there's someone out there, look."

[Shot of ocean, and splashing in the distance. We can hear someone yell "Help!".]

CHARLIE: "I woke up and she's—I don't swim."

[Jack runs toward the ocean.]

CHARLIE: "I don't swim."

While Jack goes out to rescue the swimmer, Kate arrives at the shore to watch with Charlie. Jack swims out, and doesn't see anyone. He goes under, and comes up to look again, but nothing. He dives under again, and comes up with Boone. Boone is choking, and gasping for air. Jack tells him to take deep breaths and breathe. He begins swimming in with Boone.

BOONE: "Did you get her?"

JACK: "What?"

BOONE: "There was a woman—I was trying to—did you get her?"

[Shot of woman in the distance, we hear her screaming "Help!" several times.]

BOONE: "You gotta go back."

Jack looks back toward where the woman is screaming for help, but he decides to go to shore with Boone first. Jack arrives at the shore, to be met with Kate and Charlie, who take Boone and help him out of the water. Jack heads back for the woman who is drowning.

We flash to a few moments later, with Boone sitting on the beach, looking at Jack, who is walking, with Kate approaching him.

KATE: "Hey."

JACK: "So, what'd they say?"

KATE: "Jack, maybe you should.."

JACK: "Who was she?"

KATE: "Her name was Joanna. She wasn't supposed to be on the plane. She was scuba diving off the barrier reef and got an ear infection, so the doctor grounded her for two days. She bumped her flight. That's how she ended up with us."

JACK: "She was just swimming this morning, got caught in a riptide. We've been here six days and I never talked to her. Never said a word to her."

KATE: "Jack, don't."

JACK: "There were forty-seven of us and I never said a single word to her."

KATE: "You tried."

JACK: "No. I didn't. I thought maybe I'd—I thought maybe I could bring him back and still have the time. I was there, in the water. I didn't try. I decided not to go after her."

[Jack sees the man in the suit standing in the ocean.]

Jack walks toward the ocean and the man in the suit, while Kate calls him, and he looks again, seeing that the man is no longer there. Jack looks just a little bit crazy, so Kate asks if he's okay. Jack asks her if she saw the man standing in the water. Kate becomes alarmed because Jack is clearly insane, and she asks him what the last time he slept was. Jack completely ignores her, and says he has to put his backpack away with the rest of the gear. Clearly he's fine.

Kate is worried, while Vincent runs along the beach with a tennis ball. Walt uses the plant that Sun showed him to brush his teeth, while Michael tells him not to swallow the ocean water. Walt questions why he shouldn't do that, and Michael does a poor job at explaining it to him. Walt listens and spits out the ocean water, despite Michael's complete failure at answering his questions.

Jin notices that Sun's lips are dry due to dehydration.

JIN: [Subtitle] "Look at your lips. You really need water."

SUN: [Subtitle] "No. I'm alright. Thank you. When will someone tell us what to do? I don't think anyone is coming."

JIN: [Subtitle] "Someone will come."

SUN: [Subtitle] "The others.. They ignore us. If we tried harder to communicate.."

JIN : [Subtitle] "We'll be fine. We don't need anyone else. I will tell you what to do."

Elsewhere on the beach, Shannon approaches Sawyer, who is reading Watership Down.

SHANNON: "Have you got it or what?"

SAWYER: "You're in my light, sticks."

SHANNON: "Lightsticks? What the hell is that supposed to..?"

SAWYER: "Light, comma, sticks. As in those legs of yours."

SHANNON: "Look, while I really love my new nickname, and I think it's really sweet..."

SAWYER: "Calm down. I got your damn stuff."

SHANNON: "It'll keep off sand fleas?"

SAWYER: "You bet. Even has aloe."

SHANNON: "How much?"

SAWYER: "Your money's no good here."

SHANNON: "Then what the hell do you want?"

[Sawyer just smiles.]

SHANNON: "If you really think I'm going to.."

SAWYER: "Five grand."

SHANNON: "I thought you said my money was no good here."

SAWYER: "I was negotiating. I can take an IOU. Something tells me you're good... for it."

[Shannon throws the bug spray at Sawyer and storms away.]

Meanwhile, Kate is going through luggage on the beach, and sorting clothes. Claire approaches her, asking if she's found a hairbrush in any of the luggage yet.

CLAIRE: "You haven't found a hairbrush in there, have you?"

KATE: "No. Sorry."

CLAIRE: "I must have looked through twenty suitcases. I can't find one. It's weird, right? You'd think that everyone packs a hairbrush." [Claire sits, and sort of falls down.]

KATE: "You alright?"

CLAIRE: "Yeah, it's just the heat. Oh, and, and I'm pregnant."

KATE: "Really?" [She hands Claire some water.]

CLAIRE: "Thanks. What are you doing?"

KATE: "I'm sorting the practical clothes from the impractical. Wanna help?"

CLAIRE: "Sure. Can I—can I ask you something?"

KATE: "Sure. Shoot."

CLAIRE: "Are you a Gemini?"

KATE: "Yeah, I am."

CLAIRE: "I thought so. Restless. Passionate. You know, everyone thinks astrology's just a load of crap, but that's just because they don't get it. I can do your chart if you want to? [Kate doesn't reply] Or not. Geminis."

Hurley approaches Jack to talk about something, and immediately notices that he looks like a zombie. Jack, of course, is in denial.

HURLEY: "Whoa. You look tired, brother."

JACK: "I'm fine. What's up?"

HURLEY: "We got a problem."

[Jack looks too tired to deal with it. Shot of some water bottles in a suitcase.]

JACK: "That's it?"

CHARLIE: "That's it."

JACK: "How many?"

CHARLIE: "Eighteen."

HURLEY: "People just kind of took what they needed because we were supposed to be rescued. But, we weren't."

CHARLIE: "Even if we divvied it up, split the bottles in half it wouldn't be enough for forty-seven people."

JACK: "Forty-six. There's forty-six of us now."

HURLEY: "When people find out this is all we have left, they're going to freak out, man."

CHARLIE: "The boar's running low until we can catch another one. What should we tell them?"

JACK: "I don't know."

HURLEY: "Maybe we can make one of those water finding sticks."

CHARLIE: "What should we do with the stuff we've got?"

JACK: "I don't know."

[Jack walks away. Charlie and Hurley follow with the suitcase of water.]

CHARLIE: "We should put it in the tent, yeah?"

HURLEY: "Maybe the dog can find water?"

CHARLIE: "Probably better if no one knows how little is left."

HURLEY: "I mean, dogs can find pot and bombs, so I'm sure they can find water."

CHARLIE: "Don't tell the others we're running low. That way you can ration it. Then you can decide what.."

JACK: "I'm not deciding anything!"

HURLEY: "Why not?"

In Jack's flashback, we hear the sound of a clinking glass, and see a rock's glass filled with ice and alcohol. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Christian Shephard is a whiskey man. But, then again, something tells me he's probably an everything man.

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD: "You wanna come in?"

[Young Jack enters his father's study with a bruised face.]

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD: "So, you want to tell me what happened?"

YOUNG JACK: "A couple guys jumped Marc Silverman."

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD: "A couple guys jumped Marc Silverman. But, they didn't jump you?"

YOUNG JACK: "No."

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD: "I had a boy on my table today. I don't know, maybe a year younger than you. He had a bad heart. It got real hairy, real fast. And, everybody's looking at your old man to make decisions. And, I was able to make those decisions, because at the end of the day, after the boy died, I was able to wash my hands and come home to dinner. You know, watch a little Carol Burnett, laugh until my sides hurt. And, how can I do that, hmm? Even when I fail, how do I do that, Jack? Because I have what it takes. Don't choose, Jack. Don't decide. You don't want to be a hero. You don't want to try and save everyone, because when you fail.. You just don't have what it takes."

On the Island, Jack stands on the beach, looking out at the ocean in thought. Boone confronts him.

BOONE: [off camera] "Why didn't you leave me? Hey! I'm talking to you."

JACK: "Not now, man."

BOONE: "I could have made it back. What? Not going to answer me? I told you to leave me."

JACK: "You were drowning."

BOONE: "You should've saved her."

JACK: "But, I didn't save her. And neither did you."

[Jack walks away. Boone follows.]

BOONE: "You think you're all noble and heroic for coming after me? I was fine! You're not the only one who knows what to do around here, you know that? I run a business! Who appointed you our savior, huh? What gives you the right—[Jack looks off toward the jungle]. Look at me. Hey! I'm talking to you."

[Jack sees the man in the suit again.]

BOONE: "Look at me, Jack. Where are you going? Hey! Where are going? Hey!"

[Jack runs off toward the figure. The man has stopped, and Jack stops, too.]

[Jack walks slowly toward the man, and reaches out his hand. The man turns. It's Jack's father. Jack backs away and falls down.]

JACK: "Dad?"

The figure of Christian Shephard walks away, while Jack lays on the ground in the jungle.

In his flashback, Jack is home, in his parents' house, looking at his reflection in the window, while it rains outside. His mother, Margo Shephard tries to persuade him to go find his father, Christian Shephard, in Australia.

MARGO: "Your father's gone, Jack. Did you hear what I said? He's gone, Jack."

JACK: "He'll be back."

MARGO: "This time it's different. I want you to bring him back. [Jack sighs.] What?"

JACK: "He hasn't talked to me in two months, Mom.."

MARGO: "You haven't talked to him in two months."

JACK: "He doesn't want me to bring him back. Trust me. Let one of his friends.."

MARGO: "He doesn't have friends anymore. Why do you think that is? He was right about you."

JACK: "Right about what?"

MARGO: "You don't understand the pressure that he's under."

JACK: "I understand pressure."

MARGO: "Jack, please. You know how he gets—he doesn't—he won't take care of himself. You have to go after him."

JACK: "I'm sorry. I can't."

MARGO: "I can't? You don't get to say "I can't." Not after what you did. Bring your father home, Jack."

JACK: "Where is he?"

MARGO: "Australia."

On the Island, Jack continues to pursue his father in the jungle. On the beach, Walt runs up to Kate.

WALT: "Hey, hey!"

KATE: "What's the matter?"

WALT: "That pregnant lady fell down!"

Charlie and Michael carry Claire to the infirmary. Kate helps, and asks what happened. They say that she just dropped. Kate figures that it must be the heat that did it. Kate tries to wake Claire up in the infirmary, and Claire eventually comes to. Kate says that she needs water, tells Claire that she has a fever, and to stay really still. Charlie begins to go get her some water, but he can't find any. All of the water is gone. Someone stole it.

Sayid, Locke and Kate have a pow-wow about the missing water.

LOCKE: "Where is the doctor?"

KATE: "I don't know. No one can find him."

SAYID: "Is this the last of the camp's water supply?"

KATE: "Yeah."

SAYID: "Keeping it all in one place.. Foolish."

KATE: "I can go into the jungle, try to find some fresh water."

SAYID: "You're not going alone."

LOCKE: "When the others find out the water's gone it's going to get ugly. And, when they find out that someone pinched it, it's going to get uglier. I'll go. Camp needs you two here, especially with the doctor gone. And, besides, I know where to look."

Jack continues to wander around the jungle, looking for his father. There are faint sounds of the MONSTER.

JACK: "Where are you? Where are you? [yelling] Where are you?!"

In Sydney, Australia, Jack visits his father's hotel room, looking for him. He speaks to the Hotel Manager.

HOTEL MANAGER: "The maid says he hasn't used the bed in the past three days."

JACK: "Did he rent a car from the concierge?"

HOTEL MANAGER: "No, sir. Quite honestly, Mr. Shephard, I don't think your father rented a car at all."

JACK: "Yeah, why's that?"

HOTEL MANAGER: "There was an incident a few nights ago, here at the hotel bar. I had to get security to escort your father to his room."

JACK: "What's that have to do with renting a car?"

HOTEL MANAGER: "I'm sorry, sir, I shouldn't have said.."

JACK: "Come on.. What's that have to do with renting a car?"

HOTEL MANAGER: "Mr. Shephard, I don't think any rental agent in Sydney would lease your father a car in his condition."

JACK: "My father is the Chief of Surgery."

HOTEL MANAGER: "Of course, sir. I apologize."

[Jack begins looking around room, finding bottles of booze, and pills. He finds his father's wallet on the bedside table.]

JACK: "He left his wallet. Who leaves a wallet?"

HOTEL MANAGER: "Perhaps you should talk to the police, Mr. Shephard."

JACK: "Where are you?"

Back on the Island, Jack is still chasing his imaginary father through the damn jungle. He is disoriented. There are more faint MONSTER noises. He arrives at a clearing, and stops. His father is behind him.

Jack turns around and runs after him, but then falls down a hill, and ultimately over the edge of a cliff. He hangs on and tries to climb back up, but he struggles. He begins to slip off the vine that he's holding onto. A hand stretches over the side of the cliff. For a moment, he appears to think that it might be his father, but it's not. John Locke is there to rescue him.

LOCKE: "Take my hand. Come on. [Locke pulls him up, and they both stay on the ground a moment, catching their breath.] You okay?" [Jack laughs, slightly crazily.]

Back at the beach camp, Charlie brings Claire some water.

CHARLIE: "Hey."

CLAIRE: "Hey. How long have I.."

CHARLIE: "A couple of hours. Here. [He gives her some water.] It's not much, but it's what we have. Just relax, you have to think about the little one now."

CLAIRE: "Thanks for the water, Charlie."

CHARLIE: "There'd be more if some git hadn't nicked it."

CLAIRE: "Is Jack back yet?"

CHARLIE: "No. No one's seen him. But, I wouldn't worry. Good old Mr. Locke's gone into the jungle to get some water for you."

CLAIRE: "Great. Our only hunter's going to get eaten just so he can get the pregnant girl some more water."

CHARLIE: "I wouldn't worry, love. I mean, you tell me, who would you rather meet in a dark alley, whatever's out there, or that geezer with his four hundred knives? I mean, who packs four hundred knives? Personally, I can only have space for two hundred, three hundred at most."

CLAIRE: [Chuckles, then pauses.] "When are they going to rescue us?"

CHARLIE: "Soon."

CLAIRE: "Thanks, Charlie."

CHARLIE: "For what?"

CLAIRE: "People don't seem to look me in the eye here. I think I scare them. The baby.. It's like I'm this time bomb of responsibility just waiting to go off."

CHARLIE: "You don't scare me."

Hurley runs up to Kate and Sayid, pointing out that the "Chinese people" have water.

HURLEY: "Uh, the Chinese people have water."

[Sayid goes right off to Sun.]

SAYID: "Where did you get this? [He holds up the water bottle, showing her.] Where did you get this? [yelling] Where! Did! You!"

KATE: "She doesn't understand you."

SAYID: "She understands me. Did you steal this water?"

Sun answers him in Korean. Jin suddenly runs up, yelling at them in Korean. I imagine it's something about not talking to his wife.

KATE: "Just take it easy, alright. We just want to talk, alright? [Shows her the water bottle.] This had water in it. Is it yours? Who gave you this?"

[Jin points at Sawyer who's smoking a cigarette. Kate immediately moves to go to him, but Sayid stops her.]

SAYID: "I don't see the water."

KATE: "And?"

SAYID: "You go after him now, he'll give you nothing. But, if you wait, a rat will always lead you to it's hole."

A while later, Sawyer walks to his stash in the jungle to get some cigarettes. Kate comes up and tackles him.

SAWYER: [With Kate on top of him.] "Well, it's about time."

KATE: "For what?"

SAWYER: "I made this birthday wish four years ago."

KATE: "Where's the water?"

[Sawyer flips her over so he's on top.]

SAWYER: "That's better."

KATE: "Get off of me."

[Sayid enters and drags Sawyer off of Kate.]

SAYID: "Give us the water now."

SAWYER: [shoving Sayid] "Touch me again, huh."

[Kate looks through Sawyer's stuff.]

SAWYER: "You really think I stole your damn water?"

SAYID: "We know you gave two bottles to the Koreans."

SAWYER: "I don't give nothing to nobody."

KATE: "It's not here."

SAWYER: "I traded Mr. Miyagi the last of my water for a fish he caught. We worked it out caveman style."

KATE: "You gave him your last two bottles?"

SAWYER: "Water has no value, Freckles. It's gonna rain sooner or later. And hell, I'm an optimist."

[Sawyer gets something out of his suitcase. Sayid and Kate begin to leave.]

SAWYER: [to Kate] "Hey, you forgot something. [Throws her a badge]. Seeing as you're the new sheriff in town.. Might as well make it official."

In the jungle, John Locke collects water from raindrops on leaves. Jack and Locke sit down to talk.

JACK: "How are they, the others?"

LOCKE: "Thirsty. Hungry. Waiting to be rescued. And, they need someone to tell them what to do."

JACK: "Me? I can't."

LOCKE: "Why can't you?"

JACK: "Because I'm not a leader."

LOCKE: "And, yet they all treat you like one."

JACK: "I don't know how to help them. I'll fail. I don't have what it takes."

LOCKE: "Why are you out here, Jack?"

JACK: "I think I'm going crazy."

LOCKE: "No. You're not going crazy."

JACK: "No?"

LOCKE: "No.. Crazy people don't know they're going crazy. They think they're getting sane. So, why are you out here?"

JACK: "I'm chasing something—someone."

LOCKE: "Ah. The white rabbit. Alice in Wonderland."

JACK: "Yeah, wonderland, because who I'm chasing—he's not there."

LOCKE: "But, you see him?"

JACK: "Yes. But, he's not there."

LOCKE: "And, if I came to you and said the same thing, then what would your explanation be, as a doctor?"

JACK: "I'd call it a hallucination. A result of dehydration, post traumatic stress, not getting more than two hours of sleep a night for the past week. All of the above."

LOCKE: "All right, then. You're hallucinating. But, what if you're not?"

JACK: "Then we're all in a lot of trouble."

LOCKE: "I'm an ordinary man, Jack. Meat and potatoes. I live in the real world. I'm not a big believer in magic. But, this place is different. It's special. The others don't want to talk about it because it scares them. But, we all know it. We all feel it. Is your white rabbit a hallucination? Probably. But, what if everything that happened here, happened for a reason? What if this person that you're chasing is really here?"

JACK: "That's impossible."

LOCKE: "Even if it is, let's say it's not."

JACK: "Then what happens when I catch him?"

LOCKE: "I don't know. But, I've looked into the eye of this Island. And, what I saw was beautiful."

[Locke gets up to leave.]

JACK: "Wait, wait, wait.. Where are you going?"

LOCKE: "To find some more water."

JACK: "I'll come with you."

LOCKE: "No. You need to finish what you started."

JACK: "Why?"

LOCKE: "Because a leader can't lead until he knows where he's going."

At night, Jack sits in front of a fire that he made in the jungle. In his flashback, Jack walks down a hallway with a Medical Examiner in a morgue.

MEDICAL EXAMINER: "The police found him in an alley in Kings Cross. Now, a tox screen showed a blood alcohol content, which for a man of his size, probably brought on myocardial infarction.. A sizable, and fatal heart-attack."

[They go into a room with a body bag on a gurney. The Medical Examiner unzips it. Jack's father is there.]

JACK: [Looking at the body, and crying.] "That's him."

Back on the Island, in the jungle, Jack cries, thinking of his father. We hear the sound of ice clinking in a rock's glass, with branches breaking, and brush moving in the jungle. Jack grabs a branch out of the fire and lights it to make a torch. He follows the sound of his father, and comes upon a cave with a waterfall. Jack discovers a toy doll in the water, and then more dolls scattered around from a box. There is luggage and debris from the plane crash. Amongst the debris, Jack comes upon the coffin which held his father's body.

In his flashback, Jack waits at a counter at the Sydney Airport.

JACK: "What do you mean you won't put it on the plane?"

AGENT: "I'm sorry, Mr. Shephard, but our policy is that the body must have the proper documentation. There's just no latitude."

JACK: "No latitude? No latitude?"

AGENT: "Without the proper documents.."

JACK: "Look, you can't do this to me. I'm ready to go now."

AGENT: "Perhaps another carrier?"

JACK: "No! [Jack hits the counter. Shot of Jin in line looking over at Jack's outburst.] I want you to listen to me, okay? Because, I'm asking you a favor, [looking at her identification badge] Chrissy. I'm standing in front of you in the same suit that I'm wearing to my father's funeral, and I'm asking you a favor. In sixteen hours, I need to land at LAX, and I need that coffin to clear customs, because there's going to be a hearse waiting there. And, I need that hearse to take me and that coffin to a cemetery. Why? Chrissy, why can't I just bring him to a funeral home and make all the arrangements? Why can't I really take my time with it? Because. Because I need it to be done. I need it to be over. I just—I need to bury my father."

On the Island, back in the caves, Jack opens the coffin of his dead father. There is nothing inside. Jack gets angry, and frustrated. He finds an axe from the plane amongst the debris, and begins hacking his father's coffin to pieces.

Back at the beach camp, someone sneakily approaches a sleeping Claire, with three bottles of water, and begins giving her some. It's Boone who stole the water.

BOONE: "Hey, hey, Claire [giving her water to drink]."

CLAIRE: "How did you get that?"

BOONE: "Shhh."

CHARLIE: [coming up behind Boone] "Where'd you get that? [Shot of Boone's face hitting the sand.] Here's your thief."

MICHAEL: "Where'd he hide it?"

CHARLIE: "I don't know. This wanker had three bottles on him. Why'd you do it, pretty boy, eh?"

BOONE: "It was just sitting in—it was just sitting in the tent, and Jack just took off."

CHARLIE: "Claire could've died!"

BOONE: "I tried to give her some sooner, but it just got out of hand. No one would have understood."

KATE: [entering] "What is going on?"

BOONE: "Someone had to take responsibility for it. It would have never lasted!"

CHARLIE: [mumbling] "Oh, shut up!"

[Charlie pushes Boone, and Sayid steps in to break it up.]

JACK: [off camera, at first] "Leave him alone! [Everyone looks to Jack.] It's been six days, and we're all still waiting. Waiting for someone to come. But, what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. A woman died this morning just going for a swim, and he [pointing to Boone] tried to save her, and now you're about to crucify him? We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here. Now, I found water. Fresh water, up in the valley. I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to go come then find another way to contribute. Last week, most of us were strangers, but we're all here now. And, God knows how long we're going to be here. But, if we can't live together, we're going to die alone."

After the commotion settles down, everyone relaxes by fires. Charlie and Hurley get everyone water. Jin and Sun sit together.

SUN: [Subtitle] "Thank you—for getting me water today."

JIN: [Subtitle] "That's what husbands do."

Michael brings water to Walt, who is sleeping, so he gives it to Vincent instead. Boone sits by himself, looking at the ocean, and Sawyer approaches him.

SAWYER: "So, how does it feel?"

BOONE: "How does what feel?"

SAWYER: "Taking my place at the top of everyone's most hated list. Sucks, don't it?"

[Kate brings water to Jack.]

JACK: "Thanks."

KATE: "So, where were you today, Jack?"

JACK: "Just had to take care of a few things."

KATE: "That's all I'm gonna get, huh?"

JACK: "My father died. In Sydney."

KATE: "I'm sorry."

JACK: "Yeah. I'm sorry, too."

Interesting Notes & Observations:

• In the beginning, Jack tries to help his friend from getting his ass kicked, and that kid is Marc Silverman, the same kid who would end up being Jack's best man, when he got married to Sarah in Do No Harm.
• I'm kinda disappointed that we never saw Marc again, but I understand completely if Jack was a little too intense for him. I mean, look how crazy he is, and he's not even the one getting the brunt of the beating. 
• "You should've stayed down, Jack!" I bet that's not the first, nor the last time he's heard that..
• The kid who plays the young Jack Shephard even makes the "crazy Jack" face when he gets up to help Marc Silverman when he's getting beat up. This kid is awesome. Look!
• Boone tells Jack "You gotta go back." This made me laugh. 
• To be fair, Charlie did refer to the drowning swimmer as "she," so Jack kind of should've known that it wasn't Boone that he was going after. I'm just saying.
• It's interesting how Kate says that Joanna "wasn't supposed to be on the plane." It seems as though a lot of people weren't exactly supposed to be on the plane, and yet they were, huh, Jacob? 
• Look, Michael. All you have to do is tell the damn kid that ocean water has salt in it, which makes you thirsty. I know this is the first time you're being a father to the kid, but still. It's not that hard to explain without getting frustrated. 
• When Shannon asks Sawyer for bug spray, he is reading the book Watership Down, which will come up several times throughout the series.
• Shannon gives Sawyer the bug spray back when he wasn't five grand for it, which is interesting, because she appears as such a spoiled, rich girl in the beginning, and then we find out later, in Abandoned, that it's not so much the case. This is an indication that maybe she just appears to have money.
• Claire is so freaking cute in this episode. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.
• Uh.. What the hell is a "water finding stick," Hurley? 
• Seriously, Boone? How exactly does running a business make you qualified to take care of forty people on a damn deserted Island? What an idiot.
• This has no real significance, other than the fact that I think I forgot to mention it before this episode, but Charlie, or Dominic Monaghan has a tattoo that says "Living is easy with eyes closed." which is a line from The Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever. Again, it's not really important at all, but it does seem somewhat appropriate to the show, although, only coincidentally.
• They should've known this early-on how crazy and indecisive Jack was. Seriously. He's a fucking mess in this episode. He sees a man in a suit on the Island, who looks exactly like his father, yet it still takes him forever to believe that the place is, somehow, special. He looks like he's auditioning for the zombie season. He's hysterical at every question he gets asked. He's completely indecisive about everything, yet gets angry when anyone else makes a decision. He finds nearly falling off a cliff and dying ridiculously hilarious. He's convinced by a bald man in the jungle to follow his dead father around the Island. And, then, by the end of the episode, he's decided to be the leader and is in completely control. This dude has lost his frakking mind.
• Jack isn't a believer even after seeing his dead father on the Island. He is Dana Scully.
• When Jack follows Christian Shephard into the jungle, and he turns around, Jack being startled and saying "Dad?" reminded me a lot of the scene in The End when Jack discovers his father in the church when he realizes that he's been dead the whole time. 
• Something else that I've noticed more after the series has ended is the significance of mirrors and reflections, considering how much they came up in Season Six. In the scene where Jack talks to his mother, Margo Shephard, he stares at his reflection. It doesn't figure any importance, but it's just something that I've been more aware of now that I'm re-watching the series again after having seen everything as a whole. Just thought it was kind of interesting how much it seems to come up now.
• Also, on Geronimo Jack's Beard, they talked about how the actress that played Margo Shephard constantly tried to makeout with Matthew Fox, so every time I see her now, it makes me laugh. Dude, he's your son. You can't makeout with him. Well, I guess this show did have step-siblings that had sex, so.. Wait. No. You can't makeout with your son, lady who played Margo Shephard. Stop it.
• I just don't get it. Why is Jack's mom, Margo, such a bitch to him? Her husband is an alcoholic who ran away to Australia to find his other family because he was guilty. He got fired from being the Chief of Surgery because he did surgery on a woman who died, and was pregnant, which he didn't know, while he was drunk off his ass because he couldn't have a lunch without boozing it up. Now there's a winner. Shut up, Margo, and stop making your son even more psychotic than he already is over his father. I mean, Jesus Christ, he's chasing his damn dead father across a damn Island for fuck's sake. Stop blaming him for your mistakes as a parent. It's your job to fix it, not his. I can't stand parents who blame their kids for their own shortcomings. No one forced you to have children and be an unsuitable parent.
• Who leaves a wallet? A raving alcoholic, that's who. Also, why is saying that your father is the Chief of Surgery somehow excuse the fact that he's an alcoholic? It just makes it sound even more pathetic to me.
• When Jack arrives at the clearing, before he runs after his father and falls over the cliff, there is some sunlight peaking through the trees, which reminded me of the "light not scattering quite right" line from Daniel Faraday in Confirmed Dead.
• Uh.. I'm pretty sure that this isn't Jack. I guess Matthew Fox ain't no Tom Cruise, huh?
• For a moment, it appears as if Jack thinks that the person who is helping him when he hangs off the cliff is his father, Christian Shephard, but it's John Locke instead. This is interesting because the Christian Shephard which Jack saw on the Island was actually the Man in Black appearing as his father, and later on, the Man in Black would also appear as John Locke after he died as well.
• I love how perceptive Sayid is. He already knows that Sun understands him when he's speaking English to her. You can't get anything by him.
• Sawyer refers to Kate as "the new Sheriff in town" and later, in The Long Con, he would also refer to himself as the same thing.
• When Jack finds the caves and opens his father's coffin, a DHARMA logo can be seen on some of the plane wreckage amongst the debris. Unfortunately, this is the best screenshot that I could find.
• When Jack is in the Sydney Airport, talking to Chrissy, flights are being called out over the loudspeaker. One of them is Oceanic Flight 125, a non-stop flight to Singapore. This reminded me of when Jack told Kate, in Through the Looking Glass, how he kept taking flights with his golden pass to places like Singapore, hoping that the plane would crash, so he could get back on the Island.
• This is the first flashback of many flashbacks in which we will see Jack Shephard cry.

Answered Questions:

• In The Last Recruit, the Man in Black tells Jack that he appeared as his father, Christian Shephard, on the Island, and led him to water.
• In Two For the Road and Par Avion, we find out why Christian Shephard was in Australia.
• We also find out why Christian Shephard was fired from his job as the Chief of Surgery, in All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues.

Unanswered Questions:

• Why did Charlie claim that he didn't swim if he did know how?
• Why is Margo Shephard such a bitch?
• Why is everyone in the Shephard family insane?
• What ever happened to Christian Shephard's actual body on the Island?

Favorite Moments:

• In the beginning, Jack getting beat up. I only wish he were older and the beating was worse. I mean, what the hell did Marc Silverman do? I guarantee Jack Shephard was way more of a dweeb.
• SHANNON: "Then what the hell do you want?" [Sawyer just smiles.] 
• The clinking rock's glass throughout the episode, whenever Christian Shephard appears, from Jack's flashback, to on the Island, is one of my favorite little touches that you don't notice at first. 
• I don't know why, but every time Walt says "That pregnant lady fell down!" it cracks me up. In fact, a lot of things Walt says makes me laugh. He's such an awesome kid. I really wish there could have been more of him throughout the series. 
• Charlie making Claire feel at ease during the tense situation. 
• LOCKE: "I'm an ordinary man, Jack. Meat and potatoes. I live in the real world. I'm not a big believer in magic. But, this place is different. It's special. The others don't want to talk about it because it scares them. But, we all know it. We all feel it. Is your white rabbit a hallucination? Probably. But, what if everything that happened here, happened for a reason? What if this person that you're chasing is really here?"

Overall Significance:

• Charlie Pace did know how to swim, as we saw his father teach him in his flashback, in Greatest Hits, and when he swam down to The Looking Glass station. It's possible that Charlie claimed that he didn't swim because he was on drugs at the moment of warning Jack about someone drowning. 
• There are many Alice in Wonderland references in this episode, something which would be carried on throughout the series. 
• John Locke tells Jack that "I've looked into the eye of this Island. And, what I saw was beautiful." which could either be a metaphor, or a direct reference to the light cave, or the heart of the Island, which he may have seen when he hunted for boar in Walkabout, and was faced with the Smoke Monster.
• This episode brought forth two phrases which would come up several more times and be significant throughout the story, which is "Every man for himself is not going to work." and directly refers to the episode, Every Man For Himself, and "If we're not going to live together, we're going to die alone." which directly refers to the episode, Live Together, Die Alone.
• This is the first time we see Jack's on-going unhealthy relationship with his father, Christian Shephard. Christian adamantly telling Jack that he doesn't have what it takes makes me wonder if he really believed that, or if he was doing it because he knew that it would push Jack to prove him wrong, and gives him the drive to achieve greatness. It also leads me to believe this is the biggest reason why Jack can never give up on anything, even to the point when he knows that he is wrong, and also why he always has to be the hero and save or fix someone or something. This is Jack's biggest flaw, and yet, what also makes him a good leader at times.
• From Lostpedia: Both Jack's first full flashback episode, ("White Rabbit") and his first flashforward episode ("Through the Looking Glass") are titled in reference to the "Alice in Wonderland" books. The episodes also have another similarity: In both episodes, a survivor of Oceanic 815 (Joanna in this episode, Charlie in "Through the Looking Glass") drowns, and a main character (Boone in this episode, Desmond in "Through the Looking Glass") tries unsuccessfully to save them. 
• From Lostpedia: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll: Jack's father was said by Locke to reflect the "white rabbit" that Jack was chasing. Both stories had the "Alice" character being led into a cave-like opening by the White Rabbit. 
• A rabbit is also seen on the DHARMA logo for The Looking Glass station, seen in the Jack-centric flashforward episode, Through the Looking Glass.
• Jack struggles with being a leader, but begins to accept his role by the end of the episode.

Final Thoughts:

• Despite my criticism of Jack Shephard in this episode, this is actually one the few Jack-centric episodes that I really like a lot. It introduces the tumultuous father-son relationship between Jack and Christian Shephard, the on-going Man of Science versus Man of Faith argument between Jack and John Locke, and the fate versus freewill argument, all of which would be carried on throughout the series. It's the emergence of Jack Shephard as a leader. The episode also brings forth the idea that the Island is somehow special, that it is more than just a place that they crash-landed on by happen-stance. 
• I think the only cool person in the entire Shephard family, besides baby Aaron, is Grandpa Ray. 
• I actually really enjoy this episode, despite my complete and utter disdain for Jack.

Okay, I know that even though I said I'd be back in a week with this post, it was really two weeks, but life got in the way, and I didn't have enough time to write this. For real this time, I'll be back next week with my analysis of House of the Rising Sun and maybe some Korean that I've picked up along the way.

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