WHITE RABBIT

Or, Jack's Daddy Issues

[Originally Aired October 20, 2004]

Jack gets lots of flashbacks this ep and we discover his parents are kind of assholes. Daddy's a drunk who tells him he's not cut out to be a leader. Back on the beach, one of the anonymous 30 other passengers is sucked out to deep water by a riptide (the natural phenomenon, not the awesome TV show starring Perry King.) Boone tries to save her, but Jack ends up saving Boone. The woman drowns. Everyone is glum. Jack again sees the mystery man, this time standing in the waves, and no one else sees him, so he's either a hallucination or a ghost. The survivors are low on water. Boone gets in Jack's face about the drowned woman, and it's clear he wants to be in charge now. "I own a business!" he screams. I thought he was a lifeguard. Sawyer reads "Watership Down" and tries to sell Shannon a can of Off for five grand. Someone steals the remaining water. Jack sees the mystery man again and chases him into the jungle, where he nearly falls off a cliff, but Locke saves him. The mystery man is Jack's father. Tension mounts on the beach over the water. Kate and Sayid follow Sawyer into the jungle, thinking he'll lead them to the water. All he has is cigarettes and other light contraband. Sawyer gives Kate the marshal's badge, dubbing her the new sheriff in town. Or on the island. Locke tells Jack to search out the hallucination, because everything on the island has a reason. Jack follows his father and finds more wreckage and a source of fresh water. Another flashback reveals Jack's father ran off to Sydney and drank himself to death. So maybe it's not a hallucination, but a ghost. Jack finds his coffin among the wreckage, but it is empty. What's up with that? Jin looks after Sun, but it's apparent she doesn't care for him at all. Must be newlyweds. Turns out Boone pinched the water, for safekeeping apparently, but now everyone hates him. Jack returns from the jungle and accepts his role as leader.