Lost Recap #6: All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues
Season 1, episode 11
Hero(es) of the episode: Locke and Jack Zero of the episode: Ethan
Quote(s) of the episode: “And why am I getting the evening news from a six-year-old?” “I’m 10!” – conversation between Sawyer and Walt, which I wish we got more of during the season
Music vibes: frenetic to start, as Jack and Locke run through the jungle looking for Charlie and Claire | Turns sinister when Jack and Ethan fight
Little things: Walt and Sawyer have a conversation. | Walt and Hurley bonding over a game of backgammon
Episode notebook:
Everyone freaking out over Claire and Charlie’s disappearance
Is Danielle right? Are there “Others” on the island and is Ethan one of them? Why would the “Others” want to infiltrate the group?
Jack wondered how one person could abduct two people. While Locke is asking the better question: why abduct two people?
Jack’s hero complex kicks in, as he ignores Locke’s pleas to organize a search party. Jack has to save the day. In the past, he didn’t save the day. He and his dad, Christian, lost a patient on the operating table.
Michael wants to join the search party but is rebuffed by Locke. Michael is tired of his input being ignored. Locke relents and tells Michael to search the opposite direction from his group.
Locke, Kate, and Boone catch up to Jack. Locke ties strips of cloth to the trees, marking their path and way home.
Walt and Sawyer should have interacted more. They had a fun banter. Why didn’t the producers tap into that instead of plopping Walt in random situations?
Sawyer confronts Sayid but is all bluster and no bite. He and Sayid seem to reach an unspoken truce.
Jack stumbles, literally, upon Ethan and a fight ensues. Ethan vows to kill Claire or Charlie if Jack doesn’t stop following.
The hunt for Claire and Charlie, and Jack’s resulting guilt, is analogous to his problems in the past. He couldn’t save the patient, but maybe he can save Charlie and Claire.
The first sighting of the HATCH!
Episode recap: Yet another episode focusing on Jack’s daddy issues. Everyone is freaking out about Claire and Charlie’s disappearance. Locke and Jack head into the jungle to search for them, finding Claire’s bag and a trail of footprints. Locke wants to organize a search party, which sounds logical but Jack acts on instinct instead of logic. The good doctor runs off into the trees. It’s a quest for Jack. He didn’t listen to Claire and didn’t believe someone was trying to harm her. Jack can’t rest until he finds her and Charlie.
Jack’s feelings of guilt in the present, are parallel to his feelings of guilt in the past. Via flashback, we learn Jack and his dad, Christian, lost a patient on the operating table. Jack was called in mid-surgery, a nurse was concerned Christian was impaired after seeing his hand shake during the operation – which led to Daddy mistakenly severing an artery. Hmmm?
Dear old Dad was drunk. Does Jack cover for his dad or tell the truth? How does one make that choice if it means destroying Dad’s career and potentially their relationship? Doctors are supposed to do no harm, but both Jack and Christian do exactly that. How? Christian by operating on a patient while drunk and eventually manipulating his son into signing a false medical report. In Christian’s mind, he needs to keep helping people – needs to keep saving people. By telling the truth, Jack would prevent Dad from saving more lives. Only Christian has the magic touch? Jack signs the false report, but the feelings of guilt never go away. In the eleventh hour, Jack finally finds the courage to tell the truth which comes at a cost – his relationship with his dad. A cost he still feels in the present day. On the island, if Jack doesn’t find Claire or Charlie what will be the cost?
Locke, Kate, and Boone gather supplies at the caves and take off after Jack, eventually catching up to him. Along the way, they find clues left by Charlie or at least they think it was Charlie. What if the little breadcrumbs are a decoy? It’s a distinct possibility as they find two trails. Jack and Kate follow one and Locke and Boone the other.
Jack and Kate don’t find Claire, but they do find Charlie hanging from a tree – unconscious and not breathing. A determined Jack won’t let Charlie die, he couldn’t save a patient from his father, but he must save Charlie. Just when his resuscitation efforts are looking futile, Charlie gasps for air – coming back to life. Doctor Jack, our cowboy as the episode title notes, saved a life. But where is Claire? A recap for another day, as she makes her return in a couple of episodes.
What about Locke and Boone? They don’t find Claire, but they do find something else – something solid and made of steel. Maybe a piece of wreckage from the plane? That was certainly my guess when I originally saw this episode. But no, it’s THE HATCH! Our first sighting of the hatch, a place that will become a key plot point and set piece for several seasons. Please keep reading my recap for episode twelve is posted.