Lost/White Rabbit

White Rabbit
Season 1, Episode 5
Airdate	October 20, 2004
Production Number	104
Written by	Christian Taylor
Directed by	Kevin Hooks
← 1x04 Walkabout	1x06 → House of the Rising Sun
Lost — Season One

White Rabbit is the fifth episode of the first season of Lost, and is the fifth episode overall.

While bordering on exhaustion, Jack repeatedly sees a mysterious man watching him from afar. He asks the other survivors if they've seen him, too, but no one has. Haunted by the strange vision, Jack follows the man, only to recognize him as someone to whom he was very close. Meanwhile, the water supply runs dangerously low - a situation that erupts into violence when someone steals the last remaining bottles.

Starring: Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Maggie Grace (Shannon), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Harold Perrineau, Jr. (Michael), Ian Somerhalder (Boone).

Guest Starring: John Terry (Christian Shephard), Veronica Hamel (Margo Shephard).

Co-Starring: John O'Hara (Young Jack), Sev Palmer (Meathead), Andy Trask (Hotel Manager), Geoff Heise (Doctor), Meilinda Soerjoko (Ticket Agent).

Plot Overview

The Island

• A previously unknown castaway drowns while out swimming. Jack had attempted to swim out and save her, but found Boone halfway out there. Instead of sending Boone back to shore on his own, he takes him back and then swims back out to where the victim was. He does not make it in time, and must deal with his own failure.
• The water supply is running low. The boar supply is running low. Charlie and Hurley try to seek advice from Jack, but he gets angry, saying "I'm not deciding anything." Later, someone steals the water. Sayid and Kate suspect Sawyer, but after following him to his stash, they learn that he was not the thief. It is discovered Boone DID take it, but he claims it was done just so he could help Claire. Charlie does not readily believe Boone's excuse and is ready to come to blows with him. Before the dispute can be resolved, though, Jack shows up and finally comes out of his 'leadership shell' to assume his position as a leader.
• Jack takes off running into the jungle following the image of his father, nearly falling off a cliff in the process. Locke appears to save him and, as he tends to do, explains to Jack why he is out chasing a hallucination. Eventually Jack finds his father's coffin, which is empty. However, just a few feet away, he finds a source of running fresh water and habitable caves.
• A small romantic spark happens between Claire and Charlie.

The Flashback

• Flashback: Jack

A brief scene is shown from Jack's childhood where a friend of his is being beaten up by a bully, and Jack is on the ground. Jack is given the choice between staying down and not becoming further involved, or trying to help his friend. He stands up to try and help, but is knocked out with a punch. When Jack gets home, his father asks what happened. After explaining what happened, his father admonishes him, saying that he can't help everyone. He can't be a hero. He doesn't have what it takes. In a more recent flashback, we learn Jack did "something" to his father. Because of this, he is sent to Australia to bring dad home. He finds his way to the hotel where is father stayed, and in time he claims the body at the local morgue.

Notes

Mysteries

• What happened between Jack and his father?
• How did Jack find the caves? Was it luck or, as Locke suggested, did the island lead him there?
• If we assume the coffin Jack found was his father's, where was the body?

Answers

• The man Jack has been seeing was his father. (1x04 - Walkabout)

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Jack finds shelter and running fresh water in the jungle.

Characters

• This episode focuses almost entirely on Jack: how he deals with his own failure on the island, and how he deals with the death of his father. Jack is portrayed as someone that cares sometimes "too much," almost to a fault.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• The White Rabbit: Locke makes a reference to Alice in Wonderland and Jack's "white rabbit." Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a children's novel by Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who, after chasing the White Rabbit, falls down a rabbit-hole into a fantasy realm.

Quotes

• Locke: But I've looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw... was beautiful.
• Locke: A leader can't lead until he knows where he's going.
• Jack: We can't do 'this.' Every man for himself is not going to work.

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