Lifted Material

I realize I've been on Jack overload lately, but indulge me on one last note (at least until I get to 316).

Jack likes to portray himself as a product of his own Herculean efforts, with everyone else often only playing supporting roles. One of my favorite examples of this is the 5-second story he tells Kate in the very first episode. After he made the wrong cut in one of his first surgeries, he was scared. But instead of letting the fear overwhelm him, he counts to five, puts the fear aside, and fixes his mistake. It's the ultimate instance of mind over matter, a perfect microcosm of Jack's belief in his ability to control any situation. I love that story.

But in "The Incident", we find out that his father, Christian was the one who told him to take those five seconds. Not only that, Jack resents his father for, what he says, embarrassed him in front of his team. So, what Jack later turns into one of his greatest triumphs of determination and mental toughness was really an instance of his father - a person wiser and more experienced than he - helping him succeed in a way he could not on his own. And all he could do was pout.

This revelation suggests that although Jack blames his father (either explicitly or subconsciously) for most of his insecurities, in reality, he owes him what little faith he has in himself. Not that Christian Shephard was perfect - the first time we saw him, he was telling Jack he just doesn't have what it takes to handle it when he fails - but Jack's lack of self-confidence led him to take every helping hand as a personal slight. Grow up Peter Pan, Count Chocula. You have to learn to trust yourself and trust others. Otherwise, you will go through life angry and regretful. Oh wait, that's what you've done.

In "There's No Place Like Home", Jack borrows the idea for The Lie from another one of his supposed adversaries - John Locke. This case illustrates that somewhere inside him, he knows that Locke is right, that they crashed there for a a reason, that all roads led there. It's the first sign of Jack as a man of faith. In a way, he's evolving. By the time he's sucking down pills and growing terrible beards, he completely believes Locke. He trusts him. How that leads to blowing up an atomic bomb, that's a whole other story.

My next post will be about something else. I promise.