Jack Shephard, Post-Jughead

Quick thoughts stemming from last night's episode, "What Kate Does".

The most interesting character in this episode was Jack. To me, he seems to have reached a turning point when it comes to his leadership, and that's a very promising thing as our characters find themselves in as dire of circumstances as we've seen since they first landed on the Island.

Let's start with the past. It's obvious that Jack's issues with overcommitment had little to do with his altrusitic motives. While I do believe Jack has plenty of selflessness and empathy inside him, and a true desire to help people, I think a lot of his actions in the effort to help his fellow survivors had more to do with what he thought he was supposed to do as the leader and protector of the group. He had to keep beating on Charlie's chest after Ethan hung him from the tree, he had to keep pouring his own blood into Boone because he felt that if he wasn't giving every ounce of himself toward helping these people - people that have placed their trust in him as the leader and protector of the group - then he wasn't fulfilling his duties and obligations to them. In the latter case, literally.

The Jack we've seen this season recognizes his limits. When he can't help Sayid, when he doesn't know what to do with the pill Dogen gives him, when he can't keep Kate from running, he can admit it to himself without taking to rash decisions. Maybe it's as simple as when he says, "I don't even trust myself," but I think there's more to it than that. When his Jughead plan didn't work, he began to realize that drastic measures aren't always the best way. He doesn't always have to go the extra thousand miles when the costs (to himself and those around him) outweigh the possibility of success. More importantly, he's beginning to see this new way makes him a more stable person and capable leader.

While I love the old Jack, I love this new Jack too. He needed to recognize his limits and let go when he has to. He needed to stop acting how he thought he was supposed to act and start doing what's best. He now sees that whatever the image he had before of what a leader was supposed to be led him to a lot of pain and caused a lot of problems. This new Jack will find redemption, and will become the leader his father told him he never could be. And I can't wait to see it happen.