White Rabbit (Lost)
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| Lost (TV series) episode | |
|---|---|
| “White Rabbit” | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 5 |
| Guest star(s) | John Terry (Dr. Christian Shephard), Andy Trask (hotel manager), Meilinda Soerjoko (Chrissy), Veronica Hamel (Margo), John O'Hara (Young Jack), Sev Palmer (Meathead), Geoff Heise (Doctor) |
| Writer(s) | Christian Taylor |
| Director | Kevin Hooks |
| Production no. | 103 |
| Original airdate | October 20, 2004 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Walkabout" | "House of the Rising Sun" |
"White Rabbit" is the 5th episode of Lost. It is the fifth episode of the show's first season. The episode was directed by Kevin Hooks and written by Christian Taylor. It first aired on October 20, 2004 on ABC. The character of Jack Shephard is featured in the episode's flashback.
[edit] Plot
A flashback shows a teenage Jack and a friend being beaten up. One bully gives Jack the chance to leave, but he decides to help his companion, causing him to be further assaulted. Joanna, one of the crash survivors, is drowning in the ocean. Boone swims out but can't reach her, and Jack rescues Boone. Jack is distraught that he failed to save her and sees the man in a suit again.
Hurley and Charlie want Jack to decide how to handle the lack of water. In a flashback, Jack's father sees his son's beaten face. He tells Jack he shouldn't be a hero because "he doesn’t have what it takes." On the island Jack once more sees the man in the suit, and chases him. He catches up and discovers it's his father, who silently turns and walks away.
In a flashback, Jack's mother tells him that his father has left for Australia. She wants him to bring his father back. Jack reluctantly agrees. On the island, Claire faints from heat exhaustion, and they discover that the remaining water has been stolen. Locke goes into the jungle to look for some.
Jack deliriously stumbles through the jungle looking for his father. A flashback shows Jack searching the hotel at which his father was staying, and interrogating the manager. On the island, Jack falls off a precipice while running. He hangs on to a branch, but cannot climb up. Locke appears and helps him.
On the beach, Charlie offers Claire some water. They talk and form a bond. Sayid finds that Sun has water, and she reveals that Sawyer gave it to them. Kate follows Sawyer to his stash of items he looted from the fuselage, but he doesn't have the water.
Locke tells Jack that the others need a leader, and it should be him. Jack reveals that his father is a hallucination. Locke claims the island is "special", and everything that happens on it does so for a reason. He says, "I looked into the eye of this island and what I saw was beautiful." They split up: Locke looks for water, and Jack follows his hallucination.
In a flashback Jack is at the morgue. The doctor says that Jack's father died of alcohol poisoning. Jack identifies the body. That night on the island, Jack discovers caves with an abundance of fresh water. More wreckage from the plane is here, including a coffin. A flashback shows Jack at the airport. The airline refuses to put his father's body on the plane because he does not have the proper documentation. On the island, Jack opens the coffin to find it's empty, and angrily destroys it.
On the beach, Boone gives water to Claire. Charlie sees him and drags him out of the tent. The others start pushing Boone, asking him where the water is. Jack appears and tells everyone about the caves. Sawyer is delighted that people hate Boone more than him. Jack tells Kate about his father.
[edit] Trivia
- The title 'White Rabbit' alludes to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in which Alice famously enters the wonderous other world after following a white rabbit down a rabbit hole. This is echoed by Jack's dogged pursuit of his seemingly ghostly father through the jungle.
- Various quotes from this episode, such as "Live Together, Die Alone" and "Every Man for Himself" come up in lines in future episodes, as well as being used as episode titles in future episodes of the series.
- As part of the "literature" motif in this episode, Sawyer is seen reading Watership Down, a novel about rabbits, or as Sawyer describes the book in Confidence Man, "about bunnies."
| Lost | |
|---|---|
| Production: | DVD releases • Episode list • Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Soundtrack |
| Main characters: | Ana Lucia • Ben • Boone • Charlie • Claire • Desmond • Hurley • Jack • Jin • Juliet • Kate Libby • Locke • Michael • Mr. Eko • Nikki • Paulo • Sawyer • Sayid • Shannon • Sun • Walt |
| Supporting characters: | Bernard • Rose • The Others |
| Organizations: | DHARMA Initiative • Hanso Foundation • Oceanic Airlines |
| Elements: | Crossovers • DHARMA Initiative stations • Flight 815 • Mythology • Thematic motifs |
| Miscellaneous: | Gary Troup • In popular culture • Lost Experience • Rachel Blake • Video game |
