LOST AGAIN: SEASON 1x11 - ALL THE BEST COWBOYS HAVE DADDY ISSUES

This episode of Lost Again brought to you by Woolite. Keep your red shirts from fading!

Picking up right where the last episode ends, Jack has just discovered from Hurley that Ethan was not on the plane. No one has seen either Ethan or Charlie, but they were both following Claire to the beach. Time for Jack to go on another jungle adventure! Locke runs after him, and they find Claire's bag along with signs of a struggle. Jack starts yelling for Claire and Charlie, but Locke silences him with his best Elmer Fudd impression. "Shh! We're hunting wabbit!" Taking into consideration Sayid's claim that there are others on the Island, Locke believes the best thing would be to form a search party and make a plan. Jack doesn't want to plan though. He wants to take action, so he goes after Ethan alone while Locke heads back to the caves for backup.
With Kate and Boone in tow, Locke catches up with Jack, and the four of them set off to find a trail. This is the beginning of Locke and Jack's constant disagreement over pretty much everything. Locke wants to take a break, and a snippy Jack gives him lip for it. Kate gives Jack a stern talking to, and he admits this is a mission of redemption for him. He feels guilty for not believing Claire when she told him she was attacked. When two trails are discovered leading in two different directions, Jack and Locke have differing opinions in how to proceed. Locke thinks they should stay together, but Jack insists they split up and follow both trails since Kate just revealed her tracking prowess.



Meanwhile, back on the beach Sawyer gets the newsflash from Walt that Sayid is back. Sawyer goes to have a confrontation with him and finds some satisfaction in seeing Sayid laid up with injuries of his own. Sawyer toys with the idea of getting some revenge, but is probably really only messing with Sayid's head. While he's not ready to become the guy's BFF, he does seem willing to let bygones be bygones to an extent and lets him know they kept the signal fire going while he was away. When Sayid fills him in on his Rousseau adventures, Sawyer is intrigued, and he realizes there may be bigger things to worry about aside from his beef with the Iraqi.


Back on the trail, Jack and Kate stop just long enough in their search to have a little spat. Jack lets his trust issues with Kate rise to the surface, and he questions her on her tracking abilities. He just assumes it is part of her criminal past. She opens up about her dad taking her out in the Washington State woods to track deer. Too bad Jack doesn't have any nice stories like that to share about his dad.

In flashbacks, Jack is having some professional as well as personal issues with his boss who also happens to be his father. A patient died on Jack's watch after he took over the surgery from his father. Christian made a mistake while operating due to intoxication. To avoid a lawsuit, Jack and Christian must sign a statement that the girl's death was a result of the severity of her injuries rather than anything that might have happened in the OR. Christian convinces Jack to sign by appealing to him as a father. He had to sacrifice a meaningful relationship with Jack in order to be the best surgeon possible. But it was for the greater good. That's also why he is so hard on Jack. It is part of grooming him into becoming a superb surgeon. When Jack sees him using the same techniques to talk the dead patient's husband out of suing, he knows he got played. In a meeting with hospital administrators, he learns that the patient was pregnant. This is the last straw for Jack. He rescinds his statement and rats his dad out effectively ending the elder Dr. Shephard's long career.

A sudden rainstorm is making it difficult to follow any sort of trail and causes Jack to slip and fall down a steep slope. When he looks up, Ethan is standing over him. He threatens to kill Charlie or Claire if they don't stop following him. Jack engages him in a fist fight, but gets knocked out cold. Kate eventually finds her way back to Jack, wakes him up and tries to encourage him to go back to camp. He refuses and sets off after Ethan again.


They come into a clearing and find what is one of the most disturbing shots of the entire series. Charlie is blindfolded and strung up in the trees. Kate cuts him loose and Jack immediately performs CPR. After several unsuccessful attempts, a distraught Kate implores Jack to let it go. There is nothing he can do. (Echos of his father were surely ringing in Jack's ears at this moment.) Jack persisted, and revived Charlie. A powerful and moving scene in its own right, it is all the more tinged with sadness knowing Charlie's coming fate. Dying in service to Claire was foreshadowed here whether it was intentional or not.


And speaking of death, Boone should have shirked marker detail. That red shirt slung over his shoulder is the tolling of the bells for him. This is definitely the more laid back search team though. They discuss their respective occupations back in California and Star Trek. Then Locke does his best weatherman and predicts rain down to the minute. Watch out Al Roker! This bromance is solidified with the accidental discovery of the hatch. John Locke has found his purpose, and Season 1 has found its focus.


In other island developments:

• Michael isn't happy that Locke didn't need him to join the search party. When Michael is angry, he uses alliteration to express himself. "Just cause Mt. Baldy can bag a boar..." Mad Michael might have mistook Mt. Baldy's meaning.
• Lucky Walt kicks unlucky Hurley's butt in backgammon, but I don't think he ever collected that $20,000. Hurley, therapy ain't cheap dude, and that kid is gonna need some. Pay up.
• Kate reassures Shannon that Boone is more safe with Locke than anyone else. Good one!