Changes: Jack Shephard

Revision as of 14:09, 12 October 2006

Jack Shephard is a doctor and leader of The Middle Section of survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. He has control issues and trouble dealing with situations that he cannot fix. However, his attitude of solving problems through reason have given him the ability to function well in crisis.

Before the Crash

Jack Shephard is the son of Christian and Margo Shephard. When he was young, he was beaten up because he wanted to help his friend, Marc Silverman. His father later told him that he 'doesn't have what it takes'.After graduating a year early from medical school (faster than anyone else, according to Juliet) Jack worked with his father at St. Sebastian Hospital. A little more than 3 years before the crash, he operated on a car crash victim named Sarah, whose spine had been damaged in the accident. Jack was convinced that surgery would not alleviate her paralysis and told her truthfully about it, despite his father's warnings that he should try giving hope to his patients occasionally. After the operation, Jack was sure that it was a failure, but he soon learned that Sarah could miraculously move her toes and regained feeling in her legs.

Jack and Sarah married a little over two years later, but the marriage was strained under the pressure of the different work schedule that Jack and Sarah had, which caused them to see little of each other. Jack and his father later worked on a patient named Angelo. His daughter, Gabriela, said she came to Jack to help because she had heard of the miracle he had 'performed' on Sarah. He told Gabriela that the situation was different, but agreed to help her father. Angelo died of heart failure a few months later on the operating table after Jack successfully removed a tumor, and on

Lost301jacksbookshelf — Jack and Christian Shephard in his office

the way back to his car, Jack met Gabriela. They end up kissing, but Jack told her it was not the right thing to do. Jack confessed to his wife what happened and she, in turn, told him that she had been cheating on him because of his workaholic tendencies and his need to always fix things. Despite his honesty, Sarah then left Jack.

As Jack and Sarah began to proceed with their divorce, Jack began to believe that his father had been having an affair with Sarah. Jack barged into his father's AA meeting and attacked him after it was said that he had been sober for 50 days. After Jack was arrested, Sarah bailed him out saying that his father called her drunk. Jack continued to probe Sarah for information regarding the new man she was seeing. Sarah, reluctant to give up the information, never told Jack his name.

Two months before the crash, Jack's father operated on a pregnant woman while under the influence of alcohol, and when a nurse told Jack of this, he relieved his father and took over the surgery. He was unable to repair the damage, however, and the woman died. Christian pressured Jack to sign a report saying the woman was beyond medical assistance, but Jack later learned that the woman was pregnant at the time of her death and revealed that his father had caused the fatal damage by severing the woman's hepatic artery.

Jackscrosswordpuzzle — Jack's crossword puzzle from his car

Jack apparently has a half-sister in Australia, of whom he appears to be unaware of, though in The Hunting Party, it was implied that he knew his father had been cheating on his mother. His father traveled to Australia to visit his daughter. Jack searched the hotel where he was staying but eventually found his father in the morgue, after he had died from a massive heart attack brought on by alcohol poisoning. He decided to take his father back to the United States, though he had trouble getting the casket on the plane because he did not make proper arrangements through a funereal home.

Just prior to the flight, Jack had a conversation in an airport bar with Ana-Lucia Cortez, who was also on the same flight, and they promise to have another drink on the plane, which never happened.

On the plane, Jack was seated in seat 23A next to Rose, and spoke with her while her husband Bernard was in the bathroom. When the turbulence started, Jack assured her that everything would be alright, but the tail section of the plane then broke off. Jack later recollects to Kate that he lost consciousness while speculating on details of the crash. Jack later revealed that he had taken flying lessons.

On the Island

Jackontheground — Jack lying on the ground after the crash.

After waking up in the jungle, Jack ran to the sound of screams from the beach. He began helping pull survivors from the wreckage of the plane. Jack saved Rose via CPR, when her heart stopped, and saved Claire from being crushed by falling debris. Jack reluctantly accepted the role of leader on the Island. He made the decision to burn the fuselage, thus cremating the passengers who didn't survive when the bodies were attracting wild boars. Jack euthanized Edward Mars after a botched 'mercy-killing' attempt by Sawyer.

On day 7, Jack saved Boone from drowning after Boone failed to rescue a drowning woman, Joanna. After returning Boone to the beach, Jack swam back out to save the woman but failed to get to her in time. Later Jack derided himself in front of Kate for being unable to rescue her.

As Jack dealt with the disparity of the survivor's situation, he began to see visions of his father on the Island in Walkabout and White Rabbit, although it is not known whether this vision was real or hallucinatory. He later found his father's coffin in the caves, but not the body. The caves that Jack discovered quickly led to division between the survivors and Jack. Those who sided with Sayid and Sawyer refused to leave the beach in favor of the freshwater and shelter of the caves. Still, Jack succeeded in moving a large group of the survivors from the beach to the caves. Jack and Locke's views on how to handle situations differed and often led to fights between the two. However, Jack was grateful to Locke after he is saved from almost falling down a cliff.

Moth4 — Jack and Charlie find another way out of the caves

When Jack became trapped by cave-in, the survivors began a rescue attempt led by Michael. He was rescued by Charlie, who was the only one small enough to go in and rescue him. Jack later returned the favor when he saved Charlie after it seemed too late when he was hanged by Ethan.

Jack's next challenge came on day 40, when Locke brought a badly injured Boone to him. He wanted to amputate Boone's leg, but had a last-minute change of heart when Boone awoke and told him not to. Prior to that, Sun had tried to stop him. Jack replied with "Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do." Jack took the failure of letting Boone die hard, and held Locke responsible for Boone's death. Even after Locke explained what actually happened, this (combined with the fact that Locke was keeping the hatch a secret) caused Jack to distrust Locke, and he has had trouble trusting Locke ever since.

On day 44, Jack set out along with Kate, Rousseau, Locke, Hurley, and Arzt to get dynamite from the Black Rock to blow open the Hatch. On the way back, Jack and Kate kept Locke from being pulled down into a hole by the Monster. When Kate is taken in the hatch by Desmond, Jack went down in the Hatch to help her, where he met Desmond for the first time since they met in Los Angeles.

The discovery of the Hatch made the tension between Jack and Locke grow even more intense. He had a very hard time letting things go and relying only on faith alone, as opposed to Locke, and more recently, Mr. Eko, who rely on faith. Jack let the Countdown Timer run out to pressure Locke into giving him the combination to the arsenal so he could stop Sayid from torturing Henry Gale.

Jack competes with Sawyer for Kate's attention, and shared a passionate kiss with her in the jungle in What Kate Did. He continually tries to "one-up" Sawyer, and threatened to withhold antibiotics from him, mere days after he'd been shot by Mr. Friendly and was recovering from an infection. After Sawyer took the medical supplies, Jack won them back from him in a poker game.

Jack led an expedition to find Michael after he ran off. He offered Ben, known as Henry Gale at the time, to the Others in a trade for Walt; they did not accept, but rather devised a plan of their own. He soon found Michael after he ran out of the jungle, and brought him back to the hatch, where he and Kate tended to Michael's wounds.

Determined to regain control, Jack went with Locke and Kate to retrieve the rest of the guns from Sawyer after Michael announced a plan to take on the Others. He pulled a gun on Sawyer and burned the manuscript he'd been reading, in an attempt to get him to comply. Sawyer revealed to him how Ana-Lucia Cortez got his gun. They rushed back to the Swan when they learned Ana-Lucia was alone in the Hatch with Michael and Ben. While working to treat the mortally wounded Libby, Jack sent a reluctant Kate to go with Sawyer so she could find out where the stash of guns and heroin were located.

On day 65, Jack set out along with Kate, Michael, Sawyer and Hurley to find the Others, despite being warned by Sayid that Michael had been compromised. Jack devised a plan with Sayid, allowing Sayid to scout the Others camp before Jack got there. After Kate shot and killed one of the Others that was following them, Jack confronted Michael about his betrayal in front of Hurley, Sawyer, and Kate, revealing that he had been given a list by Ms. Klugh of their names.

After releasing Hurley, Michael, and Walt, the Others take Jack, Kate, Sawyer to the former DHARMA station, the Hydra. Jack was put in a room that was once used as an aquarium for sharks and dolphins. Here, Jack met Juliet, an Other who was assigned to interrogate Jack. He was unresponsive at first, but finally decided to cooperate. Juliet revealed that she has a file containing information of everything about his life. When Juliet asked Jack what he wants to know about Sarah, Jack simply asked "Is she happy?"

He is later interrogated by Benjamin Linus who reveals his name and the fact that he was born on the island. Jack refuses to shake his hand and asks what he wants. Ben notes the date and the events that have occured since the plane crash. He proves that the Others have contact with the outside world. Jack is then offered a trip home if he cooperates.

Interests/Trivia

Jack has the most socialist viewpoint amongst the losties, in economic terms. Sawyer is the opposite of this viewpoint.
Learned to play poker, spot cheating, and sleight-of-hand, in Phuket, Thailand.
Has taken some flying lessons.
Uses a pen to complete crossword puzzles - a rare practice even amongst crossword enthusiasts, which shows his confidence/intellect. (Crossword Puzzle)
Has a tattoo on his left shoulder that translates to: "Hawk in the expansive sky" or "Eagles high up cleaving the sky"
Has another tattoo on his left forearm that appears to be a large number 5 with a compass dial around it. The five represents when he conquered his fear during an emergency by "letting the fear" in, but only for five seconds. (Pilot, Part 1)
Jack did not have the tattoos at time of his separation from Sarah; it has not yet been indicated when he got them.
The character of Jack as the de facto leader of the survivors was intended to be killed off in Pilot, Part 1 by Cerberus/The Security System, with Kate taking over as leader. However, ABC executives convinced the writers and producers to keep him alive. They reasoned that killing him off, while a novel idea, generated feelings of betrayal, bewilderment, and anger in the audience. Instead, The Pilot was written in and killed in Jack's place. Fox's portrayal of Jack as such a likable and noble character whom audiences can relate to only helped solidify his survival and importance on the show.
May be named, along with Sawyer, after the protagonist of the Stephen King/Peter Straub novels the Talisman and Black House, Jack Sawyer.
- Michael Keaton was originally cast to play Jack when the script called for the death of the character; it was his body, not the pilot's, that was to be found by Kate and Charlie in the tree at the end of the first half of the pilot.

Theories

Jack's last name, Shephard, tells us that he's 'leading the herd'. Jesus is also called 'The Good Shepherd'.
Jack's wife really was pregnant, but she didn't tell him. She still loved him, but knew his devotion was to his work.
Jack represents the benevolence and brutality of socialism.
Jack's half-sister from Australia is possibly Claire.
According to Tail Section, Jack is the one that The Others find easiest to cooperate with because he will recognize one of them from the real world. Jack may decide to join the others and will have to do an initiation task to get in, which could possibly include killing Sayid, the man who tortured "Henry Gale"
Jack may exhibit signs of psychiatric disorder, more specifically, the anxiety disorder obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive (repetitive, distressing, or intrusive) thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or rituals) which attempt to neutralize the obsessions. Jacks obsessive nature manifests itself as a compulsive need to "fix". For example:
- A contributing factor leading to the eventual end of Jack's marriage to Sarah is Jacks need to "fix". Moments before performing spinal surgery on his eventual wife Sarah, he confides to her that he is going to "fix" her. This is an odd comment given the likelihood of the surgery's success. At the end of Jack and Sarah's relationship Sarah confirms that Jack now will have something to "fix" (a reference to Christian Shephard's alcoholism).

Gallery

@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 Jack led an expedition to find [[Michael]] after he ran off. He offered [[Benjamin Linus|Ben]], known as [[Henry Gale]] at the time, to the [[Others]] in a trade for [[Walt]]; they did not accept, but rather devised a plan of their own. He soon found [[Michael]] after he ran out of the jungle, and brought him back to [[The Swan|the hatch]], where he and [[Kate]] tended to Michael's wounds.
-Determined to regain control, Jack went with [[Locke]] and [[Kate]] to retrieve the rest of the [[guns]] from [[Sawyer]] after [[Michael]] announced a plan to take on the [[Others]]. He pulled a gun on Sawyer and burned the manuscript he'd been reading, in an attempt to get him to comply. Sawyer revealed to him how [[Ana-Lucia Cortez]] got his [[guns|gun]]. They rushed back to the [[Swan]] when they learned [[Ana-Lucia]] was alone in the Hatch with Michael and [[Ben]]. While working to treat the mortally wounded [[Libby]], Jack sent a reluctant [[Kate]] to go with [[Sawyer]] so she could find out where the stash of [[guns]] and [[heroin]] were located.
+Determined to regain control, Jack went with [[Locke]] and [[Kate]] to retrieve the rest of the [[guns]] from [[Sawyer]] after [[Michael]] announced a plan to take on the [[Others]]. He pulled a gun on Sawyer and burned the manuscript he'd been reading, in an attempt to get him to comply. Sawyer revealed to him how [[Ana-Lucia Cortez]] got his [[guns|gun]]. They rushed back to the [[Swan]] when they learned [[Ana-Lucia]] was alone in the Hatch with Michael and [[Benjamin Linus|Ben]]. While working to treat the mortally wounded [[Libby]], Jack sent a reluctant [[Kate]] to go with [[Sawyer]] so she could find out where the stash of [[guns]] and [[heroin]] were located.
 On day 65, Jack set out along with [[Kate]], [[Michael]], [[Sawyer]] and [[Hurley]] to find [[the Others]], despite being warned by [[Sayid]] that Michael had been compromised. Jack devised a plan with Sayid, allowing Sayid to scout the [[Others]] camp before Jack got there. After Kate shot and killed one of the Others that was following them, Jack confronted Michael about his betrayal in front of Hurley, Sawyer, and Kate, revealing that he had been given a list by [[Ms. Klugh]] of their names.