The episode begins with the iconic eye, but it is Jack’s eye in a flashback. The phrase “we’ve gotta go back” is used – this time by Boone, referring to a woman (Joanna) who was swimming and ended up drowning.
Jack catches a glimpse of the apparition of his father again, this time close enough to get a look and see that it is his father. It is worth reflecting on how this relates to later seasons, and the revelation that those apparitions were “smokey.” We know that people sometimes saw actual dead people on the island. And so if an apparition disappeared without turning into smoke, which sort of apparition was it?
We learn about Jack’s past, and see the influence of his father on how Jack sees things, saying he is not a leader and doesn’t “have what it takes.”Apparently from his father’s perspective, having what it takes means being able to take your mind off of the fact that a child died on your operating table by watching TV and drinking.
John Locke talks about the specialness of the place, and everything happening for a reason. Locke says that he looked into the eye of this island, and that what he saw there was beautiful.
Jack follows the apparition to a cave with water, and finds his father’s coffin – empty.
When he returns to the group, he says the famous line, “If we can’t live together, then we’re gonna die alone.”
Of course, there will be other white rabbits later in the series, although whether those are an intentional echo of this episode’s Alice in Wonderland reference is debatable.
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