Lost has always been great at delivering good episode endings (the Locke revelation in Walkabout springs to mind), but few cliffhangers are as chilly as that of the tenth episode, with Charlie and Claire running into Ethan Rom (William Mapother) while Jack and Hurley find out he wasn't one of the passengers on Oceanic 815. It's inevitable that the follow-up should be equally satisfying, and All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues doesn't disappoint for a second.
With Claire and Charlie missing, a rescue team is quickly assembled in the form of Jack, Kate, Locke and Boone. As they venture into the jungle, they split into two groups: while Jack and Kate make some horrifying discoveries about the abduction and the presence of "Others" on the Island, Locke and Boone find something else in the jungle, and decide to take a closer look.
Jack's actions in the episode are partly dictated by past events, seen in the flashbacks: while operating on a woman, he tried to save her life when she flat-lined, with no results. The situation only gets worse when his father Christian (John Terry), who was in charge of the surgery at first, lies to the hospital board to cover up the fact that he'd been drinking before the operation. Realizing it could cost him his relationship with his dad, Jack has to make a tough decision.
All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues is the third Jack-centric episode of the season, after the pilot and White Rabbit, and the script makes a good effort in depicting yet another aspect of his surprisingly dark past. John Terry, no stranger to playing doctors with issues (see the first season of ER), provides riveting support in those scenes, establishing a father-son bond that is the ideal subject for future episodes as well.
Most importantly, though, this conclusion to the first half of the season (the original broadcast was followed by a four-week hiatus, and the DVD release consisted of two separate box sets at first) adds plenty to the show's mythology, finally revealing something - not that much, but it's all right - about the Others and, in the final scene, setting up what promises to be another compelling plot thread. Also, that casual remark about Star Trek? It has an eerie feel of foreshadowing...
With Claire and Charlie missing, a rescue team is quickly assembled in the form of Jack, Kate, Locke and Boone. As they venture into the jungle, they split into two groups: while Jack and Kate make some horrifying discoveries about the abduction and the presence of "Others" on the Island, Locke and Boone find something else in the jungle, and decide to take a closer look.
Jack's actions in the episode are partly dictated by past events, seen in the flashbacks: while operating on a woman, he tried to save her life when she flat-lined, with no results. The situation only gets worse when his father Christian (John Terry), who was in charge of the surgery at first, lies to the hospital board to cover up the fact that he'd been drinking before the operation. Realizing it could cost him his relationship with his dad, Jack has to make a tough decision.
All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues is the third Jack-centric episode of the season, after the pilot and White Rabbit, and the script makes a good effort in depicting yet another aspect of his surprisingly dark past. John Terry, no stranger to playing doctors with issues (see the first season of ER), provides riveting support in those scenes, establishing a father-son bond that is the ideal subject for future episodes as well.
Most importantly, though, this conclusion to the first half of the season (the original broadcast was followed by a four-week hiatus, and the DVD release consisted of two separate box sets at first) adds plenty to the show's mythology, finally revealing something - not that much, but it's all right - about the Others and, in the final scene, setting up what promises to be another compelling plot thread. Also, that casual remark about Star Trek? It has an eerie feel of foreshadowing...
