Lost (TV Series) White Rabbit (2004) User Reviews

Favorite Episode of the First Season

[kukstis88526 · 9/10 · 4 September 2006]

This is the episode that got me completely hooked.

Jack story lines are always convincing and entertaining, and it seemed to me to be the episode in which the survivors really had to adjust to life on the island. Beautifully shot and acted, Matthew Fox gives an amazing performance. All the survivors seem to realize that their days may be numbered, adding an entire other element to their lives on the mysterious island. With cuts reminiscent of "Fight Club," "White Rabbit" is an eerie and beautiful episode which I believe shows all the amazing simplicity that season one was loaded with. Mystery shrouded by the truth of a human condition.

Jack realizes he really is only human, which makes his character all the more convincing. Locke's speech about beauty is breathtaking, and is applicable to much more than this show.

Father issues

[MaxBorg89 · 9/10 · 16 February 2010]

After the shocking revelation at the end of Walkabout, White Rabbit exposes another side of the supernatural aspect of Lost, this time focusing on the show's "hero": Jack Shepard.

The story kicks off with Jack having visions of his dead father, Christian (John Terry), and following the seemingly otherworldly figure into the jungle. Flashbacks explain how father and son had a fragile relationship, also revealing that Jack went to Australia to patch things up, only to have to deal with Christian's death and getting the body back to the States. Another plot point concerns the sudden disappearance of the survivors' water supply, which causes heavily pregnant Claire to have some health issues and everyone else to automatically suspect Sawyer.

While not as emotionally relevant as the previous episode, this still qualifies as great Lost, presenting two intriguing mysteries - what's the deal with the visions, and who stole the water? - and digging further into Jack's past in order to establish his motives and make him a sympathetic leader figure, as opposed to the scheming Sawyer or the spooky Locke. Matthew Fox, having carried much of the dramatic weight in the two-part pilot, really comes into his own in White Rabbit, turning in a charismatic, affecting performance.

In short, Lost keeps going in the right direction. Besides, it's always a good thing when genre shows have titles that reference classic literature: could the island be a much scarier, more realistic version of Wonderland?

A Leader Is Born

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 8 April 2006]

Dr. Jack Shephard is not able to save a survivor drowning in the sea and he becomes affected by the incident and the pressure of the community pointing him as a leader. Jack has visions of his father in the island and tries to chase him. Meanwhile, the finishing water supply is stolen, but Jack resolves his inner problems with his past and finds a source of water.

This good episode discloses the past of Jack Shephard and the reasons why he was in flight 815. It calls the attention that all the characters disclosed to this moment have some sort of trouble in the past. Jack, for example, has an unresolved situation with his father. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "White Rabbit"

Note: On 18 March 2013, I saw this episode again.

Terrific, under-appreciated season one episode

[ametaphysicalshark · 15 June 2008]

"White Rabbit" when viewed at the time was merely a solid episode in my eyes, but it improves in quality every single time you see it, and when you look back at this episode and look at Jack's character in later episodes you notice how much this episode did for the character in the space of a mere 42 minutes. Compare the character development in this one episode to several later Jack episodes and it really stands out as a fine piece of writing from Christian Taylor of "Six Feet Under" fame, a writer who would unfortunately never write for "Lost" again, for reasons unknown.

"White Rabbit" revolves around the 815'ers dealing with a water shortage, Jack chasing visions (in the light of season four, and for that matter the scene with the coffin in this episode, this is up in the air) of Christian, his father, and some brilliant early dialogue between Jack and Locke- the man of science and the man of faith. A catalyst to the later events in the episode is the opening scene of the episode in which Jack saves Boone but not a woman drowning further out in sea.

Of note in terms of Jack's character and his relationship with his father is the flashback scene where Jack goes home after a fight and is confronted by his father who appears in this scene to be the very antithesis of Jack's character in regard to the value of human life and caring for others. This is why I hate it when so-called fans call Jack selfish, because he is really the most selfless character on the island by some distance- even his irrational later acts were motivated by a desire to help others. Indeed, even his search for the metaphorical white rabbit in this episode can be seen on more levels than simply him chasing his dad through the jungle- it's a search for resolve in his character and once he finds the caves and returns and gives his famous 'live together, die alone' speech, the speech of a confident leader.

All in all, I find "White Rabbit" to be an incredibly intelligent, literate, and well-written episode of "Lost" that is also the cinematography debut for Michael Bonivillain on the show. This one is truly under-appreciated.

9/10

An important episode

[gridoon2024 · 9/10 · 2 May 2009]

My one and only reservation about "White Rabbit" is that having an episode so focused on Jack when he was already given plenty of screen time in the previous episodes and especially in the Pilot was perhaps a bit unfair to many other characters. And yet, "White Rabbit" proves its value by laying the groundwork for a lot of the themes that will be dominant in the future: Jack's leader role; the Jack-Locke "man of science, man of faith" dynamic (the dialogue in this scene is particularly well-written); father-son relationship problems; ghostly manifestations on the island (already introduced in "Walkabout", but now made more clear), specifically connected to the characters; flashbacks that go back to the character's childhood; the realization that the survivors will probably have to stay there for a long time; etc. It is admirable how these 5 first episodes just build onto each other, essentially telling one long story. ***1/2 out of 4.

As perfect as Lost can get.

[TheFirst01 · 10/10 · 11 November 2019]

This is a story about the descent into madness, and overcoming it. This is all shown through the point of view of Dr. Jack Shepard who according to the story has recently lost his father before boarding on the plane that led to the accident. His desperation led to him being "lost" in the middle of the jungle, and then John Locke conveniently finds him. I say conveniently because while he did find Jack, he served as a paternal figure by basically telling him to find himself, because the group of survivors can't have someone to lead them who hasn't found himself. This leads to Jack finding remains of the airplane from the accident, and finding the coffin that carried his father. This was explained through a flashback leading up to this scene that found Jack trying to get the coffin to Los Angeles on the flight. After realizing his father is not in the coffin, he starts destroying the coffin and at this point, Jack has overcome the adversity of his father getting in the way through mysterious appearances on the island throughout this episode. The episode ends with Jack telling the group of survivors to basically man up, and to start putting things into perspective, and basically saying that they can't do things by themselves and that they are all in this together. Overall, I think this is a very underrated episode considering how low rated the episode is compared to others. This was a story of overcoming adversity and I couldn't have been less dissapointed.

For its fifth episode Lost gives us another significant and well done character study piece.

[foleyjd · 9/10 · 29 November 2015]

Although by this point Lost had already delivered two of its finest episodes White Rabbit feels a hell of a lot like a pilot/co-pilot, mainly because it is the first flashback episode for Jack. There are other reasons as well but they mostly root from the fact that this is the first extend off-island time we have had with our protagonist.

Jack is a character who over the course of the show wore a little thin on the audience. Yet at the same time there are as many great Jack episodes as there are anyone else and while some like to remember a couple of less good ones, Jack was always an interesting, strong and complex protagonist and even if he wasn't my favorite character, at his best he could be really compelling.

White Rabbit is one of the best Jack episodes out there (although it is certainly not the best.) Coming back to why this episode feels a little like a co-pilot, well it introduces us to arguably the central relationship in the show, between Jack and his father.

Now this relationship has far less screen time and in many ways is far less developed than our very favorite Lost duos, but it is the relationship that drives the show's protagonist in most, if not all, of what he does. It is also the first concrete "daddy issues" Lost gives us.

I point this out because Lost is a show obsessed with the parent child dynamic and in particular the often screwed up relationships these characters have with their fathers and in many ways Christian Shepard (yeah his name really is Christian Shepard, at least Lindelof wasn't hitting the religious symbolism too hard) is really the daddy of the all of the daddy issues (not that by any means he is the worst father to have ever been on this show.)

Jack spends more or less the entirety of this episode chasing him through the jungle. This is after the show mirrors Jack not being able to help his friend as a child and Jack not being able to save the drowning woman, strongly hinting at the messiah complex that would also drive much of what Jack does (his name is Shepard and he's a doctor, he is allowed to have a messiah complex.)

He chases his dead father through the island, to no avail, but what he does find is a way for all of the survivors to live together. The speech at the end of the episode would ring through out the show's six year journey, with the season 2 finale being called Live Together, Die Alone, but here is where it is arguably at its most true.

Overall White Rabbit is an excellent episode, with some excellent scenes between Jack and Locke (another reason why this somewhat feels like the first episode as they would be one of the central pairings on Lost) and a lot of great stuff all round.

Great Jack-centric episode

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 30 November 2017]

When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.

"White Rabbit" is not quite as good as the brilliant "Pilot" (both halves) and "Walkabout" but is better than the still very good if slightly disappointing (then again it did have to follow on from the pilot) "Tabula Rasa". For a Jack-centric episode, it is great and important for Jack's development. It also still remains one of the better episodes revolving around him, cramming a lot in without pointlessness and not short-changing the rest of the characters.

My only complaint is the slightly clichéd and not particularly necessary cliff scene. However, the dysfunctional father-son relationship has plenty of juice and complexity, brilliantly written and played. The "live together, die alone" speech is iconic in 'Lost' history and it is very difficult to not see why. Also interesting was the introduction of aspects like the monster impersonating the dead.

The episode is excellently photographed, made with a lot of atmosphere and slickness and with no cheapness at all, while the setting is both beautiful and mysterious.

Even for so early on, the writing is smart and taut as well as provoking a lot of thought. Everything about the episode is absorbing, and not just the back-story, all the stuff between the rest of the survivors makes its mark.

All the acting is great, Matthew Fox being a charismatic presence and John Terry is excellent as Christian.

Overall, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Getting deeper

[matiasbockerman · 9/10 · 19 November 2018]

This is the most beautiful and emotional episode by far, important and very enjoyable.

Sorry, Jack

[ctomvelu-1 · 8/10 · 15 September 2008]

Jack fails to save a survivor from drowning and then begins to see visions of his dead father. He wanders off into the woods and almost dies. Locke saves him but tells him to stay the journey, and to find closure. Locke then goes off to kill some more game. What Jack ultimately finds is an empty coffin and a source of water, which the survivor's are now out of. He returns to the beach, stronger than before and definitely in command. Flashbacks reveal his tortured relationship with his father, who died of heart failure while visiting down under. The business with dad is played out a little too long, for my tastes. Otherwise, a heck of an episode.

The One Where Jack Sees His Dad...

[taylorkingston · 6/10 · 14 September 2015]

I enjoyed this episode. It's not one of my all-time favorite episodes from the series, or even this season, but it's still reply enjoyable.

In this episode, Jack constantly sees his recently-deceased Father, Christian Shephard. He runs into the jungle trying to find him, but things go quite wrong when he ends up falling down a hill, and then off a cliff. Meanwhile, back at the beach, Claire faints because of the lack of water, and now the last of the water bottles have gone missing. Everyone assumes it's Sawyer who took them, even though he says it wasn't. But Jack eventually finds a waterfall where they can get fresh water. How convenient.

Overall, I give this episode a 6 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Good.

More Human, Less Lost

[sergiocebolleroscg · 7/10 · 9 April 2020]

During this 5 chapters Lost has demonstrated a lot of things. It can be intense (just watch the pilot), a little bit terrifying, and then now, with this fantastic Jack story, it's more human, dropping out the supernatural vibe of the other episodes.

However, this isn't perfect, as I feel that it's only about Jack's past. No mysteries on the island, and the other plot with the running-out-of-water problem is very short and approaches to the ridicoulousness.

Jack's Backstory Fails to Captivate

[borowiecsminus · 7/10 · 16 June 2016]

To be fair, nearly anything would've been a let down after the previous episode, "Walkabout," which is one of the greatest episodes of television ever. But this episode really does let you down.

There is only one good moment in this episode: the rescue scene. The directing and camera-work in that scene truly instills a sense of panic in the viewer, the camera shaking uneasily with the waves it rests on.

However, the rest of the episode is really sub-par. Jack's backstory is mildly interesting, but the entire episode centers around it and it is not interesting enough to make the whole episode captivating. The acting, as usual for "Lost" is not all that great. Particularly Michael does not do a particularly good job.

Finally, Fox's performance. While he was very good at conveying sadness for his dead father, there was no depth. It was simply "boo- hoo." Whether this is due to acting, directing, or writing, I don't know, but given all his father put him through, and the love-hate relationship he had with his family, it would've been more real to see some mixed emotions, which there were none of.

All in all, "Lost" went from spectacular to half-decent in the span of just one week. The worst episode in the run so far.

Jack's father

[gedikreverdi · 8 November 2021]

Locke saved jack from falling down the cliff while he was chasing the vision of his late father. Jack's mother wanted him to bring back his father from Australia and he had died in Australia and he was bringing back his body. But his coffin in the forest was empty.