Good episode. This would appear to be the first one to serve as a second origin episode for a character. I was surprised that Sawyer didn't take his frustrations out on Sayid, but instead just asked him about the others on the island. In a way it makes sense, since Sawyer is the outsider rebel set against the other; if he can make nice with another group, he can have some semblance of power.

What happened to Charlie was really powerful. They REALLY got you beleiving that he was dead, and that was it. I had heard that
Season Spoiler Warning someone was dying this season, so thought this might be it. End Spoiler Warning. Thank GOD, I thought, that Jack decided to try again. As soon as he did, ala' The Abyss, I knew Charlie would be alive, because there was the understandable sad musical downbeat during the first attempt that I knew they would not simply rehash again during the second attempt, meaning that it would be succesful.

The conflict between Jack and Locke was good, but I'd like to know why Boone was so surprised about Locke knowing it was going to rain. I mean, weren't there storm clouds in the sky?

And as usual, the end came too fast, and I didn't even realize the hour was over when it was. Can't wait for the next ep.

Gah! I know exactly what you mean! The word "LOST" flashes across the screen, punctuated by screams of "What?!?" and "That's it?!? It's OVER?!?"

That episode was amazing. I was riveted the entire time. This show just keeps getting more and more mysterious. And I'm loving it.

Shannon (and Kate for that matter) has amazing hair for being on a remote island. She must have salvaged some hair products from the crash.

Is it just me, or is Walt seeming smarter, rational, and level headed than his father?

Why are they surprised by Kate's reasoning that there could be more than one trail? You don't have to be a tracker to see the logic in that.

I don't know about all of you, but when Jack was yelling at Charlie to breathe, I was yelling right with him. Good gosh, this show has me invested in these characters. Well, some of them.

I'd like to know why Boone was so surprised about Locke knowing it was going to rain. I mean, weren't there storm clouds in the sky? - Luigi Novi

I don't think he expressed surprise that Locke knew it was going to rain, I think he was surprised Locke knew precisely when it would rain.


This episode has gotten me to rethink what's happening on the island... I think I've been focusing on the wrong characters to understand everything, and now I want to rewatch the previous episodes to see what's going on.

I've always assumed that Walt was simply "the kid" on the island... a character who doesn't really serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things except as a placeholder for a character type. I'm now beginning to think that he might be the most important character on the show, at least in terms of understanding what's happening to them on the island.

His continually getting the rolls he needed in the backgammon game I think is very important. I'm still not sure how it's important. But seeing as Locke (who had befriended Walt) is the only one to have apparently confronted the "monster" and survived; plus the fact that Walt is shown reading a comic book with a polar bear, and (Lo and behold!) there's a polar bear on the island are clues to something.

Perhaps it's something about innocence and a child's lack of cynicism... they can create a world without all the restrictions of "reality." Which might explain why the "others" have kidnapped Claire, the person who holds a being of pure innocence. Maybe they need the baby to get off the island.

Could Walt be named for Walt Disney?

Darth, this ep made me wonder about Walt as well. The backgammon rolls, his opinion on Locke, and his scene with Sawyer. It almost seemed like he had an ulterior motive when he told Sawyer about Sayid's return.

Again, it was hinted that there were some surprises in Hurley's background, as he's known as a something of a "warrior" back home . I hope that doesn't reference something really silly (like he's been playing Dungeons and Dragons since he was a kid).

I thought it was really ridiculous that it apparently took some time for Kate to find the unconscious Jack (long enough for the sun to come out and the forrest to dry out a bit) since she only appeared to be about 75 feet away from him earlier.

It was nice to see the show present quite a difficult ethical dilemna for Jack (whether to reveal his father operated impaired, and thus leading to him losing his medical license), but that would raise other issues. Unfortunately, hospital officials might still try to cover it up to avoid paying a huge settlement.

The whole bit about Jack reviving Charlie seemed implausible. I'm not aware that a person can be revived after being killed by hanging. Is that possible? Of course, the other explanation is that some other force on the island brought him back to life. Was it some sort of payback for Jack being an ethical character? Well, we'll have to wait a while... reruns next week.

Boone's Star Trek comments made me realize something... there are some parallels (albeit unintentional ones) between this show and the episode Shore Leave from TOS:

The first episode with Jack's dad is entitled White Rabbit, and the White Rabbit is the first indication of something strange on the Shore Leave planet.

Jack is taunted by repeated visions of his dad... Kirk is taunted by repeated visions of Finnegan.

According to JJ Abrams, Jack (the doctor) "dies" in the original script to the pilot episode... Doctor McCoy "dies" on the Shore Leave planet.

The island could be conjuring fantasies from the memories and thoughts of the survivors... the Shore Leave planet conjured fantasies from the crew's thoughts and memories.


Also regarding Walt... another possible clue surfaced during his discussion with Sawyer. Sawyer tells Walt he has "one hell of an imagination." In the same discussion, he refers to Walt as Tattoo (a reference to the character on Fantasy Island).

If a person has merely been choked to death from hanging they could be revivied but if the hanging broke the neck then they would be gone beyond major medical tech or magical help. It all depends on the placement of the knot and fall speed.

Well, the title of this episode seems to gain more significance every week. Jack, Sawyer, Locke. Who's next? Sayid? Kate?

Thoughts and comments:

- Jack isn't a very good doctor to leave Sayid in the middle of bandaging him to go running through the forest. And then, even when Locke tries to talk sense into him, he still refuses.

- For that matter, I don't understand Locke's idea of a search group: only three people, and Boone without a backpack (they need water and first aid and food)? If Locke wants to track Ethan's trail, Jack has ruined that. A real search party should spread out in a pattern, but then you'd need more than 3 people. (I just don't like the extreme contrivance of focusing on the same few main characters, if there are supposedly over 40 people on the island. Just show us some more people, even if they get only minor speaking roles...)

GREAT LINE: "Must be a lousy captain" Locke, about the Redshirts dying in Star Trek. ROFLMAO

- So, are we supposed to think that Katie is a real criminal because she can read tracks? I wasn't even in the Scouts, but we played "Schnitzeljagd" in summer camp (one group leaves a trail, the other group follows them. False trails, doubling back are favourite tricks.)

- Didn't Jack say a few episodes (days) ago to Katie that he doesn't care about her past? And now he badgers her about it?

- I wonder if somebody will take Micheal aside and tell him how to interact with Walt if he does want to get closer to the boy. Now, Walt plays backgammon with Hurley, instead of helping Mike with the search.

- It's really nice to see Sawyer drop the jerk act and become serious with Sayid, when he hears the information. So he isn't totally stupid; his jerkiness seems to come from the desire to make the others punish him because he despises himself (according to what happened in "Con man". Though I still don't understand why he thinks Kate feels sorry for him when she looked at him that time - I wouldn't feel sorry that he'd become the man he'd hunted and hated, I would think him stupid for not changing himself once he realized it. But of course it takes more courage to try to change yourself than hating yourself and being a jerk.)
So, will this be kept secret from the rest, too, or will they finally get everybody around the fire and tell everything? I mean, by now the main characters should understand that there are too many dangers out there to keep the rest in the dark...

- So Kate, the laymen, tells Jack, the doctor, to stop CPR. Why? And why does Jack stop proper CPR and just beat Charlie after two tries? Shouldn't he know better to try properly? (Maybe Kate wouldn't have interferred if he hadn't broken down?)

- I really was shocked that they would kill of a major character so early on, after he was so nice to Claire, and the good ep. about him (Moth man). But then, after being shouted at and thumped, the dead always come alive again on TV ... sigh. Clichee Nr. 13.

- Really smart of Jack to continue on after Ethan warned him that one would die. Though I wonder if Ethan had already hung Charlie up and was just playing mind games with Jack to make him feel guilty.
- And Charlie's lucky that Ethan (or whoever else it was) hung him up by the throat to slowly choke, instead of killing him quickly by a fall that broke his neck (as is usually done on the gallows). Was this because choking to death is more painful and longer than breaking the neck? (Or was it only so Charlie could survive?)


What does the title refer to? I mean, Jack had some major problems with his dad, but he's hardly a cowboy. (Or does his impulsive rushing-off-to-be-the-hero-because-hes-the-only-one-who-can-save-the-day make him one? I'd call Locke a cowboy, though he's really too nice to be one. (And somebody needs to tell Michael that Locke is trying awfully hard not to turn Walt against him, but Walt is turning away from Mike because he blows it every time.)

When Hurley says he finished 17th in a tournament, I wondered "out of how many?" 17th out of 20 or 30 is bad, as Walt says; 17th out of 1000 would be pretty good.

About Locke knowing precisely when it would rain - on one hand, I've heard that in tropical areas, the rain comes every day on time. OTOH, I got the impression it was related to Locke's senses being sharper - either because he'd hunted and explored the forest in the last 10/14 days, or because ... sth. else.
He mentions several times he feels or smells the trail...

So, before the rain, Locke advises Boone to return now, so he'll find the way in daylight. And earlier on, it was obvious Locke knew his way about, and Boone didn't. But after Boone has decided to continue (I thougth he wanted to live up to a self-image of being a hero/hunter/warrior like Locke), he wants to give up and return in the dark, when he has no clue where they are, and Locke lets him go without comment? how about a few words of warning?

It was nice to see the show present quite a difficult ethical dilemna for Jack (whether to reveal his father operated impaired, and thus leading to him losing his medical license), but that would raise other issues. ...

What I liked also about it was that the issue wasn't clear cut: Jack's Dad says the liver artery was damaged from the crash, not his scalpel, and she might have been too heavily injured to make it. Since Jack came in late, he doesn't know what the truth is - if there is an objective truth in a case like this at all...

The comments about Walt are interesting - I thought since he didn't know about Sayid torturing Sawyer, he had no reason to keep silent about his return, but now I wonder...

It would certainly be interesting to rewatch the ep.s a second time and look for the details - in the first viewing, it's enough to keep track of the main storyline and the flashbacks...

constanze: So, are we supposed to think that Katie is a real criminal because she can read tracks?
Luigi Novi: What in the episode implied this?

constanze: Didn't Jack say a few episodes (days) ago to Katie that he doesn't care about her past? And now he badgers her about it?
Luigi Novi: He didn't realize back then that it would continue to be a point of contention-as do the pasts of all the principle characters.

constanze: So Kate, the laymen, tells Jack, the doctor, to stop CPR. Why? And why does Jack stop proper CPR and just beat Charlie after two tries? Shouldn't he know better to try properly?
Luigi Novi: It's the cliché of the two characters fighting the Let It Go/No, Just One More Chance! Motif in trying to revive someone. It also shows up in the movie The Abyss.

constanze: What does the title refer to? I mean, Jack had some major problems with his dad, but he's hardly a cowboy. (Or does his impulsive rushing-off-to-be-the-hero-because-hes-the-only-one-who-can-save-the-day make him one? I'd call Locke a cowboy, though he's really too nice to be one.
Luigi Novi: That's exactly why Jack is seen as a cowboy. The word in this sense doesn't mean someone who isn't “nice”, it refers to someone impulsive who takes unilateral action without being particularly pensive, contemplative or democratic about it. Think of Picard's reference to Kirk's old school brand of captaincy as “cowboy diplomacy” in the beginning of Unification part II(TNG).

Luigi Novi: What in the episode implied this?

Because Jack acted all suspicious about it, I thought they wanted us to remember that we know she's a criminal, when there half a dozen alternate explanations for being able to read tracks.

Luigi Novi: It's the cliché of the two characters fighting the Let It Go/No, Just One More Chance! Motif in trying to revive someone. It also shows up in the movie The Abyss. []

I haven't seen Abyss, but I've seen this clichee in dozen of TV series and action films. But usually, it's two laymen fighting. This time, with Jack a doctor who should know better, it just struck me as being really off.

Luigi Novi: That's exactly why Jack is seen as a cowboy. The word in this sense doesn't mean someone who isn't ?nice?, it refers to someone impulsive who takes unilateral action without being particularly pensive, contemplative or democratic about it. Think of Picard's reference to Kirk's old school brand of captaincy as ?cowboy diplomacy? in the beginning of Unification part II(TNG).

I see. I thougt Cowboy refers more to an outdoor type of guy (like Locke), who's gruff, doesn't talk, and solves every problem with guns/weapons. But Jack - despite his education, which means he should use his brain to think what makes sense - really is always rushing off....

The Cowboy is such an icon in american culture that there are many types of persons who can be called "cowboys" for many reasons.

But you are also right: without a context, the word does bring up the picture of "an outdoor type of guy, who's gruff, doesn't talk, and solves every problem with guns/weapons." Clint Eastwood played this type of cowboy in his early "spaghetti Westerns." This type of cowboy is so prevalent that he has his own designation, "the Marlboro Man," named for a succession of models, all portraying this kind of cowboy, in television and magazine ads for Marlboro cigarettes (back when tobacco advertisement was acceptable).

You haven't seen The Abyss?????? Geez, constanze. Is something wrong with you? (Just kidding. Seriously, if you like the films of James Cameron, make sure you see the Director's Cut.)

First of all, I never watch this show. But I have seen this thread. In case no one knows, the ep's title, "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", seems to be a play on the title of a 1982 album by Pete Townshend (of the Who): All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes. At least, that's my take on it.

If it helps, here's the tracklist for the album:

1. "Stop Hurting People"
2. "The Sea Refuses No River"
3. "Prelude"
4. "Face Dances Part Two"
5. "Exquisitely Bored"
6. "Communication"
7. "Stardom In Action"
8. "Uniforms (Corps d'esprit)"
9. "North Country Girl"
10. "Somebody Saved Me"
11. "Slit Skirts" (My favorite track on the album)

Thanks, Benn. I've wondered what the title was referring to, since it sounded so much like a quote. Or is there another reference to a movie title/line?

Luigi,

Geez, constanze. Is something wrong with you?

Yes, probably. Take your pick. (Everybody tells me something different that's wrong with me, so ....)

HELP! I've been trying to get all the episodes on tape, and this was the last one I needed, but when viewing it, the tape stopped after Act 1, apparently because I neglected to rewind it when putting it in the VCR. PLEASE someone tell me they have this episode on tape or DVD!!!???

The first season DVD will be available on September 1st. You might be lucky enough to get a rerun by then!

Wednesday night was the rerun.

Continuity error: When Jack is talking to his father in Christian's office, Christian puts his hand on Jack's shoulder and Jack lowers his head. When the shot changes, Jack lifts his head up but when the shot changes back to over Jack's shoulder, Jack's head is instantly down again.