1.20 - Do No Harm

Title’s significance: “Do no harm” is one of those things that doctors agree to do (or not do, as the case may be).

Recap: In flashbacks, we get to meet Jack’s wife Sarah and learn that Christian cured his anxieties. On island, Jack works stubbornly to save Boone. The timetable on the raft gets bumped up to less than a week, while Kate, Charlie, and Jin have to become impromptu midwives when Claire ends up having her baby – Aaron – in the jungle. Sayid treats Shannon to a surprise picnic on a deserted part of the beach. Jack learns that he can’t save everyone after all when Boone succumbs to his injuries; he storms off in search of Locke, blaming him for Boone’s death.

Thoughts: The Boone plotline was well handled, especially because it took him a whole episode to die but didn’t feel like it was being dragged out unnecessarily. The episode cleanly sets up the conflict for the rest of the season (and perhaps the series) – Jack vs. Locke, with the hatch at stake. (Maybe I’m just happy that Jack learned he isn’t Superman.) But the flashbacks don’t add much we don’t already know – Jack wants to save everyone, we get it. One thing I’m not happy with on this rewatch is how suddenly Sayid falls in love with Shannon; we know that Nadia’s his true love off-island, so it seems too pat for him just to forget and move on. Plus, Sayid looks really short compared to Shannon.

Favorite moment: “Hurley, I swear to God, if you faint—!” or Sawyer’s glib “She likes me” after Claire walks away. That, or the way that Jin holds Charlie back during the delivery, shaking his head.

Characters introduced (in order):

• SARAH, Jack’s wife and a former patient he saved

What we learned:

• Jack was married but felt anxious about it.
• Claire has a boy – Aaron.
• Jack can’t save everyone.
• First main character death – Boone.

Questions:

• How did Jack and Sarah’s marriage turn out?
• What’s going to go down between Jack and Locke?
• What did Boone want Jack to tell Shannon? (The world may never know.)

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• If the rumors are true that the Jughead plan worked and Oceanic 815 never crashed, the first place we’ll see that is in Boone never dying.