Season 6

Season: 1–6, Episodes: 113, Faction: Survivors/Jacob/The Island


Dr. Jack Shephard was a spinal surgeon and the survivors’ de facto leader. Before the crash, his obsessive personality wrecked his marriage and his relationship with his father. On the Island though, the survivors sought his guidance during many crises and missions, and he united them until they cooperated and formed a society.

Jack developed romantic relationships with Kate and later Juliet, and his jealousy sparked a rivalry with Sawyer. His rationality, so useful when solving problems, prevented his accepting the Island’s mystic properties and caused friction with “man of faith” John Locke. Problems arose that Jack could not fix despite his obsession and self-sacrifice. Though he tried to repress his guilt, he often broke out with violence or tears.

After suffering a kidnapping and almost negotiating his own rescue, Jack escaped the Island with five other survivors. Off-island, he laid his father to rest and proposed to Kate, but visits from John Locke and his father’s ghost sent him toward depression and substance abuse. Yet he gained new faith, and he led the survivors back to the island, believing it was his destiny. He then found himself in the past, where he tried to reset his and the others’ lives and prevent the crash of Oceanic 815.

The attempt failed, sending Jack to a new low. But after discovering he was a candidate to replace Jacob as Protector of the island, he gained confidence and decided to stay on the island. He also ceded decision-making to Sawyer, overcoming his control issues. He chose to become the Island’s new protector and was almost killed by the Man in Black, but with Kate’s help, he killed him before he could leave. He then sacrificed himself to relight the Heart, saving the Island from destruction. Post-death, he imagined a son and an ex-wife to come to terms with his bad relationships. His personality mixed science and faith, but he again felt the compulsion to fix others. His stubbornness returned, and unlike his friends, he resisted remembering his life, even after experiencing flashes. Eventually though, he remembered everything and after seeing his father again, he was able to “let go”, reuniting with Kate and his friends, to finally move on in the church.


6×01 – LA X, Part 1


In the aftermath of the blast, Sawyer blamed Jack for Juliet’s death. (“LA X, Part 1”)

6×02 – LA X, Part 2


In order to save the mortally wounded Sayid, Jack took him to the Temple, and when the Others failed to revive him in the spring, Jack vainly performed CPR. Sayid resurrected hours later. (“LA X, Part 2”)

6×03 – What Kate Does


Dogen “tested” Sayid for darkness, then proceeded to give Jack a pill he blended, to feed him.


Suspicious, Jack tried swallowing it himself to get Dogen to tell him what was in it, and Dogen stopped him, revealing it was poison. (“What Kate Does”)

6×05 – Lighthouse




Inside, he saw a mirror that reflected his childhood home. He smashed the mirrors in frustration. (“Lighthouse”)

6×07 – Dr. Linus


He and Hurley walked back toward the Temple, but they met Richard, who took them to the Black Rock. Suicidal but physically unable to kill himself, Richard asked Jack to light dynamite and kill him. His trip to the lighthouse though had built Jack’s faith, so he lit a fuse and stayed in the ship, believing it would extinguish before it could kill him. It did. (“Dr. Linus”)

6×09 – Ab Aeterno


The three of them returned to the beach to Sun, Frank, Miles, Ben and Ilana. Ilana informed him and the others of their candidacies to replace Jacob. (“Ab Aeterno”)

6×12 – Everybody Loves Hugo


Jack briefly followed Ilana’s plan to blow up the Ajira plane, but Hurley destroyed their only source of dynamite. Jack then traveled and met for the first time with the Man in Black on Hurley’s suggestion. (“Everybody Loves Hugo”)

6×13 – The Last Recruit


The Man in Black revealed that the earlier apparitions of Christian Shephard that Jack had seen on the Island were in fact the Man in Black. Jack reunited with Claire, having discovered that they were siblings since their last meeting, and conspired with Sawyer to steal the Elizabeth.


Though after executing the plan, he revealed that he did not believe that they should leave the Island, eventually returning to the shore and meeting the Man in Black, who appeared to believe that Jack had taken his side. (“The Last Recruit”)

6×14 – The Candidate


Jack worked with the Man in Black to rescue his friends from Widmore on the Hydra Island.


He decided though to help Sawyer keep the Man off Widmore’s submarine by pushing him into the water, but he decided to stay on the island. Widmore’s men attacked, forcing Jack to enter the sub.


Once aboard, Jack realized that the Man in Black had placed C-4 in his backpack. He correctly concluded the Man couldn’t kill them, so as long as they left the bomb alone, they’d be safe. Sawyer accidentally detonated it though, killing Sayid, Jin, and Sun.


Having survived the explosion, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley washed ashore and mourned the loss of their friends. (“The Candidate”)

6×16 – What They Died For


They set off for the well where Desmond was imprisoned, but Jacob’s spirit intercepted them. He explained one of them had to replace him, and Jack volunteered. After a short ceremony, he was “like” Jacob. Jacob explained where to find the Source, which he had to protect from the Man in Black. (“What They Died For”)

6×17 – The End


Sawyer learned the Man in Black had found Desmond, and the two groups met on the way to a common destination – the Heart of the Island. Jack decided to help him lower Desmond into it, believing Desmond to be Jacob’s secret weapon to kill the Man in Black. After Desmond removed a stone from the Source though, Jack realized the island was falling apart, just as the Man in Black had predicted.




Jack kissed Kate goodbye, and they each professed their love for one another. He wished Sawyer goodbye as well. He then returned to the source with Hurley and Ben.


Jack chose Hurley as his replacement for protector, then descended into the Source, where he replaced the stone and saved the Island from destruction at the cost of his life.


Leaving the Source, Jack returned to the bamboo field where he first woke up and saw the Ajira plane fly away. He died with Vincent by his side, ensuring that he would not die alone. (“The End”)

In the flash sideways, Christian still died drunk in Australia and still kept secrets from his son. The two enjoyed a better relationship though. Jack invented a son, David, whose dynamic with Jack mirrored his own with Christian, including fear and poor communication. Though Jack had rebuffed Christian’s attempts at reconciliation, David accepted his. Jack also imagined Juliet as his ex-wife, and the two shared an amicable relationship quite unlike his and Sarah’s. He brought with him into the afterlife the faith he’d gained during his final days.

Oceanic Flight 815

6×01 – LA X, Part 1


On Oceanic Flight 815, a flight attendant gave him a miniature vodka bottle to strengthen his drink. He chatted with a neighboring passenger, who reassured him when the plane hit turbulence, then went to the lavatory. He spotted a cut on his neck from where the Man in Black had stabbed him but didn’t remember getting it. He returned to his seat and seemed to recognize Desmond, who now sat there, but Desmond didn’t recognize him.


On his next lavatory trip, Kate stumbled into him and picked a pen from his pocket. Another passenger locked himself in the lavatory, and Jack responded to a PA call for a doctor. Once they’d broken open the door, Jack removed a heroin bag from his throat. Charlie woke, ungrateful, and told Jack that he was “supposed to die.” (“LA X, Part 1”)

6×02 – LA X, Part 2


When the plane landed, Charlie glared at Jack as police arrested him. Jack exited, making eye contact with John Locke as he was transferred to a wheelchair. The Oceanic service desk paged him and told him the airline had lost his father’s coffin, so he called his mother to postpone the funeral. He talked in the lost luggage office with Locke, who suggested that Christian’s spirit was more important than the body’s location. Jack offered him a business card and a free surgical consult because though his condition appeared permanent, “nothing is irreversible.” (“LA X, Part 2”)

6×06 – Sundown


He returned to work and over the next few days he passed Sayid, not recognizing him. (“Sundown”)

6×11 – Happily Ever After


He also encountered Desmond and Charlie. (“Happily Ever After”)

Family & Life

6×05 – Lighthouse


That weekend, Jack noticed a scar from where the Man in Black had stabbed his side. He called his mother, who rationalized the scar as an appendectomy Jack barely remembered and asked him over to search for Christian’s will. Jack hung up and drove to David’s school, apologizing for picking him up late. Back at home, he noticed a book of David’s and tried talking about it, but David left the room and rejected all further attempts at conversation.


Jack went to his mother’s house and searched for the will, pleasing her when he refused a drink. The will mentioned a stranger: Claire Littleton. Returning home, Jack found David missing and called him repeatedly, apologizing for imaginary offenses. He listened to his son’s answering machine and learned he was auditioning for an arts school. Jack stopped by, and David’s piano skill moved him. Another parent talked to him about the pressures children face, and Jack talked with David afterward, and the two made up. (“Lighthouse”)

6×13 – The Last Recruit


The following week, the two were on good terms, and they attended the will’s reading together. Their lawyer introduced Jack to Claire, his half-sister. His beeper called him to the hospital for emergency surgery – on Locke. (“The Last Recruit”)

6×14 – The Candidate


Afterward, Jack told him a new treatment could cure his paralysis. Locke refused the offer. Curious why, Jack asked a dentist who’d treated Locke about his original accident. The dentist, who’d flown on Flight 815, withheld details but gave Jack the name of another man from the accident. Jack visited the man’s nursing home and discovered he was Locke’s father and was catatonic. Back at the hospital, Jack met Claire and invited her to stay with him, then he met Locke and again offered to operate. Locke revealed details of his accident but again refused the offer, despite Jack’s insistence that they both “let go.” (“The Candidate”)

6×16 – What They Died For


Jack noticed his neck cut again the next day. Then, he had breakfast with David and Claire and discussed a concert that evening. Desmond then phoned, posing as an Oceanic employee, saying they’d found his father’s coffin. Later that day, Locke visited Jack and said he’d opted for surgery after all. (“What They Died For”)

6×17 – The End


Later that day, he joked with Locke before the surgery and talked about the found coffin. Before the surgery, he ran into Juliet and gave her tickets to the concert, telling David to take Claire as well in his place. He then operated successfully on Locke. (“The End”)


6×17 – The End


Afterward, his cut began bleeding. Locke awoke early from his anesthesia, and when the two spoke, Jack briefly recalled their time together on the island. He resisted though, and he refused Locke’s mysterious suggestion for them to “leave”. As he left, Locke told him David didn’t exist and offered a veiled wish that someone wake him to his memories. He arrived late at the concert and met Kate, who said he recognized her from somewhere besides Flight 815.


They touched, and Jack resisted another flash of memories. Confused, he let her lead him to the church of his father’s funeral. Jack entered a side chapel and found his father’s coffin. He touched it and at last recalled his life. He turned and saw Christian standing beside him.


They embraced, and Christian explained the afterlife’s nature Jack then entered the church’s nave and found all his friends there. Jack greeted them, embracing Locke, Boone, Hurley and Sawyer. Kate then led him to a pew, and Christian, briefly patting his son’s shoulder, opened the church’s doors, letting in a bright light.


Kate and Jack held hands and looked at each other knowingly as they were moving on with their friends. (“The End”)

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