Very small...hardly worth a topic, really. ::)

In the flashback where Jack's getting beat up, the kid he's saving has a last name of Silverman. Very Jewish. I wonder if good ol' Dad was peeved at his son not just for trying to 'save' a kid, but trying to save a Jewish kid in particular? He seems like the type.

Might be significant, might just be filler. Who knows?

I think Jack's father looks down on everyone. I think he didn't want his son going around "saving" people, I think he knew people would favor his son if he showed passion when the father was so passionless. He seems the type that would prefer that his son never becomes quite as good as him.

Jack also said that the kid's name was Marc Silverman. (White Rabbit)
"Sawyer" said his name was James. (Outlaws)

:D

My bad. Does that mean that pre-Outlaws, "Sawyer" looked like a "Marc Silverman"?

:D

Marc Silverman was Jack's best man in Do No Harm so I think they are just friends.

I think Jack's father looks down on everyone.* I think he didn't want his son going around "saving" people, I think he knew people would favor his son if he showed passion when the father was so passionless.* He seems the type that would prefer that his son never becomes quite as good as him.


I agree that his father probably thought of himself as an elitist. But, I don't think he didn't want Jack to be as good as him. I think he was trying to set Jack up for the inevitable disappointments that life brings. He was trying to impart his own wisdom/guidance to his son. He seems to me like a man who has experienced losing and is trying to protect his son from the same experiences.

Very small...hardly worth a topic, really.* ::)

In the flashback where Jack's getting beat up, the kid he's saving has a last name of Silverman.* Very Jewish.* I wonder if good ol' Dad was peeved at his son not just for trying to 'save' a kid, but trying to save a Jewish kid in particular?* He seems like the type.

Might be significant, might just be filler.* Who knows?


The way that I took it was that the kid was getting beaten up because he was Jewish, but his father didn't want him to help because he didn't think that Jack had what it took.

Seems to me that, as a dr., Jack's dad has learned to detach from "messiness"... he sees enough trauma & drama at work every day, & has chosen to NOT bring it home w/ him, & doesn't want to have to be "on" at home as well as at work. Also, he knows that patients die (c'mon, it happens. it's not like he's podiatrist, right?). So, he is trying to protect his son from the gritty reality of "the family business" (which, apparently, there is no doubt even at age 10 or so, that Jack will enter)-- basically, you can't save everyone, all the time, & you've got to get over it or you'll never be able to operate on the next patient because of some guilt/ fear complex.

Sure, he's a jerk. Sure, he's egotistical <isn't that, like "bad handwriting 101," a required course in med school? ah... I think, actually, that "god complex 565" is an advanced course for surgeons... pediatricians and dermatologists don't even get to take it... ;)>. Sure, he's a pretty lousy dad. But he's also a pragmatist, & is (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) trying to help his son... too bad he is ignorant of the needs of 10-year-olds (too used to keeping residents from whining & basically being a hardass -Chief Of Surgery-.

It's pretty common (tho it doesn't make it right) for ppl in medicine & other similar fields, to reduce patients to their complaints ("the kidney infection in room 14") or to protect themselves by detaching.

IMHO. (I've been in nursing for 10+ years, & am currently finishing an MSW, & have seen this over & over again, but these are just my perceptions. Your mileage may vary.)

p.s. my first post here. pls be gentle with this newbie crackpot. :)

Charvana,
Great psychoanalysis of Christian. It becomes obvious later on

when Christian meets Sawyer in the bar and tells him how proud he is of his son

that you're right. I saw the episode a few times and only got that on the last one. You just want to hate Christian from the beginning. When Jack looks happy to say "So am I.", after Kate says she's sorry his dad died, he seems so relieved to feel good about his father. It was an emotional episode. :'(

TY, Roger. I'm trying not to learn too much ahead... I missed the whole (fall) season b/c I'm in grad school, so I'm taking the shows as they come... thx for "spoiler-ing" that comment so I wouldn't be "un-Lost" (hahahaa).

But I DO love picking apart the minutiae! And this show is a veritable Where's Waldo of minutiae. I think my signature should be "Where's my TiVo"??

Seems to me that, as a dr., Jack's dad has learned to detach from "messiness"... he sees enough trauma & drama at work every day, & has chosen to NOT bring it home w/ him, & doesn't want to have to be "on" at home as well as at work. Also, he knows that patients die (c'mon, it happens. it's not like he's* podiatrist, right?).* So, he is trying to protect his son from the gritty reality of "the family business" (which, apparently, there is no doubt even at age 10 or so, that Jack will enter)-- basically, you can't save everyone, all the time, & you've got to get over it or you'll never be able to operate on the next patient because of some guilt/ fear complex.

Sure, he's a jerk. Sure, he's egotistical <isn't that, like "bad handwriting 101," a required course in med school? ah... I think, actually, that "god complex 565" is an advanced course for surgeons... pediatricians and dermatologists don't even get to take it... ;)>. Sure, he's a pretty lousy dad. But he's also a pragmatist, & is (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) trying to help his son... too bad he is ignorant of the needs of 10-year-olds (too used to keeping residents from whining & basically being a hardass -Chief Of Surgery-.

It's pretty common (tho it doesn't make it right) for ppl in medicine & other similar fields, to reduce patients to their complaints ("the kidney infection in room 14") or to protect themselves by detaching.

IMHO. (I've been in nursing for 10+ years, & am currently finishing an MSW, & have seen this over & over again, but these are just my perceptions. Your mileage may vary.)

p.s. my first post here. pls be gentle with this newbie crackpot. :)


Very good observations... he would have been viewed entirely different in this episode if he had just told his son that looking out for other people all the time is very hard, rather than telling him that he can't do it. In his own way, he was doing what he considered to be the right thing.
And hey, people die in podiatry! People trip, fall ad impale themselves with kithcen utensils on a regular basis due to Athlete's Foot. Athlete's Foot is no laughing matter... :P