Jack Shephard
ABC/Mario Perez
Jack Shephard was the first person we saw in the series, panning out from his eye. He also ended our island story, as his eye closed. Jack was a main player in the story as he dealt with his past haunts of not being able to live up to his father's wishes and his need to fix everything.
He was a reluctant leader on the island, but things fell apart for him once he got off the island and realized that they never should have left. Along the way, he fell in love with Ana-Lucia and Juliet, but Kate was his true love.
What do you think? Was Jack a good leader?
Comments
I think Jack was a great leader. He had his demons, but so did everyone else. The only weakness Jack had as a leader was his ability to handle things under pressure. He seemed to make the wrong decisions at times but would quickly find a way to correct his mistakes.
I was kind of bummed that Jack was the Island’s leader for only a short period. But i’m sure Jacob knew jack would volunteer himself and it wouldn’t last. I think Jacob always knew Hurley would be the real leader of the island and possibly even Walt one day. Jack’s heroism in “The End” redeemed himself of all the wrong he caused.
I think the MIB appearing as Christian Shepard was the only way to motivating Jack and put in place the pieces of the events leading up to his death. Overall Jack was worthy of being a leader.
I think Jack always tried to make decisions that would benefit the tribe. But no matter which basis Jack made his important rulings on – his heart or semi-rational thought,things didn’t always play out the way he had hoped. I believe sometimes he blew it because he really didn’t know what he was up against.
Real world logic didn’t always prevail on the magic island.
As far as Hurley ending up the real leader of the island, seems like he could have only been capable of leading during the virtual peacetime, we could assume took place after the MIB War at the end of the series.I’m sure there were some complications that Hurley had to deal with, but nothing as tumultuous as fighting the evil Locke monster. So yeah, when it was Hurley’s turn he was the right man for the job and he had Ben to take care of the dirty work if any came up.
MIB as Christian? I still have problems with that, but maybe so – I don’t recall ever seing them in same place at the same time.
I don’t know, it seems Jack had some blind spots. He called the freighter on the satellite phone even after he heard Naomi say that the wreckage of 815 had been found with all the bodies. It should have occurred to him then that somebody faked the wreck and wanted to conceal the island. So he goofed by calling the freighter, which helped the mercenaries to find the island.
Jack didn’t smell Michael’s trap (the mission to rescue Walt) until Sayid warned him, and even then Sayid had to work hard to convince him.
I think Jack was too single-minded. Sawyer (as LaFleur) criticized Jack’s leadership in Season 5, saying, “A lot of times you weren’t thinking, you were just reacting and a lot of people ended up dead.” Jack was a motivator and good at holding the group together, but he was impetuous and not enough of a thinker.
From day one of the Oceanic 815 disaster, Jack Shephard exhibited the qualities that define a leader at a time of peril. His profession as a surgeon, his drive to contain his fears in times of peril, and his selfless devotion to the well being of his fellow survivors, drew the survivors to Jack’s leadership qualities—as exhibited from day one by Kate Austen’s instant attraction to him.
To the ‘armchair quarterbacks’ who has the luxury to sit back and judge Jack’s leadership qualities—would the situation be any different if they were in charge? As to those who would blame Jack for the deaths of any of the survivors, be it Charlie, Boone, Shannon, Jin and Sun, Juliet—I would say that their deaths were subject of their own actions, or the actions of others.
No one, either Jack, John Locke, Sayid, or Sawyer can singularly say what is the right decision on the island that was an enigma. But as to he question of ‘Was Jack a good leader?’—of course he was.
While Jack had some good qualities, he made strategic errors, too. One was the failure to question Juliet when they returned from the Others’ camp. Juliet had valuable information about a dangerous enemy, and Sayid was right that she should have shown good faith and shared it. (I’m not saying that he should have tortured her, just questioned her.) I think it was unwise for Jack to allow personal affection to determine his decision on this matter.
Jack was too trusting, I think, toward Michael, then Juliet, then Daniel. Sun figured out before Jack did that Daniel’s party wasn’t there to rescue anybody.
So that’s the view from my “armchair,” LOL.
Jack’s instincts proved well placed in Juliet. A common purpose to leave the island—this was the connection Jack, as a leader used to instill trust from Juliet—and ultimately brought Juliet to his side. This is a quality of a good leadership.
Jack did suspect the motives of Daniel, Charlotte and Miles when they landed on the island—from the instance he saw Daniel armed with a handgun to the instances when his questions to them were veiled with suspicious responses. With no definitive proof of their true mission—Jack played out the situation and with Sayid’s advice (to fly out to the freighter while Widmore’s soldiers were hunting for Ben on the island) press the situation to his advantage—to get off the island. This is a quality of a good leadership.
Jack did trust Michael, a fellow survivor, and yes, with the invaluable instincts of Sayid ultimately convince Jack that Michael was leading him to a trap. And with this insight Jack and Sayid planned to reverse the situation to get back Walt—the plan didn’t work, but his motives as leader—to secure the release of Walt—remains true. This is a quality of a good leadership.
Jack’s leadership qualities inspires others to follow him because of a common purpose—their desire to leave the island.
LostinMelancholy,
Kudos. You are a good debater.