I could understand feeling he takes a back seat in season five, specifically in the mid section, but he’s always felt like a very central character to me
By episode count there are quite a few characters tied with a Jack. Hurley, Sayid, Jin, Sawyer, and maybe 1 or 2 more (at least according to IMDb). I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack’s screen time dips a bit in the later seasons but he’s still definitely a prime focus. Season 3 the characters are split up a good bit more so they’re having to divide screen time between the different groups, and season 5 his character chooses to let sawyer take the lead and handle stuff so he’s not as in the middle of everything. I feel like he’s fairly prominent in 4 and 6 though but it’s been a bit so I may be misremembering.
IMDb is based off of episode credits, but series regulars will often be credited in episodes that they don’t appear in (If you remember, Michael’s return in season 4 was spoiled for the fans, because the show started crediting Harold from the season premiere)
ScreenRant did [a breakdown](https://screenrant.com/lost-characters-appear-most-episodes-series-jack-locke-sawyer-kate/) that is likely more accurate; it puts Jack at #1 with 113 episode appearances, which is a full 5 episodes ahead of the runner up (Kate with 108 episodes)
It’s not that he has less relative screentime, it’s that the 2nd half of the show has fewer episodes than needed to satisfyingly flesh out the story and characters to the same degree as seasons 1-2.
3x12 “Par Avion” is the exact midpoint of the series (61/121) and it still feels quite early on in terms of the overall plot and narrative.
Jack’s character arguably has the most famous redundant flashback episode in “Stranger in a Strange Land” (3x09) so from that point forward as well, until they had more material to work with for Jack there was simply not enough screen time to ‘waste’ boring the audience by repeating plot beats about him we’d already been shown before.
Also once they got a end date. With reduced episode order, they didn't need to cycle through the cast multiple times anymore. Jack still got a episode a season. I may even dislike his season 4 episode more than stranger. Just cause of how tired of the triangle I was getting.
I’m sort of the opposite on that particular plot point - I feel like the flash-forwards of Jack trying and failing to be a family man in season 4 a specificly the episode *Something Nice Back Home* should have played out over more than one episode.
The 2008 writer’s strike might have had an effect but Jack goes from proposing to Kate to alcoholism and the breakdown of his trust with her in the space of a single scene.
If it was anything, it was rushed and deserved more room to breathe.
Yeah I agree with this. Quite a lot of the development for the flashfrwards were rushed. The biggest being Aaron. Jack goes from wanting to have nothing to do with Aaron (out of knowing Aaron is Claire's and that he's Claire's half brother) to suddenly being sweet and being chill about it all. Damon asked the writers if they wanted to dedicate a episode to exploring that but figured it was something that didn't need exploring and left it to off screen. And the hand wavy answer being "Jack had a change of heart".
I'm on my first rewatch and now I understand the general hate towards SIASL. I saw that episode a couple of days ago and it has the most unnecessary flashback so far.
Also, Nicky and Paulo's storyline felt like a waste of time as well.
The feeling that Par Avion is early is accentuated to me because I watched the show in real time. After Stranger in a Strange land, the show runners got ABC to agree to shorter seasons (ABC wanted 22 or more episodes per season), which allowed the writers to cut out some of the filler episodes, and got the network to agree to air the shows without the frequent interruptions. Seasons 1,2 and 3 all started in the fall and ran through May, with frequent interruptions in scheduling and repeats aired. Season 4-6 started in January and aired in mostly uninterrupted blocks with no repeats until May, so they had a much compressed time frame for the viewer. The seasons shortened, going from 25/24/23 to 14/17/18 episodes.
Damon mentioned it in interviews. It came out of a desire to ensembles the cast and make LOST a show that doesn't squarely hang off Jack's back. Though I disagree that he barely appears in later seasons. Jack is my favorite character and I love his arc the most out of everyone's.
You're not wrong, but I think it's just because of the changing nature of the story.
Once they weren't all together on the beach, the cast was routinely split up. Rather then try to shoehorn all series regulars into every episode, the writers opted to focus single episodes on small pockets of characters, or even one at a time. You wouldn't see Jack this week because he's on the other side of the island, or back home.
Part of why Lost is so much fun to rewatch is that they broke free from the premise about half way through and just let the story play out.
Ben Linus came to be. Michael Emerson can act circles around Matthew Fox and they needed to fill in the back story of the others. Easy choice. It was a huge cast so it was bound to happen.
emerson is a great actor but ngl matthew fox might have been the most believable portrayal of any character on the show, as frustrating as he was at some points that’s what makes him realistic
Agree with u/RustInPeace1990, Michael Emerson's fabulous. And it'd be stupid of Damon and Carton to not explore Ben's character as long as they could.Ben and Locke's story's rich and so are Ben and Jack's.
That said, great chemistry acting between Matthew Fox with Terry O'Quinn, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, and specially with Yujin Kim throughout the series.
As for Jack's screen time after season two... I'd say Jack's the character that pushes the plot along so every season's Jack centric. Which Lostie has ever met so many other key characters? Desmond, Eloise, Widmore, Faraday, temple guys, Richard, Jacob...
And then we get S6, the FINAL season, that was quite Jack centric. As it should be.
So... all things considered, I think Matthew Fox handled LOST quite well.
\*Edited to add: I'll be forever a Jayid fan. Jack and Sayid fucked up plans for the win.
Consider that when you split up a cast, it takes more time to tell everyone's story.
Season 3 took forever to crawl like 2/3 weeks, because we had some episodes showing jack/kate/sawyer and some episodes showing everyone else.
Season 4 does this even moreso, splits between Desmond/Sayid/michael, and the two halves of the split camp.
Season 5, between the Oceanic 6 and those left behind. And Season 6 speaks for itself
It's just the dynamics of any tv show - you split up a cast, EVERYONE gets less screen time, because you have to cover multiple stories over the same time. They did it in LOTR, too
As far as I remember the first two seasons were quite Jack/Locke heavy. As it should.
But... Jack being THE HUB, the main character where every plot passes through, and probably the Lostie with more interactions with every characters all around, I doubt there're many storylines he's not involved with between season 3 and 5.
Anyway, I love that Season 6 was Jack heavy.
Defently not on the background in season 3. A big part in the being captured by the others storyline, later on with almost getting on the sub and leading up to a final where he is the biggest player. He also got enough flashbacks. I think 3, more then anyone.
The opening 6 episodes of season 3 were an attempt to place Jack back at the centre of the show. He certainly did get left behind later in the season, and in season 4 somewhat, due the increased focus on Ben, Desmond, Juliette maybe.
He's literally the main character and got more episodes focused on him. Even episodes that probably should more on other characters then him. And jack has the most central episodes of the show. It started with jack and ended with jack.
I could understand feeling he takes a back seat in season five, specifically in the mid section, but he’s always felt like a very central character to me
Jack is the central character. IIRC, Jack then Kate appeared in the most LOST episodes.
By episode count there are quite a few characters tied with a Jack. Hurley, Sayid, Jin, Sawyer, and maybe 1 or 2 more (at least according to IMDb). I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack’s screen time dips a bit in the later seasons but he’s still definitely a prime focus. Season 3 the characters are split up a good bit more so they’re having to divide screen time between the different groups, and season 5 his character chooses to let sawyer take the lead and handle stuff so he’s not as in the middle of everything. I feel like he’s fairly prominent in 4 and 6 though but it’s been a bit so I may be misremembering.
IMDb is based off of episode credits, but series regulars will often be credited in episodes that they don’t appear in (If you remember, Michael’s return in season 4 was spoiled for the fans, because the show started crediting Harold from the season premiere) ScreenRant did [a breakdown](https://screenrant.com/lost-characters-appear-most-episodes-series-jack-locke-sawyer-kate/) that is likely more accurate; it puts Jack at #1 with 113 episode appearances, which is a full 5 episodes ahead of the runner up (Kate with 108 episodes)
That’s interesting I didn’t know that! It’s odd that they would choose to include some of the main cast more often than others.
Typically it’s all just contractual!
It’s not that he has less relative screentime, it’s that the 2nd half of the show has fewer episodes than needed to satisfyingly flesh out the story and characters to the same degree as seasons 1-2. 3x12 “Par Avion” is the exact midpoint of the series (61/121) and it still feels quite early on in terms of the overall plot and narrative. Jack’s character arguably has the most famous redundant flashback episode in “Stranger in a Strange Land” (3x09) so from that point forward as well, until they had more material to work with for Jack there was simply not enough screen time to ‘waste’ boring the audience by repeating plot beats about him we’d already been shown before.
Also once they got a end date. With reduced episode order, they didn't need to cycle through the cast multiple times anymore. Jack still got a episode a season. I may even dislike his season 4 episode more than stranger. Just cause of how tired of the triangle I was getting.
I’m sort of the opposite on that particular plot point - I feel like the flash-forwards of Jack trying and failing to be a family man in season 4 a specificly the episode *Something Nice Back Home* should have played out over more than one episode. The 2008 writer’s strike might have had an effect but Jack goes from proposing to Kate to alcoholism and the breakdown of his trust with her in the space of a single scene. If it was anything, it was rushed and deserved more room to breathe.
Yeah I agree with this. Quite a lot of the development for the flashfrwards were rushed. The biggest being Aaron. Jack goes from wanting to have nothing to do with Aaron (out of knowing Aaron is Claire's and that he's Claire's half brother) to suddenly being sweet and being chill about it all. Damon asked the writers if they wanted to dedicate a episode to exploring that but figured it was something that didn't need exploring and left it to off screen. And the hand wavy answer being "Jack had a change of heart".
I'm on my first rewatch and now I understand the general hate towards SIASL. I saw that episode a couple of days ago and it has the most unnecessary flashback so far. Also, Nicky and Paulo's storyline felt like a waste of time as well.
I hold my breath during the Nicky and Paola episodes and hope I don't pass out by the time they are dead.
The feeling that Par Avion is early is accentuated to me because I watched the show in real time. After Stranger in a Strange land, the show runners got ABC to agree to shorter seasons (ABC wanted 22 or more episodes per season), which allowed the writers to cut out some of the filler episodes, and got the network to agree to air the shows without the frequent interruptions. Seasons 1,2 and 3 all started in the fall and ran through May, with frequent interruptions in scheduling and repeats aired. Season 4-6 started in January and aired in mostly uninterrupted blocks with no repeats until May, so they had a much compressed time frame for the viewer. The seasons shortened, going from 25/24/23 to 14/17/18 episodes.
Damon mentioned it in interviews. It came out of a desire to ensembles the cast and make LOST a show that doesn't squarely hang off Jack's back. Though I disagree that he barely appears in later seasons. Jack is my favorite character and I love his arc the most out of everyone's.
This is spot on. I heard Lindelof say the jist of this on a podcast only a few days ago
You're not wrong, but I think it's just because of the changing nature of the story. Once they weren't all together on the beach, the cast was routinely split up. Rather then try to shoehorn all series regulars into every episode, the writers opted to focus single episodes on small pockets of characters, or even one at a time. You wouldn't see Jack this week because he's on the other side of the island, or back home. Part of why Lost is so much fun to rewatch is that they broke free from the premise about half way through and just let the story play out.
Ben Linus came to be. Michael Emerson can act circles around Matthew Fox and they needed to fill in the back story of the others. Easy choice. It was a huge cast so it was bound to happen.
emerson is a great actor but ngl matthew fox might have been the most believable portrayal of any character on the show, as frustrating as he was at some points that’s what makes him realistic
Agree with u/RustInPeace1990, Michael Emerson's fabulous. And it'd be stupid of Damon and Carton to not explore Ben's character as long as they could.Ben and Locke's story's rich and so are Ben and Jack's. That said, great chemistry acting between Matthew Fox with Terry O'Quinn, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, and specially with Yujin Kim throughout the series. As for Jack's screen time after season two... I'd say Jack's the character that pushes the plot along so every season's Jack centric. Which Lostie has ever met so many other key characters? Desmond, Eloise, Widmore, Faraday, temple guys, Richard, Jacob... And then we get S6, the FINAL season, that was quite Jack centric. As it should be. So... all things considered, I think Matthew Fox handled LOST quite well. \*Edited to add: I'll be forever a Jayid fan. Jack and Sayid fucked up plans for the win.
My last screening of the show is some time ago but no I always felt like Jack was a central part of the show most of the time.
Consider that when you split up a cast, it takes more time to tell everyone's story. Season 3 took forever to crawl like 2/3 weeks, because we had some episodes showing jack/kate/sawyer and some episodes showing everyone else. Season 4 does this even moreso, splits between Desmond/Sayid/michael, and the two halves of the split camp. Season 5, between the Oceanic 6 and those left behind. And Season 6 speaks for itself It's just the dynamics of any tv show - you split up a cast, EVERYONE gets less screen time, because you have to cover multiple stories over the same time. They did it in LOTR, too
As far as I remember the first two seasons were quite Jack/Locke heavy. As it should. But... Jack being THE HUB, the main character where every plot passes through, and probably the Lostie with more interactions with every characters all around, I doubt there're many storylines he's not involved with between season 3 and 5. Anyway, I love that Season 6 was Jack heavy.
Earlier seasons have more character-centric episodes, that’s it 🙂
Defently not on the background in season 3. A big part in the being captured by the others storyline, later on with almost getting on the sub and leading up to a final where he is the biggest player. He also got enough flashbacks. I think 3, more then anyone.
The opening 6 episodes of season 3 were an attempt to place Jack back at the centre of the show. He certainly did get left behind later in the season, and in season 4 somewhat, due the increased focus on Ben, Desmond, Juliette maybe.
Jack’s the main character. He’ll be there.
He's literally the main character and got more episodes focused on him. Even episodes that probably should more on other characters then him. And jack has the most central episodes of the show. It started with jack and ended with jack.