Jack Shephard's six-season journey from man of science to man of faith often feels overshadowed by other characters on the show. Matthew Fox was tasked with showcasing Jack at his most heroic and Jack at his most unlikeable, the latter aspect of which often left viewers cold on the character when more constantly-enjoyable characters, like Desmond Hume or Ben Linus, were on-hand. As the main character of the show, it was inevitable that an excess of focus on the character would lead to overexposure, culminating in the wholly unnecessary (and infamous) tattoo backstory of season three's "Stranger in a Strange Land." While other characters and storylines often managed to understandably steal the spotlight from him, Jack was the glue that ultimately held the narrative together; without his arc, the impact of the overall narrative would be lost. It needed to be Jack - the man who wanted so desperately to leave the island in the early seasons - that sacrificed his life for the island, just as much as it seemed a no-brainer that Hurley was the one the island needed to be its true protector in the end. In the series' final scene, Jack passes away right where the series began, with Vincent at his side and the knowledge that his friends escaped bringing him the peace he had spent the series chasing after. His death may not be surprising, but it's a powerful ending to a great character arc and the series as a whole.
Writer, film enthusiast, part-time gamer and watcher of (mostly) good television located on the fringe of Los Angeles, who now has his own website at www.highdefgeoff.com!
