Tabula Rasa
Synopsis
Before you watch
Tabula Rasa aired on October 6, 2004, and is the first regular episode after the two-part pilot. The title is Latin for a blank slate, a fair description of people who have just lost everything they packed.
Where things stand: the survivors have started to organize, and a radio transmission picked up in the pilot has shaken the people who heard it. On the beach, Jack is still treating the wounded with what little he has.
This is the first of 42 episodes directed by Jack Bender, more than anyone else on the series. Damon Lindelof wrote it. It is also the first regular hour in the rhythm the whole show keeps: something happens on the Island, and the past of one survivor runs alongside it. This one belongs to Kate. Knowing nothing about her yet is exactly the right way in.
Key revelations
Themes
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