"White Rabbit" when viewed at the time was merely a solid episode in my eyes, but it improves in quality every single time you see it, and when you look back at this episode and look at Jack's character in later episodes you notice how much this episode did for the character in the space of a mere 42 minutes. Compare the character development in this one episode to several later Jack episodes and it really stands out as a fine piece of writing from Christian Taylor of "Six Feet Under" fame, a writer who would unfortunately never write for "Lost" again, for reasons unknown.
"White Rabbit" revolves around the 815'ers dealing with a water shortage, Jack chasing visions (in the light of season four, and for that matter the scene with the coffin in this episode, this is up in the air) of Christian, his father, and some brilliant early dialogue between Jack and Locke- the man of science and the man of faith. A catalyst to the later events in the episode is the opening scene of the episode in which Jack saves Boone but not a woman drowning further out in sea.
Of note in terms of Jack's character and his relationship with his father is the flashback scene where Jack goes home after a fight and is confronted by his father who appears in this scene to be the very antithesis of Jack's character in regard to the value of human life and caring for others. This is why I hate it when so-called fans call Jack selfish, because he is really the most selfless character on the island by some distance- even his irrational later acts were motivated by a desire to help others. Indeed, even his search for the metaphorical white rabbit in this episode can be seen on more levels than simply him chasing his dad through the jungle- it's a search for resolve in his character and once he finds the caves and returns and gives his famous 'live together, die alone' speech, the speech of a confident leader.
All in all, I find "White Rabbit" to be an incredibly intelligent, literate, and well-written episode of "Lost" that is also the cinematography debut for Michael Bonivillain on the show. This one is truly under-appreciated.
9/10