How much time does there exist between Jack divorcing his wife, His dad dying, getting his tattoos and ending up on the Island? I mean, Jack only got half his tattoo in this episode which means there is even more to his tatoo story and more time between then and the crash of flight 815. Can anyone answer why this lapse of time seems to be?

I would imagine that this trip to find (or lose) himself comes shortly after his divorce ... then he returns home to deal with his dad.

I don't know about that. He had his tattoo by the time he came back for his dad? All of it or just part of it? I wish i had the DVDs, i could do some extensive research on this

this could have happened befoe he got married, or just after he got divorced, there is simply no way to tell for sure what jacks timeline in his fb is

I'm thinking this is after Sarah left him...

I think the order is-

meets, fixes, marries, divorces Sarah, accuses Dad of affair with Sarah

goes to Thailand to get away from all the drama

returns home where the aftermath has driven his dad to Australia
goes to Australia to find his papa
ends up on 815

Please, please, please, no more story to Jack's tattoos....

They made a point of showing his arm was bare in the flashbacks to when he was a surgeon at the hospital... I assumed this had to be post-divorce.

I think silveranswer has the timeline right.

The little boy knew Jack when he came out of his cabana at the outset (the day he met Achara). So Jack had been there a few days by then. Then, in the sexy scene with Achara, it was mentioned that they'd been together a month. Then, probably a couple days later, Jack followed her to the tattoo room. Then, the beating and the order to leave.

So I'd say Jack probably spent around 6 weeks in Thailand. Got back in early September 2004. Then mom called about missing dad, and he was off to Australia.

Best sequence of events I can come up with.

I believe the order of Jack's flashbacks:

Man of Science, Man of Faith
Do No Harm
Hunting Party
A Tale of Two Cities
A Stranger in a Strange Land
All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues
White Rabbit

We see in Hunting Party that the tatoo is not there yet, and we know that Jack telling on his dad in ATBCHDI made his dad go to Australia. I would find it hard to believe that he went he there between HP and ATOTC.

Please, please, please, no more story to Jack's tattoos....


Hahahaha.

I feel the same.

Yeah, I wondered about this too. I checked the scene in White Rabbit where Jack's mom asks him to go get his dad and bring him home. In that scene Jack says he hasn't even talked to him in 2 months. I assume this was during the time he was in Thailand??

I think the order is-

meets, fixes, marries, divorces Sarah, accuses Dad of affair with Sarah

goes to Thailand to get away from all the drama

returns home where the aftermath has driven his dad to Australia
goes to Australia to find his papa
ends up on 815

That sounds good exept that Jack still had no time to get the rest of his tattoo. There seems to be a lapse of time here. He comes back home and heads out to Australia, but then there is no time for him to get another tattoo before his dad runs off to Australia. I just wish I had the DVDs, then I could figure this all out.