The character of Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) is featured in the episode's flashbacks, showing how she got captured in Australia by the US Marshal Edward Mars (Fredric Lane).

The episode when broadcast in the United States was viewed by 16.54 million people and received mixed reviews from critics.

Mars's condition worsens and Kate visits him in the makeshift medical tent while Jack searches the fuselage for antibiotics.

During production of the pilot episode of Lost, creators J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof got along with a team of four writers—Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Paul Dini, Jennifer M. Johnson and Christian Taylor—to elaborate ideas on how the show could continue.

The season one writing begun in May 2004, with the first episode being centered on Kate and following the guidelines of a self-contained script grounded in reality.

[7] The episode is named "Tabula Rasa" after the Latin term meaning "blank slate", a concept attributed to the philosopher John Locke regarding how he believed humans are born without built-in mental content, then filled through their life experiences.

Said concept is echoed by the final line of the episode, where Jack suggests the crash made the survivors into blank slates that could restart.

Cuse notes that the writers thought this to be unlikely as well and discussed the concept of making Sawyer hyperopic, leading to him receiving a pair of glasses in "Deus Ex Machina".

The voice of the introduction was provided by Lloyd Braun, the ABC president who created the Lost pitch and had been fired during the pilot's production.

[12] The TV Critic gave the episode a rating of 63/100, saying that its "good intrigue from the writers because we want to know more about Kate and what she did", while also stating that the "lack of action may affect some who are hooked on 24's style of relentless developments and tension.

"[13] Josh Wolk rated "Tabula Rasa" a B+, saying that "Kate's story is intriguing, though she's still not quite believable as a fugitive badass.