THE MOTH

Or, Charlie Needs Smack

[Originally Aired November 3, 2004]

Charlie's flashback: In confession, his sin: a hot three-way with groupies. He wants to quit the band, but his older brother talks him into staying, they've just been signed. Sayid has three triangulators rigged up. They just need to get the timing sorted. Good thing they've fireworks and can send each other signals once they've got their antenna planted. Locke uses Charlie as bait to catch a boar. Charlie asks Locke for his smack back. Locke tells him he won't give it to him now, but will if he asks three times. He then shows Charlie a moth cocoon and tells him how it's struggle to free itself makes it strong enough to survive. Later Charlie and Jack argue in a cave and the roof collapses. Jack is trapped. Sayid and Kate head into the jungle to set up their antenna; they leave Boone to cover the one on the beach. Word of the cave-in reaches the beach, so Michael and Boone and others run off to help. Boone leaves the triangulator in Shannon's control. Will Shannon fuck it up? Sawyer heads into the jungle to tell Kate about Jack's accident. When he meets up with Sayid and Kate, Kate insults him, so he keeps his secret. Charlie really wants his heroin. Michael finds the safest place to dig Jack out. Charlie is feeling useless so he volunteers to climb through the hole and rescue Jack. Back in the jungle, finally alone with her, Sawyer tells Kate that Jack is dead. She runs off to the cave, leaving Sawyer to cover the triangulator. Will Sawyer fuck it up? Charlie makes it to Jack, but there is another cave in and the two are trapped. Flashback again, and Charlie was in Australia trying to put the band back together. His older brother is clean now and living life as a pretty suburbanite. Sayid, Sawyer, and Shannon shoot their rockets off and Sayid fires up the triangulator, just as he is about to get a bead on the signal, he is clubbed over the head. In the cave, Charlie sees a moth in the cave and digs his way out to safety. Will his struggle make him strong enough to survive? Next time he sees Locke he asks for his smack, then throws it in the fire.