1.15 Homecoming

Claire faints, is brought back to camp, wakes up, and is terrified, as she is greeted by the concerned faces of the survivors, but remembers no one. She and Charlie begin to get to know each other again.

Jin asks Sun if the girl and the baby are alright, and Sun says she thinks so. Jin might be starting to realize that Sun can understand English.

Boone asks Locke if he thinks Ethan is still around, and Locke says he hopes not.

Sayid suggests to Jack, Charlie, and Locke that Ethan has manipulated Claire in some way, and that her amnesia may not be real.

Charlie heads back to the caves with Jin. Suddenly, Jin is hit and knocked out by a slingshot rock. Ethan emerges and tells Charlie that he must return Claire to him, or he will kill one person a day.

Jin blames his attack on something that the other people have done.

Claire tells Charlie that everyone is avoiding her. She realizes something is going on, but Charlie doesn’t tell her anything.

Upon hearing about what happened to Charlie, Locke suggests that they set up rotating sentries and a series of booby traps, and coordinates with Sayid and Boone.

Charlie wants to hide Kate away in another cave, but Jack assures him that she is safer with the group.

Kate suggests to Jack that he break out the guns and ammo, but Jack thinks if he puts guns in untrained hands, they will most likely shoot each other.

It is night, and Boone, Locke, and Sayid are keeping watch over the camp while fires burn to light the darkness.  Before long, Boone, mesmerized by the campfire, nods off. He is awakened in daylight by the sound of the booby trap triggering, and runs into the jungle, pursuing an unseen intruder. When he trips a different alarm, he is discovered by Locke and Sayid. A scream brings the three men back to camp, where a castaway (Scott) is dead. The killer came in from the water and evaded the perimeter defenses.

Shannon tells Claire everything that is going on, and Claire confronts Charlie.

Faced with another night and another loss of life, Jack confides in Locke and opens the case, revealing the handguns.

The plan is to use Claire as bait. Charlie objects, but Claire says she has no memory of what Ethan did, and she wants to help save the lives of the castaways.

When Locke suggests that they should use all four guns, Jack asks Sawyer to come along. Kate is there, and wants to go too, but Jack says only armed people can come. So Sawyer pulls out another gun – the one he took from the Marshall.

The trap is set on a rainy night. Claire stands in a designated area, surrounded by five armed and hidden sentries. Ethan swoops, and Jack tackles him, and, after a long fight, triumphs. Perhaps now some answers can be found. But Charlie arrives unseen, picks up Jack’s discarded gun, and shoots Ethan numerous times.

Charlie’s backstory flashback:

Out of money and drugs, his friend hooks him up to seduce a girl whose dad has plenty of cash. They head back to Lucy’s place.

A day later, Charlie has accepted a dinner reservation with Lucy and her dad. Finding Lucy and the situation appealing, and facing the fact that his band Driveshaft is dead, Charlie takes a job selling copiers, which greatly upsets his scammer druggie friend.

It’s Charlie’s first day of work, and he is coming down from heroin, too – he’s nervous, sweating, and stealing, even as Lucy is giving him special presents. Nervous, Charlie makes a mess of selling the copier, and then vomits on it. At

At Lucy’s door, Charlie tries to say he is sorry, and explains that he took the job to prove he could take care of her.

Comments

Charlie seems to have valid emotional reasons for killing Ethan, but could it be based on something more? Could Charlie be protecting the knowledge that Ethan could have been forced to give?

Memorable Moments

• Sentries Boone, Locke, and Sayid keep watch, while numerous fires dance in the background

Quotable Quotes

Claire: Who’s Ethan?
Charlie: Ethan…Ethan’s the bad guy.

Sawyer: So Steve drew the short straw.
Hurley: Dude, that was Scott.

Jack: Do you know how to use a gun?
Sawyer: Well, there's one polar bear that seems to think so.

Jack: Why did you do it, Charlie?
Charlie: ‘cause he deserved to die.
Jack: He could have told us where he came from, what he wanted with Claire, why he -
Charlie: Do you really think he would have told us anything, Jack? I wasn’t gonna let that animal anywhere near her again…ever!