Season 1, Episode 7:

The Moth

FLASHBACK! In church, Charlie confesses some rowdy sins to a Catholic priest and claims his falls into temptation are the result of Drive Shaft, his band, and their local success. He decides to quit the band but Liam, Charlie's older brother and bandmate, tells him about Drive Shaft's new recording contract.

At the caves, Charlie is struggling with heroin withdrawal. He wanders into the jungle, searching for Locke, and winds up distracting a boar long enough for Locke to catch and kill it. Angry, Charlie demands that Locke give back the heroin stash. He doesn't say yes, but instead makes a deal:

On the beach, Sayid has built three triangulation antennae which, when placed around the Island and used in conjunction with the transceiver, will help him find the source of the Frenchwoman's distress signal. He gives the first two antennae to Kate and Boone, tells them where to set up and gives them bottle rockets to use for signalling when they're in place. However, parts from a laptop computer are still needed to fix the transceiver. Kate goes to Sawyer, who is reading Watership Down in his tent, and gets one of the laptops he's scrounged from the luggage. At the caves, Charlie tries to help Jack and Hurley move medical supplies but only makes a mess.

FLASHBACK! Liam tries to convince Charlie to stay with the band. Charlie agrees, but only if Liam promises to look out for him and to quit when Charlie decides it's time.

At the caves, Jin gets angry at Sun's new climate-appropriate/"indecent" attire, but she simply replies that "it's too hot". Charlie overreacts to a request that he put his guitar out of the way of medical supplies. He angrily follows Jack into a cave and his shouting triggers a cave-in. Charlie gets out, but Jack is trapped inside, so Charlie runs to get help from the beach group while Hurley and others try to dig Jack out. In the jungle, Sayid and Kate discuss their plan, and talk turns to their miraculous survival of the plane crash.

Charlie makes it to the beach and rounds up a group of people to help, including Michael. After instructing Shannon on when and how to turn on the antennae, Boone goes too. Sawyer volunteers to find Kate and let her know what's going on, and tells Charlie to keep doing "whatever it is you do".

FLASHBACK! Liam upstages Charlie at Drive Shaft's first major concert. Backstage, he waves off Charlie's concerns and leaves with a groupie and some cocaine.

The helpers from the beach arrive at the caves. Being an experience construction worker, Michael takes over and determines the best place to dig. In the jungle, Sawyer catches up with Kate and Sayid, but when she dismisses him immediately he claims he's come to help them. Charlie finds Locke and asks for his drugs a second time. In response, Locke shows him a moth cocoon.

In the jungle, Sayid, Kate and Sawyer reach their first destination. While Sawyer climbs a tree to place the second antennae, Sayid warns Kate to be careful and then moves on to a spot on the high ground. At the caves, Michael and the diggers clear a small hole and determine that Jack is alive but pinned under fallen rock. Since they can't make the hole any wider, someone has to climb in and free Jack. Charlie volunteers, pointing out that he's one of the few people on the Island who isn't responsible for someone else. In the jungle, Kate and Sawyer wait for Sayid's flare. They talk, and when Sawyer lets slip that Jack was buried in the cave-in, Kate rushes off.

FLASHBACK! As Drive Shaft tours, Liam keeps blowing off sound checks and rehearsals to spend time with women and drugs. Charlie decides it's time to quit, like they agreed, but Liam angrily tells him that if Charlie's not part of Drive Shaft, he's completely useless. In tears, Charlie sits alone in the dressing room and takes some of Liam's heroin.

At the caves, Charlie crawls into the hole, only for it to cave in behind him. Outside, Kate arrives and gets everyone digging again. Charlie frees Jack from the fallen rock and, despite claiming that he can't, helps pop Jack's dislocated shoulder back into place.

FLASHBACK! Charlie visits Liam at his new home in Sydney, trying to get his older brother to rejoin the band. Liam declines: he's cleaned up, and now has a wife and young daughter. When he realises that Charlie is still using, Liam tries to talk him into a rehab program. Charlie gets angry, blaming Liam for his drug habit, and storms away.

In the collapsed cave, Jack realises that Charlie is going through withdrawal.

As the oxygen in the cave dwindles, Charlie spots a moth fluttering about. Realising that it must've gotten in through some kind of opening, he follows it up to a tiny gap in the cave roof and digs a hole large enough for him and Jack to climb through. When they return to the others, Jack sings Charlie's praises and everyone congratulates him. In the jungle, Sayid lights his flare and sees the other two go up. He turns on his antennae and the transceiver, and just as it starts to get a fix on the distress signal's source, someone knocks him out from behind with a tree branch. That night at the caves, Jack tells anyone who asks that Charlie's poor health is the result of a cold. When he sees Locke, Charlie asks him for the drugs a third time. Locke relents and hands them over, only for Charlie to toss them into the campfire.

Tropes in this episode include:

• Animal Motif: Locke compares Charlie to a moth, explaining that he must struggle in order to beat his addiction. Later, he sees a moth in the cave, leading him and Jack to a way out. After Charlie throws his remaining drugs into the fire, he sees the moth flying away.
• Confessional: Charlie's first flashback shows him at Confession, telling his priest that he had "relations" with a girl, and then another girl right afterwards, and then he watched as had "relations" with each other.
• Gallows Humor: When Jack promises not to forget Charlie's brave attempt to rescue him, Charlie quips "for the rest of our lives?", prompting Jack to dryly admit that, at the rate they're using up their oxygen, the rest of their lives won't be very long.
• The Glomp: After Jack says that it's thanks to Charlie that they escaped the cave-in, Hurley scoops Charlie up into a big hug.
• Going Cold Turkey: Charlie is forced to do this due to Locke withholding his heroin stash. Jack recognises the symptoms of what's happening to him and offers to help him as much as possible.
• Hidden Depths: Charlie was once a devout Catholic. Jack lampshades it, remarking that he wouldn't have taken Charlie for a religious man.
• Hope Spot: Sayid's plan starts to work, with all the flares going off at the set time, and he gets a strong signal from the radio tower. Before he can pinpoint its direction, he gets hit over the head from behind by someone.
• Hourglass Plot: Charlie's flashbacks have his brother Liam descend into drug addiction while Charlie tries to get him to clean himself up. By the end, Liam has gotten himself sober and it's Charlie who has become an addict, angrily rejecting Liam's offer to check him into rehab.
• I Am the Band: During an argument, Liam exclaims "I am Drive Shaft! Nobody even knows who the sodding bass player is!"
• Innocently Insensitive: Jack tries to tell Charlie to take a break from trying to help out in favor of looking after his health. However, phrasing this sentiment as "we don't need you right now" only compounds Charlie's frustration and feelings of uselessness.
• It's All About Me: While Charlie is clearly the most creative member of the band, it's Liam who calls all the shots, even stealing Charlie's part where he sings the chorus to "You All Everybody" which earns him a Death Glare from Charlie.
• It Began with a Twist of Fate: If Charlie had accepted Liam's offer to go to rehab, he wouldn't have been on the flight.
• Kick the Dog: Sawyer keeps Jack's predicament to himself for some time, and when he finally does tell Kate, he frames it as thinking that Jack is already dead, making it clear that he was partly motivated by Kate saying she pitied him earlier.
• Moment Killer: Jack and Kate are having a polite, even emotionally intimate conversation right when Sawyer turns up to move into Jack's old tent.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Liam is visibly ashamed of himself to know that Charlie is still using heroin, knowing that his actions led to Charlie's addiction.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Drive Shaft are a clear Expy of Oasis, as a Manchester rock band lead by two brothers (one of whom is named Liam) who split up after the brothers have a falling out.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Sawyer compares himself to Jack, though it's implied that he's speaking out of jealousy, rather than actually believing it.
• Pet the Dog: Subverted; Sawyer goes to tell Kate about Jack being trapped by a cave-in, but when she is less than pleased to see him, he spitefully keeps the information to himself. That said, when he does let it slip that Jack is in trouble and Kate runs off to help him, Sawyer does help with Sayid's plan to triangulate the signal.
• Rule of Three: Locke tells Charlie that he'll give him his drugs back if he asks for them three times. When Charlie does ask for the third time, Locke returns the drugs... and Charlie throws them into a fire.
• Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: Charlie's flashback show that this was a central part of Drive Shaft's lifespan, with Liam using what little fame they had to fuel his addictions.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Charlie describes himself as a rock god to Jack, but the flashbacks make it clear that his band was more of a one-hit wonder.
• So Proud of You: Locke tells Charlie he's proud of him for overcoming his heroin addiction.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Charlie's had a fairly miserable time on the Island so far, as he's struggled with his addiction and felt like The Load in all of his attempts to help out. In this episode, he gets to be a genuine hero, saving Jack from a cave-in, and triumphantly overcomes his addiction by throwing the last of his heroin in the fire.
• Title Drop: To make his point about Charlie needing to struggle in order to strengthen himself, Locke shows him a moth cocoon and explains how it's now struggling to get out.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Charlie's older brother Liam was the one who introduced him to heroin.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Locke assures Charlie that he has the strength to kick his addiction on his own, even handing the drugs back to him when Charlie asks for the final time. Locke is proven right when Charlie burns the last of his heroin supply.