The Moth
- Episode aired Nov 3, 2004
- TV-14
- 43m
Charlie begins a journey of withdrawal from drugs aided by Locke, whose true motive is a mystery. Jack is buried alive in a cave collapse.Charlie begins a journey of withdrawal from drugs aided by Locke, whose true motive is a mystery. Jack is buried alive in a cave collapse.Charlie begins a journey of withdrawal from drugs aided by Locke, whose true motive is a mystery. Jack is buried alive in a cave collapse.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Charlie snorts heroin, Dominic Monaghan is actually snorting brown sugar.
- GoofsIn the flashback scene where Charlie visits his brother's home, the boom mic is reflected in the top of the window on the left side of the screen as Charlie knocks on the door.
- Quotes
Locke: [to teach Charlie, who is struggling through heroin withdraw, a lesson] What do you suppose is in that cocoon, Charlie?
Charlie: I don't know. A - a - a butterfly, I guess.
Locke: No, it's much more beautiful than that. That's a moth cocoon. It's ironic - butterflies get all the attention, but moths, they spin silk. They're stronger. They're faster.
Charlie: That's wonderful, but...
Locke: You see this little hole? This moth's just about to emerge. It's in there right now, struggling. It's digging its way through the thick hide of the cocoon. Now, I could help it - take my knife, gently widen the opening, and the moth would be free - but it would be too weak to survive. Struggle is nature's way of strengthening it. Now this is the second time you've asked me for your drugs back... ask me again, and it's yours.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2005)
- SoundtracksYou All Everybody
(uncredited)
Written by Jude Christodal, Chris Seefried and Dominic Monaghan
Performed by Drive Shaft
"The Moth" is one of few episodes where the flashback is completely, absolutely, 100% superior to anything that happens on the island. The island events here are a haphazard collection of poorly-written and offensively simplistic metaphors in addition to character interaction of minor interest outside Charlie's important interaction with Locke. Charlie's flashback story here is perhaps my favorite Charlie flashback, really quality drama throughout and a fine introduction to Charlie's character background.
I found myself very disappointed in Jack Bender's direction here- very predictable and obvious and honestly it just didn't work for most of the episode. In addition to all the other flaws in the episode, the cave sets really just look bad and silly.
To be honest, I'm struggling to find much to say about "The Moth". It is an overly simplistic episode with two or three key scenes that must be seen. The rest of it can only be tolerated with the accompaniment of the excellent audio commentary on the DVD with Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, and Dominic Monaghan (who all comment continually on how illogical parts of the script are). Oh, and there's always Maggie Grace's astonishing body to distract from the surprisingly lackluster script by Jennifer Johnson and Paul Dini. You know when the highlight of an episode is two minutes of Maggie 'Legs' Grace that there's something very, very wrong. Luckily after two less-than-great episodes in a row, LOST would get back on track in a very significant way with "Confidence Man", the upcoming episode.
5/10
- ametaphysicalshark
- Jun 26, 2008