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thunderfun65
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Lost: Fire + Water (2006)
Either 30 years too late or 15 years too early.
Let's address the elephant in the room. This is a story about opioid addiction. What most people don't understand is that once you're an addict then you are always an addict. Heroin was a destructive force in the 60's and 70's. It wouldn't rear its ugly head again until the the 20-teens.
The episode begins with Charlie having vivid dreams about Aaron being in mortal danger. The flash backs begin with on Christmas Day when Charlie gets his first piano. It's followed by the family saying "now you are going to save us all". Enter Charlie's need to save his family. On the Island Clair and Aaron are his family. Now we are about to enter into 2023, almost everyone has a loved one that suffers from this affliction. The second a recovering addict starts lying and acting erratically the first thought is that they are using again.
The writers did a great job with the family/user dynamic. They were able to alienate the audience buy using heroin to turn one of the most beloved characters into a heel. This would set up the next few episodes.
The flashbacks continue with Charlie writing a great song and trying to convince Liam there was a comeback only to find out Liam was kicked out his home because he dropped his daughter and was a danger to her. Enter Charlie with Aaron in this episode. The flashbacks end with Liam moving to Australia to be with his family and enter a recovery clinic. He wants to take Charlie but he won't go. The episode ends with Locke physically knocking his block off. But Clair eventually believed him and both Clair and Aaron were baptized. It's a brilliant misunderstood episode that had it come out in 2020 it would have had a better reception. There's no conformation but analyzing the subtext I do believe Charlie had a back slide. Over the next few few episodes he is sweating with a hoodie looking like he's going through withdrawal.