I don't think at the time it actually had jack to do with anything but Ethan making him feel like a useless fuck-up.

I thought the point of the episode was to show that Charlie had changed; he's all growed up. Admittedly, they did it in kind of a ham-fisted fashion, but it's not the first time a Charlie storyline has had a whiff of the anvil about it.

Plus I tend to give Charlie a lot of leeway. He's just so darned cute.

I thought the point of the episode was to show that Charlie had changed; he's all growed up.

Huh -- I thought exactly the opposite. In both cases, his intentions were to protect and take care of the girl he liked (neither of whom had indicated in any way that they needed or wanted to be taken care of). In the first case, he failed spectacularly, and in the second, he succeeded by accident. Where's the maturity?

That's my read of it too, Jessica. While his actions may have worked out to the same end that a practical, detached view would have called for, his actual thought process (if he could be said to be thinking at all rather than letting his emotions run rampant) was anything but.

In the first case, he failed spectacularly, and in the second, he succeeded by accident. Where's the maturity?

Yeah, this is what I meant. I think the intention was to show that Charlie had matured from the flashback, where he was completely useless, more or less, to the present, where he takes some affirmative action. I just don't think it came across as that very well. It may not have been the intention at all, but that's the feeling I got. So we get a Charlie who associates protecting and providing for the wimmin folk with maturity. Which leaves me asking more questions than it answers, really.

Jessica, got the package. Thank you so much! Please pass on my big thanks to DH, too.

I actually think Charlie may be a dangerous person on the island, but Boone has so far PROVEN himself to be a dangerous person. Get me the fuck away from Boone and Locke.

I hope Locke catches Boone at his next major fuckup, and, shall we say, chastises him harshly.

Please tell me that euphemism wouldn't involve bowmp-chicka-wa-wa music.

Eh, I think Locke's been doing a pretty decent job of building his own fanatical minion there, and any fuck-ups will just be used to pull the strings a little tighter.

And let me say that I'm finding the whole Locke and Boone thing fascinating, and I'm more interested in both characters than I was before.

Please tell me that euphemism wouldn't involve bowmp-chicka-wa-wa music.

Hee. Notice how I carefully did not use a / in the above sentence.

Please tell me that euphemism wouldn't involve bowmp-chicka-wa-wa music.

No, more along the lines of the whoosh of a thrown knife. I'm hoping the screwup is more along the lines that it negates his minion value. Given that Boone also knows about the hatch, I don't think Locke would hesitate to take him out if he thought he was a liability.