Lost Episode 2.12 Fire + Water

In FLASHBACK we see a pair of slippered feet whisk a young Charlie down a flight of stairs. It's Christmas morning and his brother Liam is already hard at work ripping open his presents. But while Liam continues to unwrap gift after gift, Charlie finds nothing at all for him. That is until his mother leads him over to a brand new piano. Charlie is thrilled, but before he can even begin to enjoy the gift, he learns it comes with a price.

Back on the island, Charlie is struggling with his forced isolation. He misses Claire and the baby desperately, but the feeling isn't mutual. Claire's doing just fine...with Locke.

Hurley takes the first tentative steps towards dealing with his attraction to Libby. Meanwhile, Sawyer and Kate begin to notice the growing connection between Ana Lucia and Jack and it doesn't make either of them particularly comfortable.

While Charlie plays his guitar by the sea, he hears the faint cries of a baby and follows the sound to the sea, where he sees Aaron's cradle being tossed between the waves. Somehow he manages to swim out and bring little Aaron back to shore only to learn that his mind has betrayed him and the entire thing was just a cruel dream. And while he holds the baby and tries to explain to Claire (and everyone else) that he was only trying to save him, the only thing Charlie succeeds in doing is digging his hole that much deeper.

In FLASHBACK we see Charlie trying hard to save something else his band. But in order to do that, he needs his brother to do some long overdue growing up. Sadly, as the diaper he is (literally) wearing will attest, Liam isn't up to the task.

On the island, after unsuccessfully trying to again enlist Locke as an ally, Charlie goes to Eko. And it's here he finds the one thing he's been missing: a reason for being. Eko speaks not a doctor, but Charlie grabs onto this diagnosis with both hands, willing to follow it to a resolution one way or another to save the ones he loves.

Back in FLASHBACK Charlie consoles Liam after a "falling out" with his wife. And through his music he is able to reach inside Liam and shake him back to life. If they take a stand if they fight with everything they've got, they just might be able to get through this together. But Liam only has one question: "Got any...?"

Turns out Charlie does. Plenty. And while paying a visit to a stash he has so far been able to resist, Charlie is surprised by Locke who tells him what he already knows. What little goodwill Charlie had left, whatever hope of being redeemed is all gone now.

But maybe there is one more thing he can do one last, desperate leap towards salvation. It just might cost Charlie everything. But then isn't that what being a martyr is all about? You get to save everyone but yourself.