Lost has many characters to love. If you are obsessed with drama queens, can I offer you a bit of John Locke? Want to support women’s wrongs? Look no further than Kate Austen. But through all of the years, one character has remained a fan favorite for a reason.
Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) has a story of redemption. He crashes on Oceanic Flight 815 deep into his drug addiction and the only reason he survives is because he’s in the wrong section of the plane. He crashes on the island and is still battling his addiction, trying to have a new lease on life but struggling until he has someone on his side. The Drive Shaft bass player was alone dealing with addiction, and then he had hope.
John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) realizes that Charlie’s love of music can help save him and offers him a trade: the drugs for Charlie’s guitar. And thus a lifelong love of Charlie Pace was born for many of us. He’s not a perfect man and he struggles throughout the show but his journey from a rockstar who had nothing to a man willing to fight for everyone is still surprisingly special to me.
Charlie dedicates his time on the island to protecting Claire (Emilie de Ravin) and her son, Aaron. He is there whenever she needs him and he is also someone who will always be at Hurley’s (Jorge Garcia) side. I don’t know, maybe it was because he was a bright spot in a show where there were a lot of heroes and stoicism but I just really loved spending time with Charlie Pace.
Hearing “You All Everybody” just made him smile, and many of us had a soft spot for the musician that has just grown deeper over time. Which makes his departure on the show hurt that much more.
Charlie’s relationship with Hurley was beautiful
One of the more interesting aspects of Lost came from how the characters interacted with each other. Yes, I had my favorite ship (Jate is fate) but friendships were the most important part of the show. Not everyone had to find love but they did need someone to help them get through their ordeal. For Charlie, that was his relationship with Hurley.
The two were goofballs and loved to laugh together. They’d try to bring light to a situation and their final goodbye is one of the most heartwrenching. Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) has told Charlie that he needs to die in order for everyone to get home, leaving Charlie to do his final goodbyes. Hurley, who wants to be with his friend and doesn’t know what Charlie’s fate holds, wants to go with him.
As a way of trying to keep Hurley safe, Charlie insults Hurley’s weight and tells him he can’t come with them but Charlie cannot let his best friend walk away with that being his last memory. So he runs up, hugs him, and tells him he loves him. That, to me, is what makes the relationships of Lost so special. The two were best friends and Charlie was trying to save him but he couldn’t let him go without making sure Hurley knew how he felt.
Claire had someone she could trust in Charlie
Charlie’s ship with Claire was known as PB&J by fans. It started the minute that Charlie saw her and it lasted until his dying breath. Claire was good for Charlie but he was also there for her when she was completely alone. The two needed one another in their darkest moments.
It is probably the sweetest ship on the show. While the Jack/Kate/Swayer fans were all fighting about who was better for Kate, Charlie and Claire were just working on their relationship and trying to take care of Aaron. But it was nice to see Charlie have a purpose in his relationship and work towards being a better man because he wanted to be who Claire needed.
A sacrifice I will always mourn
Charlie’s light energy made his death one that I never quite got over. Desmond and Charlie are trying to contact a boat to escape the island, but they need to shut off the radio interference from an underwater Dharma Initiative research station first. Charlie knows the weight of what is coming for him on the mission thanks to Desmond’s visions.
What actually happens though is so much worse. They succeed, Charlie playing “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys to try to save everyone he loves, but he learns at the last second that the boat they’re trying to contact doesn’t belong to Desmond’s lost love, Penny Widmore (Sonya Walger). Right as it looks like Charlie will get to go free, one of the men they thought they killed reappears and sets off a grenade that dooms Charlie to drown.
Charlie sacrifices himself to save Desmond, closing the door and sealing the rushing water in the room he’s in. Before he dies, he writes “Not Pennys Boat” on his hand to warn his friend.
Someone who came onto this show at his darkest point left the series a hero. And it has made many fans love Charlie Pace most of all.
