Charlie Pace:
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character present in the first four seasons on the ABC television series Lost played by Dominic Monaghan. He is loosely modeled after Larry Underwood from Stephen King's The Stand.
[edit] Character's background
[edit] Prior to the crash
Charlie was the younger of two siblings, having an older brother, Liam. As a child, music was a heavy influence on his life, and his mother bought him a piano for Christmas one year. Charlie also learned to swim from a young age; though he was reluctant to enter the water at first, he eventually jumped in with a little coaxing from his father. As a young adult, Charlie would often take to busking, most notably performing "Wonderwall." It is on one such occasion that he is passed by Desmond. On one particular day, as Charlie was walking home, he witnessed a mugging attempt. After intervening, the woman, Nadia, thanked him and declared him an hero. Later, Charlie and Liam formed the band, DriveSHAFT, with Charlie playing bass. At first, the band failed to hit it off, but eventually Liam confronts Charlie with the good news that they have landed a record deal. They released a single, "You All, Everybody," which became the band's most renowned song. Charlies' confrontations with Liam, concerning the band, were the catalyst for his heroin abuse.
During their second tour of Finland, Liam gave Charlie his ring, a family heirloom handed down to every first-born. At first; Charlie refuses to take it, but reluctantly agrees to keep hold of it. While touring, Charlie scolded Liam for his controlling behavior and for being self-destructive with his heroin addiction, and told him to cancel the rest of the tour. Liam, who had previously told Charlie that he was the most important person in the band, bitterly responded by snapping that "he" was the band and that no one knew who the bassist was. Sinking into a state of depression, Charlie resorted to Liam's heroin stash, becoming addicted himself. After the birth of his niece, Charlie visited the new-born, but Liam remained at home. Eventually the band's fame began to fade, and they resorted to appearing in a diaper commercial. However, after Liam's behavior got them fired, Charlie began working on a new comeback song. Charlie came back to his apartment and was shocked to learn that Liam had sold his piano in order to enroll in a rehab clinic in Sydney. After Liam dropped his own daughter, his girlfriend fled to Australia.
With Liam and the band gone, Charlie resorted to theft to support his heroin addiction. He charmed a wealthy woman, Lucy, in order to rob her, but soon developed feelings for her, and decided to work for her father instead. However, his plan fell through, and Lucy left him upon learning of his original intentions. Later, Charlie learned of an opportunity for DriveSHAFT to embark on an eight-week tour, supporting another band, and traveled to Sydney. He begged Liam to rejoin the band, but walked away when Liam declined. On the morning of the flight, Charlie woke up in bed at a hotel with another woman and frantically searched for his heroin stash; after a struggle, he managed to walk away with it. He made his way to the airport after being temporarily hindered by Hurley. Once on board the plane, Charlie started suffering from withdrawal symptoms, attracting the unwanted attention of the stewards. Charlie raced to the front of the plane, pushing past Jack, Rose, Boone and Shannon, and hid in the forward restroom in order to avoid being caught. Just as he attempted to flush his stash, the plane hit heavy turbulance, and Charlie took cover in an empty nearby seat.
[edit] After the crash
[edit] Season 1
Charlie crashes with the fuselage survivors. That night, he begins bonding with the pregnant Claire, moments before witnessing the "Monster". The next day, he follows Jack and Kate into the jungle to find the cockpit, only to retrieve his heroin stash. Charlie attempts to seek attention from most of the survivors, particularly Shannon, due to his former fame, but to no avail. Charlie later joins Jack, Kate and Locke to further investigate the caves. It is then that Locke discovers Charlie's heroin addiction, and confiscates his stash in exchange for his guitar. Charlie suffers from withdrawal symptoms and begs Locke for his stash back. When Jack is caught in a cave in, Charlie risks his life to save him. Later that night Charlie receives his heroin back; he drops it in the campfire. He continues to bond with Claire, and eventually convinces her to migrate to the caves with him.
As Charlie tries to stop Claire from going back to the beach a few days later, they are both kidnapped by Ethan; while Claire is taken away, Charlie is left hanging from a tree, only to be rescued by Jack and Kate. Up until her return, Charlie busies himself with finding Claire's diary. The day after her return, as part of a trap set by the survivors Charlie is threatened by Ethan to bring her back, or else risk the lives of the other survivors. When Jack attempts to kidnap Ethan, Charlie shoots him dead. Following this event, Charlie goes into a state of post-traumatic stress, particularly concerning Hurley.
Later, Charlie helps Kate and Jin deliver Claire's baby when she suddenly goes into labor in the jungle. Later, after Rousseau arrives at the camp, Charlie learns that Claire's baby has been abducted by her, and he and Sayid head off to rescue him. Along the way, Charlie is injured by one of Rousseau's traps, and also discovers the beechcraft containing the Virgin Mary statues filled with heroin. That night, Charlie and Sayid catch up with Rousseau and manage to bring Aaron back to Claire.
[edit] Season 2
Charlie learns about the hatch a few days later, and grows angry at Hurley when he doesn't give him a jar of peanut butter for Claire. Later, Mr. Eko confronts Charlie over the Virgin Mary statues, creating a rift between him and Claire. Charlie takes Eko to the beechcraft where he found them, and the two decide to burn them. However, Charlie kept a small stash hidden in the jungle. Later, Charlie starts experiencing surreal dreams, all of which depict Aaron in mortal peril. After seeking help from Eko and Locke, who is convinced Charlie is still taking the heroin, Charlie kidnaps Aaron and attempts to baptize him. However, he is forced to return Aaron when he is caught, and is beaten by Locke as punishment. Following this humiliation, Charlie teams up with Sawyer to con the camp of its guns and medical supply; posing as an Other, Charlie fakes a kidnap attempt on Sun in her garden. Sawyer gives Charlie the heroin as reward, but instead he turns it down, satisfied enough that he has humiliated Locke in return.
Sayid later informs Charlie of the prisoner being held in the hatch, "Henry Gale." The two of them, along with Ana Lucia, head into the jungle to find the balloon crash site where Henry allegedly crashed on the island. The next day, the three are successful in their find, discovering both the balloon and the grave as described. However, Charlie, Sayid and Ana Lucia return to the hatch to reveal that "Henry" is an imposter, having discovered the real Henry Gale inside the grave. Later, Charlie helps Eko in building a church; when Eko abandons the project, Charlie resumes construction by himself, with little success. Having discovered a box of vaccine, Charlie decides to give it to Claire and Aaron. Soon after, Charlie discovers the hidden Virgin Mary statues, and decides to throw them into the sea, breaking free from his addiction. Later, Eko seeks Charlie's help in blowing open the blast doors in the hatch. Showing Eko where the dynamite was stored, Charlie warns Locke of Eko's intentions, but barely escapes the explosion. Charlie manages to escape the hatch seconds before Desmond turns the fail-safe key. Charlie emerges with temporary hearing impairment. That night, Charlie and Claire kiss, rekindling their relationship.
[edit] Season 3
The day after the implosion, Charlie stands guard while Locke experiences a self-induced hallucination. The two venture into the jungle to search for Eko, later finding him trapped in a polar bear's cave. Charlie and Locke carry the critically injured Eko back to camp. Later, during a storm, Charlie and Claire are spared from electrocution when Desmond builds a lightning rod close to their shelter. Moments after learning of Eko's death, Charlie witnesses Desmond saving a drowning Claire. In an attempt to extract answers, Charlie and Hurley get Desmond drunk and ask how he knew about the two incidents. After Desmond has an outburst over this, he tells Charlie that he is doomed to die. Following this, Charlie sinks into a state of depression; his mood is lifted when Hurley convinces him to help start an abandoned vehicle in the jungle. Charlie later attempts to discourage Claire from her plan to ensure rescue, knowing it would result in his death.
Later, Charlie confesses to Sun about the kidnap attempt in her garden when she suspects the Others over the apparent deaths of Nikki and Paulo. Charlie cares for Aaron when Claire suddenly falls ill; at first, he is reluctant to allow Juliet to treat her, but eventually steps aside. Later, Charlie joins Desmond, Hurley and Jin on a hike into the jungle, where they witness the arrival of a parachutist; en route to finding her, Charlie narrowly avoids certain death and argues with Desmond over his fate. Once the parachutist is cut free from the trees, Charlie refuses to allow Mikhail to help treat her, and holds resentment against him when he does so. Upon returning to camp, Charlie informs Sayid of Naomi's presence. When Jack announces his plan to deter the Others' endeavours to kidnap the pregnant women, Charlie volunteers to swim down to the Looking Glass station with Desmond to switch off the signal blocking device. Upon completing this task, he makes contact with Penny Widmore only to discover she has no knowledge of the boat coming to the island. Moments later, Mikhail uses a hand grenade to destroy the porthole, flooding the communication room with seawater. To spare Desmond, Charlie seals and locks the door as the room fills. In his last deed before drowning, Charlie warns Desmond that Naomi has deceived them, using a pen to write on his palm: "NOT PENNY'S BOAT".
[edit] Post Death
Much later after his death, Charlie begins appearing to Hurley after he leaves the island. His first appearance to him in a convenience store causes him to freak out and flee without paying. After being left alone at the police station, Charlie again appears to him in the interview room's mirror, making him believe the room is flooding. His final known appearance takes place in the mental institution, when Hurley is informed of his presence. Charlie tells him that he needs to return to the island, as everyone is still alive and needs him. He disapproves when Hurley tries to make him disappear, but vanishes nonetheless after Hurley counts to five.
Charlie continued to visit Hurley several times at the Institution, resulting in a break down of Hurley's sanity. He appeared to Hurley the day before Jack came to visit him. During this visit, Charlie told Hurley to write down a message to Jack stating "YOU'RE NOT SUPPPOSED TO RAISE HIM JACK", as well as to warn Jack that someone would be visiting him soon.
As part of the cover-up story during the Oceanic Six press conference shortly after their rescue, Jack mentions that Charlie was one of the initial few survivors, but drowned before being rescued.
[edit] DriveShaft
DriveShaft is the name of the fictional band in Lost formed by brothers Charlie and Liam Pace. It was revealed that the band was named after the brothers' great-grandfather, Dexter Stratton, during the "The christmas that Liam gave me the ring" flashback in "Greatest Hits."
Much of the background to the band is given in flashbacks in season 1 episode 'The Moth', season 2 episodes 'Fire and Water' and season 3's 'Greatest Hits', covering the band's explosive chart success after their song "You All Everybody", struggle with heroin addiction and break up. In 'The Moth' it is explained that Charlie's reason for being on Flight 815 is an attempted Driveshaft comeback (which his brother rejects) in Los Angeles.
In "Everybody Hates Hugo", Hurley classifies DriveShaft as a "one-hit wonder" and Hurley's friend also refers to them as "SuckShaft" while shopping at a music store. In "House of the Rising Sun", Locke mentions that DriveShaft's two albums are named DriveShaft and Oil Change.
A recurring joke in the first season would be for Charlie to hint about being in DriveShaft, assuming everyone to know who he was, but for nobody to realize who DriveShaft were (the exceptions being Kate, whose friend back home loved the band, and Locke, who turns out to be a devoted fan and owner of both their albums). In the episode "Greatest Hits", Charlie finally accepts that they only had "their moment in the sun", but is overjoyed to realize that with his "death", the band had finally become famous.
In the third episode of the fourth season of another J.J. Abram's produced television show on ABC, Alias, "You All Everybody" is heard playing in the background at main character Eric Weiss' birthday party.
The band is widely considered to be heavily based on Oasis (particularly their perception and level of success in the US), with 'You All Everybody' similar in chord structure and instrumentation to 'Rock 'n' Roll Star', and DriveShaft's singer, Liam, sharing his name with Oasis's lead singer Liam Gallagher. [1][2]Both bands are also from Manchester. Charlie is also heard singing Oasis's song 'Wonderwall' in flashbacks.
[edit] Development
After appearing in Lord of the Rings, Dominic Monaghan was offered many fantasy based roles, like elves and pixies. He was keen to portray a different role, so wanted a contemporary part that had layers and an edge. Originally Charlie was an older rocker that has been a big hit in the 1980s but now had a heroin addiction. After the producers enjoyed Monaghan’s audition where he read Sawyer’s lines, they rewrote the part to make him a young has been.[3]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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