Who is Dexter Stratton?

A minor detail in the season 5 finale has me thinking, "Who is Dexter Stratton?" In 2007, Sun returns to the Losties' Beach Camp, and in Aaron's crib she finds a ring.

What's the significance of Sun picking up the DS ring? Will Dexter Stratton be revealed as a key figure in the destiny of the Island? Will Charlie be returning somehow in season 6?


Dexter Stratton's granddaughter Megan married Simon Pace, and they had two sons - Liam and Charlie. Liam's birthright was the DS ring handed down to Megan, but Liam feared his own death by heroin. One Christmas morning he gave the DS ring to his brother Charlie, to pass down to his son one day.




On his way to what he believes is his final destiny in the Looking Glass Station, Charlie stopped and left his ring for his surrogate son, Aaron. The ring was tucked into Aaron's crib, but Aaron and Claire never returned to the camp and Aaron was rescued as one of the Oceanic 6.

So, with the benefit of hindsight, who is Charlie Pace? Washed up rock star, reformed drug addict, daddy surrogate, hero. The focus of one of the best and also one of the worst episodes of Lost.





The Charlie focused Fire+Water is considered by some to be one of the worst episodes of Lost so far. Right up there with Expose featuring Nikki & Paulo, and every Kate episode. For instance, here and here. In its defense, the gift of the piano and Megan's statement that Charlie is "special" both hint at his destiny in the Looking Glass, where he plays "Good Vibrations" on the keyboard and shuts down the radio jammers. Fire+Water is an extended allusion to the Baptism of Christ, including a visual reference to Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci's painting by that name.



















Fire+Water doesn't look like any other episode of Lost, and a lot of the details seemed to go nowhere. Conversely, Greatest Hits is one of my absolute favorite episodes of Lost.

Even during the first airing, I felt it was something special. The structure of the flashbacks as Charlie's countdown of Top 5 Best Moments was incredibly engaging and endearing. From the first time he heard himself on the radio, to the day he met Claire, Charlie reflects on a life he was proud of. He knows he can go to face death with the knowledge that Aaron and Claire will be rescued. It didn't exactly turn out that way of course.

Charlie faced his destiny and gave his life in the Looking Glass. His sacrifice allowed the Kahana to access the Island. The result was both Ben and Locke turning the Wheel, and also the escape of the Oceanic 6. This ultimately allowed the Losties to return to the Island in the year 1977, where they also met their destinies by creating Ben Linus and causing the Incident. Meanwhile, John and Ben end up in 2007 for a showdown with Jacob.

Some of this seems bound up in the plan by Jacob's Nemesis leading to Jacob's murder. Many of these events are critical in the plan to take over John Locke and manipulate Ben into striking with the knife.

However, there's also the reference to Aaron as a sort of Christ figure, and Charlie was responsible for him getting baptized. What's the significance of Charlie's sacrifice and his importance in Aaron's destiny? Could it be that Aaron is really Jacob, thanks to some time loop, and being baptized is the only thing that could lead to His resurrection after being murdered by his Nemesis? In the end, is Charlie's sacrifice evidence of the "progress" Jacob hopes for, even though it's also twisted up in the Nemesis' plans for "destruction"? And who is Dexter Stratton?

It's impossible to say how much of this will actually be tied up in the final season, or whether I'm just grasping at straws. These may turn out to be just loose ends in an incredibly intricate series. There's still a long wait for 2010.