TV Shows I'm Watching - Lost (Episode 3.14)

Episode 3.14 – Expose

Serious plot elements will be discussed, so if you haven’t seen it, I urge you not to read.

Main Story - *** out of 4

Nikki and Paulo, probably the two most hated Lost characters of all time (sorry Ana Lucia) finally get their episode to shine, and well…it’s not that bad, in fact it’s pretty darn good. It’s not going to change anyone’s opinions about these two, but it certainly knows how much fans hate them, and acts accordingly.

Expose is primarily about bad decisions and their repercussions. Nikki and Paulo’s condition at the beginning of the episode is a result of a slew of bad decisions, Charlie finally talks to Sun about his role in her fake abduction, and in the Edgar Allen Poe-ish ending the entire camp makes one horrendously bad decision. But I suppose the worst decision of all is from the writers, who thought that the audience would simply accept that Nikki and Paulo had just been hanging out on the beach, out of camera range for two seasons. This episode can easily be seen as both an apology and a rationalization of their thinking process.

The main story is, at its core, the apology, and the writers do this by killing Nikki and Paulo off. There you have it folks...Nikki and Paulo are found dead at the beginning of the episode. It’s an admission of guilt signaling that there really wasn’t any reason for them to be in the show at all, and because the writers know just how hated these two truly are…death is only the beginning their horrible fate. The writer’s have funneled up all that fan hatred and unleashed it on these two saps, who suffer the worst experience of any character thus far, including Dr. Arzt…

Flashback – *** out of 4

…who makes an appearance in the flashback, which actually seems like a rationalization of Nikki and Paulo’s existence. It’s as though the writer’s wanted one last try to prove that they weren’t insane.

The flashback is a look back at two seasons of Lost through a different point of view to show you that Nikki and Paulo were there all the time. They were just off looking for some stolen diamonds.

“See,” the writers seem to be saying, “they were scouring the jungle on their own away from the main storyline. That’s why you never saw them!” Uh huh.

And then, the funniest joke is of course throwing Dr. Arzt into the midst, the only other character on Lost who just showed up out of the crowd. I suppose the reason Arzt’s appearance wasn’t so jarring was that it was still season one and the story hadn’t developed that much beyond the beach. But it’s like the writers are saying, “you accepted Arzt, why not Nikki and Paulo? It’s the same thing”.

It’s a playful flashback that provides a few interesting moments (so that’s why Paulo used the washroom!), but establishes Nikki and Paulo as nothing more than two ill-fated cameos on a show that didn’t need more castmembers.

At least the Nikki and Paulo chapter is closed for good….at least….I think it is…..