EXPOSé (LOST)

"'Exposé'"^[1] is the fourteenth episode of the third season of ''Lost''. It was aired on March 28, 2007, making it the 61st episode of the series. The episode was written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by Stephen Williams. The characters of Nikki Fernandez and Paulo were featured in the episode's flashbacks.
The flashbacks marked the first appearance of Maggie Grace as Shannon Rutherford since early Season 2, while Ian Somerhalder as Boone Carlyle returned for the fifth time since his death in Season 1. Furthermore, Dr. Arzt and Ethan reappeared in flashbacks.

Contents

Plot

Production notes and continuity

References

External links

Plot

The episode begins with Nikki breathing heavily and running through the jungle. She frantically buries a small bag. On the beach of the island, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes and James "Sawyer" Ford are playing ping pong. Nikki stumbles out of the jungle and falls to the ground. As Hurley and Sawyer rush to her, she says something barely audible. She is soon pronounced dead.
In flashbacks taking place in the days before the crash, Nikki is guest starring on the popular Charlie's Angels-like TV show ''Exposé'' that films in Sydney, Australia. She is also having an affair with the septuagenarian executive producer, Howard Zuckerman, who is married and very wealthy, while Paulo works as his chef. Paulo poisons his food, and the couple steals his bag of diamonds, which are worth $8 million.
Hurley and Sawyer try to recount what Nikki said before she died. After Sawyer's suggestion of "Plywood" and Hurley's of "Powerlines", they come to the conclusion that she said, "Paulo lies." Sawyer and Hurley begin an investigation and find Paulo lying lifeless in the jungle. Sawyer finds a walkie talkie in Nikki and Paulo's tent. He says the Others had similar walkie talkies, which means they were working with the Others. Hurley does not think the Others are near their camp, but Sun vehemently reminds them that she was abducted (unaware that it was Charlie who grabbed her). Sawyer tries to calm them down and says he will do a perimeter sweep. But when he shows off his gun, Hurley becomes suspicious.
Hurley asks Desmond to use his psychic powers to see who killed Nikki and Paulo. Desmond says it does not work that way, but offers that he saw Nikki arguing with Sawyer earlier this morning right before she died. Hurley tells Charlie and Sun his theory. Sun says Sawyer's not a murderer - she is convinced it is the Others. Feeling guilty, Charlie confesses to Sun that it was him who took her. Sun is stunned. He explains why he did it, and as the horror of it washes over her, Sun simply walks away.
Sawyer says he argued with Nikki because she wanted a gun. He did not give it to her, and she was mad. He hands Sun a pouch filled with diamonds.
In a flashback 84 days earlier, Nikki and Zukerman are dining in his home. Zukerman introduces his chef, Paulo, shortly before he dies — evidently, from poisoned food. Nikki seizes a key from around his neck and rushes to his safe. She and Paulo open it and retrieve a Matryoshka doll (which we later find out is a pouch full of diamonds).
In a flashback 80 days earlier, Nikki and Paulo are in an airport lounge reading Zukerman's obituary, laughing at the conclusion of 'heart failure' as his cause of death, and celebrating their accomplishment. They hear Shannon berating Boone, complaining that there is nowhere to sit. Boone asks Paulo if he can take a seat from their table but Shannon walks off yelling at Boone that if he would stop "flirting with random guys, maybe we could actually get on the plane." Nikki ironically extracts a promise from Paulo that they will "never end up like them."
On the island right after the plane has crashed, Nikki frantically searches for Paulo in the wreckage. She finds him and asks about the diamonds, expressing no concern for him. Paulo does not know where the bag is.
In a flashback 75 days earlier, Nikki is pressuring Paulo to search inland for their bag. Ethan introduces himself and offers to help them, suggesting they look further inland.

In a flashback 57 days earlier, Nikki approaches Dr. Arzt and enquires about his collection of specimens. He cautions her against handling a jar containing ''Latrodectus regina'', called the Medusa spider. He describes her pheromones as "very strong" and says she would "attract every male on the island." She asks Arzt for advice on the plane's trajectory and convinces him to draw a map. Following Arzt's map, Nikki and Paulo happen upon the Nigerian plane and DHARMA station. Nikki wants Paulo to climb up to the plane to see if there is a radio in there. Paulo refuses. They stumble upon the hatch, and Paulo wants to go down the hatch, but Nikki shoots down his idea because he shot down hers.
In a flashback 48 days earlier, Shannon and Arzt are confronting Kate about the keeping secret their discovery of a case of guns. Nikki asks where they found the case.
Nikki and Paulo find the lake. Nikki presses Paulo to dive in. Nikki says that what is in that bag is worth $8,000,000. Paulo finds the bag at the bottom of the lake, but does not tell Nikki.
In a flashback, Paulo returns to the Pearl station to hide the diamonds. While stashing the doll in the toilet tank, he overhears Ben and Juliet discussing how to get Jack to do his surgery, making him the first survivor to encounter the two. Apparently, one of them left a walkie talkie and Paulo picks it up. Since warning Jack about the Others' intentions would give away the diamond frenzy to Nikki, Paulo keeps everything a secret.

In a flashback 9 days earlier, Locke, Desmond, Nikki and Paulo are at the Pearl station (when they discover the man with the eye patch). Paulo pretends to use the bathroom and recovers the diamonds.
In a flashback 8 hours earlier Nikki figures out that Paulo found the diamonds and did not tell her. She throws one of Dr. Arzt's Medusa spiders at him, which bites and paralyzes Paulo. However, Paulo apologizes and admits he hid the diamonds because if he did not, Nikki would not continue their romantic relationship. As Nikki stands in a state of regret, a group of the same poisonous spiders appears and she is bitten on her leg. She buries the diamonds and sprints to the beach.
The first scene is repeated, during which it can now be determined that Nikki is actually saying "paralyzed" and not "Paulo lies" in an attempt to alert Hurley and Sawyer to her condition. At the funeral, Sawyer pours the pouch of diamonds into the grave during the funeral. Nikki's eyelids open just as Hurley and Sawyer are filling the grave, burying them alive.

Production notes and continuity

★ The slate board shown at the beginning of the episode informs that the fictional season finale episode of "Exposé" was directed by Stephen Williams, who directed this episode of ''Lost'' as well.

★ The show's creators had stated a gay character would appear in this episode,^[2] but not explicitly declare that they are gay. Some interpret this as meaning it was Boone, and criticized the move as a cynical attempt.^[3][4] However, Carlton Cuse told TVGuide.com, "And neither Paulo nor Boone were gay."^[5]

★ The "black smoke" is audible just before the poisonous spiders appear to paralyze Nikki.

★ The April 20th issue of "Entertainment Weekly" revealed that the producers had planned a longer arc with Nikki and Paulo and even conceived the idea of one episode's flashbacks being made up of scenes of Nikki's "Exposé" show. However, the backlash viewers had toward the characters convinced them to simply write them off as quickly as possible.

★ This episode marks the first time a guest star has played himself on Lost. (Billy Dee Williams)

References

1. March 9, 2007 ABC Medianet Episode Press Release
2. Lost Spoilers: Official ABC Podcast
3. ''Lost'' Can Get Lost
4. Raiders of the Lost arc
5. Scoop on Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Heroes, Gilmore Girls and More! Michael Ausiello

External links

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