Lost: "Expose" Review

Nina and Pablo, I mean Nikki and Paolo get their moment in the sun in the Lost episode "Expose". The duo was much derided due to the blunt way in which they were introduced onto the show this year. They popped out of no where and seemingly added nothing to the show. Well, after tonight's episode, you might say they added nothing, but the way they were subtracted was immense.

We learned, through their combined flashbacks, about their pre-Island life and how they spent their time on the Island. Nikke and Paolo killed a man to steal his diamonds. On the Island, they searched for those diamonds, eventually leading them to the small plane of Eko's brother and the Pearl hatch before anyone else stumbled upon them. It was like a greatest hits volume of Lost. Nikki and Paolo were there for Jack's big speech in the fourth episode of the series. They became friends with the late, blown-up Dr. Arzt. They even encountered Boone and Shannon, in a return to the series from Maggie Grace and Ian Somerhold. Their return was welcomed and unexpected.

As the episode unfolds, in present time, Nikki and Paolo are found in the jungle, apparently dead with no marks on them. As the flashbacks unravel, we see their search for the diamonds on the Island tears them apart. Paolo eventualyl finds the diamonds and hides them in the Pearl hatch. Nikki finds out that Paolo has the diamonds and attacks him with a spider that Dr. Arzt left behind. The spider bites Paolo, paralyzing him...

...Then the sound of the monster is heard and more spiders arrive to bite and paralyze Nikki. so both people are paralyzed, unable to move or speak and that is how the survivors find them. Since they appear dead, the survivors bury Nikki and Paolo. Let me repeat that, they bury those two alive! It was a dark twist for the episode.

There were ither highlights for the episode. There were a lot of meta-references, such as when Nikki, as an actress, says that all guest stars die and when Nikki tells Paolo before they board the plane that she doesn't want them to become like Shannon and Boone who had just made a rude entrance. Also, Charlie confessed to Sun that he and Sawyer were the one who kidnapped her. Sun seemed to let Charlie off the hook, but she ends up slapping Sawyer.

The episode might not have advanced any significant plot points, but it was a great standalone episode.

4 Toliet Flushes out of 5.