Get Ready: Exposé

Wow... this post is up early! We took it upon ourselves to follow a listener suggestion and get the post up BEFORE the episode airs, to make sure we didn't get comments for the new episode on an older post. We're looking forward to the airing tonight of season 3, episode 14 of LOST, Exposé.

Post your comments here, send us an email, or call our automated audio comment voicemail at 206-666-2278 and tell us what you think. We'll see you this weekend!

Comments

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Ohhh...nice. Up before the episode airs. Thanks!

[Gavin]

Yea good call can start commenting straight away, only few more hours until i can get lost it in the uk.

[Mike in the Box]

i agree. good idea.

carlton and damon have really hyped this episode, i hope it lives up to the expectations they have created.

[Challabuck]

Bein' in Vermont, got to see it early thanks to our cousins north of the border. Bloody good episode -- it's like one continual shout-out to the fans.

[Pink]

I always have to wait to press the record button on my VCR when Lost comes on (Tivo is in my living room where it's always noisy, so I record it the old fashioned way to watch in my room) because the timer on it is always very early or very late. Usually I am unsure whether what I see is actually Lost. With the whole stripper thing and the bad acting, I was very confused until I saw the Exposè jacket. I guess I'm bad at recognizing Nikki, and this episode seemed to mock me. I watch the rest tommorow.

[Alex]

I don't know about you guys, but I thought that was a pretty great episode.

[nandorocker]

They killed off both characters that everybody hated/didn't give a crap about. All the answers to old questions that they just offered were pushing the envelope to say the least. Adding Paulo and Niki to all these old situations is a cop-out and basically proved a lot of people were right when they said the authors could never offer a reasonable way to answer things two years later without being completely ridiculous.

[josh]

I thought that was pretty cool seeing things from a different perspective.

Did anyone else hear the smoke monster noise right before Nikki got pwned by the spider?

[Matthew K]

I'm pretty happy that we got questions and answers in the same episode! Now, what does everyone think about Paulo and Nikki being buried alive [with paralysis]? Will they get out? At first I was thinking, Oh great more brand new characters being killed off, but I hope their still alive. Also it was good to see familiar faces again like Artz and Ethan. Oh and the fact that Nikki and Paulo found everything on the island before the Losties (i.e.; airplane and Question Mark hatch) is funny and still annoying at the same time.

[badger_moldy]

A decent episode, although I wasn't really that excited about Nikki and Paolo after the episode ended. I'm looking forward to more of their backstory though. I think it would be foolish for the writers to end N&P's island stories at this point. Best moment(s) of the episode for me were:

1. Ethan's Wisconsin sweatshirt - Go Badgers!
2. "The Brazilian 'Wolfgang Puck'" - Rodrigo Santoro supposedly is the Brazilian 'Tom Cruise'.
3. Hurley and Sawyer arguing over what Nikki said at the beginning of the episode - definitely a nod to the Lost geeks/TiVo crowd.

[Alex]

To be honest, I think this episode would be MUCH more powerful if they didn't get out. I really don't know why everyone hated Nikki and Paolo to begin with, and I thought this was a good episode. Even if it didnt further the overall storyarc a lot, I thought it was a good island story. To tell the truth, it kind of reminded me of the first season. Its good every now and then to see a story from the island that isnt totally full of mystery.

[JONNY]

GREATEST EPISODE EVER!!!

[Luddy]

A little disappointed. I don't feel the episode did much. It was sorta like, oh look here is what the two characters that we accidentally introduced were doing during the first two seasons. Then they ended up being buried alive. Felt like an entertaining side-story.

Also can anyone clarify a chain of events for me? When Paulo was in the '?' hatch hiding the diamonds. Ben and Juliet watched Jack on the TV. Was Jack in the Swan hatch? If so, shouldn't the plane have been resting on top of the '?' hatch. Boone died in the plane falling off the cliff that hid the entrance to the ? hatch before the Swan hatch was opened correct?

[Alex]

I think Nikki and Paolo found that hatch after Locke had been there. Then again, maybe not. But the hatch was clearly visible there, when Locke and Eko first found it, it was covered up with dirt and they only found it because they realized someone had salted the earth.

But I think Nikki said something about climbing up to a plane, so I might be wrong. I might have misheard her though.

[Doug Nelson]

Even though this episode "tied in" to a number of past episodes, it did it with characters we didn't like and in ways that didn't actually change our perception of those events. Now we know that Paolo was getting the diamonds in the Pearl Hatch episode.....but even knowing this, he was the least essential/interesting character in that scene.

I might just be disappointed because of the past three outstanding episodes; I expected either a more direct tie-in to the Others, a real "show-changer," or one of Lost's final-5-minute caps that cut back to the Barracks. Instead, we got a self-contained plot that totally avoided the main storyline.

On the plus side: Darkest Lost Ever. Seriously, how horrific and grim and vicious.

Final verdict: Okay episode, but it would've been great with some more threads into the main storyline.

[Lucidlife]

I'm worried about the backlash to this episode!! To me this was Carton and Damon just having a blast. They are both very funny guys and although it was dark, this was the funniest in-joke episode ever.

Whether or not this episode will stick out like a sore thumb later or not, you have to admit.....writers of a major network tv. show that will write an episode just for the geeks is just cool as heck.

Not that being buried alive is inherently funny of course...but if there was to be anyone wasted like this....Nikki and Paolo desrved it most.

[Lucidlife]

Er...*Carlton.

[alex's slingshot]

seriously the meta-dialogue tonight was crazy awesome!

"maybe we can find a way to bring you back next season."

"he's like the brazilian wolf-gang puck"

this episode was hilarious. i feel like it's going to split viewers right down the middle: you either love it or hate it. i thought it was great, now people can stop complaining about how all paulo did in the pearl was go to the bathroom. hurley was exceptionally funny tonight as well and sun gave sawyer a well-deserved smack.

plus, now we know that the Others knew about the Pearl and Swan station before Ben got captured... interesting

[Andrew]

I think everyone's missing something. I don't think any of us have seen the monster act this clearly before. Nikki screws Paulo over....Monster gets Nikki.....Cause/Effect.

[Sarah]

@ josh,

I heard it too! And then there were tonnns of those creepy spiders! At least that's what I saw through peeking through my fingers, as I'm deathly afraid of spiders.

Poor Nikki and Paoloa. They are DEAD. They're paralyzed and can't even move. Wow. What a bad way to go. Even still, though I'm a huge fan of Claire and totally loved Par Avion, this episode beat it by a huge long shot. This is definitely my favorite episode of the season.

[Sarah]

@ josh,

I heard it too! And then there were tonnns of those creepy spiders! At least that's what I saw through peeking through my fingers, as I'm deathly afraid of spiders.

Poor Nikki and Paolo. They are DEAD. They're paralyzed and can't even move. Wow. What a bad way to go. Even still, though I'm a huge fan of Claire and totally loved Par Avion, this episode beat it by a huge long shot. This is definitely my favorite episode of the season.

[Mark B]

It wasn't too bad. Nothing major good, nothing major bad. Nice to see the story from a differet angle. I'm sure it'll get slammed by some but like I said it was OK. I want P&N to be alive but it will be a bit silly if they are -- so therefore they are. They should be suffocated by the sand, but hey this is the island, weird stuff happens. Buried alive must be the worst way to go. Perhaps the Locke-Paulo conversation about secrets and the being unearthed was a indication they will survive, certainly it was a pointer to both Paulo having the diamonds.

Yet more Losties not talking to each other. P&N finding the drug plane and P saying "I'm not going up there, it'll fall and I'll die" was clearly a reference to Boone and then them finding the Pearl and not investigating. At least we know why Paulo went to the bathroom. And to whoever asked, yes P&N found the Pearl before anyone else. Loke found it way later -- the plane fell onto it.

Ben and Juliet make a nice couple don't they.

Of course Sun found out about Charlie and Sawyer .. a Charlie confession of another sin ... redemption ....next up for the island death match ?

I agree with Lucidlife this was one for the geeks and D&C may well have been poking fun at everyone.

Oh and how many times with the Lostcast chaps mention Nikki in that little red number..... I can hear Matt Jones now "She was HOT !"

[Mark B]

Silly me I forgot. Hurley was on top form, bloody hilarious actually. Made up for anything bad.

[Mindriot]

It appears to me that Vincent was the only one who knew that Paolo and Nikki were still alive, and that's why he pulled the sheet off of their bodies before they were buried. Could there be more to this?

[alex's slingshot]

@ mindriot

yeah that's what i thought when vincent did that too. smart dog.

@ mark b

hurley was in fine form "what's expose? only the finest hour of tv ever!" i think the comment paulo made about the plane falling if he got in it was another meta line from the writers to the fans, much like when nikki said "i hope we don't end up like them" about boone, shannon, and dr. arzt. which would be dead.

@ everyone

does anyone think the convo Locke had with Paulo about things "not staying buried for long on this island" was foreshadowing that n&p might escape somehow? i know it's a long shot and not practical at all, but with this island, who knows?

[mark]

I wonder if Paula/Nikki are visible in the original episodes. For all the whining that people are doing about them just being thrown into the older stories, I think it's quite possible that the writers had this story arc in mind all along & that if someone were to go back & view the original episode, that Nikki would probably be visible amongst the passengers after the crash.

[waitingforlost]

@Mindriot

I noticed that too. More ammo for Vincent being Smokey. But why would Smokey want Nikki/Paulo to not die ? Or is it that Vincet, being a dog, has some sixth sense ?

I'm sure this epi contains loads of little clues to the bigger story and many people will call it "crap" or "filler" only to eat their words once the epi has been disected and viewed in context of the entire season. Damon and Carlton seemed to think it would be a game changer, I'm not sure why though. Perhaps I should watch it again.

BTW: Great job getting the comments secion up early. Looking forward to the cast.

[Mike in the Box]

@ Luddy

I think you are right. If i am remembering correctly, the drug smuggling plane fell before the LOSTies entered the Swan Hatch. According to tonight's episode, Paulo/Juliet/Ben were in the Pearl(?) hatch while the LOSTies were in the Swan. There seems to be a timeline inconsistency here. Maybe i am wrong.

[Anon]

Didn't D&C say one big mythological question would be answered in this epi ?

Err did I miss that ....

[Mark B]

@Lundy and Mike in the Box

Locke etc entered the Pearl after the drug plane had fallen which is well after P&N found it. Locke etc found it because the plane was on the dot of the "?". P&N found it first. I'd bet if you go back to the epi where they watch the tvs (and P goes to the bathroom) you'd see a dust shadow of the walkie that P took.

[Mike in the Box]

@ Mark B

I wasn't referring to when the LOSTies got into the Pearl. i thought that boone died before they entered the Swan. If that is the case, the plane fell before they entered the Swan. If that is the case, the picture of Jack that Ben and Juliet are looking at is not from inside the Swan. Because the plane would have fallen on top of the Pearl before the Swan was discovered. Am i making any sense?

[alex's slingshot]

@mike in the box

yeah you make sense. either it's some mythogical mystery (which i doubt) or a pretty egregious production error

[Nick]

I thought it was an interesting side story to the main story arc. I really don't think the writers had much planned for these losties and if they did, it was scrapped in favor of a quick offing. Perhaps a nod to the fans who hated them from their first appearance.

Funny.... I watched Kill Bill Vol2 the night before, just imagined Nikki and Paulo clawing their way up through the sand (you gotta see the movie).

At first I had mixed feelings on the episode, but I think it was a good distraction. We can't have monumental plot advancements every episode. Although all those diamonds Sawyer buried with Nikki and Paulo.... makes you wonder if anyone will come back and try to dig 'em up. Someone HAS to know those were worth something.

[josh]

Perhaps Paulo (off camera) pushed the plane before going down into the Pearl. I don't remember how hard Locke/Eko were straining to move the plane out of the way originally ;) Could one person do it? Paulo would be inclined to push the plane back on top of that hatch door when he was leaving so that it would be less likely to be found...

[Mike in the Box]

Here's the timeline as i remember it

1. Boone and Locke find the top of the hatch, Locke starts uncovering it.

2. Boone and Locke find drug smuggling plane, Boone climbs in and the plane falls. (they do not realize that the Pearl is there)

3. LOSTies blow open the Swan hatch opening and enter.

If this is true, then how did Ben and Juliet see Jack in the Swan? The Pearl would have been covered by the plane.

[Mike in the Box]

After thinking about it, maybe that pic of Jack is not from within the Swan. Are we sure that it is? The LOSTies were still hanging out in the caves when Boone died. Maybe plane fell a little while after Ben and Juliet were in the Pearl. Maybe the camera shot of Jack was from in the caves?

[alex's slingshot]

okay when ben and juliet discuss conning jack into surgery, something doesn't sit right with me. i mean this is obviously before their "comms are down" so why does ben need jack to operate? it must be part of some greater plan. this is also before walt even gets captured so planning on michael this early on, even if the Others know everything about them seems like putting a lot of trust in someone's actions. just because you've read someone's file, does that mean you know how they are going to behave in every possible situation? seems weird that they knew how everything would play out. can they see the future? i don't get it. again it seems like an overcomplicated plan. i guess that's just how the Others roll...

[Rob]

so...i'm thinking N&P found the pearl hatch first, right after the found the plane. They have to uncover it because its been sitting there for awhile. Then Boone climbs in the plane and it falls. The plane falling covers the hatch. Then later, Locke and Eko rediscover the hatch.

Thanks for posting the heading before the episode!!

[Mike in the Box]

nevermind, i'm done.

[Rob]

also, i think Ben can't/won't leave the island. Why go get a 2nd rate surgeoun, when you find one on the island?

Also, I liked this episode, even though it was a retcon. I think it was a great inside joke, and more entertaining than the VW episode. Very Poe like ending.

[Antonio]

If you play the episode again, the off-screen voices Paulo hears when hiding the diamonds (that turn out to me Ben and Juliette) say something like:

Ben : Who left this open?
Juliet : I think Tom was down here last week.
Ben : We'll have to cover it with the plane.

That's what I heard. If so, does this mean Boone's accident was caused by The Others? What did everyone else hear Ben and J say offscreen? What do the subtitles say?

I'm with Matt in a Box, the timeline doesn't gibe. It's either a continuity error in the writing (highly likely), or the image of Jack on the screen is from the caves (a plausible explaination).

[Antonio]

@Mike in a Box...sorry, not Matt in a Box. Mike in a Box. Too many Matts around here.

[Jonathan]

@ All concerned about the pearl station/plane on top timeline inconsistency:

There is actually no discrepancy here at all...you just need to take a look at the Ben/Juliet dialogue as they enter the pearl(BTW, had to turn on closed captioning on my system because the beginning was almost unintelligible):

Ben: "Who ;eft this open?"

Juliet: "Tom was down here a couple of days ago."

Ben: "Well, have him cover it up with the plane."

so my logical conclusion is this: boone and locke uncover the swan; paulo and nikki find plane and pearl hatch; boone dies in falling plane; jack, et. al. enter swan, set up shop; paulo goes back to pearl where plane has fallen close to the hatch door, enters pearl and doesn't close the door (because he doesn't know about the others); ben approaches pearl, sees the door open, instructs juliett to tell tom to cover up the door with the plane (easily moved, ala locke and ecko later on).

as far as nikki and paulo not telling anyone anything, why should they? Jack, locke, kate, etc. never talk to the red shirts anyway (nikki says to paulo: "you always whine about getting left out..."

great episode. very hitchcock/twilight zone feel. definitely the smooke monster at the end, if you watch close you can see paulo's eyes follow the unseen flying smoke, then the camera is on nikki like you're looking through the monster's eyes (ala locke's "look into the eyes of the island" in season one), then when she comes running out of the woods, sawyer looks into the woods like he sees something. N&P are growing on me...

by the way, who was the gay character?

peace. and stay lost.

[Old Man Gout]

I loved the episode to be honest, but I do think there were some continuity errors:

1)I don't remember Locke telling anyone to "get down" before that dude got sucked into the engine. I just remember him yelling at the dude and the dude getting sucked.
2)That's cool that Nikki and Paolo found the Pearl, but who covered the door back up with dirt? I'm pretty sure it was mostly hidden when Locke and Eko found it.
3)I think they messed up a bit with the timing of Paolo's second visit to the hatch - the plane would have been on top of the hatch door at that point.....oh, waitaminnit, they never said when Locke and Eko found the hatch so they may have already moved the plane (I'm assuming it wasn't too soon after they found the Swan since Jack seemed pretty comfortable back at the Swan). Did anyone look at the day and compare it? Cuz this part could have happened just before Locke took them to the Pearl!

With this in mind, here is my proposed timeline:
Locke and Boone find the Swan hatch early on in the series, Nikki and Paolo find the Pearl and plane, soon after Locke and Boone find the plane, plane falls, Boone dies, we get in to the Swan, Walt gets abducted and we meet the tailies, Locke and Eko find the "?" and uncover the Pearl, Paolo hides the stash and we meet Ben and Juliette, the Swan implodes, Michael betrays the losties and the big 3 get abducted, Locke takes his little crew to the Pearl, so forth and so on.

As far as why Ben needed Jack, just because the comms were not down yet doesn't mean they still didn't need Jack. Ben made it perfectly clear that he wanted Jack since the crash.

Someone asked how Ben and Juliette could be in the hatch if the plane were on top - don't forget the newest map - there are tunnels all over the island leading from the barracks outward. I mentioned this a looooong time ago, but I'm pretty sure all the hatches were connected at one point or another. It seems that someone blocked off the Swan's access (possibly after the "Purge"). Plus, if you look at all the clues they've peppered throughout the seasons, it's pretty obvious that there is an underground network of tunnels (ie, the hieroglyphs mean underworld; all the mythological references to guardians of the underworld - cerebus, hydra; and 1 ultra obvious clue is how quickly Ethan and Goodwin reached the crash sites, particularly since they had to have SOME way to get around the sonic-fence-o-death).

I do have to say that Nikki has a hot body but kinda of a butterface. And as much as I DESPISED Paolo I really felt bad for him, the sad sack, and felt that Nikki, the gold-digging-murdering-whore, got what she deserved (and in retrospect Paolo did too since he helped murder the old dude).

I am curious about the smoke monster sounds though.....

[Old Man Gout]

Oooooh, I didn't hear the part about Tom, but that jibes with my thoughts anyway.....well, except for the underground part, but I'm still holding on to that one.

[CSpice]

So I went back and watched after reading Antonio's comments. He's right. It's "32 days ago" when Locke and Paolo have the conversation on the beach about burying secrets. So, it's probably the next day or so when Paolo goes to the Pearl station to hide the diamonds. The Closed Captioning says exactly what Antonio says it does. The storyline does cover the plot hole. It's after Boone died and the plane fell, and Juliet and Ben do see Jack in the Swan station. Tom is the one who supposedly moves the plan over the top of the Pearl station sometime after Ben, Juliet, and Paolo leave it. Timeline still fits...in this instance.

[tommy]

@ alex's slingshot - If I remember correctly, Ben said something about once they get Walt they will get Jack to do the surgery (maybe I'm making it up). Maybe Walt has something to do with "the box" that Ben referred to in the last episode. Once they get Walt, who might be able to control the box, it will start a chain of events to bring Jack to Alcatraz island.

[CSpice]

So I went back and watched after reading Antonio's comments. He's right. It's "32 days ago" when Locke and Paolo have the conversation on the beach about burying secrets. So, it's probably the next day or so when Paolo goes to the Pearl station to hide the diamonds. The Closed Captioning says exactly what Antonio says it does. The storyline does cover the plot hole. It's after Boone died and the plane fell, and Juliet and Ben do see Jack in the Swan station. Tom is the one who supposedly moves the plan over the top of the Pearl station sometime after Ben, Juliet, and Paolo leave it. Timeline still fits...in this instance.

[Jonathan]

@ All concerned about the pearl station/plane on top timeline inconsistency:

There is actually no discrepancy here at all...you just need to take a look at the Ben/Juliet dialogue as they enter the pearl(BTW, had to turn on closed captioning on my system because the beginning was almost unintelligible):

Ben: "Who ;eft this open?"

Juliet: "Tom was down here a couple of days ago."

Ben: "Well, have him cover it up with the plane."

so my logical conclusion is this: boone and locke uncover the swan; paulo and nikki find plane and pearl hatch; boone dies in falling plane; jack, et. al. enter swan, set up shop; paulo goes back to pearl where plane has fallen close to the hatch door, enters pearl and doesn't close the door (because he doesn't know about the others); ben approaches pearl, sees the door open, instructs juliett to tell tom to cover up the door with the plane (easily moved, ala locke and ecko later on).

as far as nikki and paulo not telling anyone anything, why should they? Jack, locke, kate, etc. never talk to the red shirts anyway (nikki says to paulo: "you always whine about getting left out..."

great episode. very hitchcock/twilight zone feel. definitely the smooke monster at the end, if you watch close you can see paulo's eyes follow the unseen flying smoke, then the camera is on nikki like you're looking through the monster's eyes (ala locke's "look into the eyes of the island" in season one), then when she comes running out of the woods, sawyer looks into the woods like he sees something. N&P are growing on me...

by the way, who was the gay character?

peace. and stay lost.

[Jonathan]

oops!

sorry for the double post.

accidentally hit enter while trying to refresh and the post was still in the message field!

[Old Man Gout]

I think the gay character was a red herring, that and the spoiler that Paolo was going to get shot in the head.

Oh, and Yay Laaaaaaaaaaaando!!!!! God, Expose would have sucked so bad.

[Jeff Croft]

CSpice is right. Those of you who are wondering about the timeline are probably forgetting that Nikki and Paulo didn't go into the hatch when they first found it (which was clearly before the place fell). Instead, Paulo went into the hatch many days later (probably after the plane fell.

Overall, I wasn't stoked about the episode. Just okay. One of the weaker ones this season, in my opinion.

[Tahir]

I liked it.It was like a whodunit.

Are Nicki and Paulo dead ? Maybe not.

The walkie talkie Paulo had , and now Sawyer has, will be significant sometime in the future.

Also, anyone get the title of the book Sawyer was reading?

[riverfr0zen]

(On preview - see also Jonathan's longer post above, if you want more detail)

Hatch timeline inconsistency people, here is a sequential summary for you:

1) Nikki and Paulo find the hatch, but don't go in.

2) Plane falls, but there's no reason to assume it covers the hatch.

No one really returned to that area afterwards, except Sayid and Charlie, but they were busy chasing Rosseau, who stole Aaron - so they probably didn't notice it.

3) Tom has a few smokes in the hatch. What was he doing? Developing a little 'bond' with Jack? ;) Who knows.

4) Paulo comes over and gets into the hatch (still not covered by the fallen plane), and hides his stash.

Ben and Juliet also enter, finding the hatch door that Paulo left open. Ben is pissed and poor Tom is blamed.

Ben and Juliet leave the hatch. Paulo leaves the hatch.

5) Tom, ordered by Ben, comes back and covers the hatch with the plane.

6) Locke and Eko lift the plane, revealing the hatch again.

Voila.

[Alvaro Henrique Nogueira]

Great Epi

I 100% agree that N&P will climb out of the sand in an upcoming episode. I think, as noted above, that Locke's comments about things staying buried are way too on-the-nose to just be casual, in this instance. Maybe we'll see other emergents from the graves (although I doubt it, the other Deadies are, well, dead, as far as we know).

I LOVED the line to Nikki about bringing her back next season, and in response to how, her director/lover eludes to a bullet proof vest. So great to then see Shannon. I thought, when hearing the line, that we were probably going to see an incarnation of Libby in the episode. Such a subtle, yet unsubtle nod and foreshadowing in the writing.

Nikki is hot. Nuff about that. Wait...Nikki is hot. Ok, now it's enough. Great job by the actress to pull off the "girl with the lost puppy" manipulation of Dr. Arzt. Just liked her use of expressions there. Did I mention hot?

Good call on Vincent...totally missed that detail with the blanket. And, yes, that was 100% smokey's "printing calculator paper" noise in the jungle there.

Any symbolism in diamonds? Nice total value, though...$8 million. I guess 15, 16, 23, or 42 would seem gaudy.

I'm also curious to find out if Paolo learned anything from having the walkie-talkie, rather than just knowing that he had it.

That's all...great, great episode.

[Jeff Croft]

Wondering: is it possible those smokes were Paulo's? We didn't see him smoking down there, but we know there were ciggies on the island, we know Paulo was a smoker (trying to quit), and we know he was in the Pearl. Not really that meaningful, I don't think -- but something I just thought of.

[Drederick_Tatum]

Smokie didn't cause the spiders to show up out of thin air. When Nikki talks to Arnszt, he tell her about the spiders pheremones and how it causes all the male spiders to come in seconds. When Paoulo squishes the spider BAM, Nikki gets a good dose of poetic justice! Jin was king of right when he calls the monster the culprit, but I believe he was more of an observer.

[Drederick_Tatum]

Sorry, I meant "Jin was kind of right...".

[Drederick_Tatum]

Also, how many people handled the sack of diamonds after Paoulo had them stuck to his sack for god knows how many days.

[Burnt72]

I think the writers were having fun with the 'big mythological' reveal... we got it at the very beginning when Nikki's character died in the 'Expose' tv show. Billy Dee was exposed as a member of 'Cobra' -- but does this hint to one of the losties (perhaps Locke) being a member of DHARMA?

[Jonathan]

a little context as i go back over the episode again:

when ben and juliet are watching jack on the #5 monitor in the pearl, he appears to be in the swan, sitting at the bedside (assuming it is sawyer in the bed because of what looks like rags, bactene/peroxide bottle, pill bottle and glass of water [how am i seeing all this? 32" of HD freezframe baby!], so this would put ben, juliet, and paulo in the pearl around the time that jin, michael and tailies have returned with wounded sawyer. So when ben says they will use michael, they either already have him, or have begun communicating with him via the swan computer.

also, as far as the meta-dialogue goes, here's an interesting line from hurley:

Hurley:[while reading the expose script, which could be taken as the meta for Lost proper] "No way! Mr. LaShade was the Cobra!

Charlie: "Is that supposed to mean something?"

Hurley: "Dude, the Cobra's this Big badguy. His Identity has been shrouded in mystery for like four seasons."

can you say, JACOB?!!!!!

more later.

[Mark]

Holy Cr&*(&(p. One of the best episodes ever. I didn't really see the twist coming until the very end. Nicely done!!!

[Jeff Croft]

As I re-watched parts of the episode, I started to wonder if Sawyer's constant, "who the hell are you?" barbs at Nikki and Paulo were really just eh in-jokes for the fans I thought they were. Is it possible Sawyer really doesn't know who these people are? And if so, why?

The "who the hell are you" just seemed a bit excessive tonight, so I started to wonder if there was more to it. And let's face it -- Sawyer of all people would have taken note of the ultra-hot Nikki at some point in the last 80 days, right?

[Jeff Croft]

Hell, maybe Sawyer's the much-discussed "gay character." Really, that's the only logical explanation for not knowing who Nikki is. Right? :)

[Lmnop]

so...was boone the gay one then? with the joke shannon made about flirting with random guys?

[Jonathan Bryte]

All i can say is that was probably the worst episode of the show ever which is sad since i am such a huge fan!

[riverfr0zen]

well, i don't think boone was really gay - i think shannon was being her usual sarcastic self - but i do think that this was the writers' joke on the viewers.

[CandiSpice]

@ Old Man Gout + Everyone else...

Turn on your GAYdars and watch the epi again!

the scene with Ben and Juliet...she says something like "Oh, he's cute."

Ben + Jack = 4 EVER!!

[mark]

It's interesting how some people are saying that they didn't enjoy this episode. I thought it was incredibly entertaining and well written. I guess if you only watch Lost hoping to get as many answers as possible, this episode might not be for you. But as far as engaging story telling goes, I think this was one of the best episodes of Lost yet.

[Jonathan]

@ Tahir:

The book sawyer is reading [again, HD helped a lot here] is EVIL UNDER THE SUN by Agatha Christie, who happens to be a classic "whodunit" writer. for comparison, the cover featured in Lost can be viewed here: [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Hercule-Poirot-Mysteries-Paperback/dp/0425129608]
and for further reading on the story, which has some parallels to N&P check out the wiki article here: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Under_the_Sun]

even more to come.

[CandiSpice]

So seriously, i thought this was an okay episode.

The whole N&P story ended up being somewhat Romeo and Juliet like. I also enjoyed seeing the darkside of the writers, during the final scene. As soon as the viewer realizes that they are still alive the whole human soul wants them to gasp for air and recover, but we continue to see Hurley and Sawyer bury...and bury...and bury....then we get the open eye shot...then......before we or N&P know it...they are buried ALIVE!!!

Okay....has anyone ever read any Edgar Allan Poe...his stories are rampant with buried alive scenes.....

dark...very dark....totally enjoyed the fan shout-outs too!

[StevenFromBarbados]

Another very interesting episode of LOST BUT is it just me or does anyone else think charlie should have gotten at least a slap in his face for kidnaping Sun.

[Loney Childress]

I thought this episode was great. Although I think it has been established above, I don't think there is a timeline error at all. The plane moving thing answers that. It appears that Ben and Juliet being in the Pearl follows the standoff between Jack and Tom. At this point the Others had Michael, but not Ben yet. Ben must have been caught in Rouseau's trap on the way back from the Pearl. (just a guess).
So why was it so important to catch Sawyer and Kate as well? Was Sawyer leverage against Kate and Kate leverage against Jack? If so, why was Ben looking for leverage against Jack? If it was Kate, why find what he wants?
Feedback appreciates.

As far as Vincient having a 6th sense, did anyone see the Retrieversoftruth.com website?

[Sphere TL]

Man, I was dead wrong in my predictions...hahaha. Laughable. Well, I think there's a chance they are still alive, but slim. After Locke's fall, everything is possible. They are not buried 6th feet (more like 3) under the ground, that may help a little.

I was wondering too if Paulo did turn on his radio more than once. Did he enjoy monitoring the others incursions in the losties? I think he could have prevented a lot of harm, he had it by season 2, at the beginning, right?

Telling that the Others knew all about the Pearl and the Swan. They didn't mind the Losties get hold of a lot of gun and ammo, it seems, that could have been prevented. Also, they couldn't care less about the numbers. They could be in charge, if they wanted to. It seems they knew about Desmond all those years. They could have been watching him for a long time.

[Tahir]

@Jonathon
Thanks for that.

One other thing I noticed.In the episode before this Locke was watching a TV program and you could hear words like 'Cobra','Autumn' and 'Crystal'.
It probably means nothing but Locke was watching the show Nicki was appearing in - Expose.

[Jamie]

game changer? where????
gay character? Where???
Lando
AMAZING
just about made up for poor episode
again might have been alright if we hadnt been promised a game changer

[Jamie]

game changer? where????
gay character? Where???
Lando
AMAZING
just about made up for poor episode
again might have been alright if we hadnt been promised a game changer

[OPPinoy]

So is this episode the precursor for the zombie season? They were both buried alive, in the sand of a seemingly enchanted island. What's worse than having characters forced on us in the middle of a plot? Having those characters come back as undead characters that no one cares about.

[HV]

They spoiled the episode for me with all the hype - it's pretty much the same thing as the "three main secrets revealed" promo for s3e8, except that this time, the writers can't blame the network for it. It would be a pretty good episode if I wasn't expecting a real game changer. Also, the whole murder/diamonds/betrayal/spider attack/paralysis plot was a bit clichéd and cheesy for a show like Lost.

So, I guess the big mythological mystery was "why did Paulo go to the toilet?"

[SMKGrl]

A couple of nights ago I went to customer appreciation night at our local restaurant/bar. It was amazing...seafood, steak, beautiful appetizers, full bar. Just an incredible show of appreciation.

Damon and Carlton just did the same for us.

That was one ginormous episode of fan shout outs, and it started right at the beginning with Sawyer's line "who's Nikki" and Nikki's line "We all know what happens to guest stars". They killed them off for all the fans on the board. They're not going to rise from the sand. It was a macabre episode ending...very twilight zone'ish.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet...Expose is the show that John Locke was watching in his apartment when the son showed up to ask about Adaw Seward. It must have been Season One.

[Megan]

I thought it was a great episode, but I could NOT sleep afterwards. They're definitely dead, unless there's a zombie season of course (looking forward to that!!) When Nikki woke up she was still mostly paralyzed, and she would have been completely buried before she could move at all. What a horrible way to die. Wow. And all the spiders... i know they only showed 2, but Arachnophobia (the movie) terrified me, and I couldn't help picturing millions of spiders crawling up to her and over Paulo.... Still, great episode. There was some crazy editing of the crash sequence. I thought that part was incredible. And tying them to other peripheral characters that we've met is how they had to do it, because obviously they weren't buddy-buddy with the main LOSTies, but why couldn't they be friends with Arzt?

Anyway, I loved it and I'll have to watch it again to pick up on the details you don't see first time around.

And thanks everyone for pointing out the Ben-Juliet dialogue you get w/ closed-captioning. I wouldn't have thought of that.

[John Ryan]

Well, they're definitely dead, I just hope they didn't kill them off just because of nerd-rage. I liked Paulo (not for anything his character had done, just thought he seemed like a good guy), had no problem with Nikki and was looking forward to them coming into play later in the season.

Just seems like kind of a waste now.

[DN]

Timeline issue: While Jack was operating on Ben, Tom told Shephard that Linus couldn't leave the island to get the surgery because of the sky turning purple. Well, Desmond turned the failsafe key well after Ben plotted with Juliette to get Jack.

Also, is the answer to a big mythological question that Jack's old man was bitten by the spider so he isn't dead at all? If so, an awful lot of time (an entire episode?) was used to reveal that. And just how lethal is the spider's bite? Nikki awoke within a short period of time. And is the spider indigenous to Australia? Could Christian Shephard have come in contact with it?

[Megan]

@DN

The spider's bite isn't lethal, it paralyzes you for 8 hours. Nikki woke up 8 hours later. I'm sure Paulo did too. And Jack's dad was probably in the morgue for more than 8 hours, so he probably wasn't bitten by a spider, but as far as i know there isn't anything that defintely rules out the possibility.

I agree that Ben probably could have left the island at that point to get the surgery, but he was born on the island, he may not have wanted to leave. And since there's already a surgeon on the island, why go shopping somewhere else?

[Sara]

"So why was it so important to catch Sawyer and Kate as well? Was Sawyer leverage against Kate and Kate leverage against Jack? If so, why was Ben looking for leverage against Jack? If it was Kate, why find what he wants?
Feedback appreciates."

I had a theory about this I shared with some friends on another board. Since I'm incredibly lazy, I'm gonna copy/paste it here:

...it's hard not to wonder if the Others were thinking several moves ahead of any of them. It seemed, from what Juliet said to Jack, that they knew not only he was divorced but that his wife had been unfaithful; they would therefore also know that after the divorce was final, which itself happened only after he saw her happy with another man, he completely removed himself from that life to go hang out in Thailand for a few months.

We also know that they specifically took Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, even though anyone who'd watched the castaways for a day or two would know they only really needed Kate if they wanted to have the necessary leverage to get Jack to help Benry. Then Benry had that little chat with Kate, ominously warning her that things were going to get very bad, and separately made Sawyer believe their situation was hopeless—meaning both of them had the fight, flight or f@%$ instinct working nearly full-time. They ratchet up the tension for a day or two, and then put Sawyer and Kate in adjoining cages. Cages Kate could easily climb in and out of—which, again, anyone who'd watched the group for any length of time would have realized—and does so, unaware of the video cameras nearby. They put Sawyer and Kate through a few days of hard labor, and beat on Sawyer to the point where Kate is forced to say she loves him to spare his life.

Finally, there's what happened on the day before Ben's surgery. Kate was asked to plead Ben's case to Jack. After she failed Pickett beat up on Sawyer in front of her, then implied Sawyer was going to die the next day. Kate went into Sawyer's cage—again, something the Others seen her do—and all the stress, fear and exhaustion they'd both experienced finally had its cumulative effect. Then, for no apparent reason, Jack heard a woman's voice in the supposedly broken intercom telling him to try the door—which just happened to be unlocked. And whaddya know? Jack's cell was a hop, skip and a jump from a panel of monitors hooked up to the Alcatraz security cameras. A few minutes after that, Benry showed up and Jack agreed to do the surgery in exchange for... wait for it... being removed from the life he knew in the wake of seeing the woman he loved happy with another man.

So kidnapping Sawyer in addition to Kate and Jack could very well have been about making Jack believe the decision to help Benry was his, rather than wasting time with threats and then getting an unwilling participant in a very delicate procedure.

What I'm not sure of in this whole scenario is whether Pickett was a willing participant—and perhaps sacrifice—or if Benry used Pickett's grief over losing Colleen to his advantage, as Colleen's being shot by Sun was something I don't believe anyone could or would have predicted. I'm also not sure if or how deeply Juliet might have been involved in how events played out from there; her interactions with Benry always have such an interesting tension to them, particularly the ones when they're not playing to a potential audience.

[Keith]

First off, I do agree this was a well done episode. But considering all the unanswered questions this show has, I feel at this point, episodes like this are starting to frustrate some.

[Laura from Cinti]

Good things we got from this episode:

A walky-talky to possibly listen in on the Others,

An early look at Ben & Juliet plotting about Jack,

Charlie comes clean,

And, a slap in the face for Sawyer.

BUT...Paolo and Nikki, oh my, this episode was 50 minutes too long.

How stupid can two people be? Paolo isn't smart enough to tell anyone he's seen some of the others!! And, Nikki's even too stupid to use the spider correctly because she that the pheremones will attract the male spiders. To me, Nikki and Paolo proved to be the Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee of Lost.

After last week's episode, it was hard watching the minor events of background characters while the main Losties were having a real Lost adventure was amusing but boring. I know you can't have major plot happenings every week, but if every episode of Lost were like this, it wouldn't have made it to the end of the first season.

Hoping next week is MUCH better!

[Laura from Cinti]

Sorry, typos!

Nikki can't remember about the pheremones...

[Mike in the Box]

@ everyone who cleared the time inconsistency

Thanks so much for checking the closed captioning. It does make sense that paulo entered the pearl well after the plane had fallen. it all seems to work now.

@ Jack's dad wasn't dead just bit by the spider theory

i like it, not very likely, but a pretty cool thought

I still have trouble seeing the big mythological reveal. I don't think of mythology as the others plotting against the losties, i usually think about it in terms of "mystery of the island." anyone have thoughts on what mystery of the island was explained in this episode?

[Jamie (c)]

One the most fun unimportant episode evah.

I really enjoyed it but wish they didn't have Sawyer saying "who the hell is Nikki?" so many times.

Was so glad they didn't save them at the last minute, being buried alive was very Poe/Hitchcock. (and welcomed)

I do think it spoils the theory that you die once you've absolved yourself of your sins. They died because of their sins.

I do think the gay character tease was the comment Shanon said about Boone flirting at the airport, it has to be.

Thought the opening was very silly, frankly. I mean all that goofiness just to have Billy Dee on the show? (and have an excuse to have Nikki in a jeweled bikini?)

Was anything major exposed? Or 'expose'-d?

Naw, but it was a lot of fun and thank god it's over. ;)

[Megan]

hahaha
nikki and paulo the pam anderson and tommy lee of lost. i like it!
lol

[Megan]

hahaha
nikki and paulo the pam anderson and tommy lee of lost. i like it!
lol

[Dave]

If this has been said, I apologize.

Here is the timeline for the plane and the pearl station.

Nikki and Paulo find the plane before Locke and Boone.

Locke and Boone find the plane and make it fall but not over the Pearl Station

Losties blow open and move into the hatch.

Paulo hides the diamonds in the pearl bathroom and hears the conversation between Ben and Juliet. Part of the conversation is "have someone move the plane over it" Paulo exits.

Locke and Eko find the plane in "?" and have to move the plane to find the entrance to the pearl.

That, to me, is the most logically explanation to this.

Stay Lost!

[Nathaniel]

OK, most of this episode was just fun for those who wanted to see Picki killed off the show. But we were certainly treated to some clues.

The calendar was clearly referenced often. 80 days from the crash on 9/28/2004. Ben mentioned it as 80 days in the last episode but that could have been a rough number and not exact. Now it is confirmed. Nicki made reference to Thanksgiving having passed a couple of weeks in the past. So this episode takes place on DECEMBER 16, 2004. Remember Locke's comment about things buried in the sand have a habit of getting unburried? Remember what happens 10 days after this episode? Remember a DECEMBER 26, 2004 South Pacific/Indian Ocean Tsunami? Seems like that date will likely fall on the season finale -- Ben's Flashback. Will any bodies be missing from their graves? Will any new bodies appear in those graves? Stay tuned!

[Challabuck]

One solid theme throughout was 'Live together, die alone' recast for N & P. Nice touch to see Jack spouting it from a different angle on the beach. Obviously N & P were destined to die alone, given they couldn't even trust each other. The deceptions re: diamonds, the early discovery of the Pearl hatch, the walkie-talkie -- all of it guaranteed doom. And what doom it was -- E. A. Poe filmed by Hitchcock. Yikes.

[Rok]

well, as i mentioned to my wife, it was like they took the deleted scenes of the past few seasons, and made an episode out of them. not bad, but still skippable.

and yes, it was the monster "clicking" sound before the spiders arrived, which makes you wonder if the monster took the form of the spiders to ice nikki after she had shown her true colours.

the thing that struck me the most is that this was an episode a LONG TIME in the making. to break the fourth wall a bit, they would NOT have set the plane crash scene back up JUST for this episode. sure, there were some obvious spliced scenes from the pilot, but there were also some scenes like nikki wandering through the wreckage and paolo set against some fuselage that had to have been filmed from that first show. which makes you wonder, how much else has been years in the making?

i wasn't fond of the expository dialogue between ben and juliet in the pearl. sounded kinda force, like "we're going to talk in ways we wouldn't normally just to make the plot very clear." plus, i know we're talking 8 million dollars worth of diamonds, but this would have been the first time other PEOPLE would have been seen on the island, and paolo wouldn't have know the dangers at THAT point, so why not fabricate a story to let the other survivors know there may be rescue off the island? i mean, he didn't know then the threat they posed.

buried alive. man, maybe nikki deserved that, but paolo showed a bit of redeeming value before she did that.

[Radzinsky]

@ Sara

Excellent post. The discussion of why Ben wanted Jack, Sawyer and Kate was perhaps the most interesting detail of the episode.

@ Antonio

Thanks for the explanation of the timeline above. I think you have it right. Jack was in the Swan, tending to Sawyer, and Ben hadn't been captured yet. The question now is whether Ben intentionally set himself in one of Rousseau's traps and how Rousseau knew that Ben was an Other with such certainty before handing him over to the Losties.

@ Those who have discussed Smokey (Cerberus)

Can anyone postulate a reason for why Cerberus appears as Paulo (Xerxes) is paralyzed on the jungle floor? It didn't seem to have any particular role there, but we also know not to take these details for granted. Is Cerberus lured by emotional intensity? Drawn to the conflict between Nikki and Paulo, perhaps the same way it was drawn to Jack's grief and Eko's guilt? Is it drawn to death? I agree with the explanation above that the phermones had to do with the appearance of the spiders, not Cerberus... Curious to know why you all think the monster appeared during that scene.

Later today I'd like to share my "Universal Theory of John Locke," but hopefully after the conversation turns back around to it.

~Radzinsky

[Radzinsky]

@ Nathaniel

Just a small correction for you mate -- Flight 815 crashed on September 22, 2004. Pretty sure of it. Don't know if that affects your timeline at all. But I'm excited for the impact of the tsunami if it indeed happens.

[Mike in the Box]

i think the "razzle dazzle" line of nikki's may be important. it seemed so out of place and awkward even in a cheesey show like Expose'

I looked up the term and found this definition:

" Elaborate action or maneuvers designed to deceive an opponent, as in a sports contest."

could this be what the writers are doing by diverting our attention away from the real story?

Anyone have any thoughts about "razzle dazzle"?

[Challabuck]

BTW, Billie Dee (Lando) has to be Chekov's gun-on-the-wall here (ie, if there's a gun on the wall in Act 1, it needs to be used by Act 3). There's no way he doesn't come back in some major role. Why else would he have agreed to such a bit cameo?