Season 3, Episode 14: "Exposé"

The title of this episode was "Exposé" - this was the name of the tv show that Nikki guest starred in as an actress in Sydney. As we learned in this episode, she and Paulo were con artists who set up the director of the tv series in order to kill him and steal his $8 million worth of diamonds.

The first scene of Nikki's flashback showed her acting in the tv show "Exposé" - and before I realized that they were filming a tv show - I was thinking to myself, "what is going on here? This is like some soap opera...the strippers, the box full of cash, getting shot, etc. - this is just so cheesy." After I realized that it was part of a storyline for a tv show that she was cast in, I started to think that the tv show "Expose" was maybe a mirror image (foreshadowing) for this episode - and what was going on back on the Lost island...and it seems my thoughts proved to be correct. Typically the title of each Lost episode has some kind of message about the show, so when I saw that the tv show she was filming was called "Exposé" I knew it had to play a major role in this episode of Lost. And as it turns out, the survivors on the island have their own little exposé.

The show "Exposé" was about secrets, lies, and betrayal. This is exactly what is happening on the island. As we saw with Nikki and Paolo, they were both keeping secrets from eachother. They already murdered one person in order to get the diamonds, now they will stop at nothing to gain possession of the diamonds (see what I mean, this sounds just like a soap opera!) We also see that they found the plane and the hatch and did not tell anyone else about it. In fact, they both went along with Locke to the hatch and just "forgot" to mention that they had already found it. How long have they been lying to everybody?

When they first crashed on the island, Jack made a big speech about how they had to work together (which they showed again from Nikki's point of view in this episode). He talks about how they basically have to come together in order to survive on the island ("Live together, die alone"). Well, it's ironic now that Jack is gone (with the Others) that the rest of the camp is falling apart. This "society" that they had formed has gone to shambles without him as their leader. During the first season, Jack and Locke had talked about how the survivors would eventually turn on eachother and become "savages" so to speak. We are just now starting to see this "exposé" on the island that is full of secrets, lies and betrayals.

Sun finally learns the truth from Charlie that it was he and Sawyer who kidnapped her, not the Others. She had trusted them, she thought she was one of them, and now she learns that they had actually turned against her, they had used her, for their own gain (to get the guns from Locke). We also learn that Sawyer lied to Hurley about whether he knew Nikki or not, and he did not mention that he had a fight with her that very morning about the guns. This just shows how everyone has to be suspicious about each others' motives, because there is some obvious lies and betrayal going on amongst them. Just as Jack predicted, it is becoming "every man for himself" and they are definitely headed for more trouble if their little society keeps on going the way it is (with everyone lying to eachother).

Obviously, the biggest twist of this episode is that we learn that Paolo and Nikki are not in fact dead, but that they were both bitten by spiders to paralyze them for up to 8 hours. As we saw through Nikki's point of view, Dr. Artz explained to her about this form of spider and how it is very dangerous. Nikki used this in order to paralyze Paolo so that she could get the diamonds off him. As Sun mentioned later, what good are these diamonds on the island anyway? They have no worth here. But Nikki would stop at nothing to have them back, even if it meant ruining her so called "relationship" with Paolo. She obviously does not care about anyone but herself, and uses people to get what she wants. So Nikki basically dug her own grave, out of her own hunger and greed for something that has no worth, and it is very ironic that in the end, she gets the diamonds, buried right on top of her in her grave. As we have seen, she is somewhat of a "con artist" (are we starting to see a pattern here?) and she used the tv show director, she used Paolo, and she even used Dr. Artz to get what she wanted. And it has only gotten her killed (or so we think).

When she first passed out, Hurley suspects that she says "Paolo lies" when in fact, as we see the same scene played out again at the end, she actually says "Paralyzed." And as Sawyer is shoveling the dirt over her grave, she opens her eyes. The question is, is she still paralyzed and will she be able to yell out before it is too late? Did Sawyer and Hurley actually kill them by burying them?

I guess we will find out whether they will "wake up" or not and if they will be saved. But I found it very interesting, that in the first scene when Nikki is filming the tv show, and afterwards the director says to her..."You don't have to die....maybe we can bring you back next season." To which she replies, "Come on, I'm just a guest star. We all know what happens to guest stars." I thought that was kind of a funny little twist that the directors of LOST obviously threw in to be a tie-in to the real show. Personally, I think they are dead. Just like in the "tv show" - just guests stars who came in to do their part, then get killed off. Their storylines brought a new twist to the show, and it also would be another tie-in to the list of survivors who are responsible for the death of others.

Oh yeah, one more thing - in the airport flashback scene when Paolo and Nikki saw Boone and Shannon arguing, and Nikki says "promise me we won't end up like them. My first thought was that Boone and Shannon are both dead, and that it was foreshadowing of the two of them ending up the same way.

Kind of disappointed that we didn't get to see more with Jack and the Others, but that is typical for Lost. This was kind of a filler episode, but atleast it gave us some insight as to what is really going on around the island. Things aren't as great as they appear to be, and things will fall apart very quickly with all of the secrets and lies going on. Will Jack be able to come back and "save" them?

On another note, I will be going on vacation next week and won't be able to post for another week later. (I'm still trying to make sure I will be able to watch Lost next Wednesday in my hotel room!) So, I apologize in advance, but I will be back the following week.