Rod Serling would be so proud.
I thought this episode was clever and exceptionally well-written, as well as loaded with black humor. It actually made me laugh out loud, probably because I had no investment whatsoever in Nikki and Paulo as characters. After all, they were murderers, thieves, and liars, and they were even deceiving each other. If the Island is all about redemption, then they were probably irredeemable. Maybe the Island decided they weren't worth it, and gave them what they deserved.
This week's Most Obvious Symbolism was the diamonds inside the nesting dolls. Before, all we saw of Nikki and Paulo was surface; this time, we saw what was hiding within. Nikki and Paulo were also the embodiment of Jack's "live together, die alone" philosophy, since they kept themselves isolated from the rest of the Fusies, and they certainly did die alone... sort of. Locke reminded us that nothing stays buried on the Island. This may not be the end of Nikki and Paulo, but I won't mind a bit if it is. I didn't understand why the producers added them to the cast in the first place.
The flashbacks were like a blast from the past. It must have been pretty difficult to greenscreen or re-enact all those earlier episode bits, especially right after the crash. Even though I saw their names in the credits, I was mildly shocked to see Boone and Shannon again. Boone and Shannon were also an Island couple who died, so it felt appropriate to bring them back. It was fun to see Arzt and Ethan again, too.
This episode was heavy on the Sawyer content, which is always a good thing. He really didn't know who Nikki and Paulo were, just like the audience. I thought it was out of character for Sawyer to bury the diamonds with the two of them, though. (Yes, I know it was symbolic). If Vincent doesn't dig them up, maybe Sawyer will.
Charlie confessing to Sun wasn't that much of a shock; Charlie is pretty much expecting to die and is making his peace with God. Sun's rage was pretty interesting; she's never been as sweet as she seemed. Hitting Sawyer the way she did was much less than he deserved, though. I wonder if Jin is going to find out anyway.
Character bits:
Art imitates art. Nikki Fernandez was a guest star on Exposé and got killed before her character took off.
Howie said that Paulo was the Wolfgang Puck of Brazil.
Sawyer is still trying to beat Hurley at table tennis. Good luck with that.
Sawyer is still on nickname hiatus, but called Sayid, Kate, Locke and Rousseau "The A-Team" and he got a "Nina and Pablo" in there, too.
I wonder if Desmond knew what would happen to Nikki and Paulo, and didn't intervene because he didn't think their lives were worth saving.
Vincent pulled the blanket off of them. He must have known they were alive.
Bits and pieces:
— It's still been 80 days since the crash. What happened with Locke and his father?
— Plywood, power lines, Paulo lies, paralyzed.
— Billy Dee Williams. :)
— Paulo saw Ben and Juliet talking about manipulating Jack into performing the surgery, and using Michael to do it.
— Would nicotine gum still be chewable after such a long time underwater, even in bubble wrap?
— The diamonds were worth eight million dollars. One of Hurley's numbers.
— Sawyer was reading an Agatha Christie novel, which was fitting. I couldn't see the title. (Thanks to some helpful readers, I can add that the title is Evil Under the Sun, and it's about murder on an isolated island that involves a live person posing as a dead body, and the time of death not what it appeared to be. How appropriate.)
— The key around Howie's neck reminded me of the one Jack wore as well as Desmond's fail-safe key.
— Locke said that winter was coming.
Quotes:
Hurley: "Dude, Nikki's dead."
Sawyer: "Who the hell's Nikki?"
Nikki: (about Shannon and Boone) "Promise me we'll never end up like them."
Paulo: "I promise."
Those Lost writers are just evil, aren't they?
Hurley: "Evidence! You're messing up the crime scene."
Sawyer: "Crime scene? There's a forensic hatch I don't know about?"
Sawyer: "What the hell's Exposé?"
Hurley: "Only the most awesome hour of television ever. It's like Baywatch, only better."
I really enjoyed this one. Lost is such a quality show, and this episode, while atypical, was still extremely good. Three out of four polar bears,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
I liked this one, simply because I liked re-living the beginning of the series and seeing such iconic scenes from a different point of view. Not to mention, getting to see some of our favourite characters back on the screen.
ReplyDeleteJust a minor point, but in one of last episode's flashbacks, Locke is sitting in front of the television eating dinner. He is watching "Expose."
One of the reasons I enjoyed this episode was seeing our merry band together. I'm still struggling with the decision the writers have made to keep our group so fractured this season. Because we have one group off with the Others and another back at camp, it feels as though sometimes the writers are coming up with stories to show what the camp group is up to and to keep those particular actors employed.
None of the camp episodes have felt all that important to me; in fact, most of them have felt like filler. Yes, it's fun to see the guys driving around in the car and yes, it's fun to see the flashbacks in this episode, but how exactly are they advancing the story? It occurs to me that there is a power vacuum with Sayid, Jack and Locke with the Others; why don't see a camp show about someone trying to take over? It also seems really strange to me that this large group has now been gone for over a week -- yet no one seems all that concerned about them, happily going along with their routines.
While I enjoyed this episode, it served to remind me how much I loved the first season and how much I am struggling with this one.
ChrisB, you aren't the only one who feels that way about Season Three.
ReplyDeleteSome context might help: as the producers later acknowledge, by Season Three they were dragging their heels, trying to spin out a story with no end-date. (Adding newbies like Paolo and Nikki was part of their strategy to develop storylines out of thin air.) "Stranger in a Strange Land" is one of the episodes they often refer to as being completely pointless, since the flashbacks do almost nothing to illuminate Jack's character beyond what we already knew.
Midway through Season Three, they negotiated a deal with ABC to finish the show at the end of Season Six. That gave them a specific, finite number of episodes remaining (although that number got tweaked by the writer's strike that occurred during Season Four) and allowed them to start setting up their end game and, as in this episode, start cutting some chaff.
Definitely by 3.20, maybe even by 3.17, you can start to see that in play. And the ending of 3.22 is undeniably awesome. The adrenaline never really stops.
Thanks, Josie. This helps and it really explains the sheer number of barely average episodes we have had so far this season.
ReplyDeleteI will continue to hang in there! :-)
Hard to believe Sawyer would never have noticed a chick as hot as Nikki out of 40 some people.
ReplyDeleteI love the insanely dramatic music that plays over the burial of Nikki and Paolo, and how it contrasts with Sawyer and Hurley just walking away.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant episode about two character almost worthless...Paulo and Nikki?!
ReplyDeleteAtypical,funny,and the ending?schock
Wow not actually as mean-spirited as I thought. Didn't 'member Nikki taking real pause when Paolo reveals his vulnerability, nor Paolo clearly trying to warn her with his eye movements (that first time I thought he was merely getting excited about payback and forgot he was paralyzed). And people are gonna think I'm joking when I claim this episode is the first one that actually spooked me :( Loud noise jumpscares don't count! Even though this had a loud noise but it's different enough to inspire dread instead of that annoyed shock response.
ReplyDeleterazzle dazzle/10 and, dare I say, yes I do dare, a slightly better filler episode than the Hurley van one! Rest in RIP in paris