Lost (TV Series) Exposé (2007) User Reviews

Buried

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 29 March 2007]

Nikki comes to the beach where Sawyer and Hurley are playing ping-pong, stumbles, whispers some unintelligible words and apparently dies. Hurley understand "Paulo lies" and the group searches Paulo in the woods. They find him like Nikki and they believe the couple has been poisoned. Meanwhile, the past of the actress Nikki and the Brazilian chef Paulo in Sidney is disclosed, when they poisoned Nikki's lover for stealing a fortune in diamonds.

"Exposé" is another great episode centered in the secondary characters Nikki and Paulo, disclosing their greedy criminal past. I liked very much the interaction of Nikki and Paulo with the very first episodes, entwining known situations and glimpses of these two characters with the main plot of "Lost" revisited. Further, the viewer has the opportunity to see Shannon, Boone, Ethan and the junior high school teacher Dr. Artz again. The destiny of Nikki and Paulo is the darkest of this series but these two despicable killers deserved their fate. Nikki with her eyes wide open in the grave is very impressive. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Note: On 10 April 2013, I saw this episode again on DVD.

I'm glad...

[jarrettaj · 8/10 · 29 March 2007]

they're dead. When I first saw these two characters introduced into the show I thought "Great. Two more mouths to feed." There are enough characters on this show that I care about. Adding more would just use up valuable time and character development would start to get spread a little thin. Plus, I heard that the writers of the show promised more sex and romance in this season and I thought maybe Paolo and Nikki were inserted primarily as eye candy.

I liked this episode, because it uses a lot of good murder mystery themes. The murder is discovered at the beginning, the clues slowly unravel, suspects are interviewed, and everything merges at the end. The way Lost does flashbacks was a great way to apply time in this episode, constantly switching between the past and the present, gradually leading up to the point in time that you've already been shown at the start of the episode. It's all very Hitchcockian. There's a MacGuffin: the bag of diamonds. The plot device of paralysis being mistaken for death has been used by Hitchcock (perhaps he was even the original author). There's an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that Hitchcock directed himself, though I don't remember the name of it. A guy gets in a bad car accident and is completely paralyzed (just like from the spiders). The whole episode is narrated only by his thoughts. Everyone thinks he's dead and he eventually winds up in a morgue. At the end he is being wheeled away on a cart and he starts blinking to show he isn't dead. His blinking is discovered by the mortician and he's saved and begins to cry. OK, so I guess it's not exactly the same ^_^

I liked this one. Really I did.

[jwalsh30 · 9/10 · 10 February 2022]

I'm surprised "Expose" has an overall rating of 8 considering it's tradionally poked fun at.

Now, does any review written more than 10 years after a show has ended really need to classify it with "spoilers"?

Anyway, I always liked this episode. Viewers agreed with Artz (before he blew up) that there are others....not those others...on the island besides our group of heroes. TV logistics says that we can't have 40+ characters on a show. So there's our group plus some random people in the background. "Expose" shows us that these random people also have background stories too.

Enter Nikki and Paulo. Perhaps trying to make them somewhat relevant only to kill them off was sorta weird, but we finally got to see that there were other folks with their own stories to tell.

So I liked this one. Really, I did.

This season has taken a turn for the better....

[dragonpyr13 · 10/10 · 28 March 2007]

Wow is really all I can say about this episode. It really was an incredible Lost episode, and it really looks like Lost is (or should be) pulling out of whatever slump it's had since changing time slots.

This show was excellently written, from the first scene to the last. The writers really do a good job about showing what Nikki and Paolo have been doing before and after the plane crash. While they fit it into one episode, Nikki and Paolo's experiences are fairly important. They even tied them to Shannon and Boone, as well as showed some of Arst's (sp?) experiences on the island, another character that we didn't see much of before he exploded, for lack of a better word.

I admit I was kind of scared when I saw that we were delving into Nikki and Paolo's past. I didn't think that pushing two more characters into the picture would help, but it turned out way better than I expected.

My favorite episode of this season, and one of my favorites of the entire show. Ten out of ten.

Superior one-hour entertainment

[jrosenfe · 10/10 · 5 April 2007]

Perhaps the best episode of the season, it reminded me of an old E.C. comic from the 1950s--a single, short, spooky tale, cleverly told and with a terrific twist. Such a show is, for me, very much superior to the continuity based episodes, such as the following week's, which limp along at a languid pace and reveal little. And it was not marred by the tendency to use musical overlay to dramatize situations and to help the viewers empathize with the characters. By contrast, this episode contained superior writing and tight directing and sharp performances. As such, it represents a high-water mark for the series, and a continued revelation of the absence of community within the ostensible community of beach survivors. Plus, little mention of the now-tedious Others.

Genius

[csolutionrevenge_ · 8/10 · 10 March 2008]

This episode, and maybe even the entire Nikki/Paulo thing, was a work of pure genius. The fact the Nikki and Paulo were almost universally reviled is undeniable. This episode makes me think one of two things: 1) those characters were created intentionally as annoying and unlikable with this episode in mind as a 'breather', or 2) the writers realized how poorly received they were during season 3's hiatus and 'fixed' this episode later to give viewers this ending. Either way, the dispatching of these terrible characters was extremely satisfying to behold, and made one of my favorite inconsequential episodes/running story lines of the series. Long live Lost.

I loved this Episode

[rui-f-macedo · 10/10 · 26 June 2007]

How it's possible an episode make me stay like for 3 minutes staring at the TV without any reaction, only my mouth wide open and my hands in my head? It was incredible! Excellent. The best episode ever! I loved how the story was constructed, and how the story was made for this two unknown personage!!! The way how they con the director, the way they survived to the crash, the way Paulo lied to his girlfriend, and the perfect thing to do...make live people look dead! Made me think. Who's the guilty? Or whose? Outrageous idea of Nikki using the spider to "stop" Paulo from steal her, and after she got bite, the fastest thought she had of running away from Paulo and hide the diamonds under the ground and then arrive the beach and try to tell their friends that she is paralyzed to make not they think that she's passing away...Just PERFECT! And in the end, when you realized that she is alive because you know that instead of "Paulo Lies" she told to James and Hugo, "I'm paralyzed" and then she open her eyes while she is buried... Without Words....

Superb

[ametaphysicalshark · 18 December 2008]

I did not write the following, but it sums up my thoughts on the episode very well, and is more comprehensive than something I might have written. Credit to whoever wrote it, and thanks for such a fine piece of writing:

The episode Exposé and its spotlight on Nikki and Paulo may be read as the creators' commentary on the television industry in general and perhaps ABC in particular with its narrow focus on profits and big surprises revealed (as the ABC promotional team keep over-promising this season to the dismay of the creators).

There are at least two overlapping shows within LOST. Let's call them mysteryLOST and characterLOST. Many only understand LOST as mysteryLOST. Yet, LOST is not truly about "razzle frickin' dazzle". It's not about spectacle, the writers seem to be saying, like the kind delivered by shows like the one that Nikki guest-stars on, "Exposé"--scantily clad women named after flashy cars stripping on stage, shootouts, characters revealed to be snakes. And referencing the song from the musical Chicago, it's not about razzle dazzle distracting a jury at the expense of crimes committed going unpunished. Within LOST, these crimes are not murders, kidnappings, and violence, as they would be in a traditional mystery TV show. Rather they are crimes of the heart; LOST is ultimately about its characters. And you can almost "hear" the notes that ABC passes to the creators/producers of LOST--Why can't LOST have some big-name guest stars, like Billy Dee Williams? Why can't LOST have more explosions and gunfire? (Note the explosions and gunfire on LOST are never gleeful moments of triumph, à la the A-Team.) Why can't LOST have more sex? (Kate is forced to change clothes and demands privacy; her lovemaking with Sawyer was laden with foreboding for it to be pure escapist eroticism; Jack has sex with Achara but it ends in violence and betrayal. These are not the romps in the on-call rooms of Grey's Anatomy!) Instead of razzle dazzle, the creators and writers of Exposé want to return attention to characters, and the mysteries that lie within. Each character has a hatch that is to be opened.

The creators seem to want to keep LOST its own beast, to keep the show as form-less as a smoke monster, and not try to pigeonhole it into a prescribed genre-action-adventure, mystery, or character-driven drama-with their built-in expectations about what should happen and when it should happen. Note the intrusive attention to what happened on what day in Exposé. That is, Nikki and Paulo inhabit an almost parallel show--really, they are on a different show than our regular LOST characters. They are on the show that some viewers and ABC brass perhaps wish that LOST was--a show that places profit (diamonds) and big reveals above all else.

In a neat reversal, Paulo starts to leave mysteryLOST and starts to enter characterLOST. He starts to leave behind the concern for gaining monetary rewards for gaining more intrinsic rewards, knowledge about oneself and how we all interconnect. His rejection of profit is signalled to us early on when he holds up the nicotine gum in the airport--this would have been a perfect chance for product placement (shows and movies regularly have characters use brand products to obtain additional profits or to keep production costs lower). But the creators do not place a name-brand product in Paulo's hand, almost flaunting the fact that they are not concerned with profit. This symbol of anti-profit tellingly gives him away at the end, when the profit-driven Nikki discovers the gum and realizes Paulo must have the diamonds. She doesn't realize Paulo has chosen to get rid of the diamonds in order to save their relationship. Nikki proves her motivation is (seemingly) more powerful than his and she gets the diamonds back. Profit wins over anti-profit, yet this does her in at the end.

They are looking at LOST, and in the end only Nikki is looking at LOST, like others are probably looking at LOST: through the lens of profit, the "gotcha" moment of the big reveal (think CSI or Law &Order). It's no surprise that by the end they end up staring vacantly, seeing nothing, in their very own "gotcha" moment as we realize they are paralyzed. Ironically, this big revelation is not revealed to the regulars of LOST--it's literally and figuratively buried. N/P end up as victims of their own con--it's a morality tale: if you only stare at profit, like Medusa (spider), it will freeze you into a semblance of death. Stop watching if all you care about is razzle frickin' dazzle. As Sun says at the end, the diamonds are worthless here.

Old plot device used superbly

[ben-l-miller · 10/10 · 29 March 2007]

This is, in my oh so humble opinion, the best episode this season. Even despite how good the previous one's was (A box that one can pull anything you desire out of? John's Dad? on the island? Wicked!). And, I have to admit, LOST has been losing some interest to me lately, but I've been thoroughly pulled back into it now.

So what makes this episode so great? Well, I have to agree with another poster that it is just a "re-tell{ing of} a centuries old story we've all been told before," (although "centuries" may be a bit of an hyperbole) but I do not agree with the fact that "the only originality {lies} in its setting." I think that the originality is the use of the plot device to answer a lot of questions in a very engaging way. Yes, the whole two-lovers-killing-for-money-and-then-distrusting-each-other is nothing new and rather uninteresting by itself, but to use it as a vehicle to shed light on everything else that has been going on? Brilliant. We still find out key things about the main characters, such as Sawyer, Charlie, and Ben. But it also answers a question that has been nagging me "If they are all these other people are stranded from the flight, what have they been doing?" I mean, come on, the only intelligent people discovering crazy things on the island can not be limited to Jack, Kate, Sawyer, John, Hurley, etc… Here we see that some very minor characters are making some very interesting discoveries and perhaps know a lot more about what is going on they we thought previously; they aren't just dumb extras.

Even given all that, the single best part of this episode is how seemly well integrated into the previous episodes it was. Paulo and Nikki were there all along and I hardly even noticed! The really awesome thing about that is that is also seems to address another problem I have had with this series; it always seemed to me that the writers were just making this up as they go along. But this episode seems to point away from writers addressing things ad hoc, but instead makes a strong case for a very clear vision as to the structure of the series. Nikki wanting to accompany John to the Pearl Station? Paulo coming out of the bathroom? Even the flourish by the writers of tying it all the way back to the first episode? (I am going to have to go back and re-watch that one and see if she really was running around frantically and was asked by Boone for a pen.) And even if this was just an ad hoc solution by the writers to address the question some of us fans had to their vision? Well, they pulled it off very well, so congratulations to them. But I now genuinely have faith in the fact the they have been planning out these things well in advance and are not simply writing the show as it goes along.

And that is the true beauty of this episode, oh my fellow fans. Not that it is good as a stand alone (even though the subplot still wasn't that bad, just mediocre), but that it is great only when taken with consideration of the totality of the series. And for those people who like the mere simple hooks of the show, there was the cliff-hanger at the end. Have we really seen the last of this couple?

LOST is is awesome! (SPOILERS)

[courtjes · 10/10 · 29 March 2007]

There have been so many whiners and complainers about LOST....it is GREAT show and this episode emphasizes it. People don't watch LOST to see characters sit around on the beach and develop "relationships" as some critics want to see the show illustrate. Rather, the plot is dynamic, exciting, full of surprises and shocks. The acting is terrific and of course the women are strong-minded, gorgeous and scheming as much as the men. Expose was a thriller, and yes, relationships can develop, change, mature and explode, just as in real life. But LOST does all that in the context of a thriller, mystery and surrealistic plot. When Nikki's eyes opened as she was buried alive, it sent chills down my spine. Thats exactly why I watch LOST, I want to be surprised and shocked and left waiting for the next episode. So producers: we don't need another 'relationship' movie. Keep doing what you are doing, its AWESOME!!!!

A Mini Movie In Itself...

[ecatalan98 · 6/10 · 21 March 2016]

Episode 14, Season 3: Expose. A well written, well paced episode in the LOST saga that has virtually NOTHING to do with LOST. I felt I was watching a "break" from the storyline of LOST, like the writers said, "hey, let's throw in something to distract the audience from the main story". Again: "Expose" was quite entertaining, but had little to do with everything that was going on in the story up to that point. Plus, the two main characters in this story (Nikki and Paulo) weren't even on the previous season (although the clever editing of might make you think otherwise). I guess producers have to come up with "filler" episodes if they signed to do X amount per season. Trust me: if you miss this episode it will NOT deviate you from the original storyline (survivors fighting the "others" and the island's weird phenomena and getting rescued).

It's the sort of material you'd probably watch as an "extra" on a LOST DVD package.

Nina and Pablo....er, I mean Nikki and Paulo get their 42 minutes of fame

[gridoon2024 · 9/10 · 18 March 2009]

"Exposé" is probably one of the most controversial episodes of LOST. Some people are quick to dismiss it because it centers around two rather unpopular characters who were not introduced until the start of Season 3 and even then rarely did anything of note. IMHO this way of thinking is pretty narrow-minded. A good episode is a good episode no matter who it focuses on, and "Exposé" is a very good episode indeed. Utterly gripping from the first second to the last, clever in the way it sets up its enigma and spreads its little clues here and there, innovative in the way it revisits past events (from part of Jack's "Live together, die alone" speech to the visit to the DHARMA station the Pearl) from different perspectives, and self-aware in the way Nikki's character in her series (she was an actress) dies ("I was just a guest star, we all know what happens to guest stars"), or in the way Sawyer keeps asking both of them "Who are you?". Farewell, Nikki and Paulo, maybe you will not be missed but you will never be forgotten. ***1/2 out of 4.

PS: Hurley has some of his funniest moments here as well.

Nice episode about Nikki and Paulo

[danny-555 · 7/10 · 30 March 2007]

This Episode is about Nikki and Paulo, information about their past is showed. It is clear that after the plain crash the first thing Nikki thinks about are diamonds that have been stolen by both Paulo and Nikki. Nikki and Paulo where in love, but Paulo doubts if it is love that commits Nikki to him or the diamonds they stole. Paulo really loves Nikki, after he finds the bag with the diamonds from the plane he doesn't tell Nikki anything. He's afraid she will leave him after the diamonds are back. Nikki suspects Paulo is hiding info and really goes (too) far to get this information. After a incident it is the question if Paulo and Nikki are dead or not, they are buried for sure...

Rubbish

[moltaylor2 · 2/10 · 30 March 2007]

Now, I'm a huge fan of Lost and I look forward to it every week, but this episode was terrible. It couldn't have been more unlike the Lost we all know and love. It seemed like one of those episode put in because the writers are a bit bored and can't be bothered to write a good episode.

The two characters, which to start with we knew NOTHING about, were given their whole own episode, with a rubbish story line. As for the burying alive scene at the end, I was under the impression that I was watching a sophisticated drama, not a crap excuse for a horror movie.

Awful, worst episode of Lost there's been. Can't wait for next weeks, as it can't be worse than this one.

one of the best

[brothabond07 · 10/10 · 8 May 2007]

I think this was one of the best episodes of the season. Paolo and Nikki get a back story, and everything fits together perfectly. Im just sad to see them go. It seems like they weren't there for a bigger purpose and they needed to get rid of them. But they got rid of them in a great way. I cant believe the details they put in this show. Its amazing how they don't loose track of certain things. well maybe they do...what the heck happened to Michael and Walt. They weren't seen at all this episode. This episode was sort of a break from the show it self and tied up a small few things. I loved the ending as well. Lost rules!

Best show this season by FAR.

[willescapesoon · 10/10 · 29 March 2007]

10 out of 10 hands down. This season, while decent, has not had many stellar episodes where we are treated to a very fast-paced plot with elements of love, betrayal, and crime all in one. In fact, the last time I felt so utterly satisfied by an episode of Lost must have been back in the first season!

The past few episodes prior to this one have not been that exciting IMHO but here we finally find out Sawyer is not the only ex-con on the island--Nikki & Paolo whom were thrust onto the show kinda suspiciously have conned a guy out of $8 mil in precious jewels in their Pre-Lost Life.

Watching the quest for wealth which has no value on a deserted island drive a rift between them is pure schadenfreude. The end result is equally pleasing.

The ending was a VERY good cliffhanger-surpassing even my usual expectations of a Lost cliffhanger, which are generally above average anyhow since the writers are pure geniuses.

Watching Sawyer and Hurley shovel sand over Nikki and Paolo's graves just as Nikki begins to open her eyes made me spill my coffee all over my new slacks.

I should sue the writers-these were really nice pants. But I wouldn't want them to be distracted from writing such superb plots. I'll sacrifice all the pants I need to.

Who are Paolo and Nikki?

[babyallets · 8/10 · 28 March 2007]

This episode totally blew me away. There have been questions about the new cast, that are not a part of the "others" on lost and how they really fit into the story and their whereabouts from the time when they first crashed on the island. This episode of Lost explained the lives of two characters who had not been seen since the first episode and all of a sudden were made to be foreground characters or around some of the main characters whom we already knew about in the show. Paolo and Nikki seemed so suspicious when they were brought into the foreground of the storyline with really no explanation at all. I loved how this episode summarized their whereabouts since crashing on the mysterious island and their stories. The funny thing was when Sawyer asked, "Who are you?" or "Who is Nikki and Paolo?" For most of the time I was asking the same exact questions since they appeared and it also kind of puts the assumption that since all these people are on the same island, it is not obvious that they all know each other. The end had me wishing that it had been written in a different way because there was a crime unknowingly committed that could have been prevented if the communication line from Nikki had had some close attention paid to it. I cannot wait to see if the crime shall ever be exposed and what will be the consequences, if any, to the islanders involved. I also liked how the islanders involved in the show's story had like a "CSI-esque" manner especially when Hugo was telling Sawyer that he was tampering with evidence and Sawyer scouring the area around them. There were many light jokes in the episode and a long time mystery was solved. Sun had a very great mystery solved for her although it left her with some animosity toward the people whom she had assumed were her friends and could never do anything like what happened to her all for a little piece of revenge. All in all I think that the episode did not disappoint.

Flip/Flop

[blueryan · 9/10 · 5 April 2007]

Nothing is what it seems on this episode as more is revealed about Paulo and Nikki. I found it to be particularly good and well written. Many fans of the show are whining because it breaks away from the usual stars, story line and focus on two recently added actors. At the very beginning, Nikki gets shot on the set of Exposé and dies. The show is apparently a syndicated hit in Australia and the producer with whom she is having an affair proposes her to come back again for the following season. She replies: "no, I am just a guest star." Is this art imitating reality? Nikky is in fact the lover of Paulo who got hired as the private cook of the same producer. They poisoned him, stole his diamonds and ended up on the doomed flight to the island. Paulo and Nikky are young and gorgeous. They committed the perfect crime but now they are on an island and their bag is lost. They will face each other until an end that is terrifying. I was saddened by the end. I really like Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro. This episode writes them off the show.

Why you brought them

[dipanshuagrawal-07427 · 13 April 2020]

Why the characters were brought in the show? They had no use till now and are dead with 1 episode dedicated to them.

The episode was good although.

But I still cannot find the use of these two characters in the show. That's why I did not rated this episode

Best of the season yet!

[stefan-mclaughlin · 10/10 · 2 April 2007]

This has now become my most favourite episode. Previous favourite was the one where Sawyer manipulates the survivors to take possession of the guns. Very clever I thought. This episode was just as clever and thanks to the lovely Nicki very pleasing to watch. It was also good as I watched it with my girlfriend who unfortunately missed out on Seasons 1 and 2 so I was able to throw some insight into various characters and what happened to them such as Shannon and Boone, obviously making full use of the pause facility on Sky+. From the outset it was clever and excellently written. "Who's Nicki?" said Sawyer at the start. Speaking for everyone watching the world over. The delectable Nicki and Paolo are a pleasure to watch as both. Nicki's manipulative persona almost masked by her beauty and Paolo showing the handsome men have hearts. Him trying to warn Nicki of the spiders through tear soaked eyes was pure class. My only concern being that if we don't manage to see these characters fight their way through the sand then it will be a pointless exercise and waste of good talent. It still leaves questions unanswered such as why didn't Paolo reveal the plan of the Others to the rest of the camp.... It was a welcome break from the other plot involving Locke and his father - which was awesome. I'm sure we wont know the outcome of this for a few weeks and to be frank I'm glad as it keeps me guessing and having something to look forward. Long live the writers of Lost and the freshness that they instill into almost every episode. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!

Filler Done Well

[connorwburnett · 8/10 · 9 August 2019]

Obviously you can't have your whole show be focused on adrenaline filled action set pieces which is a large reason why "filler" episodes are a thing.

Filler episodes, of any series, are meant to fill time and give us a glimpse of the smaller stories to create more depth in the world allowing us to care more about the characters and therefore more about the story as a whole. As per usual Lost carries out all of televisions' traditional tropes brilliantly which follows suit with filler episodes. Don't get me wrong they are still often my least favourite episodes, but this is to be expected with Lost's standard being so high (at least in the first 3 seasons). It is certainly frustrating to go from a story centred episode, "The Man from Tallahassee" in this case (which is a fantastic episode), straight to "Exposé" an episode where very little of importance happens.

All that takes place is- the death of two background characters and Sun finding out that Charlie was the one who dragged her into jungle. What makes this worse is that the two characters that were killed off here had only been introduced a few episodes ago and almost all of their backstory was relegated to this very episode. In my opinion it is not worth the time giving character development to those which are already dead (they die right at the beginning of the episode). However it is still remarkably entertaining even with all the factors holding it back which is due to Lost's amazing writing.

No matter your view on this episode you must note how memorable it is, prior to my re-watching of Lost it was one of the few season 3 episodes which I could recall completely. Although sadly because of its lack of importance and filler nature I can't rate it any higher, it's still a great watch.

Quite awful instruction...

[Reschat · 6/10 · 30 March 2007]

To be brief: Awful directing - Not really good lines - but actually a very good plot.

I found the plot so good that it actually saved the whole episode. But the episode could have been a 9 or a 10. - But because of the awful directing it's only a 6.

Without spoiling anything - the thing that makes this episode so good is revealed in the end. And it is good. Very good.

The characters are as in a few other episodes - but not as we have seen them the lst few episodes.

For Lost at all - it is brilliant. But you have to see episode 1 and 2 to understand anything at all of episode 3.

Best Episode this season by far. Its definitely in my top 5

[vicentenog · 10/10 · 29 March 2007]

I ve read some reviews saying that this episode really sucked because it was a filler episode, in the sense that it didn't add anything to the series. That is a very stupid thing to say, these lame reviews were probably written by conspiracy freaks or lost super geeks who are so crazy about the mysteries and the theories that they forget what a great episode is about. At the beginning of the show i didn't give much credit to the initial storyline of nick and Paulo. To be honest i was afraid Paulo would be too much like sawyer and that would have sucked. But the writers made a very spectacular job on designing these 2 characters. They are both very wicked in their own ways. From my point of view it seemed like Nikki was a very ambitious girl, very greedy, greedy to the point where she became obsessed by her ambition and Paulo (who had nothing to do with sawyer) who was so madly in love with this girl that you can assume the he killed that man for her, he would do anything to be with her. this episode was perfect for some particular reasons. 1- it proved that we don't need to have four fingered feet statues, alien-like supersonic sound weapons frying peoples brains or a smoke monster to appreciate this show great. 2- it proved that there can still be real drama in the series (with some of the most dramatic deaths ever seen so far) 3- It proved that it is still possible to bring new characters with totally different personalities from the old ones, but yet, with very interesting stories. Best show of the season by FAR. 10 of a 10

Nikki and Paulo exposed

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 1 May 2018]

When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.

"Expose" is one of those mixed critical reception 'Lost' episodes. One that has garnered vehement defence, but also one that has garnered a lot of criticism from those considering it one of the show's most pointless. Can totally see both sides and am somewhere in the middle myself. It is far from being one of the best 'Lost' episodes, especially disappointing after the brilliant previous episode "The Man from Tallahassee" being a season and show high-point, but found myself liking it much better than feared.

Nikki and Paulo never were my favourite 'Lost' characters, always found them bland and annoying and when they did appear they served no point. It is not hard to see why they are two of 'Lost's' most universally reviled characters. Having said that, really appreciated that "Expose" made an effort to make them interesting. Am still not a fan, but found myself not hating them here, they are easily the most interesting and best acted they ever were and credit is due that there is a halfway diverting story that sends them off well.

A story that has a strong suspense and creepiness element, has some tautness and capped off by an ending that is both surprisingly poignant and unexpected. There is some nice character interaction and a few answers provided.

Visually, "Expose" is a stylish and beautiful-looking episode. The music is both subtle and chilling. Some of the script intrigues. All the acting is never less than good, even from those who never made much of an impression before (that for Nikki and Paulo in particular).

However, it is not hard to see where those who didn't care for the episode are coming from. "Expose" serves as a good excuse for making Nikki and Paulo interesting and providing some answers about how they came to be and their previous circumstances.

Where it falls down is providing little to no progression to the rest of the characters, who have very little to do really, and advancing the on-going island events and mysteries which comes to a practical stand-still here. It adds just as little to what is already known and has nothing new to tell outside of the stuff with Nikki and Paulo. Can definitely see why the episode has been, and was, criticised for being a filler episode and being pointless.

The writing could have been tighter and sharper. Didn't get much of a sense of what 'Lost' excels at at its best, the balance of mystery/mythology and characterisation and how it all relates to each other and to the characters' pasts, it doesn't really deliver enough on either on their own and doesn't balance them too well.

In conclusion, a decent episode but a long way from prime-'Lost'. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This episode was a waste of my time

[chumcitymark · 1/10 · 29 March 2007]

These two GAP ad wannabees have been boring the crap out of me since they first showed up. I could give a damn about their diamonds and their stupid little sub plot. I am sure the writers will tie it all in, but really, why should I care about them? Especially after last weeks killer episode! If they were killed by a pillar of smoke then I would be interested, but spiders!? Buried alive!? This is LOST, not Tales From the Crypt! There are easily ten more plot threads more interesting than this. Such as...

1. Black Rock 2. Charlie is going to die? 3. Four Toed Statue! 5. Smoke Monster 6. French woman and her daughter, Blossom. 7. All that stuff happening in Other-ville 8. God damn polar bears! 9. Jack and Clair's dad. 10. Hurly's psycho nightmare 11. Hell, even Rose and Bernard

Well, at least these two boring ass characters are dead. Good riddance