The case for Paulo & Nikki?

[D-Roc]

Nikki and Paulo, God bless them, trapped under all that dirt and sand..

Despite the derision which met their every scene and every reference, it could be argued that they probably have pseudo-legendary status now. Funny, this Lost business.

I must confess that I was anti-Paulo (Nikki i could just about tolerate), I make no bones about that..but ever since Expose had this strange feeling..my doctor says it's a fever, but i think im suffering from 'I-kinda-Miss-Paulo-Nikki-itus'..

Okay, perhaps 'miss' is too strong a word and perhaps 'suffering' is too strong an exaggeration, but seriously, it could be argued that the absense of the diamond thieving duo has left somewhat of a hole in Lost.Â*

Im sure the powers that be (the creators of the show) wont be losing any sleep over it, but is there a case that they made a mistake, not so much in bringing Nikki and Paulo into the show, but by axing them just when they became interesting?



Thats the question which ive asked myself. I mean on the one hand, pre-Expos�hey were at times, laughable..pathetic even. Paulo's only saving grace was his love for toilet seats, andrex and the flush mechanism..and Nikki, well she was bouncy and jolly and not at all bad on the eye. However as we found out with Shannon, Lost is about more than jokes and aesthetics and at the end of the day if you're going to survive the cut throat world of the fans judgement, you need to give a character a 'story' - just look at how far the terrific Desmond has come since his first centric episode (2x24). It's fair to say that Nikki and Paulo didnt have that story before Expos� they were thrown in at the deep end just when us fans were at our most vunerable - we had Jack and Jill (sorry, 'Kate') and Sawyer bound and gagged, Hurley in no-mans land, Walt and Mike sailing off to God knows where, Locke, Des and Eko potentially blown to high heaven and the very real prospect (at the time) of 'Captain Bernard' running camp Lostie! We really didnt need two previously unknown redshirts forcing themselves onto our tv screen. I mean, where's Arzt when we needed him..heck, even Scott..or is it Steve(?) would've been more palatable at that stage, not to mention Sullivan (remember him!?).

Then came what i like to describe as the Pearl incident - the moment they did the unthinkable and actually dumbed down Locke just to give Nikki a few lines..then the bizarre Eko funeral (why were P+N even there?) and stuff about oatmeal bars running out and some other stuff that i just tuned out from. So yes, P+N were not exactly on my Christmas card list.

But then..then came Expos�the moment I had waited for..finally the chance to give the eye-candy some substance..and guess what they delivered, the powers that be pulled a rabbit out of the hat and made me believe in P+N. The look on Paulos face after the crash still haunts me to this day - amazing -the best thing he'd done up to that point.

I struggled somewhat to get past the fact that they 'did' actually kill a man for those diamonds, but since the island gives people a new start, i figure they deserved at least one mark on their pre-island list.

To give these two characters the substance that they did and wrap it all up in an episode of high class and directorial integrity was breath-taking..it was bizarre at times, but breath-taking nonetheless. The part that really got me was a stricken Paulo telling Nikki why he kept the diamonds - 'because he didnt want to lose her'..i found that tragically beautiful and most of all i found it believable.

So now I think to myself, why did they bury them and fill their lungs with sand? Yes, it was a great cliff-hanger, but could they not have gone on from this juncture and fully redeemed the characters? Was there not more potential in the Paulo & Nikki saga?

I think that by killing them off, the creators admitted defeat to the fans..they had no real credible future for the characters of P+N..they did their best to salvage credibility (and salvage they did, in my opinion), but ultimately they listened to the fans.

Thats something which i sense they do alot - listen to the fans..I mean otherwise we wouldnt have this 'Skate/Jate/Fate/Mate' (or whatever it's called) still going on! Stateside seems to be in love with this triangle..

I'm not saying Paulo and Nikki were great Lost characters but I think that having brought them in, rather than say giving a credible redshirt like Lesie Arzt a jungle love-quest with, say Rousseau (hey id watch that!), I think they should've at least stayed true to their plans for the characters. I appreciate that they listen to fans, but considering most of the fans they seem to listen to are the Stateside Skater/Jate/Maters etc I worry about the future of good relationships (i.e. Desmond/Penny/Fate) that we have going the way of Shannon/Sayid, Boone/Locke and even Ana-Lucia/Jack (which had potential)..

Anyway, it's time to put Paulo and Nikki to rest..

*grabs shovel*



Hope to see them in a flashback at somepoint..anything to see Nikki's smile and Paulos toilet paper..i miss them already! (pretend i didnt say that).

[The_abbott]

The only case I'd give Paulo is a suitcase to pack his belongings and go away!!

Nikki on the other hand can fit in my suitcase any day!

[D-Roc]

Wow, I wrote this an entire year ago..how weird reading this again!

Still missing Nikki. Paulo not so much

[firebreathingfishies]

Nikki was a tramp Paulo was cool

[Miss Austen]

Just watched Season 3 again and saw Expose. I liked how they linked Nikki and Paolo into the story showing what they were doing at certain times on the island; but I have to say that I thought the acting from these two was pretty dire.

Why bring poor Shannon, Boone and Arzt back from the dead to shoot crash scenes with these two non-starters? Even my least favourite characters on LOST far exceed the talents of these two.

Nikki seemed so false and Paolo was just a drip!

Perhaps Nikki and Paolo are Adam and Eve? Apparently nothing stays buried on the island so Nikki and Paolo's bodies will wash up one day.

[freckles08]

THEY WERE TwO OF THE MOST POINTLESS CHARCTERS EVER CREATED IN A TV SHOw! THEY COULDNT ACT AND WERE JUST THERE FOR EYE CANDY

(Well thats my opinion anyway) What we need is for Miles to walk over their Grave and HEAR what they have to say then he can tell Sawyer that he killed Nina and Pablo