Why am I saying this? Because there was so much hype over the fact that Rodrigo was signed to join the cast. He was the Brazilian Tom Cruise, the Brazilian Russell Crowe; he was going to be a great “eye candy” for the ladies and, according to an interview with TV Guide, Damon Lindelof actually said that “the ladies like it when he takes his shirt off…” In essence, there was a lot of hoopla, but nothing was delivered, because unfortunately, both Paulo and Nikki were introduced extremely badly and the audience did not take to them as well as the powers to be thought that they would be.
An unfortunate set of events started a hate relationship among the audience towards these two characters. The very first time they were introduced, Nikki, in a whiny voice, started belittling Hurley for not telling them about Jack, Kate, and Sawyer taken as hostages. After all, Hurley had just reached the beach area not too long before. What did Nikki expect? Paulo’s first scene was with Desmond, and Paulo was damn rude and aloof. Such behavior maybe overlook with Sawyer, but not with a new unknown character.
The scenes that take the silly awards (and made Paulo the butt—pun intended—of all jokes was when he was caught flushing a toilet in the Pearl station. (That scene was explained in “Exposé.”) Paulo was also seen holding a toilet paper and one of Sawyer’s magazines. What is it with LOST and horrible bathroom jokes? Can’t they get better writers? What happened to the talented writers who come up with all the nicknames that Sawyer uses?
We were told that “Exposé” would the episode that would make us change our opinion of Nikki and Paulo. Well guess what? It didn’t. At least, I didn’t find myself liking them anymore than I did before. I had no emotional investment with those two characters. They were just there. I hate to say this, if three characters are to die before this season ends, and Paulo and Nikki are two of the three, I am happy. I dread that the other character will be one that I absolutely care a lot about and will feel his or her loss. In fact, let me use the words that my daughter likes to use: that death will suck. But Paulo and Nikki? I just feel bad that they died buried alive.
“Exposé” was filler and nothing else. It would have a great story in show wherein all the episodes are stand-alone episodes. It really had no place in LOST. It entertained, but it frustrated as well. There were no answers to questions. Although there were proof to what we, the audience, already knew: No castaway shares any new findings with anyone. Nikki and Paulo were apparently the firsts to find the Nigerian airplane and the Pear station, but they never thought to share that finding with any one.
There were continuity errors galore with this episode as well. For example, Boone’s hair looked different and Shannon’s hair was longer. Locke made a huge error when telling Paulo that due to high tides because winter was coming, nothing would stay buried in the beach. Let’s face it. They crashed in the South Pacific. December is summer and winter. Writers please pay close attention to what you say. Don’t the producers hire editors? I am an editor. Hire me. I promise to do a good job. Another case in point: If the Medusa spider is so dangerous and if she lives on the island, how come no one has been bitten yet? The castaways wear flimsy clothing. Speaking of spiders, how did that spider live for so long in that jar? Arzt had in a bottle before he was pulverized. And he was pulverized a number of weeks ago. And speaking of Arzt, where in the world did he get all those jars from? The hatch and DHARMA were not discovered until after his death. And where did he get those shelves that he kept his jar on? Those shelves were built after the “Dave” episode when the first (and only) DHARMA droppings occurred. Arzt was long gone and forgotten by then.
There were some good things in this episode. Ben and Julie showed up. I am always happy to see them. And, believe it or not, I found out that Rodrigo does know how to act and he was the only one besides Shannon who reacted the way I think most people would have reacted had they found themselves alive after such a place accident. He was in shock, he was staring, and he was GREAT. Rodrigo, in the name of my countrymen, I would like to apologize for the way you were treated. I, too, was once a Brazilian and I wish to say the following: Rodrigo, desejo a voce um melhor futuro. Talvez, porque voce trabalhou no LOST, voce vai ser mais famoso. Eu espero que sim. (Translation: I wish you a good future. Perhaps, now that you worked on LOST, you will be more famous. I hope so.)
In conclusion, this episode did not belong on LOST and Rodrigo and Kiele deserved better lines and treatment. Moreover, in my opinion, the creators of LOST should not have paid any heed to the audience’s wishes and killed off these characters so soon. We need to ask the following question: Since when are audience the writers, the creators, and the producers of the show? The occasional nods that they give us is appreciated, but they must come to terms that they are the creators of the show and they are the only ones who hold the key on how to develop the story. Please don’t listen to the audience. There will always be those who will complain and threaten to stop watching if certain criteria are not me. But you know what? The majority, the hard-core fans, the ones who accept the story as is presented to them will stay on board. Both Carlton and Damon should pay some attention to the lyrics that Rick Nelson once wrote about his bad experience at a concert in Madison Square Garden:
But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself
Garden Party
- Artist: Rick Nelson
- peak Billboard position # 6 in 1972
- inspired by Rick's experience at a Madison Square Garden concert
- Words and Music by Rick Nelson
I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories and play our songs again
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name
No one recognized me, I didn't look the same
CHORUS
But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself
People came from miles around, everyone was there
Yoko brought her walrus, there was magic in the air
'n' over in the corner, much to my surprise
Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes wearing his disguise
CHORUS
lott-in-dah-dah-dah, lot-in-dah-dah-dah
Played them all the old songs, thought that's why they came
No one heard the music, we didn't look the same
I said hello to "Mary Lou", she belongs to me
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk, it was time to leave
CHORUS
lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)
lot-in-dah-dah-dah
Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode
Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell and lookin' like he should
If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck
But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck
CHORUS
lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)
lot-in-dah-dah-dah
'n' it's all right now, learned my lesson well
You see, ya can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself
