PROMETHEUS: WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE, DARLING?

In case I ever want to really dig into Prometheus by Jon Spaights and Damon Lindelof a few thoughts/notes for myself from the first viewing as a starting off point:

-  David and Meredith Vickers look a lot alike, but one is presented as male (robot) and one as female. Weyland gravitates towards his son even though he admits he isn't real.
-  Weyland's introduction includes a warm introduction to David (the son he never had) and doesn't even mention his (presumably real) daughter.
-  Weyland creates a freaking perfect son who is fictional man named David.
-  The Captain wondering if Meredith was a robot (again someone seeing a parallel between her and David).
- The Captain setting up a Christmas tree. (Off topic:  I just love the hilarious image of him packing this fake little Christmas tree with all the trimmings for this long space journey. The peeved look on Vickers' face was priceless). It's VERY significant that it's either Christmas or he is presenting the date as Christmas (do we know which)? I know the Captain is clearly a fan of Christmas, but more importantly, this whole movie is about faith, losing faith, atheism, questioning ones creators/The Creator, and everything surrounding these themes. Look what happens on Christmas on this movie. Look what kind of "presents" the characters get.
- Surviving. David's vision of survival. Elizabeth's vision of survival. Meredith's vision of survival. Weyland's vision of survival. The biologist and geologist's vision of survival.
- Charlie's sacrifice -- the unintentional one (when David infects him) and the intentional one (when he makes Vickers kill him because he knows otherwise Elizabeth would never save herself and leave his side).
- The Captain, his crew, and their sacrifice.
- The scene where Elizabeth cuts that monstrosity out of her body. The "baby" wasn't Charlie's, it came from somewhere else. Again, Christmas. David says it is special and not a regular fetus. Let's think about this...does this seem like a distorted version of anything else you have ever heard of?
- Man, I wonder how this movie isn't flipping people out and not in the way that I've seen in which people are crying "plotholes" and just incredibly squicked out (although I was too, I was waving my hands in front of my face through the whole movie)? It's so bleak and dark and stark and beautiful in places.
- It's a tragedy. Yes, it's an unabashed freakin' tragedy but in that sort of nihilistic "what can you do about it?" kind of way. It is what it is. You keep moving. You play basketball. You watch movies. You dream. You make love to people. You try to live. You try to just keep going.
 - Okay, I was somewhat surprised by the ending, but I was NOT surprised, you know? Because some people out there might be stupid enough to think this is a happy ending, and it isn't. It isn't at all. There is NO good way this can end on this journey no matter where they go, even if she finds the creators. And the creators are the same as us, so they can't answer THE question that some others wanted answered -- the question of the meaning of it all, the question for God (or the gods). And David points it out as well -- what if the answer is the answer Holloway gives? What then?
- "There's nothing."
-  Loneliness. Loneliness even with more than one person there.
-  "it's what I choose to believe"
-  "She's a beauty." What are you on?
-  What does each character believe in and care about?
-  How do people try to protect themselves?
-  Where are people's actions coming from? What impulses of curiosity, vengeance, stubbornness, desperation, loneliness, misguided excitement?
-  The engineers and weapons of mass destruction.
-  David's movie. The quote's meaning is obvious, but what about the rest of the movie.
- More I'm probably not thinking of at this time.

Excerpt from ROMEO AND JULIET: THE ALT-VERSE

Excerpt from ROMEO AND JULIET: THE ALT-VERSE*

by Shakespeare (and me when I was a freshman in high school**)


ROMEO:
So did methink; and therefore came I hither.
Good gentle youth, tempt not a desp'rate man.
I beseech you, fly hence and leave me alone.
What, will thou not follow thy own advice?
O, be gone! Leave the dead to themselves.
By heaven, I love thee better than myself.
For I have come hither armed against myself.
Stay not, be gone. Live, and hereafter say
A madman's mercy bid thee run away.

PARIS:
I do defy these conjurations
And apprehend thee for a felon here.

ROMEO:
Who art thou that dost call me villain?
What grievance do you have against me, gentle?
Your angry words remind me of a man now dead,
My cousin, who turned and stabbed my friend.

PARIS:
I am kith and kin of Prince Escalus,
Known throughout Verona as Count Paris.
Villain I call thee, for that thou art
You stole my lady's breath from her heart.

ROMEO:
Thy lady? Thou art the noble County Paris?
Mercutio's kinsman, friend of my friend?
What said my man when my betossed soul
Did not attend him as we rode? I think
He told me you should have married Juliet.
Said he not so? or did I dream it so?
O, apprehend me, good Paris. Kill me
And lay me down in dear Juliet's tomb.
[Paris draws his sword.]

PAGE:
O Lord, they fight! I will go call the watch.

[The page exits. Romeo falls to his knees before Paris, dropping his weapon.]

PARIS [Aside]:
Why doth he wish to lay with the lovely Juliet?
How earnest this charlatan's words and gestures
He claims to tender both my heart and my blood
On my honor as a gentleman, I can kill him not,
While he kneels submissively before my blade.
[Paris sheaths his sword.]
Young Montague, why art thou so eager for thy death?
There has been enough of that disease in Verona's streets.

ROMEO:;
Tomorrow seek my father out and he shall tell all
For now, let me venture into this grave of Capulets.
I vow I will not harm the relics that sleep there.

PARIS [Aside]:
He speaks the truth, or I am Pandora's scullion.
[To Romeo] I shall leave thee now to go thy weary way,
And while you repent your sins, sorrow for me.
Do me a favor and lay this rose upon Juliet's shroud
I pray that when we next meet it be as comrades.

ROMEO:
I will take the rose, for there is no doubt in my mind
We shall be friends on the other side of the shore.

*You know, the one where it's a "problem play" like The Tempest and ends with a wedding

**It was a class assignment or I would have never attempted to rewrite an entire play that was meant to be a tragedy as a problem play with a happy ending

Ethics

Let's think about the ethics of this for a moment:

- People who do not know they are being followed and observed, or only suspect they are, being followed and observed.

- People agreeing (for whatever reasons) to go along with people doing this to those they care about--I'm assuming due to manipulation.

- The number of lies that have to be told to pull this off.

- People placed in a situation where they are pretending to be someone who they are not.

- A person being left with people on all sides of them telling them to take different paths or give them hints to go in different directions.

- People who are being mixed up, so you don't know which clues are from you and pertain to other people out there who might be being hurt.

- People who are pretending to be the original people, so you don't even know how to contact the original people and warn them about what is going on.

- People who think they are with other people than they are, because it would be absolutely crazy to think this person is someone else, right? Someone taking advantage of that situation for their own gain. This breaks my heart.

- An entire situation where if you try to talk about any of this, people think you are joking or crazy.

- At this point, you crossed the line--I don't care about your game. I care about these people you are hurting. I care about these lies. Someone has to really know the story of what is going on and be man (or woman) up enough to realize that winning a game has never been as important to me as the people in my life being safe and sound--I can only assume that I share this view with others who might be in my situation.

- I don't care about winning. I just care that this ends, because you are hurting people. Let me write an ending for you: you stop what has happened. You bring us back the original people in our lives that you replaced without sending us on wild goose chases. You confess. You let the "good guys" win (i.e. the people who were helpless bystanders and victims) and stop messing with people's minds. My family and my friends and the other people out there who were caught in your web and manipulations don't deserve this--even if some of them have done bad things in their lives, they still don't deserve to be messed with in this way. So say you're sorry and stop it.

Let me tell you about the man I love

Digression from Lost and Found Connections blog's main topic which is, you know, Lost. And Lost-like stories--but I needed to say this somewhere.

Some people they just get wrong or they only capture a portion. People present themselves differently than the truly are inside. They bluster. They have low self-esteem. Maybe when they are being examined, they are under an unusual amount of stresses in their lives that makes them act differently than they normally would. Maybe those stresses are artificially created, for whatever reason. Some people try to manipulate other people like they are characters--but they aren't. They are people.

In theory, it really shouldn't matter if they get someone wrong, because it isn't real and the characters are all mixed up with each other anyway. But somehow this one does to me.

So, let me tell you about the man I am in love with, the man I can't imagine what I would do if I was without him. I've told the same stories over and over again about how we met, and how we started to date, but that really isn't important.

We were friends first, but yes, I was attracted to him. His hair. His crooked (more crooked then--oh the years of braces)! His smile. The way he shook so much when he really laughed. He would crack jokes, but he had a tender side. When someone became scary in my life, he was all business and very serious and tender. He told me no woman should have to take something like that. He told me that I should trust my gut. I remember I had a dream about him before we were together. It was one of the most powerful dreams I have ever had in my life. In the dream, I was in a big black abyss. There was nothing around me but darkness and I was standing a black floor, but somehow it was light. I was alone. For an unexplained reason, I was very, very sad, more sad than I have ever been. I curled up on the floor and cried. He came to me, in my dream, and he pulled me up and held me close and told me it was going to be okay. I've had other dreams with other men in my life representing my subconscious, but waking from that dream I thought--that image also represented my understanding of him. It wasn't just a part of my subconscious soothing me, it was presenting me with who I wanted with me when I was in the deepest despair. He would have done that for me. He has done that for me since then, many times, cradled me in his arms while I wept.

The first time we officially went on a date, it was like in the movies when time stops and you can't breathe and everything becomes blurry. We talked for hours about everything; we laughed; we danced; we held each other. Portions of the night are blurred out, but we don't do alcohol or drugs. It was just first love (and probably lust) hitting us with a major double whammy. Even then, I thought, well we'll just where it goes. And yet day by day we became closer and closer. We joked, grumbled, debated, laughed, discussed things. We developed in jokes.

The first time we kissed (and again and again and again, little kisses all over the face until we reached the mouth) was one of the best nights of my life. The first time we french kissed was later, when a romantic plan had gone awry. He was trying to take me out star-gazing (his idea, I told you he was secretly a romantic) and I got food poisoning. I threw up in the grass, and he stood with me and held my hair out of my face and rubbed my back and worried. After that we sat down and we french kissed. I thought that must have been the grossest thing in the world, him kissing me after I had just tossed my cookies, but it didn't matter to him, because he loved me.

I don't remember the first time we exchanged "I love yous" anymore. We knew it long before we said it.

I went away for college, and it was then that I realized how much a part of me he had become. We weren't able to see each other for awhile when I first went to the university. When we were reunited, when we hugged each other again I think we both were almost in tears. It was too long apart.

We've both been under a lot of external stress recently, and it has caused us to bicker more than we normally do--but every time I think of losing him, my heart breaks into a million pieces. When he's around, things are just better. I'm home. Fine, make me the villain, if you must, as long as it is all pretend--but if anyone wants to hurt him or my family, they need to stop. And if you are trying to make me the instrument of that hurt, you might want to reconsider your priorities.

The Lights Are Much Brighter There

"The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles
Forget all your cares, and go
Downtown -- things 'll be great when you're
Downtown -- no finer place for sure
Downtown -- everything's waiting for you."
~"Downtown," lyrics by Tony Hatch

This entry isn't a fully fleshed out blog post, just a short post that I wrote up on the Fuselage and was afraid I might lose. In Under Alien Control's "Cosmic Banditos, or How I Learned to Love the Bomb" thread on the Fuselage, fan Jane Eire suggests that Hurley sank the island.

I would like to suggest that the reason we must see the island underwater is due to an old theory--the island is Atlantis. The island is both real and a legend, and as such, it is can represent the Platonic ideal of Island. Through its connections, it can be all islands. Although often Atlantis is merely a highly beautiful, technologically advanced island, in some books Atlantis has been described as a paradise. Like the Garden of Eden, Atlantis is often portrayed as a Utopia. Atlantis famously had a series of earthquakes and sunk underwater mysteriously, perhaps due to random happenstance or perhaps as a "punishment" due to the "wickedness" of its inhabitants (again, echoes of the Garden of Eden). In many legends (and comic books, and television shows) the society of Atlantis continued to flourish under the cover of the waves.

In fact, I would like to throw out an idea that maybe the real island was underwater all along--the illusion could have been that it ever truly existed up on the surface in the course of us watching the show. We have light that scatters oddly, people who need to be drugged to leave and wake up away from the island, multiple clues surrounding water, Desmond saying that they were in a snow globe, and Ben unconcerned that anyone could get out without his help. Some who leave(?) see a version of the island that disappears without a trace, like a mirage. It's the metaphor of the iceberg. We only see the tip of the island, and there is so much underneath the surface. Or are we even fooled by thinking that we were ever even able to see the surface to begin with? Maybe we thought we were staring at an island, but it was really something else.

Of course, even in the scenario that I suggest--that the island was always undercover/underwater for as long as we have known it--one could still postulate an origin story for the island pre-submersion, and maybe part of that memory is embodied in the mythology of the show.

YOU'RE LIKE, WHAT AM I WATCHING?

NOTES I TOOK ON THE EXPOSE' COMMENTARY - 8/24/10

- The writers say that the idea for "Expose''' started the first season of Lost, that they thought about that there would be a character like Nikki.

I find that interesting that they pictured one of the characters being an actor as early as the first season, since it fits in with our thoughts about how many things on the show have a staged quality (thinking back to the costumes that "the others" wore and so many off-hand comments that seem to point to showmanship). Considering how often people turn out to be "not what they seem" on Lost or disguised (Ethan? Man in black?), it fits that at least one of the characters would be an actor or acting out a part.

Apparently at the time of the commentary, the writers said they had broken 20 episodes of Expose'. (Eddie Kitsis mentioned at Bumbershoot that the writers had broken several seasons by the end of season 5.) It sounds like a lot of fun, but I think that the sheer number, plus that they're writing them at the same time as Lost, might support my weird theory that Expose' might actually semi-parallel the Lost series or contain clues to it.

- In The Man from Tallahassee, Locke is watching Expose' in his flashback (we mentioned this in other notes as one of our few Expose' sightings)

- Mr. LaShade (name seem sort of similar to LaFleur?) wears a hat with Lando Calrissian colors.

- Lando Calrissian is one of Adam Horowitz's personal heroes, even if he is fictional.

- Edward Kitsis: "And what's funny is that at one point we wanted to do the whole show, so that this scene you're seeing right now was the last scene of the flashback, and you think you are in this really bad--you know, you think, you're like, what am I watching???? She's a stripper who solves crimes? And then at the end you realize it's a TV show, but...we realized that there was too much ground to cover, so..."

Adam Horowitz: "It just became the jumping off point for the story of Nikki and Paulo and what they were going through."

- Howard L. Zuckerman is described by the writers as a "prolific producer" and the "creator of Expose', exec. producer, showrunner, mastermind" (This guy sounds like he has his fingers in all of the pots--also "mastermind"? Zuckerman is a mad genius?)

- Sawyer provides the audience voice.

- About Nikki and Paulo "meeting" at brunch, they say that the mislead in the scene is that this is their first meeting, when actually they know each other and work together. So if we assume that this situation with Nikki and Paulo point to other characters, I'm guessing these are not the only characters who appear to meet for the first time in front of us, but actually already knew each other previously.

- EK: "I'm fooled that they're in love."
AH: "Eddie didn't read the script."

- They mention the influence of one of our favorite topics to digress about, other movies--in this case film noir. They comment how these two have the perfect plan that seems to work out, but then it goes bad.

- Apparently the matrishka doll scene is a Pulp Fiction shoutout (haven't seen it myself). They say that we don't see until the end what was truly important to the characters.

- The challenge of this episode is that all the regular characters are trying to figure out what is going on.

- They say that they purposefully cast suspicion on Sawyer as a mislead.

- Mention of the background characters as "socks" again.

- On Shannon and Boone - "great to get to write for them again" / "Shannon yelling at Boone is always fun to write." They point out that Nikki/Paulo assume that Shannon and Boone are a couple.

- "We always knew we wanted to be back at the day of the crash." (AWESOME!)

- The return of Leslie Arzt

- mention of the characters' greed overcoming them

- They mention that there were other important points that they wished they could have had Nikki/Paulo visit, but they couldn't in the allotted time.

- On flashing off of Nikki and Paulo who appear to be dead. They "seemingly broke one of our rules which was that you only flashback off of living people" / "which, still is true." I was completely unaware of this "rule" before they pointed it out in commentary, but I still can't get over Naomi apparently being dead and having a flashback. They say that they hope to raise questions "What's going on? Are they changing things now? But also leaving a little clue for astute viewers."

- They point out that Sawyer looks around to see what's buried. Character commentary -- conman, knows a thing or two about human nature, realizes "something was buried."

- Talk about bringing back Ethan

- EK & AH met at the University of Wisconsin, so the sweatshirt was a shoutout "to us, really -- a self-indulgent thing that somehow we got away with" "Go Badgers!"

- "I love that Ethan was watching."

- Re: geography matching "We couldn't have a moment between Hurley and --" "Kate, wasn't it?" "Hurley was already standing somewhere because it had been shot two years earlier." "Hurley was where he was."

- More on Pikki's motivations: "They only care about their greed"

- Love for writing Sawyer, Hurley, and Jin scenes

- Jabonees -- a word Damon Lindelof uses, they thought it would be funny

- Dr. Arzt insight: "just a science teacher" "didn't feel that special" "love that he feels that she's impressed" [with his science knowledge]

- The inhaler gag that was cut and spawned many discussions between myself and the few others who care about the inhaler on the Fuselage

- "These characters found things before everyone" / "too focused on their own petty needs" (their undoing)

- They like having Hurley find the script and talk about the Cobra. AH: "I love Hurley's enthusiasm for Expose'."

- "As always, Sawyer is so smart -- he throws them off by finding the walkie-talkie"

- They mention that Arzt makes the Animal Farm reference, and comment that Arzt believes that no one asked Kate and Jack to be leader (i.e. that's not true, someone did? Jacob?)

- Mention of another cut scene where Boone and Locke appear with shovels and everyone in the scene is hiding something (reminiscent of the idea that everyone has secrets)

- Paulo lies to her, but he does it to protect their relationship, because he feels he will lose her.

- Charlie and Sawyer feel guilty for what they did to Sun. Charlie's dilemma: "He knows what he did, and he knows that is causing a misconception in Sun and everyone else." He is forced into the difficult situation of having to confess.

- "whole world going on in this show other than the hour you see"

- They say that the quote "things don't stay buried on this island" is a mislead, because Pikki stay buried.

- EK: "I think that's the main problem with these two. They keep lying and sneaking around, you know, it's unfortunately corrupted their relationship."

- They talk about the set up for the toilet hiding scene, how the first time you watch it it is a joke, but later you find out it has a serious meaning, too. Helpful phrase used to describe watching the same thing twice with more than one meaning: "other story running concurrently."

- Talk about how this is the first time Ben shows Juliet Jack Shepard, who would become so important in her life.

- EK: "Ben's basically in control, is what you have to understand."

- Comment about how Hurley going to Desmond is basically like if Hurley has exhausted all other avenues of investigation and goes to the psychic. I didn't think about how funny this was until it was pointed out -- hilarious and true.

- "It became more and more about our characters who were there all along."

- Vincent knows that Nikki and Paulo are alive, but the rest of the people just think that he's playing.

- Charlie is trying to clear his conscience and confess before he dies.

- Graveyard -- called "Boone (Boon?) Hill"

- EK confirms that this episode was made for obsessed fans (aw, like us! Thanks guys!)

- "I like Hurley being the tough cop here."

- Discussion of her philosophy about the diamonds and how they have no value on the island / "Has she given up hope of leaving?"

- State that if Nikki/Paulo hadn't found the gum, they might have made it

- Missing Thanksgiving scene "sense of -- people who are really sad, and they're missing their lives, and starting to question what they're doing and -- that's the tragedy we were trying to go for here." (sad)

- Say that the book Sawyer is reading is Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Under_the_Sun). Title-wise, another reference to a Sun! Although this quote is likely a coincidence, I like this description that Wikipedia says that reviewer Maurice Willson Disher gave to the novel: Miss Christie casts the shadow of guilt upon first one and then another with such casual ease that it is difficult for the reader not to be led by the nose. Everybody is well aware that any character most strongly indicated is not a likely criminal; yet this guiding principle is forgotten when Miss Christie persuades you that you are more discerning than you really are. Then she springs her secret like a land-mine.

- Tough Sun is awesome and doesn't let Sawyer get away with anything. (Totally agree)

- Hurley is the one who leads in Jack's absence. Hurley is "always the optimist" and "looking for good things to say even though he thinks they killed each other" for greed

- If you put together the end with what you saw in the beginning that made no sense, it comes together.

- Paulo really loves her.

- Damon Lindelof came up with the idea to bury them alive. "Don't worry.You will not be buried alive because of a spider." Phew! Promise?

- Carlton = monster = Carson = Ted Danson (aw, sweet, little gifts at the end for listening all the way through)

- The writers play a lot of competitive ping-pong, and Damon is quite good. "Write what you know" "Ping-pong, burying people alive." "That's what we do at Lost" Ahaha.

- Maybe we'll find out the makings of the Cobra.

EXPOSE' : IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN SOMETHING?

EXPOSE' RECAP/REWATCH - NOTES 8/24/10

I wrote this up for a friend that I've been emailing,
and I thought I would share it on my blog as well.

Main DVD screen - cute blue van going in CIRCLES in a LOOP that makes me want to watch Tricia Tanaka is Dead.

~

OPENING SCENE:
Girl with curly hair RUNNING - classic LOST moment - DIGGING - scared and looking over her shoulder - BURIES something that WE DON'T SEE - runs off.

The woman in this scene parallels other Lost characters. Nikki appears to be "born to run." An important theme of this episode (and Lost) is about secrets: having them, hiding them, and revealing them. "Digging" implies searching for something or uncovering it (EXPOSING it), but in this case she is doing the opposite and trying to hide something from view. We don't see the diamonds at this juncture--we don't know at this point whether she is hiding a treasure or something bad that she doesn't want other people to know about. The "what" isn't as important as the action. It's a metaphor; she is attempting to conceal something from other people around her (a secret).

~

EXPOSE' STAGE:

Now we see the same woman, wearing a ridiculous outfit--a matching white cap and trenchcoat, with a shiny bikini. She's sizzling up STAGE 3. She is announced as the "PRIDE OF ST. PAUL," and her name is given as CORVETTE. A man with long hair slicked back comes in with a CASE through the door. She notes him while pole dancing and follows him into a room where we see LaShade (from behind with his hat, so he could be anybody).

"Oh no, that's the money for the ORPHANAGE. That means, Mr. LaShade, you're the Cobra."

Mr. L: "Sorry, BABY, it was JUST BUSINESS."

(Corvette accuses him of a LONG CON).

"Pretty and smart--what a shame."

"Razzle-dazzle."

Mr. L. shoots Corvette twice--no, THREE times.

Mr. L. tells his stripper spies Autumn and Crystal that Corvette worked for the Cobra (funny--this is actually not a lie, because he is the Cobra)!

The director yells cut, and Billy Dee is nice. He offers his hand to help up "Corvette," really an actress. The gray bearded man/producer promises Nikki that "You don't need to die. We can bring you back next season." It doesn't matter to him that she was shot three times in the chest! He says that she could be wearing a BULLET PROOF VEST (or bullet proof breast--haha!). She points out she is a GUEST STAR, but promises that she isn't planning on leaving SYDNEY to head to LA. She KISSES him with HANDS on his face.

I think this scene is crucial, which is why I transcribed so much of it in detail. I have a slight obsession with all references to Expose' (the series). I think it parallels and provides clues to our show.

There's a lot to reference in this scene, so I'll just list a few details I noticed. Nikki's character name is "Corvette," which is a type of a car (numerous car references on the show, including multiple bizarre references to cars paralleling characters). She is on "stage 3." Three is a frequently recurring number on the show from the beginning, even though it isn't one of Hurley's numbers. It sounds like "Stage 3" might be a round or level of a game, although I also considered the fact that the episode Expose' is set in LOST's season three. She is referred to as "the pride of St. Paul." St. Paul is a geographical location (St. Paul, Minnesota), but Paul is also a very popular recurring name on Lost--Paulo is but one Paul in a long line of Pauls. Saints are also repeatedly referenced. Pride is interesting word choice--my first thought was "pride comes before a fall," but there's a lot of things the word could be representing. Possibly relevant due to Lost's Catholic references, "pride" is on the list of the Catholic church's seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride). These sins often appear in other literary and cinematic sources as well. (Also, we have mentioned before the Paul McCartney references).

She notices the slick business man with the case of money, which is reminiscent of Cooper's con. In classic LOST-style of "this could be anybody" we are introduced to LaShade from behind. The "orphanage" reference was originally one of the more surprising ones for me, but it highlights the motif of children and babies who have no parents (or are separated from their natural parents). Mr. L. calls her "baby" (repeated endearment) and his excuse for his behavior is it is "just business." Corvette accuses him of a long con and dispatches the man in the suit with her catchphrase "razzle-dazzle." ("Razzle-dazzle" is a comic book-like phrase that brings to mind magic. It also could be a possible reference to the musical CHICAGO ["Razzle-dazzle 'em!"] and/or the "razzle red" from the candies in the Jennifer Garner film 13 Going On 30). We have three referenced again when he shoots Corvette twice (pause) and then a third time. Of course shooting someone in the torso is a repeated way we see characters killed on the show.

I love that LaShade/the Cobra tells his crime-fighting strippers that Corvette worked for the Cobra, because while it's completely misleading it technically isn't a lie.

Cut. Howard Zuckerman and Nikki have a relationship. We see her kissing him passionately. Despite the age difference, we have no definite indication yet that she is conning him when she tells him she loves him and intends to stay with him in Sydney.

~

"Son of a bitch."

Back on the island, we are with familiar characters as we see "team red shirt" pwning "team blue shirt" at Ping Pong. To team red shirt's annoyance, blue shirt wants to keep playing.

"You said best out of FIVE."

"Well, now we're going best out of SEVEN."

Blue shirt is changing the number of "rounds," presumably because he wants to win. Also, possibly these numbers are indicating core characters (Five & Seven).

Nikki interrupts their game by collapsing at their feet. It's easy to misinterpret what she is saying (this clue points us to how much the writers love wordplay and auditory illusions).

Before the LOST tagline, we get: "Who the hell is Nikki?"

As noted before, the core identity of people really is one of THE questions of LOST. Who is the character and what is going on with their identity? Right now what we know about Nikki is that she was an actor who pretended to be a spy-stripper, and that she had something to hide that put her in danger. She also was in a relationship with the producer of a show she was a guest star in.

As for our "familiar" characters, they are buddies but have a friendly competition going on that has multiple rounds--six rounds already completed, but seven telegraphed.

~

We flash to Nikki and "Howie" having breakfast. Paul is serving and playing chef. We are given some insight into how Paul ingratiated himself to Howard. He kept showing up until he was given a job. It's important that Paulo is a chef, because we have multiple allusions to our characters' "true identities" being chefs or cooks, as well as people pretending to be cooks or using restaurants as fronts.

Zuckerman describes Paulo as the "Wolfgang Puck of Brazil." Not being a major fan of food shows or cooking, I had to look up Wolfgang Puck in order to get the most straightforward reference, where I learned both of his connection to LA and television and the interesting tidbit that his father was a butcher. Other possible references: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (pianist and child genius), wolf (the show's animal imagery), and Shakespeare/British folklore (Puck is the mischievous fey spirit popularized in A Midsummer Night's Dream).

In the flashback, Nikki's nails are painted black. Howie offers her jewelry, but not a ring, "not yet." He begins to mention something about his wife--possibly a divorce or separation--before he dies in front of them. In this scene we learn that Zuckerman was married and having an affair with Nikki.

Nikki wishes that Paulo could have figured out a way to poison him "where I didn't have to eat the same food as him." Howie has a key around his neck (paralleled with key-around-neck Jack), and Nikki rips it off his neck and goes to open the safe. Paulo wonders if anyone else knows what they do, but Nikki assures him that "everything in here is way off the books." Paulo wants to smoke, but Nikki is against it because:

1) Ashes are evidence.
2) "We poisoned him. Let's not poison ourselves."

The matrishka dolls have three layers, and inside the innermost layer is the treasure. We don't see what the secret is yet, but this scene is riddled with parallels and clues about the show, the character relationships, and their motivations.

~

Five of our familiar characters congregate around Nikki and speculate what happened. Both Sun and Charlie suspect it might have been something she ate that was bad or poisoned. Charlie, of course, draws our attention to Nikki's non-painted nails and notes that they are dirty. Ping-pong buddies argue about what they heard her say. (Both "power lines" and "plywood" might actually be jokes even if they aren't what she really said, as both wood and electricity are recurring motifs on the show.)

"Who the hell knows what she said? She was 5 seconds from dying, probably seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

Sawyer doesn't seem to have any clue who either of them are, and while Hurley knows both their names he is uncertain of the nature of their relationship, identifying Paulo as her "husband, boyfriend, or whatever."

This scene is interesting because so much of it is hearsay. The characters appear to know almost nothing about Nikki and Paulo, but they are trying to construct a story from the few facts they have and their imaginations. They are projecting their own ideas and concerns on Nikki. This scene in conjunction with Nikki last flash underscores the idea of poison and that their food or water sources might be contaminated--a recurring suggestion on the show. The suggestion that a character is "five seconds from dying" seems to play with Jack's "five seconds" story. Of course, it's important to note that Nikki apparently isn't dead here.

~

The show flashes from Jorge Garcia's face to Zuckerman's photo in the newspaper. Zuckerman is described as an English ex-pat who also wrote Strike Team Alpha and Dr. Kincaid, Esq. His death was attributed to heart failure, not poison, so these two temporarily got away with murder.

Boone and Shannon have their cameo. Shannon accuses Boone of flirting with guys, and Nikki (wearing a flower dress) asks Paulo "Promise me we'll never end up like them." There are relationship assumptions and misunderstandings all over the place. They kiss, hands on face.

~

NIKKI AND PAULO WERE EVERYWHERE -
THE REST OF THEIR FLASHES

Starting with the crash, Nikki and Paulo are inserted into all of the key places and scenes on the island that they could fit into one episode. We learn that Nikki is greedy and her concern is for the treasure. She tells Paulo that there is "no such thing as monsters." Like Shannon, Nikki owns an orange bikini. Nikki uses her wiles on Dr. Arzt, and we find out that she slept with Zuckerman, and that Paulo is jealous of both of these guys. Paulo also trusts Ethan over the science teacher Dr. Arzt!

Paulo and Nikki find the plane and hatch before everyone else. Each one wants to investigate one of them, but they decide that both aren't safe to investigate and wouldn't help them find what they are looking for anyway. Paulo asks Nikki if they would still be together if it wasn't for the money. She dodges his question, so he lies to her when he finds the bag.

Paulo attempts to bury the secret (the lie). When Locke arrives, Paulo "hides" the matrishka doll to his side in the very same way that Hurley hides Dave's loafer in "Dave" (the loafer that may or may not have existed in the first place). Locke warns Paulo that"[t]hings don't stay buried on this island." He doesn't mean things as in actual objects; Locke is being very knowing here, a spiritual guide. He then switches gears and says that the beach is eroding (uh, why?). "Whatever it is you're hiding, be sure you pick a spot that won't wash away."

Paulo (one eye shot -- very film noir) hides the doll in the "?" toilet. We watch with him a very interesting scene with Juliet and Ben, dressed in Others rags.

Ben: "I find out what he's emotionally invested in -- and I exploit it."

Oh, Ben. For some reason, Ben wants Shephard, Ford, and Austen to come to them instead of just snatching them. He says they will get to them through Michael.

Paulo and Nikki meet on the beach. They don't seem too bad. Nikki is sad because she missed Thanksgiving.

"They're going to FIND US. You'll see." Paulo is feeling optimistic about being FOUND. Nikki doesn't understand his OPTIMISM. Paulo assures her that their misfortunes are about POINT OF VIEW.

Unfortunately, Paulo lied about not finding the bag and it falls apart for them. When Nikki confronts Sawyer for the gun the phrase, "Okay, I know you have them" sounds different to me and also like I might have heard it elsewhere in the series.

In her flashback, Nikki paralyzes Paulo. The Medusa spider slows down a heartbeat so that "even a doctor would have a hard time hearing it beat" (theme of faked death that even would fool someone with medical know-how).

Nikki says "son of a bitch"! Paulo apologizes, but Nikki says he is only sorry because he was caught. Paulo says his motivations were so that he wouldn't lose Nikki.

~

Upon a rewatch, I find this scene where Paulo is hoping to be found even more touching and rewarding, but the burying scene has always been a favorite. It's interesting to see how both of these characters parallel in such detail the other characters on the island that we have been following.

~

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF CSI: ISLAND

At Paulo's body, our odd couple argue about whether he knows anything about tracking. While they're squabbling, Jin is the one who finds him. Jin speaks in Korean, and he gets a distracted answer, "Yeah, I know." (!!!!!) Hurley plays audience/detective and wonders at all the weird details in the scene (pants undone, shoe in tree). In the background, Jin unscrews a water bottle. I couldn't tell if Jin meant to drink it or meant to give it Paulo. Whichever it was, Sawyer stops Jin. His explanation is that the water could be poisoned (that's the third person who has suggested poisoned water or food in this episode)

The two guys argue over the "evidence" and start throwing out wild speculations ("a forensic hatch"). Now it's Jin's turn to stop them. "Monster." Does Jin think the monster is responsible? Is Jin warning them that their anger will draw the monster's attention or that them imagining things is dangerous because of the monster?

Hurley claims, "I'm with Jin." Hurley's interpretation of Jin's comment is that the monster is to blame for their deaths. They argue over what Eko meant when he said, "you're next."

Sawyer calls Nikki and Paulo "jambonies" (basically means "pig meat"). Hurley is sensitive about it, states that Sawyer knows their names and should treat them with respect.

In the tent, Sawyer find what appears to be poison while Charlie and Hurley stand by.(Charlie is wearing a grey shirt with a sword on it). They continue to speculate on the catatonic characters, noticing Dr. Arzt's stuff so "they must have been friends." Upon finding the script, Hurley appears to be the only one who is familiar with Expose'. Sawyer is sarcastic, and Charlie has never heard of it.

"No way. Mr. LaShade is the Cobra?"

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"The Cobra's a big bad guy. His identity has been shrouded in mystery for four seasons."

The Cobra is a character who seems to be a villain that people don't know, but actually was working on the inside. He is a figure of mystery for the first four seasons, much like the leader behind the others. However, he was working with the good guys and hiding his villainous identity. Of course, it's worthy to note that he also was wearing Lando Calrissian colors, which suggests he might be someone who would betray them and yet actually come through later on. (We should discuss the implications of some of the reveals of what happened after season four of Expose' some time, as both the show and Edward Kitsis have mentioned plot points from later seasons).

Our con artist suggests with the walkie-talkie that Nikki and Paulo were "working with the others." Charlie and Sawyer exchange a highly significant look here, perhaps something more than just the two of them pretending to kidnap Sun.

The CSI: Island team works with the others theory, which doesn't seem to be holding up all that well due to both their location on the completely other side of the island and a lack of motive. Sawyer dismisses motive and offers a classic distraction, "Who knows why these people do anything?" He has a gun and wants to do a "perimeter sweep"--very military, cop-like. Hurley isn't in that mode and doesn't even know what a perimeter sweep is at this point in time!

Hurley goes to Desmond, who is eating an orange in Locke and/or Miles-style. Desmond is bored with the whole Nikki and Paulo situation. Desmond's "super powers" don't work like Hurley wants, but then Des says that he saw Nikki yelling at Sawyer before she died. I felt like he was being very manipulative in this scene, as if he deliberately was setting Sawyer up. Interesting that he calls Sawyer "your mate" and "your boy Sawyer"--it's slang, but Hugo seems sensitive about the word choice.

Sun defends Sawyer, says he is not a murderer and crossed the island to help Michael. There is a really sweet smile from Dominic Monaghan's character here--he appears to be pleased and amused that Sun is so adamantly defending Sawyer. It kind of reminds me of Matthew Fox's low-key, bemused smile in the background in Dharma times while Hurley and Miles are arguing about time travel.

"Sun. It was me. It was me who took you, not the others. I wasn't myself."

I love how he comes clean here and apologizes--so beautiful. The comment, "I wasn't myself" is very revealing, and it suggests that people on the island can be someone other than themselves. I expected Sun to take it out on Charlie here, but instead she went to speak with Sawyer.

They confront Sawyer, but it turns out his gun isn't even loaded. He compares it to the classic film mob scene coming for the monster -- "the villagers have got themselves some torches."

Sawyer apparently wanted the treasure/secret, but Sawyer gives up the diamonds to Sun. It's like a continuation of the Nikki and Paulo story plays out with the two of them. Sawyer gives up the treasure. It isn't as important to him as being trusted. Then Sun also gets a chance to reject the physical treasure. Sun does, although the reasons she gives are that the diamonds aren't worth anything on the island. Sun slaps him (indicating she has the the character trait of slapping people when she is angry). Is there a moment of forgiveness between these two, or only a stalemate?

Hurley gives an adorable eulogy, and then they bury them alive in a shocking, Edgar Allan Poe-esque ending.

~

All in all, Expose' is an excellent episode that really provides a lot of "easter eggs." In retrospect, I think many of these episodes that confused people initially are actually some of the best episodes in the series.

I mentioned that I thought an important theme of this episode was secrets--the biggest secret of all is one that apparently only Vincent figured out, that Nikki and Paulo were still alive. The clever thing about Expose' is that it exposes secrets in a way that those very reveals are dismissed or ignored. Its "razzle-dazzle" is burying secrets throughout the episode in such an open way that they still remain mysterious and hidden. The episode exposes the secrets of Lost by using the method of hiding the secrets in jokes, background characters, and even in plain sight.