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.

IF I DON'T SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE...

"If I don't see you on the other side, I won't blame you."
~"Follow the Leader," by Paul Zbyszewski and Elizabeth Sarnoff

The more I ponder the end of Lost, the more I believe it was a cover up. Think about the Dharma Initiative content and Room 23. Consider that so many characters have amnesia or confused memories on Lost. Watch the extra content even up to season six--"Mysteries of the Universe," Paul's search for the truth that ends in zombie Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse & Paul Scheer all happy with no follow through on the storyline about threats from above, and even the bizarre behavior of fans in the wake of the finale. It's actually embarrassing that we're accepting the Lost ending that we received as a straightforward ending, because it seems to me like the puzzle doesn't fit together in a cohesive way. We can make it work from a metaphorical standpoint, but all of the details say that something else is going on.

If we give up, if we accept this ending without questioning it, we're doing the very story that we love a disservice. I enjoyed "The End." I think it was brilliant writing, maybe because the Lost writers just can't help but tell a good yarn no matter how cheesy they try to be. However, I also think that the writers want us to question what happened to their original story--you know, that character driven, mysterious, sexy, weird storyline we first met. This post isn't motivated because I'm some bitter shipper who thinks seeing Evangeline Lilly and Matthew Fox snuggling up as the final romantic pairing was bizarre (although quite frankly, much as I love all of the characters, I did find that weird because there were actually only a handful of moments when I believed that the two of them had any romantic chemistry, and most of them existed in the earlier seasons of Lost or sideways in the flash-world). It also isn't motivated because I'm anti-faith. On the contrary, I have a lot of faith. I still believe in this show despite the (apparent) lack of follow through on all the clues that they have been carefully seeding into the show for years.

In the first season, the first episode we see is Pilot, Part 1, and it is followed by Pilot, Part 2. Doesn't that mean that there should be an episode called The End, Part 2? I'm not talking about the epilogue that has apparently been released, I'm talking about another ending.

Damon Lindelof states in commentary in season five:
"This--this is the other theme of the show. Take the science fiction element out of it, and I think what we're really going for here is the idea of free will, of giving our characters choices. The idea that if our character, if our characters believe they can't change the future, and, and--will they, will they even try? And I think Faraday is very convincing here, so that, for the next three years, Sawyer doesn't try--he knows, from the moment that he sees, um, Kate and Claire giving birth to Aaron, um, he doesn't try to intervene. So he, he basically buys it. It isn't until Faraday returns and basically says, "I think I might have been wrong about this--um, let's actually try to change the future in a very profound and large way by detonating a hydrogen bomb, that, that people start to sort of change their tune--but we always think it's interesting to let the characters decide, "Oh my god, if I went back to the past, and I was told I couldn't change it, would that affect my--even if it were a lie--would it affect my decision to not try anything?"

Do you understand? It is possible that we can change things. This time people can end up together that won't make us squirm in our seats or wonder what this ending has to do with the first couple of seasons. This time the villains can be redeemed. This time we can even out that good vs. bad balance so that good wins in the final round.

Also, as we saw in these last few seasons, the rules are arbitrary. Some guy made them up; another guy changes them. There's no rule that says that we can't collaborate. There's no rule that says we can't find each other and agree together what would be the best path. Are you looking for me? My life has plenty of clues, and I will share them with you if you want to share what you have discovered with me.

You can email me: maskeddevera @ gmail dot com .

KEEP LISTENING TO MY VOICE

"Keep listening to my voice. Think about what you see."
~"Maternity Leave," by Dawn Lambertson Kelly & Matt Ragghianti

Lost is full of clues that very few fans seem to want to discuss in detail (tip of my hat to KarensLostNotes, aohora, game theorists, and some of my favorite theorists over at the Fuselage--you know who you are--who prove the very welcome exception to this rule). The fact that eye color, outfits, and roles change has been mentioned in many places online, but often those of us who want to talk about this aspect of the show are trumpeted into silence by other fans. Not only are many of us told that what we see or hear is irrelevant, we're often told that we are hallucinating or imagining things that aren't even there. While apophenia is highly encouraged by the nature of Lost, it doesn't mean we should ignore the hundreds--perhaps thousands--of clues carefully placed throughout the show. As I sit and look at a screen capture of characters with eyes changing color or hear the voices of our actors change drastically, it seems to me that if we are all hallucinating, then we are all hallucinating together. Assuming we're looking and listening closely, it is only in our interpretation of that dream that we differ.

I've always been hesitant to stand behind one theory of the show and say: "This is my theory." It's just not how my brain works with this show. I have always seen possibilities and tried to keep my mind and heart open for whatever the writers had in mind for us. I've championed many theories over my time as a Lost fan as probable, interesting, creative, exciting, and attentive to details--but honestly, for me this show has so many possibilities that I feel like I'm always skating from one theory to the next. Even within one episode, I switch "theory glasses" constantly. Are we imagining into the show things that aren't even there? Is it possible that once we imagine them, some version of our theory is incorporated into the gestalt, even if it wasn't present in the story before we imagined it?

Several years ago I laughed when an online friend suggested that there should be a movie or television show made about my life. I assured them that while I'm a decent human being, I would be a boring character and my life had little dramatic potential. Yet, in the end, we are all convinced. The crux of the matter is that we are part of this show. I knew the show was in some way about the people who made it, but it took me years to realize that it was also about us. This theory wasn't my idea originally; I've heard many people on The Fuselage hint that the show is about us--but I didn't realize how integral we have become to the show until recently. We are the variables in the equations. What we imagine about the show has some power, and I would say even more so what we decide to do in our lives has power (other than the obvious fact that the choices we make in our lives affect our lives). Don't like that our characters never talk to each other? Talk to your friends and relatives. Want to know what happens? Take a good look around you. Listen and watch. Care for the people around you that you love. Practice compassion for those who you don't understand and try to put yourself in their shoes. Keep a healthy sense of humor--laugh at the absurd. Speak up for what you believe in. If you have a bad day, start over again--yesterday matters, but you have another chance to have a better day today.

As for the show, turn up the sound and listen to our characters' voices. Really listen. They change. Listen for sections of dialog that sound different--and listen for phrases that sound familiar. As a hardcore Lost fan, as the show became a part of your life, it is possible that--whether or not you were aware of it--part of your life became a part of it. All of us are the characters. I am you, and you are me, and both of us might be part of someone we have seen on our TV. We are all in this together.

"Hey David, it's dad. I'm uh...I'm in Sydney, Australia. Something...something happened..and I...I just needed to hear your voice. Um...I guess I'll try again later. I love you."
~"Lighthouse," written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse

The voice changes and blurs are everywhere. Have you heard a voice that didn't match a face? Have you heard a version of yourself?