Episode Blog - Expose

(mumble) Damn E ecoute thingy, stupid computers... (mumble).

Oh, hello, and welcome to another fun-packed blog. This week its Expose (hereby without the French character at the end says I). Ah, Nikki and Paulo flashback, finally, but before reviewing I wanted to share some info I read online. In an interview, Mr Lindelof was saying about the characters, and how fans didn't like them. He said that instead of dropping them like they never happened ala Cougar from 24 Season 2 (I watch the show but who do they mean?), they wanted to write the characters out properly and give them a story to tell. So looks like no quick unburial after all, sigh. But I actually take issue with what they said. I mean, I didn't like how Paulo and Nikki just appeared, but I never called for their immediate deaths or removal from the show. And I actually thought their disappearance was reasonably explained, as you wouldn't be that sociable if you were sitting on an 8 million dollar secret, until you realize rescue isn't coming.

Anyway to the episode itself, and before I begin I warn that I'm doing this week's blog off memory and cue dependent recall from the Expose Lostpedia article, cause I can't watch the ep making usual notes this week. But anywho, my first point of call is the flashback. The on-island ones I obviously enjoyed immensely, particularly scenes I'll shortly get to, but the off-island ones were pretty usual dross. What was with that Corvette razzle-dazzle thing?! I liked the airport scene though with Shannon and Boone. And before you think it, I disagree that this was the scene outing Boone as gay/bi. For those of you still unawares of this, apparently the writers hinted someone would be revealed as gay in this episode. After Shannon's comment to Boone about flirting with random guys, people naturally assumed it was Boone. However, I think its a bit of a step too far myself, as we know he got it together with Shannon, as well as had a girlfriend named Nicole. Bit of a long-short unfounded theory I think just yet, Shannon was just being insultful Shannon.

Moving on, that matryoshka doll idea I thought was very intelligent, with the numerous layers similar to the episode itself. Also was quite nostalgic as I remember my sister owning one as a kid, I can remember it perfectly, even the strong wood smell - weird when memories are like that huh. I digress, I loved that redone beach scene. I was intrigued though why Paulo was staring at the sky like that. It seemed really deliberate, almost like he had seen what caused the plane to crash or something - it couldn't have just been a random fear reaction in my opinion. I also liked the flashbacks and how Arzt was given more of a role - though the whole insect lab thing was a bit too convenient for my liking (wouldn't they have all died in those jars by now?). The explanation of how Shannon knew Jack had a case of guns was also quite clever, explaining a minor continuity error from Season 1.

Now to the plane thing, I quite liked that Nikki and Paulo were actually the first to see it, but it was a bit dumb that it was supposedly days walk away for Eko and Locke, yet no sweat for Paulo and Nikki. The comment by Ben as well "Tell Tom to cover the hatch with the plane" or words to that effect, why did the writers leave that useless line in, as we know Boone will knock it down in reality, it seemed like a silly deliberate line. And why had Tom been down there days earlier according to Juliet - to also watch Jack I assume. I liked how that was why they studied the survivors, but a couple of question marks remained - like why didn't they still take them in The Hunting Party when the opportunity was there. Or why did Ben and Juliet go down there for like a minute (were they just passing and saw the open door, so decided to quickly check the monitor? If so, where were they headed?).

Another scary that episode was Ethan's return. How creepy was his comment of going out with the pair to look for clothes. Does this imply either of the two were worthy of being on the list, or was Ethan poking for an opportunity to slyly quiz them to see if they were potential for such.

Realtime events now, and Sun finding out the truth I thought was pretty good, and made sense as they all did think it was the Others, frightening them when in fact they seem to have little interest in crossing the line against the Losties. Sun joined the vastly growing "We hit Sawyer" list, however, which can only increase in its membership as the season progresses. In addition, gotta love that dramatic device of what Nikki said - I already knew about the paralysis thing, but my sis didn't, and she really enjoyed the final twist and figuring out what she'd said. It was all very whodunit, which being a closet Jessica Fletcher fan, I thoroughly enjoyed. I must admit though, I had initially played down the premise - a paralysis spider - seemed a bit tacky for Lost, but in actuality I think it played out pretty OK.

A final thought? I've seen next week's trailer - roll on the cat fight!

P.S. I thought the new species comment by Arzt was VERY relevant, but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet thinking there was a new evolutionary branch on the Island, explaining the four-toed statue lol.