My thoughts exactly. This whole ep was definately a *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* from the writers/creators to the hardcore (aka 'internet') fans.

it was a fun ep, but now let's please get back on track next week.

Like that's really a stretch from what Jack, Locke, Sawyer, Sayid, Kate, Charlie, Hurley, Ana Lucia, Jin, Sun, and Michael have done.

Everyone on this island does this for some reason. It makes no sense, but it is part of the universe. Just like not knowing who Nikki is after 80 days on the island. There's only 40 or so of them. You could easily take the time to meet at least one person every other day. Especially someone as hot as Nikki.

Why not? We already know that no one talks to each other about what they discover on the island. If they did, chances are they'd be off the island already. So Paulo did what Locke, Jack, Sawyer and everyone else does - he keeps it to himself.

I think someone will dig up the bodies to recover the diamonds. BTW, why are all the dead buried at the beach which, as Locke said, will be washed away with the tide eventually?

It was very clever how the writers tied in past moments with Nikki and Paulo. Specifically, the bathroom scences are nice (whether they planned that ahead or just worked it into the previous ones). My guess is that it was planned. Artz was always supposed to appear again in the series and here he is.

It's frustrating that Paulo had so much info that he didn't share. Makes me think that he actually was working with the Others and helped with the kidnapping and info on the Losties.

Aw tell me they're not adapting that stupid fucking British primetime soap for America... what a horrible goddamned idea. Most British shows (especially comedies) are gold compared to the vast majority of ours, so normally I love imports, but let's leave this melrose place bullshit on the opposite side of the Atlantic, please.



Doc

I was under the impression that those two really didn't socialize much with the other Losties... trying to keep their bad secrets secret. It doesn't seem that far fetched that they wouldn't share their finds with the others on the island.

I'm not. You just proved my point. The hatch under the plane was the Swan, the one with Desmond. The one with the big fucking ladder. Locke couldn't blast into it or get it open to save his life... this was AFTER the plane fell and killed Boone in the process. Paulo saw the plane in the tree, walked up to the hatch, brushed the dirt off and opened it. Which obviously happened BEFORE Locke found it. They did not show him recovering the hatch with dirt and if memory serves, Locke had to dig to find it.

- Who recovered it?
- Why was it unlocked?
- Was Desmond out for a jog for supplies?
- If he believed he was alone, why would he cover it with dirt in the first place if he did in fact leave the hatch?
- Wouldn't he know upon returning that someone has uncovered it?

They did not show how Paulo found the Pearl. They just showed him in the bathroom stashing diamonds and eavesdropping on Ben & Juliet.

The sound was definitely the exact same fast-crickety sound that the black smoke has made in every single appearance on the show since the end of season 1. Crawling spiders are not that loud.

No, Paulo found the Pearl. You could clearly see the logo over his shoulder when he went down there.

The Pearl was under the plane. The plane (after it fell) made the dot in the ? on the map. It had the video monitors that they first saw Mikhael on, the same one Ben and Juliet just used to spy on "Shepard".

Paulo found the Pearl station, which was under the plane. But IIRC, he didn't go into it until after the plane had fallen. Then he was in there, and Ben was wondering why the hatch was left open, and Ben said to cover it up with the plane - it simply had to be pushed around onto the hatch.

When Locke and Eko found it, the tail of the plane was covering it.

has this been mentioned yet?

what about when Hurley was reading the EXPOSE script and he said (paraphrased):

"so after four seasons the good guy turned out to be the leader of the bad guys"

was it a red herring, foreshadowing, tongue-in-cheek comment, inside joke for the fans, or just a throwaway line?

discuss.

Are you wack? That was clearly the Pearl station, not the hatch with Desmond. They showed Paulo & Nikki finding the Pearl's hatch right after she tried to get Paulo to climb up in the plane, and Paulo retrieved the diamonds from the bathroom when he went along with Locke.

Good question. Just like Nikki in the opening talking about how her Expose character was obviously dead and had neither a bulletproof vest or bulletproof breasts. I took that to mean at the end of this episode, "Don't expect me to crawl my way out of the ground."

Speaking of, was I the only one that got a huge Kill Bill vibe off this? Between Nikki's monologue about the spider's venom and the burial of living people, I couldn't help but think there was a connection there.

Definitely wouldn't surprise me at all.

You are confusing your hatches. The "huge fucking ladder" at The Swan was broken (if you'll remember, they had to go down the shaft using ropes). Also, the conversation with Ben and Juliet in The Pearl had Ben saying "Did you leave this uncovered? Better cover it after we leave." It's likely that Paulo covered it himself after he left (FWIW, I don't think the plane had fallen off the cliff yet when Paulo was stashing the diamonds; that probably happened later).

Finally, the cover on The Swan had a window on it (remember Locke pounding on it and a giant beam of light shining out?) The doors on The Pearl had no windows, much like the doors we saw Nikki and Paulo open.

Anyway, fun episode. I love this show.

Someone may have mentioned this before but I thought it was just odd that they were inserting these new guys in to old scenes. It just seemed like a George Lucas type of thing.
Showing Nikki and Paulo running around in front of the downed air craft and the exploding engine was just kind of dumb.

I thought seeing Nikki and Paulo in old scenes was the highlight...showing us that they were in fact there, it's just we never really 'saw' them until now... I think that kind of thing was cool, rather than lame.

I disagree. I just watched that scene on ABC.com trying to hear the sound you're talking about. I don't hear the monster sound at all. If anything, the background noise I hear (besides the music) is of frogs or something.

I definitely think this was a huge clue.

Who do you think they are referring to? Locke? Jack? Ben?

May be a clue that ABC has decided Season Four will be the last.

But they, as actors weren't really there. They were back pedaling.

I nominate this episode as the textbook on how to do a 'one-off' in a continuity series. Terrific!

I don't think season 4 will be the last, but in one of those recent web interviews, I remember hearing the writers say

I think Billy Dee was THE Cobra.

And I think Paulo had to be in the Pearl station after the plane fell - Ben and Juliet saw Jack on the monitor, and they didn't get in the Swan station until after Boone had fallen with the plane and died, right?

The smoke monster was DEFINITELY making it's signature noise...when Paulo is becoming paralyzed but is still talking to Niki, it zooms out for a wide shot when the noise starts and she's looking around with a WTF? look on her face. Spiders walking across grass don't make noise.