Nikki and Paulo
Encyclopedia
Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are fictional characters on the ABC
drama television series Lost
, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific. American actress Kiele Sanchez
and Brazil
ian actor Rodrigo Santoro
play the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
The couple is introduced early in the third season. The producers of the show were often asked what the rest of the plane-crash survivors were doing because the show only focuses on approximately fifteen of the survivors, and the characters of Nikki and Paulo were created in response. Reaction to the characters was generally negative because of their abrupt introduction onto the show. Lost' s show runner
Damon Lindelof
even acknowledged that the couple is "universally despised" by fans. As a result of this, the couple was killed off later in the same season. Both Nikki and Paulo are buried alive when they are thought to be dead by Hurley and Sawyer.
, Paulo is a con artist working with his American girlfriend Nikki. Paulo works as a chef for a wealthy television executive in Sydney. Nikki guest stars on the executive's show and also seduces him, which makes Paulo uncomfortable. Paulo murders the executive by poisoning his food, allowing him and Nikki to steal his bag of diamonds, which are worth $8 million. Three days later, on September 22, 2004, Nikki and Paulo board Oceanic Flight 815 to return to Nikki's home in Los Angeles, USA.
They lose the diamonds in the plane crash and spend much of their time on the island searching for them. Paulo suspects that they are the only reason for their relationship, and thus does not tell Nikki when he finds them on their thirty-third day after the crash. One day while looking in the jungle, they come across the DHARMA Initiative's Pearl Station, a scientific research station built in the early 1980s. Nikki is uninterested, but Paulo later returns by himself on his forty-ninth day on the island, hiding the diamonds in the toilet. While in the washroom, Paulo overhears two of the mysterious and dangerous island inhabitants known as the Others speak of capturing some of Paulo's fellow survivors; however, he keeps this information to himself.
On their seventy-second day on the island, Nikki and Paulo join Locke
when he ventures back to the Pearl Station, hoping to communicate with the Others. Paulo returns to the toilet to retrieve the diamonds, storing them in his underwear thereafter. As they leave, the group witnesses Mr. Eko
's death and burial not far from The Pearl. Eighty-one days after the crash, Nikki finds out about Paulo hiding the diamonds from her. Furious, she releases a venomous spider on him that causes Paulo to be paralyzed for the next eight hours. As he is entering the state of paralysis, Paulo admits that he only kept the diamonds from her because he thought that she would leave him after she got them. To Nikki's dismay, the death of the venomous spider only attracted more spiders which bite Nikki, so she is also temporarily paralyzed. The pair are mistaken for dead after being discovered by the survivors. Nikki and Paulo are then buried alive by James "Sawyer" Ford and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes after tossing the diamonds in the grave with them as they consider them to be of no value on the island. Much later, Miles Straume
− a psychic who can read peoples thoughts from their time of death − indicates that he knows about the diamonds.
Paulo was written to be unlikable, with the hope that he would redeem himself when his backstory was revealed in his final episode. Paulo either resents or is indifferent toward the often heroic actions of some of the survivors, spending much of his time golfing. He complains to Nikki about not being included; however, he does little to help out around the camp and does not try to improve his status in the survivors' hierarchy. When he does get chances to participate in treks, for example, when Hurley finds a car, Paulo is uninterested and discourages Nikki from joining Hurley on his adventure. Nikki tries to participate, tending to a wounded Mr. Eko and volunteering to go with Locke to the Pearl station, much to the surprise of Paulo. Paulo accompanies her, and he exhibits a constant sarcastic behavior in the Pearl.
Nikki is manipulative of Paulo and appears to care more about the diamonds than her relationship. After the crash, Paulo becomes suspicious that Nikki is just using him to get the diamonds. The first thing that she asks him after the crash is the whereabouts of the diamonds, and avoids answering Paulo when he asks if they would still be together if she did not need him to help find the diamonds. Paulo does what Nikki tells him to because of his fear of losing her, which results in their deaths.
would emerge and receive an on-island flashback episode to help answer the question, "What the hell is going on with the other 35 people who nothing ever happens to?" The first of those was Leslie Arzt, who would give background characters speaking roles, only for him to explode a few episodes later. It was originally conceived that only a woman, who was previously an actress, would be introduced into the main storyline, but the idea later changed to include her boyfriend, as well. Nikki and Paulo were also originally set "to have anchored a winking arc of stories". However the writers instead decided to tell their story in one episode and quickly remove the characters, due to complaints about the characters and the third season's decline in viewership. It also became a running gag that Sawyer did not know who Nikki and Paulo were, calling them "Nina" and "Pablo" and asking "who the hell [they were]". Lindelof later stated that "We had the feeling with Nikki and Paulo that it wasn't right about a month before the fans started reacting. We were already starting to think, 'Maybe our instinct here has been wrong.
Nikki and Paulo's original introduction onto the show was deleted for time from the final cut of the episode, "Further Instructions
". They were supposed to be accidentally found by Claire Littleton
in Jack's tent having sex in the middle of the episode. They were instead introduced at the end of the episode when Locke makes a speech.
Half-French, half-Puerto Rican
Kiele Michelle Sanchez portrayed Nikki in six episodes of the third season of Lost. She had trouble filming her burial scene due to her claustrophobia
. Rodrigo Santoro
, who has been called "the Brazilian Tom Cruise
" and "the Brazilian Russell Crowe
", was cast in his first major American television role as Paulo on Lost. Appearing in a total of seven episodes, Santoro was reportedly paid "between $2634 and $6427 a week". Lindelof called Santoro "talented" and "perfect for Lost because he's a face that the American audience is not familiar with", despite being an award-winning actor in his home country of Brazil. A similar reason was given for casting actress Yunjin Kim, "the Korean
Julia Roberts
", in the role of Sun Kwon. Part of the reason that Santoro was cast over other actors was because of his attractive physique, however the writers said that they were not interested in writing for his character with that in mind, nor did he want them to. Santoro has stated that he enjoyed working with Sanchez and hopes to return to work on Lost.
journalist gave Paulo the nickname, "Paulo Poops-a-Lot", referencing scenes from the episodes, "The Cost of Living
" and "Enter 77
". America Online' s TV Squad criticized the writing for the characters, and the characters were called "incredibly annoying" by Maclean's
magazine. Television Without Pity called Paulo "walking collateral damage". TV Guide
wrote that they were "too darn perfect-looking to be believable as humans".
When rumors circulated the Internet and were mentioned in ABC commercials that characters were going to die, some viewers hoped for a "double murder" of Nikki and Paulo and rejoiced when their wish was granted. Over three months before the episode aired on television, Santoro stated in an interview with Brazilian Rolling Stone magazine that his character would die in the middle of the third season. It was also announced that Sanchez had signed on to film a fall 2007 pilot for another ABC show, Football Wives
, and thus, it would have been unlikely for her to continue to act as a "murderous femme fatale".
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
drama television series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific. American actress Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Michelle Sanchez is an American actress who stars in the A&E Network drama The Glades. Previously she starred as the second-eldest Sorelli sister, Anne, a therapist in her mid-twenties, in The WB's comedic ensemble drama, Related. She was cast as a co-star in the third season of the ABC...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian actor Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor.-Life and career:Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He is of half Brazilian and half Italian descent. In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo...
play the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
The couple is introduced early in the third season. The producers of the show were often asked what the rest of the plane-crash survivors were doing because the show only focuses on approximately fifteen of the survivors, and the characters of Nikki and Paulo were created in response. Reaction to the characters was generally negative because of their abrupt introduction onto the show. Lost
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
even acknowledged that the couple is "universally despised" by fans. As a result of this, the couple was killed off later in the same season. Both Nikki and Paulo are buried alive when they are thought to be dead by Hurley and Sawyer.
Appearances
Originating from BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Paulo is a con artist working with his American girlfriend Nikki. Paulo works as a chef for a wealthy television executive in Sydney. Nikki guest stars on the executive's show and also seduces him, which makes Paulo uncomfortable. Paulo murders the executive by poisoning his food, allowing him and Nikki to steal his bag of diamonds, which are worth $8 million. Three days later, on September 22, 2004, Nikki and Paulo board Oceanic Flight 815 to return to Nikki's home in Los Angeles, USA.
On their seventy-second day on the island, Nikki and Paulo join Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
when he ventures back to the Pearl Station, hoping to communicate with the Others. Paulo returns to the toilet to retrieve the diamonds, storing them in his underwear thereafter. As they leave, the group witnesses Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko Tunde is a fictional character, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the plane's tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas...
's death and burial not far from The Pearl. Eighty-one days after the crash, Nikki finds out about Paulo hiding the diamonds from her. Furious, she releases a venomous spider on him that causes Paulo to be paralyzed for the next eight hours. As he is entering the state of paralysis, Paulo admits that he only kept the diamonds from her because he thought that she would leave him after she got them. To Nikki's dismay, the death of the venomous spider only attracted more spiders which bite Nikki, so she is also temporarily paralyzed. The pair are mistaken for dead after being discovered by the survivors. Nikki and Paulo are then buried alive by James "Sawyer" Ford and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes after tossing the diamonds in the grave with them as they consider them to be of no value on the island. Much later, Miles Straume
Miles Straume
Miles Straume is a fictional character played by Ken Leung on the ABC television series Lost. Miles is introduced early in the fourth season as a hotheaded and sarcastic medium as a crew member aboard the freighter called the Kahana that is offshore the island where most of Lost takes place...
− a psychic who can read peoples thoughts from their time of death − indicates that he knows about the diamonds.
Characteristics
Nikki is manipulative of Paulo and appears to care more about the diamonds than her relationship. After the crash, Paulo becomes suspicious that Nikki is just using him to get the diamonds. The first thing that she asks him after the crash is the whereabouts of the diamonds, and avoids answering Paulo when he asks if they would still be together if she did not need him to help find the diamonds. Paulo does what Nikki tells him to because of his fear of losing her, which results in their deaths.
Creation
At the end of the first season, the writers had the idea that one of the background survivorsExtra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
would emerge and receive an on-island flashback episode to help answer the question, "What the hell is going on with the other 35 people who nothing ever happens to?" The first of those was Leslie Arzt, who would give background characters speaking roles, only for him to explode a few episodes later. It was originally conceived that only a woman, who was previously an actress, would be introduced into the main storyline, but the idea later changed to include her boyfriend, as well. Nikki and Paulo were also originally set "to have anchored a winking arc of stories". However the writers instead decided to tell their story in one episode and quickly remove the characters, due to complaints about the characters and the third season's decline in viewership. It also became a running gag that Sawyer did not know who Nikki and Paulo were, calling them "Nina" and "Pablo" and asking "who the hell [they were]". Lindelof later stated that "We had the feeling with Nikki and Paulo that it wasn't right about a month before the fans started reacting. We were already starting to think, 'Maybe our instinct here has been wrong.
Nikki and Paulo's original introduction onto the show was deleted for time from the final cut of the episode, "Further Instructions
Further Instructions
"Further Instructions" is the third episode of the third season of Lost. It aired on October 18, 2006, making it the 52nd episode of the series. The episode was written by Carlton Cuse and Elizabeth Sarnoff and directed by Stephen Williams...
". They were supposed to be accidentally found by Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
in Jack's tent having sex in the middle of the episode. They were instead introduced at the end of the episode when Locke makes a speech.
Casting
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
Kiele Michelle Sanchez portrayed Nikki in six episodes of the third season of Lost. She had trouble filming her burial scene due to her claustrophobia
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
. Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor.-Life and career:Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He is of half Brazilian and half Italian descent. In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo...
, who has been called "the Brazilian Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
" and "the Brazilian Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
", was cast in his first major American television role as Paulo on Lost. Appearing in a total of seven episodes, Santoro was reportedly paid "between $2634 and $6427 a week". Lindelof called Santoro "talented" and "perfect for Lost because he's a face that the American audience is not familiar with", despite being an award-winning actor in his home country of Brazil. A similar reason was given for casting actress Yunjin Kim, "the Korean
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
", in the role of Sun Kwon. Part of the reason that Santoro was cast over other actors was because of his attractive physique, however the writers said that they were not interested in writing for his character with that in mind, nor did he want them to. Santoro has stated that he enjoyed working with Sanchez and hopes to return to work on Lost.
Reception
Reaction to the "devious, but doomed" characters was more negative than for other Lost characters. One Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
journalist gave Paulo the nickname, "Paulo Poops-a-Lot", referencing scenes from the episodes, "The Cost of Living
The Cost of Living (Lost)
"The Cost of Living" is the 5th episode of the third season of Lost, and the 54th episode overall. It aired on November 1, 2006 in the US and on December 17, 2006 in the UK. The episode was written by Monica Breen and Alison Schapker and directed by Jack Bender. The character of Mr...
" and "Enter 77
Enter 77
"Enter 77" is the 11th episode of the third season of Lost, and the 60th episode overall. It was aired on March 7, 2007. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Stephen Williams. The character of Sayid Jarrah was featured in the episode's...
". America Online
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine. Television Without Pity called Paulo "walking collateral damage". TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
wrote that they were "too darn perfect-looking to be believable as humans".
When rumors circulated the Internet and were mentioned in ABC commercials that characters were going to die, some viewers hoped for a "double murder" of Nikki and Paulo and rejoiced when their wish was granted. Over three months before the episode aired on television, Santoro stated in an interview with Brazilian Rolling Stone magazine that his character would die in the middle of the third season. It was also announced that Sanchez had signed on to film a fall 2007 pilot for another ABC show, Football Wives
Football Wives
Football Wives is a television pilot developed for U.S. television network ABC, which would have aired in the fall 2007 season had it been picked up for a series order...
, and thus, it would have been unlikely for her to continue to act as a "murderous femme fatale".