Nikki Fernandez and Paulo ( ) are fictional characters on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the adventures of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific.Fordis, Jeff, (January 22, 2007) "ABC Studios Lost Show Description Lead Press Release Page," ABC Medianet. Retrieved on April 8, 2007. American actress Kiele Sanchez and Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro play two survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.Fordis, Jeff, (February 16, 2007) "ABC Television Studio Lost March 7, 2007 Episode "Enter 77" Entertainment Press Release," ABC Medianet. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.
The couple is introduced early in the third season."Further Instructions." Lost, ABC. October 18, 2006. Episode 3, season 3. 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.White, Cindy, (January 22, 2007) "Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse Promise That They Have Found the Plot Twists That Will Bring Lost's Viewers Back," Sci Fi. Retrieved on April 1, 2007. Reaction to the characters was generally negative,Catlin, Roger, (January 30, 2007) "Nikki and Paulo Rising ," Hartfort Courant. Retrieved on April 1, 2007. with showrunner Damon Lindelof acknowledging the couple were "universally despised" by fans.Jensen, Jeff & Snierson, Dan, (February 8, 2007) "'Lost' and Found," Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on April 3, 2007. As a result of this, the couple was killed off later in the same season when they are accidentally buried alive.
Appearances Originally from Brazil, Paulo is a con artist working with his American girlfriend Nikki, an actress. 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."Exposé." Lost, ABC. March 28, 2007. Episode 14, season 3.
They lose the diamonds in the plane crash and spend much of their time on the island searching for them. Paulo suspects 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."The Cost of Living." Lost, ABC. November 1, 2006. Episode 5, season 3. 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."I Do." Lost, ABC. November 8, 2006. Episode 6, season 3. 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 he only kept the diamonds from her because he thought 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 people's thoughts from their time of death − indicates he knows about the diamonds."Dr. Linus." Lost, ABC. March 28, 2007. Episode 7, season 6.
Characteristics Paulo was written to be unlikable, with the hope he would redeem himself when his backstory was revealed in his final episode.Goldman, Eric, (January 16, 2007), "How Will Lost End?," IGN. Retrieved on April 4, 2007. Paulo either resents or is indifferent toward the often heroic actions of some of the survivors, spending much of his time golfing."Every Man for Himself." Lost, ABC. October 25, 2006. Episode 4, season 3. 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."Tricia Tanaka is Dead." Lost, ABC. February 28, 2007. Episode 10, season 3. 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 constant sarcastic behavior in the Pearl.Star magazine, (March 26, 2007) "The Hunk," DarkUFO. Retrieved on April 13, 2007.
Nikki is manipulative of Paulo and appears to care more about the diamonds than her relationship. After the crash, Paulo becomes suspicious Nikki is just using him to get the diamonds. The first thing 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 one of the background survivors 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, only for him to explode a few episodes later."Exodus (Part 2)." Lost, ABC. May 24, 2005. Episode 24, season 1. The writers originally conceived of 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.Cuse, Carlton & Kitsis, Eddie & Horowitz, Adam, (March 30, 2007), "Official LOST Podcast March 30, 2007 ," ABC. Retrieved on April 4, 2007. Nikki and Paulo were also originally set "to have anchored a winking arc of stories".Jensen, Jeff & Armstrong, Jennifer, (April 13, 2007) "'Lost' in Transition," Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on April 13, 2007. 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.Nielsen Media Research & ABC Medianet, (April 13, 2007) "ABC's LOST Ratings at a Glance," Yet Another Useless Website. Retrieved on April 13, 2007. 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]"."Enter 77." Lost, ABC. March 7, 2007. Episode 11, season 3. Lindelof later stated, "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.Littleton, Cynthia, (October 12, 2007) "Lost: The Weight of the Wait," Variety. Retrieved on October 13, 2007.
Nikki and Paulo's original introduction onto the show was deleted for time from the final cut of the episode "Further Instructions".Veitch, Kristin, (October 19, 2006) "," E! Online. Retrieved on June 15, 2007. They were supposed to be accidentally found by Claire Littleton in Jack's tent having sex in the middle of the episode.Fordis, Jeff, (October 2, 2006) "ABC Television Network Lost October 18, 2006 Episode "Further Instructions" Entertainment Press Release," ABC Medianet. Retrieved on June 14, 2007. They were instead introduced at the end of the episode when Locke makes a speech.
Casting
Half-French, half-Puerto RicanFactor, David, (October 29, 2006) "," Maxim magazine. Retrieved on June 14, 2007. Kiele Michelle SanchezUGO visitors, (2006) "Kiele Sanchez Picture, Profile, Gossip, and News ," Celebrity Wonder. Retrieved on June 15, 2007. portrayed Nikki in six episodes of the third season of Lost. She had trouble filming her burial scene due to her claustrophobia. Rodrigo Santoro,M., Luciana, (2006) "Information ," Rodrigo Santoro Fan. Retrieved on June 15, 2007. who has been called "the Brazilian Tom Cruise" and "the Brazilian Russell Crowe",Ausiello, Michael, (July 25, 2006), "Lost Snags "Brazilian Tom Cruise"," TV Guide. Retrieved on April 3, 2007. was cast in his first major American television role as Paulo on Lost.Fordis, Jeff (July 25, 2006) "Lost Gets a New Mystery Man," ComingSoon. Retrieved on June 30, 2007. Appearing in a total of seven episodes, Santoro was reportedly paid "between $2634 and $6427 a week".Boscov, Isabela, (March 28, 2007), "He's Almost There ," Veja magazine. Retrieved on April 3, 2007. Lindelof called Santoro "talented"Malcolm, Shawna, (April 2, 2007) "Lost Fans Dramatically Divided Over a Double Death," TV Guide. Retrieved on May 11, 2007. 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. Part of the reason Santoro was cast over other actors was because his physique was deemed attractive; 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 he enjoyed working with Sanchez and hoped to return to work on Lost.Veitch, Kristin, (June 4, 2007) "Spoiler Chat: Are House's Minions Gone for Good? Will Hiro Get Some Lovin'? Find Out!," E! Online. Retrieved on January 30, 2015.
Reception Reaction to the "devious, but doomed" characters was more negative than for other Lost characters.Dahl, Oscar, (November 6, 2006) "Hate the New Lost Characters? Prepare to Get Your Wish!," BuddyTV. Retrieved on October 7, 2007. One Entertainment Weekly journalist gave Paulo the nickname "Paulo Poops-a-Lot", referencing scenes from the episodes "The Cost of Living" and "Enter 77".Jensen, Doc, (March 27, 2007) "A "Lost" Cause?," Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on April 1, 2007 America Online's TV Squad criticized the writing for the characters,Carreau, Isabelle, (March 22, 2007) "Rodrigo Santoro: In the Limelight," AOL TV Squad. Retrieved on April 2, 2007. and the characters were called "incredibly annoying" by Maclean's magazine.Weinman, James J. (July 9, 2007) "Another One Bites the Dust," Maclean's. Retrieved on July 1, 2007. Television Without Pity called Paulo "walking collateral damage".Bates, Lulu, (March 13, 2007) "Locke and Load Recap," Television Without Pity. Retrieved on April 8, 2007. TV Guide wrote they were "too darn perfect-looking to be believable as humans".Weiss, Sabrina Rojas, (March 29, 2007) "Razzle-Dazzle!," TV Guide. Retrieved on May 11, 2007. Entertainment Weekly included them in their list of the "21 Most Annoying TV Characters Ever", commenting "no one could have predicted how grating the pair's whiny inanity would become."