Classic TV: Nikki and Paulo of the ‘Lost’ episode ‘Expose’

In the tradition of Cousin Oliver on “The Brady Bunch” — unwanted characters added to a hit TV show — we present Nikki and Paulo, the attempt by the producers of “Lost” to add some fleshed-out background characters during the third season of that series.

According to Internet legend, the producers of the show — about airline crash survivors fighting to survive mysterious happenings on a Pacific island — were asked about the mostly nameless other survivors of the crash, usually seen in the background as the major characters play out the storyline of the week.

So they added, gradually at first, Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro). Extremely easy on the eyes — even among the good-looking cast of “Lost” — the couple seemed like a good way to add some depth to the cast.

But even though fans had asked for more about the background characters, turns out most people didn’t like the modern-day equivalent of elevating “third red shirt from the left” on classic “Star Trek” to supporting character status.

Backlash on Internet sites was quick and brutal. Santoro in particular had the misfortune of being dubbed “Takes A Shit Guy” on Ain’t It Cool News in reference to a scene in which he comes out of a bathroom, flushing sounds behind him, in one of the secret science stations discovered on the island.

So the producers made a funny and canny move: They explored, through trademark “Lost” flashbacks, the backstory of Nikki and Paulo … in the same episode in which they killed them off.

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz,” “Expose” — the 14th episode of the third season — revealed that Nikki was an American actress who had been working on a TV show called “Expose” in Australia before boarding the flight. Paulo was the chef of the show’s producer.

The two — led by the ruthless Nikki — poisoned the producer and stole millions of dollars in diamonds before boarding the Oceanic Air flight home.

As the episode revealed, Nikki and Paulo were desperate to find the diamonds, hidden in a suitcase that was dropped somewhere inland when the plane broke up over the island, and had spent much of their weeks and months on the island looking for it.

Since it’s well known there is no honor among thieves, the two ended up meeting a harsh end. In the opening minutes of the episode, Hurley, Sawyer and the others find the two paralyzed — they assume they’re dead — and proceed to bury them. And they do bury them — alive, unknowingly.

How’s that for harsh? If “The Brady Bunch” had Cousin Oliver skateboard in front of a moving van, it still might not have topped this.

I loved “Lost” pretty much right up until the final episode, when it seemed obvious the producers were not going to pay off on many of the nifty teasers and red herrings they had planted through the show.

But I have no complaints about their handling of Nikki and Paulo, and “Expose” is one of the most clever ways of getting rid of unwanted characters I can imagine. Viewed years after the fact, the episode is a time capsule and love letter to the series, bringing back characters who hadn’t been seen since early in the series, “previewing” characters in flashbacks we hadn’t yet met and providing great lines to characters like Sawyer, whose attitude about the two summed up the feelings of many viewers:

“Who the hell are Nikki and Paulo?”

 

Waiting patiently for Sheriff ‘Longmire’

One of my favorite mystery novel series right now is Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series, which follows the sheriff of a sparsely populated Wyoming county as, slowly and sometimes painfully but with dry humor, he recovers from the cancer death of his wife and keeps the peace.

Johnson’s Longmire is a tough guy with a soft heart. He’s no spring chicken — Longmire and his native buddy, Henry Standing Bear, served in Vietnam together — but he’s rough and ready. Longmire is more than capable of dealing with the kooks and criminals that pass through his county.

His vulnerability is his heart. Longmire worries — with good reason — about his smart and independent daughter, Cady, and tries to figure out his relationship with Victoria Moretti, his imported-from-back-east deputy who is as rough-edged as she is tempting.

The books have their fair share of action, often involving the inhospitable Wyoming terrain and a group of surly bad guys. But the Longmire stories won’t be mistaken for “Die Hard.” Longmire can defuse a situation as handily as he can brawl his way out.

In light of the success of cable TV series like “Justified,” A&E announced last year that it would turn Johnson’s Longmire books into a series. “Longmire” debuts June 3.

I hope they get the show right. Robert Taylor seems a little too young to play Longmire, and Lou Diamond Phillips will have to convince me he is Henry Standing Bear. Katee Sackhoff couldn’t be more perfect as Vic Moretti, though. Sackhoff has the perfect mix of sex appeal and hot-headedness to play Vic.

I’ve read all of Johnson’s books and I’m looking forward to the next, “As the Crow Flies.”

And I’m looking forward to — if a little anxious about — the TV version.

‘Hoosiers’ took us all the way to state

When “Hoosiers” came out in 1986, I don’t think most of us here in Indiana appreciated what a singular accomplishment it was.

Sure, writer Angelo Pizzo and director David Anspaugh got plenty of accolades for their homespun story of second chances and redemption. But I was reviewing movies and writing about Indiana’s fledgling status as movie location at the time and while a few movies like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” eight years earlier, had been partially set in Indiana — here in Muncie, as a matter of fact — they weren’t shot here. The state film commission was trying to attract moviemakers here and “Hoosiers” seemed like the state’s entry into the grand and grandiose world of filmmaking.

It was not to be.

So we can appreciate “Hoosiers” for what it is: A touching, old-fashioned story about a former college hoops coach (Gene Hackman) trying for a second chance at a tiny Indiana school. The story is loosely based on the 1954 state championship game between Milan (called Hickory in the movie) and Muncie (with South Bend substituting in the film).

There’s a lot to like about “Hoosiers.” Here are a few of our favorite things:

Yep, that’s Indiana. The movie was filmed in the state and there’s no mistaking its lonely two-lane roads, flat cornfields and historic brick school houses. Not to mention the well-known Hoosier resistance to change.

“I thought everybody in Indiana played basketball.” One of the biggest things the movie gets right is the decades-long Hoosier love of high school basketball. The crowded little school gyms, the caravan of cars to away games, the hoops hanging on the sides of barns and in rural yards. We loved it all, right up the end of class basketball.

The casting. The players, the townspeople, the people at the games. There’s rarely a jarring moment.

Dennis Hopper. As the town drunk who knows basketball but invariably shows up at games and embarrasses his player son, Hooper was rightly nominated for an Oscar. It’s a comeback role for him.

Gene Hackman. It’s easy to forget just how good Hackman — who is apparently retired from acting these days — is, how easy he makes acting look. He’s perfect as the single-minded, not especially cuddly coach who doesn’t take any grief from players or parents.

And finally, the tape measure scene. When the players get to the state finals at Butler in Indianapolis, Hackman has them measure the distance to the rim. It’s the same as back in their gym in Hickory, he notes. The players laugh, releasing tension, but they’ve also been reminded that it’s just a game and it’s the same game they’ve been playing, every Friday night, in gyms big and small.