Nikki and Paulo
Template:Infobox Lost Character-1 Paulo is a fictional character on the third season of the ABC television series Lost played by Rodrigo Santoro. A survivor of Oceanic Flight 815, he and Nikki Fernandez were romantically involved.
Biography
Prior to the crash
Template:Spoiler Paulo is a con artist working with his girlfriend Nikki. He works as a chef for her boss, Mr. Zukerman. He poisons his food in order for him and Nikki to steal a bag of diamonds, worth $8 million, from his safe. At the airport, just before the crash, he and Nikki drink champagne in the airport restaurant. They are interrupted by Shannon and Boone, whose constant arguing annoys Nikki.
After the crash
During the timeline of "Pilot, Part 1", Paulo is seen staring into the sky shortly after the crash. Nikki finds him and asks him where the bag of diamonds were. Later, during the timeline of "White Rabbit", Paulo argues with Nikki, but are greeted by Ethan, who suggests looking in the jungle for their lost possessions. Shortly after Boone is confronted, Jack arrives and tells everyone about the caves. Much later, before the events of "Deus Ex Machina", Paulo sees Nikki speaking with Arzt. She show him the map that he drew for her. While they argue in the jungle, they come across the plane balanced atop the cliff. As they continue, they eventually discover the Pearl station. After Nikki storms off in disagreement, Paulo decides to descend into the hatch.
During the timeline of "Whatever the Case May Be", Nikki and Paulo find Kate, Shannon and Arzt arguing over the case of guns that were found under the waterfall. Desperate, Nikki persuades Paulo to search its depths for the diamonds. Paulo reluctantly agrees, concerned for their relationship. He finds the bag of diamonds wedged beneath a rock. He emerges and lies to Nikki, saying that there is nothing but dead bodies. After she leaves, he submerges to retrieve the diamonds for himself. Later, possibly during the time of "The Hunting Party", Paulo is caught by Locke burying something. Thinking nothing of it, Locke tells Paulo to bury his belongings elsewhere, else he risks it being washed away by the tide. With this in mind, Paulo returns to the Pearl Station and hides the diamonds in the toilet tank. Suddenly, Ben and Juliet enter the station and watch Jack from the monitor. Paulo overhears their plans of kidnapping him, Kate and Sawyer, as well as them having Michael in captivity. As they leave, Paulo takes their radio.
In "Every Man For Himself", Paulo is seen hitting kiwi-fruits into the ocean with the set of golf clubs. Desmond approaches him and asks if he can borrow one. Appearing uninterested, Paulo hands him the 5-iron, claiming that he never uses it. As Desmond thanks him, Paulo continues to say that, should Desmond go missing, he wouldn't bother looking for either him or the golf club.
When Locke offers the survivors the opportunity to venture back to the Pearl Station in "The Cost of Living," Nikki volunteers to go, much his surprise. He accompanies her after she says that he always complains about being left behind. When in the hatch, Paulo exhibits a constant sarcastic behaviour, and does little to contribute, although he does return to the toilet to retrieve the diamonds. As they leave, the group witnesses Mr. Eko's death. He and the others bury Eko in "I Do." Later, in "Tricia Tanaka is Dead", Paulo declines Hurley's offer to help him move the van, and drags Nikki away before she offers to help, possibly to prevent her from searching for the diamonds.
Nikki finds out about Paulo hiding the diamonds from her in "Exposé", and in anger releases a venomous spider on him that causes Paulo to be paralyzed for eight hours. Nikki also gets bitten as the female spider she unleashed released pheremones and attracted dozens of male spiders. The pair are mistaken for being dead after being discovered by Sawyer, Jin, and Hurley. The castaways conducted an investigation into their "deaths" and eventually discovered the diamonds, among other secrets the pair were hiding. The group never discovered their cause of death, and subsequently gave the two a funeral. Paulo and Nikki were then accidentally buried alive. As Sawyer threw a shovelful of dirt on Nikki, she opened her eyes, the eight-hour effect just beginning to wear off.
