In the first scene, we see Nikki breathing heavily and running through the jungle. She falls to the ground and buries something resembling a small bag.
Flashback - Nikki is an actress on the popular Charlie's Angels-like
TV show Exposé that films in Sydney. She is also having an affair with
the septuagenarian executive producer, Howard L. Zuckerman, who is
married and very wealthy.
On the beach of the island, Hurley and Sawyer are playing ping pong.
Nikki stumbles out of the jungle and falls to the ground. As Hurley and
Sawyer rush to her, she says something barely audible. She is soon
pronounced dead.
Sun and Charlie
join Sawyer and Hurley around Nikki's body. Sawyer recounts her saying
"something like 'plywood.'" Hurley remembers it as "power lines," but
is then convinced it is "Paulo lies." Sawyer and Hurley begin an
investigation and find Paulo lying lifeless in the jungle. They
speculate about what happened to him.
Sawyer finds a walkie talkie
in Nikki and Paulo's tent. He says the Others had similar walkie
talkies, which means they were working with the Others. Hurley does not
think the Others are near their camp, but Sun vehemently reminds them
that she was abducted (unaware that it was Charlie who grabbed her).
Sawyer tries to calm them down and says he will do a perimeter sweep.
But when he shows off his gun, Hurley becomes suspicious. He also calls
Nikki and Paulo "jabronies." When Jin repeats the word as if to ask
what it meant, Sawyer replies "Nina and Pablo", prompting Hurley to
correct him and ask him to show some respect for them.
Hurley asks Desmond to use his psychic powers to see who killed
Nikki and Paulo. Desmond says it does not work that way, but offers
that he saw Nikki arguing with Sawyer earlier this morning right before
she died. Hurley tells Charlie and Sun his theory. Sun says Sawyer's
not a murderer - she is convinced it is the Others. Feeling guilty,
Charlie confesses to Sun that it was him who took her. Sun is stunned.
He explains why he did it, and as the horror of it washes over her, Sun
simply walks away.
Sawyer says he argued with Nikki because she wanted a gun. He did
not give it to her, and she was mad. He hands Sun a pouch filled with
diamonds.
In a flashback 84 days earlier, Nikki and Zukerman are dining in his home. Zukerman introduces his chef, Paulo,
shortly before he dies evidently, from poisoned food. Nikki seizes a
key from around his neck and rushes to his safe. She and Paulo open it
and retrieve a Matryoshka doll (which we later find out is a pouch full of diamonds).
In a flashback 80 days earlier, Nikki and Paulo are in an airport
lounge reading Zukerman's obituary, laughing at the conclusion of 'heart failure' as his cause of death, and celebrating their accomplishment. They hear Shannon berating Boone,
complaining that there is nowhere to sit. Boone asks Paulo if he can
take a seat from their table but Shannon walks off yelling at Boone
that if he would stop "flirting with random guys, maybe we could
actually get on the plane." Nikki ironically extracts a promise from
Paulo that they will "never end up like them."
On the island right after the plane has crashed, Nikki frantically
searches for Paulo in the wreckage. She finds him and asks about the
diamonds, expressing no concern for him. Paulo does not know where the
bag is.
In a flashback 75 days earlier, Nikki is pressuring Paulo to search inland for their bag. Ethan introduces himself and offers to help them, suggesting they look further inland.
In a flashback 57 days earlier, Nikki approaches Dr. Arzt and inquires about his collection of specimens. He cautions her against handling a jar containing Latrodectus regina, called the Medusa spider. He describes her pheromones
as "very strong" and says she would "attract every male on the island."
She asks Arzt for advice on the plane's trajectory and convinces him to
draw a map. Following Arzt's map, Nikki and Paulo happen upon the
Nigerian plane and The Pearl
DHARMA station. Nikki wants Paulo to climb up to the plane to see if
there is a radio in there. Paulo refuses. They stumble upon the hatch,
and Paulo wants to go down the hatch, but Nikki shoots down his idea
because he shot down hers.
In a flashback 48 days earlier, Shannon and Arzt are confronting Kate about the keeping secret their discovery of a case of guns. Nikki asks where they found the case.
Nikki and Paulo find the lake. Nikki presses Paulo to dive in. Nikki
says that what is in that bag is worth $8,000,000. Paulo finds the bag
at the bottom of the lake, but does not tell Nikki.
In a flashback, Paulo returns to the Pearl station to hide the
diamonds. While stashing the doll in the toilet tank, he overhears Ben and Juliet discussing how to get Jack
to do his surgery, making him the first survivor to encounter the two.
Apparently, one of them left a walkie talkie and Paulo picks it up.
Since warning Jack about the Others' intentions would give away the
diamond frenzy to Nikki, Paulo keeps everything a secret.
In a flashback 9 days earlier, Locke, Desmond, Nikki and Paulo are
at the Pearl station (when they discover the man with the eye patch).
Paulo pretends to use the bathroom and recovers the diamonds.
In a flashback 8 hours earlier Nikki figures out that Paulo found
the diamonds and did not tell her. She throws one of Dr. Arzt's Medusa
spiders at him, which bites and paralyzes Paulo. However, Paulo
apologizes and admits he hid the diamonds because if he did not, Nikki
would not continue thier romantic relationship. As Nikki stands in a
state of regret, a group of the same poisonous spiders appears and she
is bitten on her leg. She buries the diamonds and sprints to the beach.
The first scene is repeated, during which it can now be determined
that Nikki is actually saying "paralyzed" and not "Paulo lies" in an
attempt to alert Hurley and Sawyer to her condition. At the funeral,
Sawyer pours the pouch of diamonds into the grave during the funeral.
Nikki's eyelids open just as Hurley and Sawyer are filling the grave,
burying them alive.
