Nikki Fernandez

Template:Infobox Lost Character-1 Nikki Fernandez is a fictional character on the third season of the ABC television series Lost played by Kiele Sanchez. Nikki is a survivor of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and was dating Paulo.

Character history

Before the crash

Nikki was an actress who made a guest star appearance on the fourth season of a dramatic television series called Exposé. She was dating the show's director at the time, and remains in Australia with him after she exits the show. He later surprises her with a bracelet, but dies soon after when Paulo, working alongside Nikki as his chef, poisons him. The two, revealed to be con artists, proceeded to steal his bag of diamonds, worth $8 million. At the airport, the two celebrate a successful con and also the start of a new life together. It is then that they encounter Shannon and Boone, by whose constant bickering Nikki is irritated.

After the crash

Along the timeline of "Pilot, Part 1", Nikki emerges from the wreckage a little shaken. She witnesses a fellow passenger being sucked into the turbine before moving on to helping Arzt. When she finds Paulo standing on the beach staring into the sky, she asks him where the diamonds are. Later, during the timeline of "White Rabbit", Nikki argues with Paulo, and eventually they converse with Ethan, who tells them that what they're looking for may be in the jungle. They are interrupted when Boone is confronted over stealing the water supply. Jack then tells the group about the caves.

Later, during the timeline of "Hearts And Minds", Nikki approaches Arzt. After learning of his collection of unknown species of insects, she asks him for help with finding lost "luggage". He draws her a map, which she later shows Paulo in the jungle. They come across the plane atop the cliff, and Nikki tries to persuade Paulo to climb up and investigate. After refusing, they press on, only to discover the Pearl station. Nikki gets annoyed when Paulo suggests descending into it, and storms off. During the time of "Outlaws", Nikki and Paulo find Kate, Shannon and Arzt arguing about the case of guns found beneath the waterfall. Nikki persuades Paulo to dive in and investigate. Paulo eventually emerges and tells her that there is nothing to be found. Outraged, Nikki storms off again.

Since then, Nikki tries to make herself useful however she can. In "Further Instructions", she tends to a severely wounded Eko, along with Paulo, Claire, Charlie and Locke. Later, when Locke offers other survivors an opportunity to venture back to the Pearl Station in "The Cost of Living", Nikki volunteers to go, much to the surprise of Paulo, who accompanies her. At this hatch, she watches an orientation tape and examines the surveillance system. She suggests that the TV monitors may be linked to other, yet-to-be-seen stations, which prompts Sayid to work with the wiring. When viewing the security monitors, Nikki and the other members of their party are startled when, on one of the screens, a man with an eyepatch appears, in a station similar to the original hatch, who turns his camera off shortly afterwards. It is later revealed that he is Mikhail Bakunin. After Nikki exits with Locke, Desmond, Paulo, and Sayid, she witnesses Mr. Eko's death and attends his funeral at the same location ("I Do").

It is presumed that Nikki hasn't given up on the diamonds. In "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead", Nikki is about to volunteer to help Hurley with the van, but is restrained by Paulo, who possibly knew her motives. In "Enter 77", Sawyer asks for his stash back. Nikki stands up to him, telling him that the stuff in the stash wasn't his in the first place, causing Sawyer to blurt "Who the hell are you?"

In "Exposé", Nikki discovers that Paulo has the bag of diamonds when he drops his nicotine gum. After failing to retrieve a gun from Sawyer, Nikki lures Paulo into the jungle and uses one of Arzt's collected Medusa Spiders to paralyze Paulo. As the paralysis is taking effect, Nikki takes the diamonds from him and he tells her that he kept them from her because he was afraid she wouldn't need him any more once she had them. The island "Monster" is heard and more spiders arrive, biting Nikki in the process. Panicking, Nikki runs to the beach, burying the diamonds along the way, and collapses nearby Hurley and Sawyer. When asked by Hurley "what happened", she says "paralyzed" but Sawyer and Hurley are unable to make it out. Everyone presumes her dead, along with Paulo, and begin to investigate. By the end of the day, the camp decide to give the two a funeral. Sawyer throws the stolen diamonds into the grave before they bury them. Nikki opens her eyes just as the other survivors start to fill the grave, but no one notices, and both Nikki and Paulo are accidentally buried alive.

Trivia

• Nikki only appears in six episodes as a regular cast member.
• Nikki and Paulo were originally intended to have a much longer story arc. As the two were not well received by a large number of fans, however, their story was ultimately shortened.
• There is a deleted scene showing Nikki and Paulo amidst the system failure crisis during the time of "Live Together, Die Alone" (the moment the sky turns purple). It isn't known what happens in this scene until the release of the Season 3 DVDs