But what was the problem people had with those two? They brought in new people from the tail section.
Bringing background characters to the foreground was fine. I think a lot of people's big hang up was that they inserted them into the actual plane crash site, which is blasphemous on LOST. I still contend that Expose and Stranger in a Strange Land were good episodes. But they are infamously hated by fans.
The single biggest problem with Paolo and Nikki was the timing. Going into season 3, fans were already frustrated that they were only getting a six-episode "mini-arc" before the show went on hiatus until February. Then, within a few episodes, it became obvious that the mini-arc sort of sucked. It was all about Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle drama and weird stalling tactics and mind games in the Others' cages. So people were already in a position where they felt their favorite characters (Locke, Hurley, Charlie) weren't getting enough screen time. The impression then became that Nikki and Paolo were essentially "stealing" screen time from other characters (for example, why couldn't it have been Jin and Sun that went with the group to the Pearl station?). It didn't help that they were introduced by having them yell at Hurley, one of the most beloved characters on the show-- never underestimate the importance of a first impression. For such abrasive characters, they should have given us at least SOMETHING to like about them from the get-go.
To the initial question, I believe "Fernandez" has already been identified as one of the names on the candidate wall. But I doubt we'll be seeing either of them in person.
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