The above suggestion is clearly not intended to be code compliant or to pass any sort of inspection. Whether a light is lit is certainly a relative term. As I read the original posters remarks, this is a physics (basic circuit continuity theory) question of series / parallel combinations and no more than that. This is something one could wire up using some flashlight lamps and a couple of small batteries on your desk. I make no claim that this is any kind of an operational lighting circuit.
That said, the voltage across the center lamp will be zero so long as the other 4 lamps are both equal and operating, and the 4 lamps will glow equally bright. Take any one of the 4 out of the circuit, and the center lamp will light. Also - the operating lamps will not all be equally bright.
You can see this for yourself using Kirchoff's current laws if you pick a resistance value for the lamps and a voltage for the circuit and apply Ohm's law. The exact values you pick don't mater much, just pick reasonable values to make the math easier.
Radar
