Nikita 1x10-1x22

[oyceter]

I finally caught up on Nikita! This is, of course, being written several weeks after I finished watching, so the usual caveats about my memory being completely bunk.

(Also, the last time I posted about Nikita was... a while ago. Heh. It was so bad that when I was catching up on episodes a few weeks ago, they still had ads for Christmas...)

I really enjoyed the pre-Christmas-break episode, in which Nikita is chained to the ceiling of Division and then proceeds to break out. Anything starring Maggie Q and her biceps is fine by me! Also, I cackled wickedly as the show fridged Tom.

Unfortunately, I was hoping for more Jaden-Alex interaction after Tom was gone, but of course they killed Jaden. SIGH. She didn't get much development ever during the show, and they killed her right as the dynamic between her and Alex was getting much more interesting. I really wanted to see them being reluctant friends, with Alex grudgingly mentoring her about living outside Division while also trying to hide her connection with Nikita.

On one level, I'm glad that Michael finally switched sides; the Nikita-Michael faceoffs and angst was getting a little old. And I like seeing Nikita happy. On the other hand, it really downplayed what Alex could do in Division. Of course, then the writers changed the game all together.

I still wish that the Guardian Nikita and Michael helped out had not been a plant, because I was already thinking interesting stories in my head of Nikita and the Guardian off doing things together, or sympathizing, or something. Also, additional woman of color, yay!

I liked that Alex got more backstory, but I'm not that fond of her being Russian gangster royalty, and I still don't quite buy the sudden tension and distrust between her and Nikita, nor her sudden turn to be an independent agent. I very much like that Nikita's habit of keeping secrets eventually proves her own downfall, since I hate it whenever someone doesn't tell someone else something in hopes of protecting them. On the other hand... I guess we'll see how season 2 plays out with the new dynamic. I miss badass Nikita, and I worry that there's much less for her to do with the new world order.

I, um, also may be shipping Nikita/CIA agent dude. Michael is boring, even when he isn't angsting a ton!

All that said, Amanda taking over Division with the CIA = AWESOMESAUCE AWESOME.

I think the show started out extremely uneven, but plot got going like whoa in the latter half. I also like that the writers aren't afraid of completely messing around with the dynamic; it's much more interesting than the virtual resets Heroes used to do. Also, out of most things I watch on TV, this show has the highest ratio of kickass women to men, and I especially like that most of the women are in control of their own destinies. Vampire Diaries, I love you too, especially the Bonnie-Caroline-Elena friendship, but I feel sometimes the male vampires end up overshadowing everything. Here's to hoping that doesn't happen with Michael...

Comments

[meganbmoore]

(Vampire Diaries is really only about one vampire these days, sadly...)

What bugs me about the Alex/Nikita rift is that they play it as if it never occured to Alex that it might have been Nikita. I mean, just the fact that Nikita was part of the team meant there was a pretty high probability that Nikita killed one of her parents, but the flashbacks made it clear that Nikita found Alex only moments after her father died. Even if Alex's memories aren't as clear as what we saw in the flashback (and they probably aren't) the fact that Nikita was the first one to find her, meaning no one else had a chance to check the room yet. Given that revenge was Alex's prime motivator and that she's a pretty analytical thinker, I can't buy that she never realized that Nikita was the most likely candidate for shooter. (For some reason, I thought Nikita either told or heavily implied that she was the shooter herself in the "How Nikita and Alex Met" episode, but I'd have to rewatch it to be sure.)


Also, still so very very steamed about Jaden.