Nikita 2x01-2x08
Mon, Nov. 28th, 2011 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI did a mass catch up on the show last week, and although I hadn't been interested enough to watch it when it aired, it slowly morphed from the "noise in the background I sometimes pay attention to" to "What is going on?! Rewind to catch the last bit again!"
Spoilers
I continue to love the larger role Amanda has to play; it is so so so so awesome to have an older-than-twenty-something woman in charge. On the other hand, while I get that they have to keep the actor playing Percy employed, I very much wish he were less master manipulator in a cage. It's also weird because he actually seems craftier now that he's in a cage, as opposed to the entire first season.
I am still on the fence re: women in the series, depiction of. Overall, this has much more women then I usually see, and having Maggie Q as the star (and action hero) tends to make up for a lot with me. I double plus greatly approve of all the Alex and Amanda action, and although I'm still a little doubtful about the Alex-Russian-magnate-heir plot, I really like how she's gained a lot more agency. Also, bringing her out of the recruit stage was awesome, since now there are much fewer high school dynamics going on.
On the other hand, I haven't been a fan of how Nikita has been split off from other female influences and working largely with Michael and Birkhoff. I thought briefly Birkhoff was just a guest appearance after his apartment was bombed, but it looks like he's recurring. And oh, Shane West. You don't annoy me as much as you used to, but I really don't understand how you have no chemistry with Maggie Q. Or anyone, really. I am hoping for more from Cassandra, particularly after the SIS reveal (!!), and I was actually very scared they would fridge her.
See, this is why I am still on the fence. I feel the show has actually gotten better about fridging random women for man pain, although after seeing Ryan's recruitment in Division, I am a little less confident that they are doing a lot more man-fridging. And again with Nikita and Alex and Amanda being surrounded by men.
That said, I am hoping the woman of color who is Amanda's Birkhoff will eventually get a larger role. *fingers crossed* And OMG! I just looked up the senator on Oversight's name, and it is the actress for Madeleine for LFN! Being a Senator Madeline Pierce! I anticipate much, much fun from this. Also, I really like that now that Amanda has taken over Division, there's a lot more intrigue and double and triple crossing among women, which is so, so hard to find (at least, intrigue that's not related to romance).
I am also unsure of what the end of "London Calling" signifies; I'm hoping they're transitioning Michael out of the show, as it is clear (to me, at least) that Nikita is a bazillion times more interesting when they're not being couple-y together (feel free to spoil me re: Shane West's involvement in the show post-this-episode in the comments). And I rather like that Michael is the one who keeps being caught up by family ties and being a father, despite the brief interlude into Nikita's parentage. Which, by the way, SO HAPPY they acknowledged she was multiracial. My bar for TV is so low that I was expecting them to whitewash her. (I am also composing completely out there scenarios in my head in which her mother is a secret agent for Another Global Organization and returns and wreaks havoc! Much like Spy Mommy in Alias.)
On a less political note, I am having enormous amounts of fun with the Golog and Russian corporation and Division and Oversight double and triple crossing, and I am really looking forward to what happens with Ryan. The writing still isn't the best, and as usual per action shows, the tech verges on ridiculous, but I've had a difficult time finding shows that hit my intrigue/spy button, much less ones with female protagonists.
Possible spoilers for specific casting in comments.
Spoilers
I continue to love the larger role Amanda has to play; it is so so so so awesome to have an older-than-twenty-something woman in charge. On the other hand, while I get that they have to keep the actor playing Percy employed, I very much wish he were less master manipulator in a cage. It's also weird because he actually seems craftier now that he's in a cage, as opposed to the entire first season.
I am still on the fence re: women in the series, depiction of. Overall, this has much more women then I usually see, and having Maggie Q as the star (and action hero) tends to make up for a lot with me. I double plus greatly approve of all the Alex and Amanda action, and although I'm still a little doubtful about the Alex-Russian-magnate-heir plot, I really like how she's gained a lot more agency. Also, bringing her out of the recruit stage was awesome, since now there are much fewer high school dynamics going on.
On the other hand, I haven't been a fan of how Nikita has been split off from other female influences and working largely with Michael and Birkhoff. I thought briefly Birkhoff was just a guest appearance after his apartment was bombed, but it looks like he's recurring. And oh, Shane West. You don't annoy me as much as you used to, but I really don't understand how you have no chemistry with Maggie Q. Or anyone, really. I am hoping for more from Cassandra, particularly after the SIS reveal (!!), and I was actually very scared they would fridge her.
See, this is why I am still on the fence. I feel the show has actually gotten better about fridging random women for man pain, although after seeing Ryan's recruitment in Division, I am a little less confident that they are doing a lot more man-fridging. And again with Nikita and Alex and Amanda being surrounded by men.
That said, I am hoping the woman of color who is Amanda's Birkhoff will eventually get a larger role. *fingers crossed* And OMG! I just looked up the senator on Oversight's name, and it is the actress for Madeleine for LFN! Being a Senator Madeline Pierce! I anticipate much, much fun from this. Also, I really like that now that Amanda has taken over Division, there's a lot more intrigue and double and triple crossing among women, which is so, so hard to find (at least, intrigue that's not related to romance).
I am also unsure of what the end of "London Calling" signifies; I'm hoping they're transitioning Michael out of the show, as it is clear (to me, at least) that Nikita is a bazillion times more interesting when they're not being couple-y together (feel free to spoil me re: Shane West's involvement in the show post-this-episode in the comments). And I rather like that Michael is the one who keeps being caught up by family ties and being a father, despite the brief interlude into Nikita's parentage. Which, by the way, SO HAPPY they acknowledged she was multiracial. My bar for TV is so low that I was expecting them to whitewash her. (I am also composing completely out there scenarios in my head in which her mother is a secret agent for Another Global Organization and returns and wreaks havoc! Much like Spy Mommy in Alias.)
On a less political note, I am having enormous amounts of fun with the Golog and Russian corporation and Division and Oversight double and triple crossing, and I am really looking forward to what happens with Ryan. The writing still isn't the best, and as usual per action shows, the tech verges on ridiculous, but I've had a difficult time finding shows that hit my intrigue/spy button, much less ones with female protagonists.
Possible spoilers for specific casting in comments.
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(no subject)
Tue, Nov. 29th, 2011 07:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Nov. 29th, 2011 09:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Dec. 1st, 2011 08:53 pm (UTC)I completely agree! I enjoyed the show in the beginning, but the more I watched the more I disliked Michael, and eventually had to stop watching. Let me know if you find out that they're transitioning him out.
(no subject)
Thu, Dec. 1st, 2011 10:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Dec. 8th, 2011 11:28 pm (UTC)It does seem weird that Nikita was really aligned with another woman ally and now she's got a bunch of male allies instead. Certainly Nikita has more girlfriends floating around there somewhere?
But I don't want to be too critical because this is like the only show on television with women doing awesome with women fighting women.
(no subject)
Thu, Dec. 15th, 2011 10:27 pm (UTC)But I know what you mean about not wanting to be too critical. On the one hand, I am annoyed by how Nikita is being isolated from the other women. On the other hand, this is one of the very few shows airing right now that has a lot of women interacting with each other and it not being about romance, and +++ for Maggie Q!