Nikita 2.02-"Falling Ash"
(Being out last Friday, I haven't yet seen the Nikita S2 premiere. This doesn't mean that you're not allowed to spoil me, as I'm going to get caught up in the next day or so and picked up a lot via context clues this week, but just because folks get weird about such distinctions.)
This is why I love Nikita: she forgives Owen everything, even murdering Daniel, because she understands her worst self in him and realizes that she could have been there (not understanding that she had an interior strength which allowed her to leave alone where he never could). At the same time, she puts Michael on a pedestal as her best self without realizing that he could never have left Division without her. The compassion and empathy with Owen is a strength, and yet so is the humility with Michael: she's wrong with regard to Michael, but folks who want the taste of power probably shouldn't have it, see Percy. I heart so many billions of times that Michael did not save Nikita. Nikita saved Michael. I want her to reach the point where she can forgive herself enough to realize that, but I still love that's she's all the same "Whatever, I'ma do this because it's right, we'll deal with my personal dramas during the down-time."
I also really dig that Nikita, Michael, and Birkhoff are all working together as a dysfunctional family. I'm not particularly shocked, as Aaron Stanford is personable and has a good rapport with both Maggie Q and Shane West, but I'm pleased that Birkhoff is at least going, "I followed the wrong side. It was fucked up. What do I do now?"
Owen works for me in spite of Devon Sawa's past as Not a Good Dude in large part because 1) Sawa is acting his ass off in it, and 2) Owen is such a good foil to the trifecta of Nikita, Michael, and Birkhoff. He fits Nikita's issues extra-especially well due to being a recovering junkie (more so, in Nikita's eyes, for not having chosen his poison) and for being such a reminder of what she could have been with a few nudges in the right/wrong direction; the "but for the grace of God" angle still plays with both Michael and Birkhoff. He also works a recurrent foil character for me because Owen is fucking crazy. Whether due to preexisting condition or Division's activities in his brain, Owen is absolutely nuts, and yet he will continue to resonate with Nikita (and Michael and Birkhoff) no matter which side he's on due to their shared past.
Nikita and Alex developing a schism has been foreshadowed during the early days of Season One. Since they're there, I'm digging very much how it's being played out as the necessary end of their ethical convictions, and how it doesn't condemn either of them irredeemably. (If we want to write off everyone on this show who has committed and unpardonable wrong, good lord...) It really is Moral Luck that Nikita landed on the right(ish) side.
Percy in his current state is very much a fun S2 villain. Percy is out to serve Percy. Is he lying? Is he telling the truth? Figure out what will most benefit Percy in that particular moment, and that's a weapon that you can use. Percy is strictly rational, and all the mysteries are in being smarter than he is. He's a great kind of puzzle that way.
This entry was originally posted at Eatsscissors on Dreamwidth. Please comment there using OpenID.