Take Three: Nikita

Nikita: Season 1, Episode 3 "Kill Jill" (B)

I'm feeling a bit schizophrenic reviewing this show since this episode feels a whole lot more like the first than the second did. If this had been the pilot, I doubt I would have been as impressed, but it does instill in me some faith about the potential of this show in the future. While it's fairly repetitive to have Nikita tracking and coming into contact with Division every single episode, it does give everyone something to focus on in common. The revelation that Nikita planted a tracker in Birkhoff's mouth as a decoy is smart, and it's also good to have Alex operating to help her on the inside when things go awry. I could live without the rivalry between Jaden and Alex and their constant fighting, and it would be better to feature Thom and especially Amanda much more prominently. I do like the structure of this episode, centering on a civilian caught up in something they're not fully prepared for, rescued and helped out by Nikita. I'm not sure how sustainable that will be every week, and as others have suggested, it would be good for Nikita to be up to other things, like side projects, rather than tracking Division's moves so closely. They're going to get suspicious soon, and that could seriously upset things and change the dynamic of the show way too soon. Maybe it would be a good idea to have Nikita make a few contacts on the outside who could become recurring characters; otherwise, this show is going to get very, very cyclical.