What I’m Watching: Nikita

Nikita: Season 1, Episode 9 “One Way” (C+)

In a way, this is the best episode of this show we’ve seen in a while. Giving Michael a bit of depth is a welcome thing, since up until now he just seemed like a completely obvious moral center for the immoral Division. Now, it appears that he’s just as damaged and broken as Nikita and the other recruits, and equally as hell-bent on revenge as any of them. What continues to perplex me is how he chooses to work with Nikita and cooperate with her amiably, knowing full well that the next time they come face-to-face they’re going to be pointing guns at each other. There’s something fascinating about that dynamic, but the way it’s handled here seems to discount that all together and simply ignore it for the length of the episode. Michael shrugging off the fact that Percy sent people to kill him also seems like a stretch, and, as I’ve stressed before, there’s just no way that Percy should trust Michael to stay loyal after everything that has happened and continues to happen with Nikita. Back at the farm, the laughable computer security presents a decently dramatic scenario where Alex has to ask her mortal enemy to help pin the blame for her attack on the physician without revealing her duplicitous nature. This show is still hopelessly unaware of where it’s headed, and therefore I think the three-week hiatus it’s going on is a good thing. Maybe some time away will help make it seem better. The show will return on December 2nd.