What I’m Watching: Nikita

Nikita: Season 2, Episode 7 “Clawback” (B)

One of the only people who Nikita ever seemed to fully trust is back in this episode, and then he’s gone, and then he’s back again. Ryan Fletcher was always one of the stronger characters on this show, and it’s good to get him involved again. Now that Amanda has faked his death, it’s unclear what purpose he’ll serve, since, while against Division and now Oversight, her allegiances have always been less than pure. Ryan’s ability to piece things together, however, is quite impressive and useful for either side. Sean got a major showcase in this episode that he’s never had before, as he decided to start asking questions about Division and, unsurprisingly, he wasn’t pleased with what he discovered. The somewhat unexpected reveal that Alberta Watson’s Madeline is his mother means that this is a family business of sorts, and now that Nikita has heard her name mentioned, I’m worried about where Sean is going to end up in terms of the good guys and the bad guys. We’re missing a few characters in this episode, namely Percy and Birkhoff, and that’s really just to focus is on those who haven’t been as featured previously. Alex being reunited with a childhood friend who has been told a very different story about what happened with her father presented the opportunity for something decently unadvisable for shows with complicated mythologies: having someone try to explain the specifics of the show’s chronology with a straight face. Fortunately, it didn’t go too poorly and made some sense.