What I’m Watching: Nikita

Nikita: Season 2, Episode 9 “Fair Trade” (B)

This episode was full of action and major developments, and I’m not going to say no to that. I’ll start with the less impressive of the two plotlines, which is Alex’s creative journey back to her homeland. Posing as a trafficked sex worker and then calling immigration was a clever idea, and it’s a shame that Malik Yoba’s immigration agent was actually in the pocket of some traffickers back in Russia. What was annoying about the otherwise strong storyline was the presence of the dubious girl, constantly bothering Alex about her past and how something wasn’t right. Alex was seriously impressive when she took out the guards and killed the immigration agent just for effect, and hopefully her progress in Russia won’t be derailed too much by the fact that Sean is tracking her via her watch. Speaking of planted trackers, Birkhoff’s successful meeting with Madeline’s assistant Alison allowed for Nikita to be present at the big meeting of the clandestine group, which would have gone well had Division not discovered and traced their comm system. Maggie Q’s running speed is awesome, and Nikita’s move to throw a ball at a cop’s head to get away wasn’t too shabby either. Nikita freaked out at Michael when Birkhoff was taken, and I’m glad she got herself back in the game enough to plan a daring escape by helicopter. Amanda slicing Birkhoff’s hand was a formidable form of torture, and I’m glad that the only recently sympathetic techie didn’t have to endure too much of that.